And lo and behold – a second Monza report. This time courtesy of Oliver Wayman.
He did supply photos, but unfortunately I’ve got the uploading problems back (which may end up taking SW19 off the air until sorted – I have a very arsey hosting company who can get the hump if everything in WordPress isn’t 110%)…
Well that wasn’t the final pre season flourish we were hoping for and unfortunately F1 Grand Prix 3 Greyhound Derby 0 ended up being one of the most comprehensive defeats I have seen in a while. Unfortunately the gulf in class was very apparent and considering Monza had only finished their season a month ago we should have made much more of game of it.
Much has already been written about the ticketing for the game, to which I’ll just add, thank god the 80’s are over, so we don’t have to be going through that every week.
Truth is stranger than fiction: I can speak Italian and chatted to a few Monza fans before the game. They were there in ’76 and had been following Wimbledon’s progress ever since. There was a surprising amount of good will and they had in fact been following the great wimbledon and their fa cup wins and premier league highs since then. I was beaming with pride and went into the match full of hope.
Unfortunately they found me after the game and were surprised by the “tactical divide” between the two sides. I said we didn’t usually play like that and walked off sulking. Looks like Neal has a bit more work to do in implementing his philosophy with his new recruits.
The game itself was very one sided. It felt like we were playing a team one or two divisions above us and thankfully they only brought on their star striker ‘Gasparone’ right at the end or it could have been a lot worse.
Our defence was back doing their circus tricks from last year (despite new personnel) and apart from some good play down the wings there was really no cutting edge.
We need that number nine. Strutton should have got on the scoresheet in the second half, I hope that’s not something we’ll be repeating throughout the season.
Sweeney clearly had been practicing his Italian swear words as he managed to get a straight red for saying something naughty to the ref. Arthur was the biggest surprise, some good runs on the wing and didn’t give the ball away needlessly, which is more than the others can say.
Ardley looked genuinely pissed off after the game which I was pleased to see, as he was obviously expecting a lot more, as we’re we.
Three’s a crowd: despite having a relatively small bunch of Ultras behind the ground they made a hell of a lot of noise…Ecohouse take note.
Plus points: Chris Arthur, you could drink beer inside the ground and it was sunny.
Minus points: everybody else in a yellow shirt. Sweeney sending off.
Was it worth it? Despite it being a fairly dire display on the pitch, it was  our first ever overseas tie (and no I don’t include the Isle of Man) so yes, i would still say it was!