Player ratings v Wealdstone

[Elite_pie]

Slocombe 7 - one dodgy punch apart, he looked a bit more confident. One superb save low down probably earned us two points.
Brindley 5 - a torrid night, constantly exposed and most of their dangerous attacks were down our right.
Lacey 5 - never got to grips with their strikers, had a difficult time.
Cameron 6 - same as Lacey, but gets an extra point for scoring the winner. He needs to show similar dominance and desire in our box as well though.
Taylor 6 - did ok, best of the back line and got forward at times.
Roberts 7.5 - the end product didn't match the approach work, but he was a real danger all game.
Francis 6 - moderate first half, but improved as the game progressed. Needs a bit of shooting practice!
Palmer 7.5* - covered a lot of ground, always available for a pass and hardly wasted a ball all night.
Rodrigues 5 - a shadow of the player he can be. Overhit passes, poor first touch, struggled to get involved.
Wootton 7.5 - led the line well, another goal, showed how viital he is to the team.
Mitchell 6.5 - his pace was always a threat, I think he needs a goal to really show what he can do.

O'Brien 6 - worked hard.
Kelly-Evans 6 - helped to shore up the right side late on.
Sam n/a - not enough time to rate, but the more I see of Eli Sam the more I wonder what he offers.

We started slowly and were poor until Roberts equalised, and we were very lucky to go in ahead at half time. The 15 minutes after half time was our best spell, we created a lot and should have put the game to bed. Once they got back to 3-2 though it was a nervy last half hour, and a relief when the final whistle blew. A very entertaining game where 5-5 would probably have been a fair score. Well done to Wealdstone and their fans, they certainly played their part.

[Chris Website URL Visit Site 𝕏 fmcj10 Instagram fmcj10]

I think that pretty much nails what I would say, but to add, I think Mitchell and Francis were a lot poorer than we have seen.

Yes, Mitchell worked hard chasing balls, but he gave possession away a lot of the time with poor decisions or running into trouble. I mean he did some very good link-up play, but his finishing/decision-making can lead to issues.

Francis at times seems like his feet are glued to the ground, his passing can be hit-and-miss.

Defensively, I thought he was very good, but going forward not so much.

Sam struggled to control the ball a lot. For the first time, I felt agreement that his touches are poor and wasteful. Yet, I do believe if he played more regularly that this would have an increase in his confidence. He's very nimble for his size, his turn of pace and strength are all pluses which we could get more out of.

That said, he came on at a challenging time when the tempo of play was very lively and this alone can be difficult.

At this stage, if we don't gamble on Sam - he does seem a waste to have.

[Piethagoram 𝕏 @piethagoram]

I would let Sam leave in the next transfer window. His close control in holding up the ball is just not there at times as well as concentration in giving away stupid free kicks. I would see if F*rest would be interested at £10m?