Have you witnessed a better friendly than Macc’s draw versus Rochdale? Normally pre-season games are turgid affairs, played at a snail’s pace and frequently disrupted by endless substitutions. In contrast, The Silkmen and the Dale went toe-to-toe as if it were an old-fashioned cup tie. Four goals, chances galore, fisticuffs aplenty during a halfway line melee, and some quite outstanding football from both sides.
Due to work constraints and being asked to try on endless holiday clothes by my wife, I haven’t had time to produce a full match report of Tuesday evening’s game. However, I would like to use this blog to debate some of the key talking points to emerge from it.
1. Square pegs in round holes make Macc susceptible to early goals. Twice Macc have gone behind inside five minutes in friendlies against Stalybridge and Rochdale, but it’s conceivable they could have done so in every game with Blackburn and The New Saints also spurning early chances. The three at the back experiment looks exactly what it is – an experiment, and one which Macc currently don’t have the personnel to successfully deploy.
Dale’s opener was calamitous on a number of levels from Macc’s point of view. On initial viewing, Paul Dawson was the chief culprit but that doesn’t explain half of it. A long, innocuous ball was pumped near to the left corner flag by a Rochdale defender. Dawson came across to contest the loose, bouncing ball, but rather than keep goalside and stay tight to the attacker, he overcompensated and was easily brushed aside and left in no man’s land. The attacker was able to advance towards goal and square the ball for an easy tap in for Devante Rodney.
As a regular midfielder, maybe the combative Dawson can get away with being over enthusiastic in his attempts to win possession with defenders behind him to mop up if he gets his timings wrong. But as a defender, the margin for error is much lower and requires as much sound judgement as brute strength to succeed. Dawson’s defending in this instance was naïve and Macc were ruthlessly punished, which was a pity because he had an otherwise excellent game as a makeshift centre back once again.
Dawson wasn’t the only one at fault, though. He vacated his central position to race across to the left-hand side because Laurent Mendy (who started as the left centre back) had abandoned ship and ventured into midfield. Like Dawson, Mendy was outstanding apart from this one positional lapse. With Dawson exposed, Tre Pemberton was forced to cover the central area from right centre back, leaving no one picking up Rodney. The only Macc player who could was Justin Johnson, occupying an unfamiliar right wingback berth, but Johnson was seemingly oblivious to anticipate the potential danger. A horror goal all round for Macc.
2. It took the unfortunate withdrawal of Alex Curran on 20 minutes for Macc to revert to a back four, with the impressive Neil Kenghi coming on to play left back, Dawson and Mendy as centre halves and Tre in his customary right back slot. But didn’t the Silkmen look far more assured for doing so?
In the continued absence of Brandon Lee and Sam Heathcote, the defence who finished the game against Rochdale might be the Silkmen’s best bet to line-up against Worksop on the opening day of the season, although Lewis Fensome and new signing Scott Holding might have something to say about that.
3. Is our summer shopping now over? Macc have run the rule over five trialists during pre-season, but so far only centre back signing Scott Holding has been retained. Former Silkmen Brandon Newell has been told his services aren’t required, and fellow midfielder Cameron Rooney (who featured against Blackburn and The New Saints) was notably absent against Rochdale.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that Macc are closed for business. New goalkeepers Max Dearnley and Tom Scott were signed without being trialled in a pre-season fixture, so it’s conceivable that Robbie Savage could raid Macc’s transfer war chest again between now and the season curtain raiser. Much may depend on how quickly Brandon Lee, Sam Heathcote and Alex Curran can be available for selection.
4. Luke Duffy has the talent to be Macc’s leading light this season. Duffy’s mercurial display against an established National League side was quite simply breathtaking, a genuine raising of the bar for which he must now maintain it.
Macc’s record signing has, at times, flattered to deceive since his switch from Warrington Town a year ago. Brought to the Leasing.com stadium following star man’s James Berry’s departure to Chesterfield, Duffy has not always lived up to his billing. Of course, comparisons between Berry and Duffy should be tempered because they are different types of players.
Duffy is less direct and doesn’t have the same natural eye for goal, however he is an intelligent creator with a sublime skillset to boot. Rochdale simply couldn’t deal with him in the second half, hauling him down for a penalty after some blinding trickery in the box which John Rooney duly smashed home to bring Macc level.
But Duffy’s contribution for Macc’s second equalizer of the evening was on a different level entirely. Exquisite close control, a shimmy and turn of pace left Dale chasing shadows in midfield as Duffy fizzed the ball out to Neil Kenghi who went bombing down the left wing. Kenghi’s cross was inch perfect into Duffy’s stride who timed his run to perfection to fire home. Scintillating football from a scintillating player, who has it in his locker to really come to the fore in what could be a breakthrough campaign for him.
Macc at times have an embarrassment of riches at this level, but are occasionally guilty of overstocking certain positions. Alex Curran and John Rooney are excellent attacking midfield options, but could Duffy eclipse both of them if played in a ‘number 10’ role instead of as a wide forward?
5. Tom Clare has a part to play this season. Tom’s decision to return to Macc for his latest stint has been met with derision by some and raised eyebrows by others. Not quick enough, not committed enough and simply not good enough is the popular view on the terraces of the reality TV star.
But Clare and the Silkmen’s coaching team don’t believe it, and on the evidence of pre-season so far, nor should we. In patches, Clare has shown what an asset he can be as a target man or a supporting striker off the bench.
Against The New Saints, Clare showed the awareness and intelligence to lay Kielen Adams’ cross off with his chest into the path of Macc’s no.14 trialist whose shot was beaten away at the death to deny Macc victory. And against Dale, Tom’s hold-up play was again in evidence as he turned and threaded a perfect through ball to send Adams clean through on goal only for his effort to be saved.
Had both of those chances been converted, it may have forced Clare’s critics to reconsider their assessment of the giant’s importance to Macc’s promotion push.
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