Stevens
Long Moore McNally Seddon
Gorrin
Brannagan McGuane
Browne Taylor Bodin
Subs: Eastwood, Henry, Baldock, Forde, Smyth, Goodrham, Golding
So yes we could and it’s a pretty good starting 11!
I like the players but not the team.
Stevens - lost form towards the end of the season and was beaten at his near post on 4 or 5 occasions (problem).
Seddon - let’s face it. Great start to the season but by Christmas we had fallen out of love for him. His ineffective wondering up the left wing and losing of the ball, left us exposed which opposition exploited.
Long - love him and know he would die for OUFC but still has too many ‘off games’ (poor passing, missed tackles etc). could we get a better defensive RB?
McNally - still far from the finished article and needs to remove silly errors from his game. But think he’ll be off anyway.
Gorrin - not going to see him fit to start for couple of months yet. So need a defensive midfielder.
McGuane - the hype (Forest and Barcelona) has never been lived up to. An athlete but cannot think of a game or moment where he has really shone or dominated. Potential but I am not sure I see him as a core contributor.
Browne, Taylor, Bodin - lots of craft and hard work here but will need underpinning by a team that has defensive resilience.
If we want to do better we need to add quality and experience.
Asking basically the same team as last year to ‘do better’ isn’t the answer.
The Division is getting harder each year so to succeed we need to get stronger.