Scorers Barnes 3, Sargent, McCullum, Springett. Sainz out until October with ankle ligament damage. That's an injury DD.
Obviously the linnets are four divisions below us, but having watched the full 90 minutes video, this was still a better indication than the Barnet game where only 14 out of 22 were senior players. It was Sargent's first game and he scored, then came close again. The new signings stood out again as Barnes scored a hat-trick and Stacey looked sharp and combined well with Springett on the right, who, like Rowe, seems to be a senior player now. Barnes looks to be the poacher we've been missing since Holt left while also distributing the ball well. If he can match or exceed Pukki's 10 goals last season it could make a big difference. The loss of Sainz is a blow, but our other wide players looked sharp. Placheta's pace stood out and he was involved in some goals as well. Hernandez also used his pace and trickery well. Interestingly, Tzolis played as a CAM and looked comfortable in the role, which he prefers. McLean paired well with Núñez, as did Sørensen and Gibbs in the second half. The defence looked solid except for Duffy's miscue with Krul for the own goal. On the plus side, Duffy was an impressive figure barking instructions to organise the defence and Gibson looked far more comfortable paired with him. Stacey looked sharp on both sides of the ball and the other FBs also performed well. The two games in Germany next week will tell us more, but it's a good start so far.
