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« on: January 07, 2024, 08:04:31 PM »
Echo what most others are saying: nice blend of experience and youth, Fellows, Mowatt and Heard were very good with good performances from our other experienced players such as Chalobah. Liked what I saw from Taylor, think he has a chance to be a big player for us although I can see why he is just behind the others in the pecking order. Delighted for Dike too who looked rusty, as expected, but his physicality was a notch or two above anything Aldershot had in their side.
Just a note on the setup today; we played our 343 shape today but in a way on the ball that I haven't seen us utilise before, with a midfield diamond. Mowatt was at the base pulling the strings, Heard at the tip with Chalobah right and Pipa left. This gave Fellows free reign from Right wing back to get beyond the front line and generally worked really well offensively I thought. It certainly gave Aldershot something to think about, often they had defenders pulled in to midfield which allowed Dike, Fellows and Malcom space in behind. The last thing you want to do in a game like this is labour for the first goal and give them a chance off a set-piece or something, so to cook something up to hurt them early was good to see.