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Blue tinted optimist⭐
FREDDIE RUNS SHOW AS BLUES SUFFER LOSS
Well, here we go again as the first home pre season friendly kicked off against West Ham on Saturday.
There was a fair smattering of hammers fans in the crowd which was not the sell out predicted but still around the 9500 mark.
Southend lined up as follows - Flahavan, Hunt, Hammell, Clarke, Barrett, Gower, Maher, Bailey, Black, Harrold and Hooper.
The game itself started at a leisurely pace with both sides hardly breaking sweat in the opening quarter. In fact most of the action took place in the west stand as about 200 visiting fans were removed to the north west corner.
Then the game on the pitch sparked into life as a quick free kick from Llungberg was headed goalwards by Zamora but Darryl saved.
Despite the departure of our star striker to Wolves in the close season, the Roots Hall turf was graced by another Freddie as Llungberg completely ran the show. West Ham dominated as time and again Blues defensive frailties were exposed. Flahavan had to be at his best to save from Bellamy and Noble whilst Zamora was guilty of a glaring miss when he headed against the bar from 2 yards.
It was all the visitors as blues looked slow and uninterested. The defense was ripped open again as a long ball from Llungberg evaded Clarke and Zamora headed over Flahavan who watched as the ball hit the post and then trickled over the line.
Just before half time the visitors doubled their lead after more sloppy defensive work allowed Zamora to head across the goal and then Bellamy headed into an empty net.
For Southend in the first half only a few players had played anything like they could. Of the new signings Black had looked decent but Bailey had been poor, constantly misplacing passes, getting caught in possession and was guilty of an embarrassing air shot when set up 20 yards from goal. Harrold had been easily suppresed and whilst Hooper had shown some nice touches he didn't show any sign of an understanding with his co-striker.
The second half only saw one change initially - McDonald for Hooper.
Southend started at a quicker tempo but the Premierships sides extra class and pace was evident. The result was sealed just a few minutes into the half when Hammell played a woeful back pass to Flahavan but Zamora intercepted, rounded Darryl but found his way to goal blocked. He then laid the ball back for Llungberg to fire home.
It wasn’t long before both sides made several substitutions. Harrold was replaced by Paynter, Foran for Black, Bailey made way for McCormack and Maher for Moussa, who looked very tidy. However, without Maher on the pitch McCormack reverted to a holding role which doesn’t suit his style. MacDonald reminded me of Michael Owen with his build and style of play, but he was finding it tough going against Prem quality defenders. Southend started to come into it as West Ham eased up a little and a good move saw the ball eventually find Maher 25 yards out. His shot was deflected past Green by Clarke to reduce the arrears.
This fired Southend up and almost immediately Southend cut West Ham open again. The ball was laid across goal to Gower who had an open goal to shoot at but from the angle of the six yard box ballooned his effort over the bar and into the South Upper.
West Ham then had a golden chance to make it 4-1 as Bellamy raced clear, but Flahavan made a good save with his feet.
More subs were made with Wilson replacing Hammell, Liptak replacing Clarke, Collis coming on for Flahavan and an unknown called Lokando for Gower.
West Ham also replaced more-or-less their entire side at various times and the game was played out at a pedestrian pace really, but Blues had one more golden opportunity. MacDonald robbed Ferdinand on the left touchline and made his way into the box before putting over a delightful cross that curled away from Green and found Paynter just 4 yards out but his header went over the empty net and into the South Upper. That was a golden chance for Billy to endear himself to the Southend crowd but instead he will now have his work cut out to win the fans over.
All in all it was a stern test but I am sure Tilson will be disappointed with some of the passing and defending that will need to improve significantly if we are to stop leaking goals.
I won’t actually rate the players but will again comment on the positions and who played there.
Goal – Flahavan/Collis – Flavs made some fine saves in the first half but in my opinion we looked stronger and safer with Collis between the sticks.
Full backs – Hunt/Hammell/Wilson – Hunt settled well at right back and will be the natural replacement for Francis. Hammell had a decent first half but was poor in the second and gifted West Ham their third. Wilson was ok.
Centre backs – Clarke/Barrett/Liptak – We desperately need Liptaks height as this was exposed time and time again in the first half. We are just too short at the back. Unfortunately he was only on the pitch for the last 7 minutes. Clarke and Barrett defended well enough and commitment was evident.
Wide midfield – Gower/Black/Foran/Lokando – Black was the pick today and showed some class. You can see he is a quality player but I am waiting for some end product to match the promise. There were a couple of decent crosses but not much else. Gower missed a good chance and Foran didn’t get that involved. Lokando was only on for 2 minutes.
Centre midfield – Maher/Bailey/McCormack/Moussa – Maher was awarded the sponsors MOM and probably deserved it. There were some handbags with him and Bowyer after a late challenge in the first half. Bailey had a very poor game and can only improve. McCormack is better in an up and down role rather than a sideways holding one and Moussa looked as though he has some really good touches. This is an exciting young player and I hope we see some more of him this season.
Strikers – Harrold/Hooper/MacDonald/Paynter – They all struggled against Prem defenders but then we knew they would. Hooper showed some decent touches and MacDonald will find it easier against League One opposition. Harrold was marked out of the game and Paynter missed his chance to win the fans over with the miss of the season so far.
MOM – Maher.
This will be the last fbm view for a couple of weeks as I am off on holiday tomorrow morning. Sadly I will be missing the Orient match but, flights permitting, will be back in time for Cheltenham.
Blue Army!
Well, here we go again as the first home pre season friendly kicked off against West Ham on Saturday.
There was a fair smattering of hammers fans in the crowd which was not the sell out predicted but still around the 9500 mark.
Southend lined up as follows - Flahavan, Hunt, Hammell, Clarke, Barrett, Gower, Maher, Bailey, Black, Harrold and Hooper.
The game itself started at a leisurely pace with both sides hardly breaking sweat in the opening quarter. In fact most of the action took place in the west stand as about 200 visiting fans were removed to the north west corner.
Then the game on the pitch sparked into life as a quick free kick from Llungberg was headed goalwards by Zamora but Darryl saved.
Despite the departure of our star striker to Wolves in the close season, the Roots Hall turf was graced by another Freddie as Llungberg completely ran the show. West Ham dominated as time and again Blues defensive frailties were exposed. Flahavan had to be at his best to save from Bellamy and Noble whilst Zamora was guilty of a glaring miss when he headed against the bar from 2 yards.
It was all the visitors as blues looked slow and uninterested. The defense was ripped open again as a long ball from Llungberg evaded Clarke and Zamora headed over Flahavan who watched as the ball hit the post and then trickled over the line.
Just before half time the visitors doubled their lead after more sloppy defensive work allowed Zamora to head across the goal and then Bellamy headed into an empty net.
For Southend in the first half only a few players had played anything like they could. Of the new signings Black had looked decent but Bailey had been poor, constantly misplacing passes, getting caught in possession and was guilty of an embarrassing air shot when set up 20 yards from goal. Harrold had been easily suppresed and whilst Hooper had shown some nice touches he didn't show any sign of an understanding with his co-striker.
The second half only saw one change initially - McDonald for Hooper.
Southend started at a quicker tempo but the Premierships sides extra class and pace was evident. The result was sealed just a few minutes into the half when Hammell played a woeful back pass to Flahavan but Zamora intercepted, rounded Darryl but found his way to goal blocked. He then laid the ball back for Llungberg to fire home.
It wasn’t long before both sides made several substitutions. Harrold was replaced by Paynter, Foran for Black, Bailey made way for McCormack and Maher for Moussa, who looked very tidy. However, without Maher on the pitch McCormack reverted to a holding role which doesn’t suit his style. MacDonald reminded me of Michael Owen with his build and style of play, but he was finding it tough going against Prem quality defenders. Southend started to come into it as West Ham eased up a little and a good move saw the ball eventually find Maher 25 yards out. His shot was deflected past Green by Clarke to reduce the arrears.
This fired Southend up and almost immediately Southend cut West Ham open again. The ball was laid across goal to Gower who had an open goal to shoot at but from the angle of the six yard box ballooned his effort over the bar and into the South Upper.
West Ham then had a golden chance to make it 4-1 as Bellamy raced clear, but Flahavan made a good save with his feet.
More subs were made with Wilson replacing Hammell, Liptak replacing Clarke, Collis coming on for Flahavan and an unknown called Lokando for Gower.
West Ham also replaced more-or-less their entire side at various times and the game was played out at a pedestrian pace really, but Blues had one more golden opportunity. MacDonald robbed Ferdinand on the left touchline and made his way into the box before putting over a delightful cross that curled away from Green and found Paynter just 4 yards out but his header went over the empty net and into the South Upper. That was a golden chance for Billy to endear himself to the Southend crowd but instead he will now have his work cut out to win the fans over.
All in all it was a stern test but I am sure Tilson will be disappointed with some of the passing and defending that will need to improve significantly if we are to stop leaking goals.
I won’t actually rate the players but will again comment on the positions and who played there.
Goal – Flahavan/Collis – Flavs made some fine saves in the first half but in my opinion we looked stronger and safer with Collis between the sticks.
Full backs – Hunt/Hammell/Wilson – Hunt settled well at right back and will be the natural replacement for Francis. Hammell had a decent first half but was poor in the second and gifted West Ham their third. Wilson was ok.
Centre backs – Clarke/Barrett/Liptak – We desperately need Liptaks height as this was exposed time and time again in the first half. We are just too short at the back. Unfortunately he was only on the pitch for the last 7 minutes. Clarke and Barrett defended well enough and commitment was evident.
Wide midfield – Gower/Black/Foran/Lokando – Black was the pick today and showed some class. You can see he is a quality player but I am waiting for some end product to match the promise. There were a couple of decent crosses but not much else. Gower missed a good chance and Foran didn’t get that involved. Lokando was only on for 2 minutes.
Centre midfield – Maher/Bailey/McCormack/Moussa – Maher was awarded the sponsors MOM and probably deserved it. There were some handbags with him and Bowyer after a late challenge in the first half. Bailey had a very poor game and can only improve. McCormack is better in an up and down role rather than a sideways holding one and Moussa looked as though he has some really good touches. This is an exciting young player and I hope we see some more of him this season.
Strikers – Harrold/Hooper/MacDonald/Paynter – They all struggled against Prem defenders but then we knew they would. Hooper showed some decent touches and MacDonald will find it easier against League One opposition. Harrold was marked out of the game and Paynter missed his chance to win the fans over with the miss of the season so far.
MOM – Maher.
This will be the last fbm view for a couple of weeks as I am off on holiday tomorrow morning. Sadly I will be missing the Orient match but, flights permitting, will be back in time for Cheltenham.
Blue Army!
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