According to Big Mick and co, Real Valladolid would provide stiff opposition and ask a stern question of our new-look Premier League squad.
Asking a question is one thing, but an Inquisition is something else completely.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! Not least McCarthy it would seem, who is surely contemplating more brain teasers than Mastermind.
It wasn’t that the 2-0 reversal particularly bothered many of the 10,000 inside Molineux.
It was the long list of conundrums that the friendly has thrown up which will cause the real headaches.
Namely, what formation is Mick going to play? Who is he going to play? And is he going to strengthen between now and then?
It wasn’t that we were particularly bad against the La Liga outfit. We just didn’t offer any answers.
There were lots of reasons to be cheerful, including a surprise cameo from Kevin Doyle, who looked absolutely fantastic (penalty miss aside!).
Stephen Ward impressed at left back, Karl Henry looked typically industrious, while new signings Greg Halford and Andrew Surman added talent and depth to our squad from encouraging second half showings.
In general, a young and hungry performance from a lean, fit looking side.
But those questions keep cropping up…
Halford, filling in at right back, looked as competent further up the pitch as he did in defence. In which case, McCarthy has to play him in a 4-5-1 (one of the five) / 4-3-3 formation (one of the three), which looks to be the system he favours.
But Andy Keogh played 90 minutes as one of the ‘3’ on the right, and will now almost definitely start against West Ham. No room for Halford then?
Predictably, Keogh again looked like Hugh Grant did when chatting up Andie Macdowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Stumbling and stuttering over his lines, never getting to the point, and generally blithering around when you want him to stop pissing about. I was reaching for the next row of seats to cower behind like I did my sofa when watching that damned film.
But my wife seemed to love that scene, much like McCarthy loves Keogh, so barring a big surprise he will play in the curtain raiser.
And another cause for concern is Sylvan Ebanks Blake being on his own up front in this system. Some strikers suit this way of playing (I remember Bully adapting brilliantly when called upon – Man City 1-0 at Maine Road anyone?) but Sylvan certainly doesn’t! Not from what I’ve seen. He needs somebody closer to him to work off, which wasn’t in evidence on today’s showing.
The fact that Kevin Doyle looked so unbelievably good when he came on would suggest that the pair HAVE to play together, at least when fit.
Then there’s Milijas. No doubt a fantastic player with a stack of potential, but completely overshadowed when Dave Jones entered the fray, who looked classier, leaner and sharper than I can remember.
And who can ignore our perennial problem in defence. The sobering sight from the game was seeing exactly the same back four line up to the one against Blackburn this time last year (save for Ward instead of Elokobi)
Craddock and Stearman were a questionable partnership back then, and the ease in which Vallodolid scored their second goal would indicate that it’s an ongoing problem far from being fixed.
The fact Ward genuinely impressed at left back, although not tested severely, says that he’ll start against the Hammers. Are we comfortable with that?
And then there’s Zubar. I still couldn’t tell you what he looks like as he didn’t get a run out. So he will not feature in our first Premier League outing. Perhaps Berra will when he is back. But one thing is for sure…The position is as congested, cluttered and unclear as it has been at any time since May.
Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot to be happy about, with Jarvis again looking an exciting outlet and Foley as assured as ever. We were committed, industrious, and created some clear openings, two of which Surman should have scored from, not to mention the penalty miss.
So I’ll buy the well worn pre-season platitude of ignoring results for once. I’m just having trouble getting these questions out of my head.
Great post Ben. As someone who didn’t make it to the game, I can vouch for the fact that it painted a pretty vivid picture.
I’m glad to see Doyle got that 20 minutes and from all the reports I’ve read, it sounded like he looked sharp, which is very encouraging.
But it’s in defence where the questions really need answering. Why wasn’t Zubar at least given a run-out? Surely Mick hasn’t already decided that he’s not up to scratch?
I’ve got to believe there will be movement as regards defensive signings this week. I wonder if Mancienne will feature in tomorrow’s Charity Shield match? I’ll be keeping an eye on that one.
The most worrying thing about our pre-season friendlies is that we’ve shipped goals in all of them, spare from the Walsall match. That does not bode well.
Today, when we went forward we did look a considerable threat and did deserve at least a goal with a fantastic shot from Jarvis (and an even more brilliant save from their keeper), Sylvan going close a couple of times and the disallowed goal at the end. Doyle and Sylvan would definitely be a strike duo to fear and if McCarthy chooses to play them together it may surprise a few of the big boys and we might get a point or two.
Defensively it seems nothing has changed, Craddock was slow and wasn’t tackling attackers, relying on Stearman to leg it back. Once Berra is fit McCarthy HAS to play him and Zubar as what I have seen of that partnership it has been good. As for left back I still think Matt Hill should be the top choice, he has the strength of Elokobi yet can actually successfully pass the ball and run! Right back there’s no question, Foley but Halford could give him a run for his money and definitely seems a more attacking option should it be needed.
Central midfield needs some addressing too, McCarthy’s apparent dislike of Dave Jones I cannot understand as I believe he is our best CM (bar possibly Milijas, but why not together?) and Karl Henry just doesn’t do it for me.
One point no one seems to have raised is who will start in goal. Hennessey is the obvious choice and deserves to play but Hahnemann offers the experience we so desperately crave. But either way I am not going to be disappointed who Mick picks.
One thimhg that worries me, well..ok 2… is that we still don’t really seem to know what our best 11 is, and, allegedly, Zubar is having problems with the language and missing his family in France
The team isn’t that much different than the one that stuttered through the final 5 months of the last cmapaign, and we really need to be adding some drive and pace this week with some loan signings
West Ham are a very astute and agile side, and our pedestrian midfiled could be badly exposed
As it is, we start on level terms and hope we can nick a scrappy 1-0
The fact that Zubar has not featured much in the last few games suggests he won’t be startting next saturday, which is both dissapointing and concerning. Dissapointing that we have spent quite a bit of money on him and MM looks like he has made his mind up already and concering with the options that leaves us.
I agree with Hallam that Dave Jones should be in our best 11.
Why have I not seen or heard much about Volkes the close season. I really rate him, and could be the target man we need to replace big Chris.
I’m sorry but I don’t agree with EmeraldPete, Zubar just needs more time to adjust. He’ll come good, but we don’t want him to suffer the wrath of Molineux (nee Collins) as he did at the Stade Velododrome if he made some jittery early errors