Go on Then, my thoughts, please ignore any spelling mistakes.

For the first 25 minutes I thought we looked very "pre season" nothing we tried actually came off. I would normally expect players like CamJam and Murphy to do better when through on goal but everyone seemed rusty.

The next 20 minutes I thought we were sensational, every thing we tried actually came off. I was a little concerned that we were overplaying around their box but the 3 goals we scored proved farke right and me wrong.

The 2nd half I always felt we could have scored a goal if we needed to. We seemed to manage the game well. Content to let them chase the ball around the pitch rather than us try to force another goal.

I was the same as most a bit concerned about the goals we conceded. Swindon worked their goals well but I would expect our players to deal with those situations better. I do agree with APB the balls they put into our box were decent. I hope this issue doesn't hinder us again this season. I'll leave it to Farke to sort that one out.

I also agree with APB, at points in the game it looked like a training exercise, it was very obvious to me that our midfielders have a very clear gameplan and they seemed to well drilled in keeping the ball at all costs. The link up play between Maddison/vranic/Wes/Reed/Murphy was stunning at times.

I also agree with Lurd about that 85th minute goal kick
from Gunn to Husband. Husband was under pressure and when they were chasing the equaliser it just seemed daft. I am however happy to watch that football every week if that the way we are drilled I think we will get better at it. I did enjoy the way we played out from the back its the way football should be played IMO but that moment nearly gave me a heart attack.

I loved the fact that we played a strong team and Farke made substitutions to win the game and not just to give players run-outs, we are well overdue a cup run for sure.

I am very excited to see how we get on in the next 2 home games. At the end of the day Swindon are league 2, they did ok but can we reproduce this kind of football against the better teams in the championship. Time will tell.

Player watch.

Gunn, Made a decent save near the end, looked ok with the ball at his feet. I think he will be brilliant for us

Pinto, Was excellent all game going forward and defending, one of the best games I've seen him play.

Husband, did ok, certainly nothing wrong. He joined in well for one of the goals and took up some decent positions.

Zimmerman, reminded me of Andy Linighan, tall strong and composed. He had a real battle with their number 17 and stood up pretty well.

Franke, Again looks big, strong and composed. There was no need for him to give away the foul what lead to their 2nd goal, ridiculous smashing their player out on the byline. I'm sure he knows that mind.

Reed, Brilliant little player does the job he is asked to do very well, a very good link up player between the defence and midfield. A very key player for us this season.

Maddison, Played excellent, really excellent. He looks like a real star of the future. It was the 1st time I had seen him properly live and he is better that I thought he was. I am looking forward to seeing how he plays against better opposition.

Wes, looked ok, linked up with Maddison well but wasn't quite up to speed yet. He will fit right into the way we now set up tactically.

Vranic, I like him as a player, he is a class act. He did however get caught on the ball a few times, it seemed like he was strolling through the game and he will have to look after the ball better against better opposition.

Murphy, I thought he played really well even though he wasn't quite at his best. Rinsed their right back a couple of times near the end and hit a couple of decent shots. this could be his season.

Jerome, I didn't think Jerome played that well last night. Not quite his usual self. The balls being played at his feet didn't always stick. I presume he is getting used to playing with his back to goal rather than chasing down the channels for 90 minutes.

All in all last night was enjoyable. I think looking at last nights performance and looking at our bench I think we will be ok this season especially if our key players stay fit.

Sunderland and QPR will give us much tougher games next week but I think we will win both.

OTBC

Posted By: strap_on sally on August 9th 2017 at 14:11:36

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