Exactly what teams and managers want from pre-season friendlies is often hard to gauge, but ultimately there's no specific aspect to each game and it's a bit of everything: minutes, performance, a positive result, no injuries, room to experiment and individuals presenting a case for themselves.
At Plymouth Argyle on Saturday, City ticked most of those boxes and although the performance wasn't outstanding they did achieve something of note, albeit in uncompetitive circumstances - the ability to stay in a game they were second-best at times and grind out a win.
Yes, we know, it doesn't necessarily matter and was also impacted by the volume of substitutions but it still happened and is something extra to take away from the contest and use some part of for the season ahead, given the hosts were, at times, excellent on the ball.
The schedule intensifies over the next seven days with three matches against Forest Green Rovers, Exeter and Bournemouth, plus an Under-23s game at Chippenham Town, with that season opener at Hull City less than a fortnight away. Here are the talking points from Home Park which have a bearing on all of that, and potentially much more...
Massengo back in the middle
Han-Noah Massengo finished his afternoon in Devon joking around with Kane Wilson about his stepovers, as the wing-back appeared to be visibly impressed by a few of the Frenchman’s dribbles during the game, and with Zak Vyner picking grass out of his hair.
As post-match interviews were being conducted down by the corner of Home Park where the players had emerged from the dressing room at kick-off and half-time, City’s players were all engaging in a post-match warm down with various weights being lifted, resistance training equipment being used and even a few iPads being distributed to view clips from the game.
Massengo was very much part of the squad, bearing a big smile after his work over the previous 90 minutes. It had been his first start of pre-season, after substitute appearances against Cheltenham Town and Portsmouth, and a contest in which he grew into as the match progressed.
As Jason Euell noted: “I said to Han as he came off the pitch, you actually looked stronger in the last 12 minutes - he seemed to be more on the front foot, he was buying fouls, making things happen.
“It’s good that you can see someone who can still push in those last 15 minutes in this stage of pre-season and that’s something he recognises needs to be continued. It’s not about just getting through the 90 minutes.”
Massengo and Andy King struggled at times in the first half with Plymouth’s box midfield (more on that in a bit) but there was plenty of energy, snap in the tackle and one dribble in the first half as he motored from midfield that very much looked like the Massengo we know, and many love.
Perhaps it was due to him being one of the only starters to see out the 90 minutes, but as Nigel Pearson made a raft of changes, it was the 21-year-old who looked one of the stronger City players, dominating the ball more regularly in midfield, and delivering some incisive passes on the run to keep the Robins on the front foot. The fact he was doing that speaks volumes of his character and professionalism amid all this uncertainty.
You can tie yourself up in knots a bit in hypothesising over Massengo’s position at the club, as the length remaining on his contract very soon shortens from 12 months to 11 months, and the spectre of him leaving continues.
Trying to err on the factual, however, he played 90 minutes at Plymouth to get minutes in his legs because Pearson wants him at maximum level for the start of the season from July 30, and if that’s the case, that would indicate - in some instances - that the manager sees him very much front and centre in his squad from that date onward, which in turn implies transfer interest from elsewhere has cooled.
Admittedly, Pearson has said he will continue to use players until they’re no longer at the club, and in his post-match debrief against Pompey, assistant Curtis Fleming referenced Massengo’s status as being “still here” in discussing centre midfield options.
There are good and not-so-good parts to that, which we don’t want to go too much into, however it seems the situation around his contract will roll over into the new season but, fundamentally, clearly City believe there remains a good chance he will commit. Whether or not that comes to pass, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Living in a box
Plymouth were very impressive on the ball at times, and you can see why they had such a strong season last term in League One only to come off the boil as the play-off race intensified.
Based on Saturday’s showing, in a fiercely competitive division - honestly, look at how many decent teams are in there for next season, you can pick possibly 12 teams as promotion possibilities - they should be towards the top 10, if not better, once again.
Striker Ryan Hardie caused Timm Klose and Rob Atkinson a number of problems with his strength, the way he covered ground with his deceptive pace and, most notably, his link-up play with their box midfield.
Speaking after the game, Euell implied Plymouth were cherry-picked by City for pre-season not out of West Country loyalty, it’s a nice day out for the fans or that Nigel Pearson lives less than an hour away, but because the Robins wanted to challenge themselves against that style of play.
With two deep-lying midfielders in new signing Matt Butcher and Adam Randall, and then two No10s in Luke Jephcott and Finn Azaz, on loan from Aston Villa and League Two Young Player of the Year last season while on hire at Newport County, Steven Schumacher’s system caused a number of problems for not just Massengo and King but also the back three.
Given the very clear numerical disadvantage in midfield, enhanced by Andi Weimann operating more as a forward, Massengo and King were constantly out-manned in the middle of the park and when they got on the ball Plymouth very quickly passed their way into space.
Particularly in transition, it didn’t take too many passes before they were free through centre-field or down the left as the excellent Mickel Miller gave George Tanner all manner of issues and kept his head on the defensive side of the game, not really permitting him enough room to attack, which was a shame.
But with Jephcott and Azaz dropping into pockets off the frontline, leaving Hardie up there, it represented a dilemma for City’s core; if Massengo and Weimann, to a lesser extent, were to press Butler and Randall, and King would pick up one of Jephcott or Azaz, it then required someone from within the back three to step up and act as a quasi-defensive midfielder.
Vyner often couldn’t because he was worried about Miller breaking past Tanner, and the same was also true with Atkinson on the other flank, watching Jay Dasilva’s channel, although Joe Edwards’ bursts weren’t as frequent.
Consequently Azaz was frequently the spare man and he enjoyed far too much space in the opening 45 minutes, taking pot shots from outside the area. Dan Bentley wasn’t overly troubled but the warning was there and thankfully City appeared to tighten things up a bit more after the break, albeit helped by the substitutions.
The vulnerability is concerning but also isn’t that important right now, what it does do is hone City’s players against this sort of tactic, which is deployed most notably by Coventry City, but the two playmaker system could develop into a theme across the Championship, with so many teams using wing-backs and wanting to maintain midfield stability but not sacrifice any creativity or penetration going forward.
City could even end up playing it with Martin or Antoine Semenyo in attack and then one of Weimann, Alex Scott, Mark Sykes or Ayman Benarous in behind.
Wing-back experiment
City finished the game with Kane Wilson at left wing-back and Mark Sykes over on the flank which, let’s be honest, is very, very interesting.
To address the former, he looks increasingly set to start the season on the right after two impressive showings against Cheltenham and Pompey which have offered a glimpse of what the 22-year-old can provide, almost single-handedly changing the dynamic or at least regularity in how the Robins can attack.
Unfortunately, as partly explained above, Tanner didn’t do enough in the time he was given as a starter at Home Park, having to constantly watch over his shoulder for the runs of Miller while not doing enough on the ball to keep his Plymouth opponents concerned in the defensive end.
Wilson has already looked like a winger at times when he’s on the pitch, stationed right against the touchline and so high up the pitch he’s sometimes beyond Martin and Wells in attack. But the former Forest Green Rovers defender has also drifted in-field as a temporary No10 and has performed his duties when required at the back.
But on the left? That is a curious one. But for the most part, it worked. Wilson isn’t naturally left-footed, and when he was going at defenders he would naturally drift or cut inside as opposed to heading for the byline, like he does on the right. But he showed some nice touches out there and there was one fine cross that Ryley Towler leapt to connect with, the defender’s header then striking the bar.
It’s highly unlikely that Wilson will start games in that position but clearly it’s an in-game option for Pearson, which would allow another face to be moved onto the right, and if Dasilva’s intensity drops over the 90 minutes, allows City to stay on the front foot on the left. With Cam Pring remaining out with a knee injury, Wilson might just be their next best alternative at the moment.
Returning to the right, Sykes was again pretty impressive in the time he had on the field. Offering real energy and although he had the luxury of not having Miller either running at or past him, as the 26-year-old had been withdrawn, he helped keep City in the Plymouth half in the closing stages.
After a couple of strong runs and teasing crosses, it was Sykes’ defensive work that helped lead to the only goal as he intercepted a weak pass out of defence, quickly fed Sam Bell whose first-time pass then found Wells to do the rest.
We think - and this is purely guesswork - that Sykes will be used mostly as a central attacking player or right-winger, but again it’s another option for Pearson over the course of the season and with Wilson, Tanner and the Northern Irishman in that role, it looks a very department.
Thoughts turn to Hull
We don’t want to jinx anything here but [spoiler alert]: barring injuries, you can probably name 10 of the starters right now for Hull City on July 30.
There are only really two positions up for grabs, attacking midfield and striker, but that only becomes one in the knowledge that Weimann will definitely be a starter. So, if he plays one of them, in effect, it leaves only one team vacancy.
Dan Bentley is set as No1, Tomas Kalas’ recovery from surgery and Zak Vyner’s status in the squad means the back three will almost certainly be Timm Klose, Kal Naismith and Rob Atkinson; unless Tanner has a truly outstanding week, we can safely predict Wilson at right-back outside of Joe Williams and Matty James in centre midfield and Pring’s injury gives Dasilva a free run on the left, although the 24-year-old also looks in excellent nick at the moment; meanwhile, in attack, Martin has been restored as Pearson’s stand-up striker.
The spot alongside him will be one of Weimann, Wells or Tommy Conway, with Antoine Semenyo out for the start of the season. While the role behind the strikers will be taken by the Austrian, Sykes or the returning Alex Scott who is due back to start pre-season this week.
The 18-year-old is only likely to be involved against Bournemouth next Saturday and Pearson may even want to tread carefully over that game given how much football Scott has played over the last 12 months for club and country. Seeing the teenager in the starting line-up at the MKM Stadium appears ambitious as City want to be careful with him, reintroducing him into the fold gradually and sensibly. That being said, he’s so good, can you really exist without him?
That’s perhaps a debate for a different day but with Weimann and now Sykes in position, Pearson doesn’t need to rush it. We know the Austrian’s capabilities, while the new arrival continues to impress and should be given a starting berth in that position in one, if not two of the games this week against Forest Green, Exeter and the Cherries, which could help put his case forward.
That then impacts the dynamic of the front two because if Pearson opts for Sykes, that means Weimann up alongside Martin and Wells, yet again, missing out. But the Bermudian can, of course, also dictate his destiny to an extent and although it may not often feel this way, both for him and the fanbase, the manager is always looking for reasons to start him.
The absence of Semenyo allows that decision to be made a little easier and if Wells can keep finding the target - as he did impressively at Home Park albeit absolutely furious with himself he didn’t take the earlier 1v1 when put through by Massengo - in whatever action he’s given this week, it enhances his chances, with Pearson knowing he can start the veteran and also Weimann, it’s not an either/or situation.
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