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Post by chesterken on Aug 4, 2018 18:06:55 GMT
I enjoyed the game it wasn’t wonderful and it wasn’t terrible somewhere in the middle, as people have said before it’s a marathon not a sprint, we go again Monday and hope for a win which will put us in a great position.
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Post by bonecrusher on Aug 4, 2018 18:21:06 GMT
Its a decent start. 10 players making their competitive debuts for Chester. It's a brand new team and it will take a bit of time to bed in properly. Good levels of organisation and we didn't concede a goal. Shenton looks a good keeper, the centre halves were pretty solid and Tuton looks a player. Much to build on.
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Post by Harry Lime on Aug 4, 2018 18:46:51 GMT
Lots of positives, but plenty to work on too. Thought our front 2 looked really lively, can see plenty of goals in both of them and they worked so hard. Liked Livesey and Grand at the back too, did their job well. Good crowd, plenty of encouragement and optimism around the place too. Things to improve on for me are the shape of the side. Just listened to AJ in his interview, and he's said that we're very much a work in progress and the system will need tweaking and you'd have to agree. We didn't seem to get anything out of either Pritchard or Smalley today. They didn't really contribute to the attack too often, but they also weren't part of a back 5 that made us hard to beat. They just seemed a bit lost in the system and as a result we were too easy to play through and were a bit isolated up front. Both look good players to me, just trying to do two jobs and ended up doing none. The system also meant we were overrun in the midfield and never really got to grips with the game. GR and GS seemed to be always reacting to things and chasing the ball, as opposed to dictating it. We're asking an awful lot of 2 players. But we're off the mark and could easily have won the game. We'll only get better and there's plenty to be encouraged about. I touched on Smalley myself earlier but forgot about Pritchard, he barely touched the ball. Really like him as well, has good delivery and loves to drive forward but we didn’t really get either of those two in to it. It was usually Tuton breaking off to the wide positions and then trying to cut in. Something else which didn’t help was Roberts on a card for the majority of the game, lacked a bit of bite in the middle as a result. Good team this, I just don’t think we played to our strengths on the day. Jack pretty much nailed it really. The more I see of Smalley the more I feel he's not up this level yet. Especially as a wing back. The four/five across the middle struggled today. Roberts started well, but as the game went on he dropped deeper and deeper. Something he did last season. That left Stopforth covering most of the central area on his own. Mooney was further up, leaving gaps. Spennymoor had a spare man at times and it showed. Our pitch is too large to allow thst. May be easier to play this was away from home? Assuming Green comes in for Mooney, we'll still have the same problems. Can't see how Stopforth can be dropped as he is the legs in there. That means Burton comes in for Roberts, unless we change formation. One thing that stood out was the lack of game changing options on our bench. Mahon or Brown and not much else really. Overall good signs and we're a team that should improve over the next couple of months. Final thought. How good was their no.9 today? Thought he was excellent.
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Post by Rio Doherty on Aug 4, 2018 18:48:08 GMT
I thought that it was a decent game today, although I felt a sense of frustration towards the end due to missed chances. A draw is a fair judgment of today’s match as both sides were pretty even but just lacked that final touch. Don’t forget though, this is a brand new side who have still not fully settled in just yet, so it will take a little bit of time for them to adapt to this environment.
On the whole, we performed solidly and can be pleased that we have got off the mark at the first attempt. Our defence was the main area of concern going into this season, but today they made a really good account of themselves and performed well. Grant Shenton made some impressive saves which will be very good for his confidence. Up top, Shaun Tuton performed really well on his debut but the area I wasn’t as impressed with this afternoon was our midfield. Like the rest of our team, they all shown plenty of strength and effort, but they seemed to be a tad disjointed. Of course, Scott Burton and George Green will boost that area when they recover from there injuries, and Matty Hughes will be a big plus when he returns from suspension.
Other than the game, it was so refreshing to see the Deva busy for the first time in a while as the Harry Mac in particular was heaving. The atmosphere was fantastic considering last season’s events, whilst the overall performance should be enough to encourage our ‘’floating fans’’ to return.
I’m really looking forward to Monday night’s game now as hopefully we can get off the mark on the road. Saying that though, Curzon Ashton picked up an impressive result today so we must be on our guard.
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Post by Si on Aug 4, 2018 18:57:34 GMT
I was disappointed to be honest. Whilst the defenders defended well I thought the distribution was really poor at times, and there was some really nervy heavy touches. The midfield didn’t make themselves available enough - quite often we’d get it out to Pritchard or Smalley but they had no options and got closed down which resulted in aimless punts. Tutin made a nuisance of himself and looked like he will be useful. Spenny looked the better team on the ball but we did actually create the better chances, but I fell they were all a bit guilty of trying too hard today rather than showing some composure in key areas. The balance isn’t right yet, but must remember that Hughes and Green are to come in who will be more creative. We really lacked a link between midfield and strikers and Mahon did ok when he came on to try and play that role but I felt we lacked width and it didn’t make sense to bring a Mahon on and play centrally. Very much a work in progress. Will take the positives.....good crowd, a clean sheet, keeper looked good, and we didn’t lose.
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Post by dmcnally on Aug 4, 2018 19:06:30 GMT
I touched on Smalley myself earlier but forgot about Pritchard, he barely touched the ball. Really like him as well, has good delivery and loves to drive forward but we didn’t really get either of those two in to it. It was usually Tuton breaking off to the wide positions and then trying to cut in. Something else which didn’t help was Roberts on a card for the majority of the game, lacked a bit of bite in the middle as a result. Good team this, I just don’t think we played to our strengths on the day. Jack pretty much nailed it really. The more I see of Smalley the more I feel he's not up this level yet. Especially as a wing back. The four/five across the middle struggled today. Roberts started well, but as the game went on he dropped deeper and deeper. Something he did last season. That left Stopforth covering most of the central area on his own. Mooney was further up, leaving gaps. Spennymoor had a spare man at times and it showed. Our pitch is too large to allow thst. May be easier to play this was away from home? Assuming Green comes in for Mooney, we'll still have the same problems. Can't see how Stopforth can be dropped as he is the legs in there. That means Burton comes in for Roberts, unless we change formation. One thing that stood out was the lack of game changing options on our bench. Mahon or Brown and not much else really. Overall good signs and we're a team that should improve over the next couple of months. Final thought. How good was their no.9 today? Thought he was excellent. Quite a few people including the National League twitter have Dom Smalley down as our star signing. He also won Players Player of the Year at Ashton last season so clearly there's a player in there. Maybe he'd be better suited to a back four? Also on the back three, think Jonno mentioned in his post match interview something about the centre backs not a fan of our three at the back with wing backs. I'd go 4 at the back and drop Howson whose performance sounded questionable through SealsLive today. Also gives chance for Smalley and Pritchard to be back as full backs. A 4312 would allow us to play all three of Stopforth, Burton and Roberts, with Green in front and maintain the Dudley and Tuton partnership. Not sure how long Tuton will be here though. Lack of width with that though. Could also go 433 and have two of Hughes, Mahon, Mooney, Tuton, Dudley wide and Tuton or Dudley down the middle. Then you'd have to pick two of Burton, Stopforth, Roberts again. For me Burton and Roberts are the best footballers and I'd pick them in a game we should be winning. Stopforth would suit a tighter game with his running and pressing as we'd have less of the ball. Just what I'd do but you can't really question the tactics of the gaffers when it's got them a promotion in most of the seasons of management. We'll improve from here.
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Post by Harry Lime on Aug 4, 2018 19:14:16 GMT
Jack pretty much nailed it really. The more I see of Smalley the more I feel he's not up this level yet. Especially as a wing back. The four/five across the middle struggled today. Roberts started well, but as the game went on he dropped deeper and deeper. Something he did last season. That left Stopforth covering most of the central area on his own. Mooney was further up, leaving gaps. Spennymoor had a spare man at times and it showed. Our pitch is too large to allow thst. May be easier to play this was away from home? Assuming Green comes in for Mooney, we'll still have the same problems. Can't see how Stopforth can be dropped as he is the legs in there. That means Burton comes in for Roberts, unless we change formation. One thing that stood out was the lack of game changing options on our bench. Mahon or Brown and not much else really. Overall good signs and we're a team that should improve over the next couple of months. Final thought. How good was their no.9 today? Thought he was excellent. Quite a few people including the National League twitter have Dom Smalley down as our star signing. He also won Players Player of the Year at Ashton last season so clearly there's a player in there. Maybe he'd be better suited to a back four? Yes. Think back four would suit him better. I saw the Twitter comment myself and was surprised. It's his first season at this level, and also playing a different position. Takes time.
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Post by superhans on Aug 4, 2018 19:18:38 GMT
Thought we’d seen the back of hopeless 5 at the back formations, seen it so many times in recent seasons and never works. You need explosive athletic wing backs for it to work as others have said you’re essentially expected to do twice the work.
Think four at the back would have suited a lot more today as in Livesey and Grand we’ve probably got eh two best CBS in the league, Howson is an adequate stand in but anyone that saw the most recent Salford documentary will have seen Jonno & Bernanrd brutally tell him that he’s not NLN level, which I think is true.
Game was crying out for wingers as we were so exposed at the back and limited our options going forward.
BUT, Tuton looks class, and we’ve got some of our best players still to come into the team. Perhaps the 5 at the back reasoning today was to ensure we did lose to a pretty handy side in Spennymoor. Quick turnaround now for the Curzon game, excited to see Green finally get a game for us, hopefully Monday’s the day...
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Post by dmcnally on Aug 4, 2018 19:20:11 GMT
Thought we’d seen the back of hopeless 5 at the back formations, seen it so many times in recent seasons and never works. You need explosive athletic wing backs for it to work as others have said you’re essentially expected to do twice the work. Think four at the back would have suited a lot more today as in Livesey and Grand we’ve probably got eh two best CBS in the league, Howson is an adequate stand in but anyone that saw the most recent Salford documentary will have seen Jonno & Bernanrd brutally tell him that he’s not NLN level, which I think is true. Game was crying out for wingers as we were so exposed at the back and limited our options going forward. BUT, Tuton looks class, and we’ve got some of our best players still to come into the team. Perhaps the 5 at the back reasoning today was to ensure we did lose to a pretty handy side in Spennymoor. Quick turnaround now for the Curzon game, excited to see Green finally get a game for us, hopefully Monday’s the day... Think we're looking at a few weeks for Green. Burton 50/50 for Curzon
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Post by ivawhopper on Aug 4, 2018 19:37:33 GMT
So good in fact that you have told us twice
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Post by ivawhopper on Aug 4, 2018 19:41:50 GMT
Did anyone else think that striker for Spennymoor moved around like Evil Edna from Willo The Wisp!
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Post by bonecrusher on Aug 4, 2018 19:46:01 GMT
Did anyone else think that striker for Spennymoor moved around like Evil Edna from Willo The Wisp! I thought they had a player who looked a spitting image of Ben Stokes. Missed Evil Edna though...
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Post by tonya on Aug 4, 2018 19:46:41 GMT
Am I right in my belief that I read some players quotes on here saying how they are all working class and will give everything. To be honest I don't think it's relevant what class you are. Weird statements I thought. If the Duke of Westminster invested would we turn it down on the basis of 'class conformity'? Maybe off topic but some fans will have seen those statements and wondered what the relevance of them was. Are we a class based club?
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Post by midfieldgeneral on Aug 4, 2018 19:56:07 GMT
Thought we’d seen the back of hopeless 5 at the back formations, seen it so many times in recent seasons and never works. You need explosive athletic wing backs for it to work as others have said you’re essentially expected to do twice the work. Think four at the back would have suited a lot more today as in Livesey and Grand we’ve probably got eh two best CBS in the league, Howson is an adequate stand in but anyone that saw the most recent Salford documentary will have seen Jonno & Bernanrd brutally tell him that he’s not NLN level, which I think is true. Game was crying out for wingers as we were so exposed at the back and limited our options going forward. BUT, Tuton looks class, and we’ve got some of our best players still to come into the team. Perhaps the 5 at the back reasoning today was to ensure we did lose to a pretty handy side in Spennymoor. Quick turnaround now for the Curzon game, excited to see Green finally get a game for us, hopefully Monday’s the day... I take it you dont remember when we won the Conference playing 5 3 2? Worked well enough then.
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Post by ivawhopper on Aug 4, 2018 20:51:08 GMT
Did anyone else think that striker for Spennymoor moved around like Evil Edna from Willo The Wisp! I thought they had a player who looked a spitting image of Ben Stokes. Missed Evil Edna though... Yes saw the Ben Stokes lookalike too. It wasn’t so much looked like, it was more the shuffling around when he didn’t have the ball
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Post by dmcnally on Aug 4, 2018 21:39:29 GMT
According to Spennymoor twitter, match stats
Shots; Chester 12 Spenny 10 On target: Chester 5 Spenny 6 Fouls: Chester 13 Spennymoor 6
Bet half those fouls were Gary Roberts!
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Post by chesterken on Aug 4, 2018 21:50:19 GMT
According to Spennymoor twitter, match stats Shots; Chester 12 Spenny 10 On target: Chester 5 Spenny 6 Fouls: Chester 13 Spennymoor 6 Bet half those fouls were Gary Roberts! Is that 6 and one assist =13😀
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Andy
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by Andy on Aug 4, 2018 22:02:11 GMT
Would somebody be able to help me and put squad up with the shirt number they wore today. I can figure out a couple easily enough but I've convinced myself I've got the two strikers mixed up.
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Post by Rio Doherty on Aug 4, 2018 22:18:15 GMT
Would somebody be able to help me and put squad up with the shirt number they wore today. I can figure out a couple easily enough but I've convinced myself I've got the two strikers mixed up. 1: Grant Shenton 2: Steve Howson 3: John Pritchard 4: Gary Roberts 5: Simon Grand 6: Danny Livesey 7: Dominic Snalley 8: Gary Stopforth 9: Anthony Dudley 10: Shaun Tuton 11: Dan Mooney Substitutes: 12: Jon Moran 14: Matty Thomson 15: Nathan Brown 16: Craig Mahon 17: Alex Downes
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Post by delamereal on Aug 4, 2018 22:22:00 GMT
Dudley was 9, Tuton 10.
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Post by Frank Owen’s Paintbrush on Aug 4, 2018 22:36:14 GMT
I was disappointed to be honest. Whilst the defenders defended well I thought the distribution was really poor at times, and there was some really nervy heavy touches. The midfield didn’t make themselves available enough - quite often we’d get it out to Pritchard or Smalley but they had no options and got closed down which resulted in aimless punts. Tutin made a nuisance of himself and looked like he will be useful. Spenny looked the better team on the ball but we did actually create the better chances, but I fell they were all a bit guilty of trying too hard today rather than showing some composure in key areas. The balance isn’t right yet, but must remember that Hughes and Green are to come in who will be more creative. We really lacked a link between midfield and strikers and Mahon did ok when he came on to try and play that role but I felt we lacked width and it didn’t make sense to bring a Mahon on and play centrally. Very much a work in progress. Will take the positives.....good crowd, a clean sheet, keeper looked good, and we didn’t lose. Can excuse the nervy heavy touches. For most of these lads they were debuting for the biggest club they've ever played for in front of over 2,000.
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Post by uptheseals on Aug 5, 2018 6:22:03 GMT
Credit where it's due shenton had an unreal game imo Thought we played well and defended well too, looked abit nervy going forward but I'm sure it will sort itself out sooner or later, roll on Curzon ashton
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Post by midfieldgeneral on Aug 5, 2018 7:13:34 GMT
Good to see a Chester team yesterday, that looked like they wanted to play for the shirt, unlike last seasons disinterested dross.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2018 8:25:17 GMT
Good to see a Chester team yesterday, that looked like they wanted to play for the shirt, unlike last seasons disinterested dross. Absolutely this. Thought Gary Stopforth embodied that. Covered every blade of grass. Last season a strong, fit footballing team like Spennymoor would have rolled us over easily. Yesterday we could and should have won. Some big players to come in, the players who played will get sharper and the team will bed in. Signs were good for me.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2018 8:25:25 GMT
I actually enjoyed the game considering it was a 0-0. To me Spennymoor looked the team who had been together for a while but Chester had the better of the chances and play in the attacking third. Ten debutants, baking hot day and a good, solid performance.
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Post by Rio Doherty on Aug 5, 2018 8:34:09 GMT
Match highlights:
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Post by rcb on Aug 5, 2018 9:15:28 GMT
Would somebody be able to help me and put squad up with the shirt number they wore today. I can figure out a couple easily enough but I've convinced myself I've got the two strikers mixed up. 1: Grant Shenton 2: Steve Howson 3: John Pritchard 4: Gary Roberts 5: Simon Grand 6: Danny Livesey 7: Dominic Snalley 8: Gary Stopforth 9: Anthony Dudley 10: Shaun Tuton 11: Dan Mooney Substitutes: 12: Jon Moran 14: Matty Thomson 15: Nathan Brown 16: Craig Mahon 17: Alex Downes Thanks Rio - would be great if this simple piece of information was made available before kick-off. With 16 new players signed on it’s a lot harder than in previous years to know who is who. At no cost, could this information be put on the website or emailed to members, for access on smartphones during the match. In regard to the match, I thought a simple analysis was that Spennymoor had the better team, but Chester had the better players. I expect our teamwork will improve, after all we are in the early stages of a work in progress.
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Post by dmcnally on Aug 5, 2018 9:25:43 GMT
1: Grant Shenton 2: Steve Howson 3: John Pritchard 4: Gary Roberts 5: Simon Grand 6: Danny Livesey 7: Dominic Snalley 8: Gary Stopforth 9: Anthony Dudley 10: Shaun Tuton 11: Dan Mooney Substitutes: 12: Jon Moran 14: Matty Thomson 15: Nathan Brown 16: Craig Mahon 17: Alex Downes Thanks Rio - would be great if this simple piece of information was made available before kick-off. With 16 new players signed on it’s a lot harder than in previous years to know who is who. At no cost, could this information be put on the website or emailed to members, for access on smartphones during the match. In regard to the match, I thought a simple analysis was that Spennymoor had the better team, but Chester had the better players. I expect our teamwork will improve, after all we are in the early stages of a work in progress. Team sheet was tweeted by a few journalists and chesterfc themselves.
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Post by Hannibal on Aug 5, 2018 9:27:26 GMT
I missed my first opening day fixture yesterday for 25 years or so because of a touch of novo-virus. Really knocked me about. Hoping to be well enough to drive to Ashton-under-Lyne tomorrow.
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Post by Frank Owen’s Paintbrush on Aug 5, 2018 9:43:31 GMT
Thanks Rio - would be great if this simple piece of information was made available before kick-off. With 16 new players signed on it’s a lot harder than in previous years to know who is who. At no cost, could this information be put on the website or emailed to members, for access on smartphones during the match. In regard to the match, I thought a simple analysis was that Spennymoor had the better team, but Chester had the better players. I expect our teamwork will improve, after all we are in the early stages of a work in progress. Team sheet was tweeted by a few journalists and chesterfc themselves. Yes a photo of the physical team sheet is usually tweeted out before games and this was the case again yesterday. I had to keep referring to it myself throughout the game!
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