Snellbridge's Defensive Shift
With the Cup of Harmony due to kick-off for Blaneu Snellbridge has announced his 23 man squad and his starting XI for the first match up against Saint Émelie, in what could prove a crucial fixture.
Snellbridge's project to blood and bring through younger players seems to be reaching fruition with this squad, Elliot Sketty and Sean MacDermot come into defense after an impressive run of form during the lame duck bit of qualifying, meanwhile a reshuffle has occurred on the bench, with John Hartson dropping down to just being in the squad, and Caradog Gwent securing his place on the bench. Along with these changes there has been a reversion to having three men at the back with Starkey shielding them. There had been some noises that perhaps Snellbridge would consider retaining two at the back, but the return of effervescent attacking midfielder Euan Fitzstephen may well have dissuaded him. With Fitzstephen back on side, the front line suddenly looks a lot stronger, and the rationale for having more players back grows.
One area where things remain unclear is the position of centre-forward. Ageing and ailing John Hartson has dropped back in the pecking order, and his mini-me John Pottinger has dropped back to the bench. Paul MacDaffyd, who has not scored in over 600 minutes on pitch, remains on the bench, but his form is increasingly looking shot. With these options ruled out, the young Gethin Powell will be spearheading the frontline, and whilst no one doubts his abilities (with 8 goal from 19 caps), he lacks physicality to disrupt defenses, and will instead be reliant on his speed and grace to make an impact. Of concern to the national setup are the rumors currently circulating Powell, his club Defi Rovers are looking to shed their best players and they look likely to try and sell him abroad despite the fact that he is notorious for struggling when away from his family. Blaneu fans will certainly be hoping this doesn't affect his performance going forward.
Pos. Name Age Caps Goals Assists Clean Sheets Club
GK Robert O'Brian 32 22 0 0 4 Bay Road FC
DF James Jones 21 19 1 1 n/a Bay Road FC
DF Elliot Sketty 21 6 0 0 n/a West Cape Wanderers
DF Sean MacDermot 20 5 0 0 n/a Defi Rovers
MF Dyfed Elron 20 13 2 3 n/a Defi Rovers
MF Lucas Sparks 23 26 2 3 n/a West Cape Wanderers
MF Aaron Starkey 23 26 2 6 n/a Defi Rovers
MF Euan Fitzstephens 20 11 1 3 n/a Defi Rovers
FW Ojo Navarro 25 22 14 6 n/a West Cape Wanderers
FW Owain Davis 24 26 6 7 n/a West Cape Wanderers
FW Gethin Powell 18 19 8 0 n/a Defi Rovers
GK Tudur Aled 22 5 0 0 1 East Cape FC
DF Red Vernon 33 22 2 0 n/a Bedha Rangers
MF Leslie Driscoll 26 18 1 1 n/a Defi Rovers
MF Caradog Gwent 19 14 0 3 n/a East Cape FC
FW Paul MacDaffyd 26 21 10 1 n/a Bay Road FC
GK Dai Jones 31 1 0 0 1 West Cape Wanderers
DF Glenn Peterson 35 9 0 0 n/a Portside AFC
DF Justin Hollands 33 22 0 0 n/a Bedha English
MF Iain French 25 2 0 0 n/a East Cape FC
FW Rhodri Apnest 22 9 1 2 n/a East Cape FC
FW John Pottinger 22 5 1 0 n/a Bay Road FC
FW John Hartson 44 9 4 0 n/a Riverside Sports Club
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