05 Sep 2026 08:02:00
Very impressed with the start to last night's game.

Epitomised by the first goal- decent press, everyone front foot and ready to “jump” on the forced pass and Kerkez starting the goal off.

Understandably, intensity dropped after 18 months of walking football, but that first spell winning the ball back reminded me of pre-Slot approach to games.



Onwards and upwards from here. Clear to see the message and approach is getting across from the coaching team.

1.) 05 Sep 2026
05 Sep 2026 08:34:55
First half was so good, it felt satisfying to watch.

2.) 05 Sep 2026
05 Sep 2026 08:40:06
First half was the best I've seen us in absolute ages. Not perfect but a huge step on the dross I watched last year. At times it was superb. And it was a good team performance. Everyone was contributing. Yes, you could pick this and that but everyone stepped forward in their performance.

The second half was a huge drop off. But to be honest, I much prefer to go all out from the off and tire than start slow and build. Eventually our fitness will build up to sustain it longer.

Very positive after yesterday's game but we need to build on that now. It's about setting a standard and improving. Not false dawns. But gotta say, I was happy with that last night for where we are at right now.

Don't want to say nothing bad about any player because they all worked hard.

Most impressed with Isak's performance and work off the ball. The goals were fantastic.

Munoz's work rate was fantastic.

He really works up and down that wing. So raw but that's fine right now. He causes issues for the opposition.

Araujo, maybe my favourite performance. He has absolute brain melts sometimes but I love that he is absolutely all in on defending. He seems to absolutely love tackling, blocking, heading clearances. I think it's almost infectious watching him. It must rub off on the others. You see Kerkez amped up making tackles. You see Van Dijk engaging and high diving. Jacquet almost getting a red card engaging. I put a lot of that down to Araujo's infectious desire for the battle. Just for the love of god, stay fit Ronald. And don't get injured. Ditto for Isak.

And of course Gakpo. Two amazing assists and worked his butt off. Like nothing happened in the last days of the transfer window. What a pro and says everything you need to know about the man.

3.) 05 Sep 2026
05 Sep 2026 09:58:36
I loved Araujo's performance, mate. In the second half he tracked back and blocked a cross from the right and just gave a shout and a fist pump to himself. Just loved seeing that. Good start from him, hope it continues and he stays fit.



Just some stats from the game:
He won 3 out of 4 ground duels, 6 out of 6 aerial duels, and made 7 clearances without being dribbled past once. Nice one from Big Ron.

{Ed025's Note - is that counting the massive slice he put in row Z that went for a corner.. :)

4.) 05 Sep 2026
05 Sep 2026 11:26:22
Sure is. When you pay attention to the small details ED025, it warms the heart because it shows you really care mate

{Ed025's Note - he has done ok mate..

5.) 05 Sep 2026
05 Sep 2026 10:14:04
I read your match post from the Forest game Ed - and knew to look out for how VVD was defending. Not sure I would have spotted that but for your article and I agree! Maybe obvious to others, but it wasn't to me.

I could see he kept running backwards trying to steer the player to either side but not that he wasn't stepping up into the attack.

{Ed001's Note - glad it helped mate: