Thank goodness the normality of U's matchday routine has returned

Yahoo

4 hours ago

AFTER what has felt like an age, the normality of matchday routine has returned.
The first game of the season saw Colchester United host Tranmere Rovers and there was much hope and expectation amongst the home faithful.
After a decent end to last season and a strong pre-season, there was an air of optimism that surrounded the ground before kick-off.
'Hard to turn it down': Clinton Morrison on Samson Tovide and Lyle Taylor
Pre-season is a difficult way to gauge where we are but in the first half, there were a few people wondering where the front-footed attacking team we saw over the last few weeks had gone.
Suddenly, we looked flat and nervous on the ball, with unexpected errors creeping in.
The season is a marathon not a sprint and nothing is won or lost in the first 45 but at half-time, the conversation featured the need for changes and surprise that the starting XI had not quite hit the ground running.
I don't think many fans were surprised with the first team selection of the season; the majority of supporter picks had the same players that Danny Cowley ultimately selected.
(Image: STEVE BRADING)
While we did finish the half stronger, the first 30 minutes were very poor and trailing 1-0 at the break is never the best start.
Of course, football is a game of two halves and this game certainly was.
Early changes on 54 minutes saw Kyreece Lisbie and new addition Adrian Akande sent on and inject pace and more attacking intent.
They were backed up by the next changes when Arthur Read and Oscar Thorn entered the action and from this point on, we looked a different side and much more of what we have come to expect from Danny and Nicky's side.
Colchester's under-21s lose five-goal thriller with Fulham in friendly
The willingness to get on the ball and take the game to the opposition meant Tranmere suddenly had a storm to weather and this picked up the fans, who really drove the side on.
From 70 minutes onwards there was only one team in it, although we left it late to get the equaliser.
Lisbie capped off a very impressive second-half performance with his first-ever professional goal.
This was no surprise, as he had been a handful for the Tranmere defence, but the strike was one to leave fans breathless and wondering if the goal of the season has already been witnessed.
(Image: STEVE BRADING)
The points were shared and in fairness, it was the right result.
A strong finish glossed over some of the worries from the first half, but I am sure Danny won't be blinkered by this. He was vocal in his post-match interview about how he was unhappy with certain elements.
I'm sure the squad will be in for a week of training that will aim to iron out these issues and have us quicker out of the blocks at Oldham.
It was not a bad point by any means and it is good to get the first one on the board.
Plenty to process from Colchester's opening-day draw against Tranmere
Should we have won? Not from the first half, but after the substitutions and how we finished there is a question of what ifs and I think that there will be changes this weekend. Not necessarily wholesale, but a few here and there to improve the front-footed play from the off.
One point on the board and plenty more to play for over the coming weeks.
I know I am biased but I do believe we have the squad to be competitive and with a few more loans to possibly strengthen it further, there are reasons to be optimistic one game in. Just remind me of that in mid-December, if things are not going to plan.
But one thing is for sure, football is back. Up the U's.