Graham has been brought off for Lita to have a go..... Also Sinclair off for Moore and Dyer off for Gower.
fantastic win against a strong side, im so glad danny boy has got his first goal for us.......now the real work begins as we take the premiership by storm......
Good win and nice to see Danny grab his first goal for us. Calm under pressure, tidy finish. I'll take that!
just got back from the game, we did well to win this, betis had the upper hand in the first half(although we could/should have scored from a couple of chances) moreira(keeper) looked a bit dodgy with a few of his saves in the first half,dobbie was quality, augustien has a touch like an elephant(i can't see him playing most weeks) joe allen looked sharp when he came on, as did routledge, rangel was quality going forward. betis's left winger(1st half) is 1 to keep an eye on, looked very lively. not a bad work out, but our midfield needs to be sharper, joe allen and dobbie should be nailed on.
Yes, it was. I wasn't implying that Scott should have posted it earlier or anything. The was a bit inappropriate, a rushed post before heading off to the match! Anyway, great article. Betis were a tidy side and difficult to play against. Moreira looks good but is inclined to punch when he could have easily caught. Routledge has some great touches as we know. Nice to see Graham score the goal, although he was largely quiet for most of the game.
Their number 11, Jefferson, was just about the best player that I've seen at the Liberty. Great test for Rangel, especially in the first half, and he left Dyer for dead in terms of pace a number of times, which is rare. Was a pleasure to watch him play to be honest......and in terms of our team, it was a great work out for them. Betis moved the ball very well, and played with a lot of confidence (scoring 18 goals in your previous 3 games is a bit of a confidence booster, to be fair.). I agree that Morreira punched a few times when he could have caught, but he stopped a number of important shots - Betis could have been 2 or 3 up at half time, and his distribution was also very good, in the main. First half, we looked too lightweight with Leon in the DMF position. His passing was loose, and he was knocked off the ball numerous times. Augustien struggled to find his role, drifting around the centre of the pitch without linking up successfully with either the striker or our wide men (something Prattley excelled at). Second half, with Allen on for Leon, Augustien looked far comfier in the deeper position. Joey hounding and surging forward allowed Augustien to provide extra steel in front of the defence, and break up the Betis attack. He also completed a few lovely passes - one left footer for Dyer was pure Bodde. His touch was a little rusty, as was Grahams, and it will take a bit of time for him to really find his niché in the team, but I can see him playing an integral role for us in the tougher away games. Graham looked a bit leggy, and his confidence in front of goal was not reminiscent of his Watford form, but he has aerial ability and will surely find his form as the season begins. Lita made a number of great runs that weren't spotted by our midfield, but again, as the familiarity increases between the players, he looks as though he'll be an effective signing. Routledge did everything that we know he can do, and I believe that he'll be a key signing. I'm not sure playing "in the hole" is the position for him, but having the ability to rotate our three wingers will undoubtedly lead to fresher legs, and better performance from the three of them. On this performance, the "big" teams are still going to be seriously tough games for us to get anything from, but if Betis had been playing Wigan today, I believe that Bobby's men would have had a thumping, which should provide real confidence for the players and fans alike. STID
the main point is we have had an excellent pre-season and to end it with wins against two strong sides against celtic and real betis without conceding a goal shows that we are heading in the right direction, to not dominate games like we are so use to and still win is very encouraging......bring the season on ....Brendan and his Jack gladiators are ready and raring to go.....
I was thinking the same thing earlier Dai. While perhaps not at the calibre of top Premiership teams, two clean sheets is a big confidence boost... continuation on fortress Liberty!
Terrific article Scotty, really interesting. For someone who just "cobbled" it together, excellent piece of work. Looking forward to the regular season match threads. Agree with you and Dai about the games so far, starting to show a bit of promise.
I took the same approach I did with uni work... just ramble on subjects you know a fair bit about! Pick a heading and go for it It'll be easier with scorers, prior form, team news etc during the regular season so I should get a good format going I can stick to.
