What can we learn about Swindon’s young signings after one league game? Conventional wisdom says not much. Obviously, Jose Mourinho disagrees. He often does.
“In 10 minutes it’s difficult to score a Maradona goal”, he says. “To get the ball in midfield, dribble 10 guys and score a goal, but that’s not what you’re expecting from a player.
“In 10 minutes you can show a lot. A lot. You can show you are ready, you are mentally ready, you are physically ready, you are ready to cope with the pressure. You are not the kind of guy that is ready to train and play against kids of your own age but not be ready to play at the high level.”
So, what about after 90 minutes against Bradford? Sure, Jose could have made his decision nine times over – and seen one Maradona-like goal from Nathan Byrne. But what about us mere mortals? I am mortal (my approach to saturated fat indicates I’m not going to last forever) and I was mostly impressed.
In the first half on Saturday some of the kids did look less than ready. Jordan Williams found that when you are being shoved in the back by James Hanson, a built-in wardrobe of a man, you still have to head a simple throw-in or lose a goal.
Kevin Stewart, whose dribbling often left Bradford midfielders trailing in his wake also left much of his composure there too. Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill seemed to rely too much on his tricks (and the referee) when forwards when clattered into his shins, and keeper Lawrence Vigouroux, for all of his excellence, kept rolling the ball to defenders under pressure.
But they all learnt something in that first 45 minutes. Once Town reverted to their ‘Plan A’, everything clicked, including the new players.
They showed they were ready: Vigouroux picked better passes, Ormonde-Ottewill found some bite in the tackle, Stewart tormented Bradford’s midfield and Williams? Well, at least he did the simple things right.
Perhaps Jose is right and 10 minutes is enough, so long as you watch the right 10 minutes, played with the right formation.
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