Game 1 - The Magpies (H)

Team: Maidenhead United

Date: 06/08/2022

Where: Meadow Lane

What line-up should Luke Williams opt for? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be?

Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

"What line-up should Ian Burchnall opt for" ????

 

Maidenhead at home is the ideal opportunity to start the season with 3 points and I think we will. A long season starts here and hopefully we have many many highs and very few lows. 

On 03/08/2022 at 18:32, Piethagoram said:

"What line-up should Ian Burchnall opt for" ????

Yeah, can’t say I’m too clued up on Forest Green Rovers, but I can have a think about what team Luke Williams might pick!

We’ve played 3-5-2, well a variation of it during pre-season. It’s hard to describe at the minute but it seems to be very flexible. I’d probably call it a 3-1-5-1. We seemed to push three players up behind the striker and the wingbacks were very attack minded. I’m guessing that will be the formation.

So, Slocombe in goal seems obvious and the back three, I think Cameron and Baldwin are in which leaves the RCB spot for either Bajrami or Brindley. If Palmers fit he’ll be the holing CM, otherwise I think LW quite likes Francis. Wingbacks, I’d go Chicksen and Nemane. Austin, O’Brien and Rodrigues in behind Langstaff.

Just don’t think Scott has had enough game time after his illness and Mitchell has looked sharp but Langstaff really looks like he’s got that natural goal scoring ability.

I’d expect us to dominate play with Maidenhead getting as many men behind the ball to frustrate for as long as possible. I don’t think it’ll be a Barnet style win but I think we should get off to a good start again this season.

I'm not sure what to expect about tomorrow with it being the first game of the season, but I still believe we'll start the season off strongly.

In my mind, I think I know what my line-up would be.

Luke Williams himself probably will, but I do expect him to make a few decisions which will surprise us. Provided we attack the game, don't allow them to put us under silly pressure - the game should be quite free flowing. What's the odds on a 4-0 opening day victory? Having asked that, I'd take a simple one nil to build on.

It'll be nice just to be back at Meadow Lane.

On 03/08/2022 at 18:32, Piethagoram said:

"What line-up should Ian Burchnall opt for" ????

I must note that the first thing I do, once a manager leaves, is updating various automated parts of the site. I need to do the managers page. ????

 

That's about as good as it gets. Langstaff off to a flyer. Clean sheet. Maidenhead are poor and will do well to avoid relegation. 

Satisfying start

Yep, great start to the new season and the result was better than I expected. Promising debuts from Austin, Baldwin and Langstaff. Especially Langstaff, very early days but but 20 goals certainly looks like something he can achieve.

Not the hardest opposition, but a very good start nonetheless. Great to see Langstaff get off the mark straight away too! Hopefully a nice confidence-builder ahead of some trickier fixtures this month.

A few things to work on in training, sloppy In places but can be worked on. Report says must improve for better opposition

The first half wasn't really the best and, despite the score line, it wasn't remotely a good team performance. It was acceptable, but defensively we need to be better, as I think better teams would've punished our poor passing and lack of defensive mindset early on. Maidenhead, although not a great side, did give us enough concerns early on as they pressed for a quick tempo. I think their travelling fans should be happy with their side's performance.

Our goals came through pressure and good play, which is a promising sign as we worked the ball quite well at times.

Second half we looked very lively, I wanted to see someone like Frank Vincent sit on the ball a bit. Yet Jim O'Brien did extremely well in my eyes, both defensively and assisting going forward. At times, he tracked back, won the ball and played us forward. I don't get why some fans moan about him starting because he brings experience and fire to the side.

I wasn't a big fan of Joel Taylor on the right in the first half.

He did quite a bit better in the second half, yet I think it highlighted that someone else there could do the job more comfortably. I actually wished Richard Brindley was given this role, as I do think he does well at times when he plays, but he's a lot more effective for us going forward. He's willing to cut in, run into space and go wide when the times are right. Taylor looked like he had been given the role of Jayden Richardson but needed to either gain confidence or just grown in the position.

Perhaps he will get better as his deliveries are good, but I would be lying if I felt he wasn't better suited on the left.

Good win, fantastic start for Macaulay Langstaff.

It's early days, but I do feel a lot more confident that we'll continue to have the best start to any season for years.