Schumacher's Torquay Thoughts

Argyle manager Steven Schumacher was full of praise for Devon neighbours Torquay following a 1-1 draw between the sides on Tuesday night.

The returning Morgan Whittaker’s volley in the first half gave Argyle a lead, but the Gulls equalised via a diving header by Brad Ash.

A meeting between the two teams has become a regular feature of pre-season, so Schumacher is familiar with games at Plainmoor. The Pilgrims boss says he told his Torquay counterpart, Gary Johnson, that he was impressive with the Yellows, as they get set to look to bounce back to the Vanarama National League in the upcoming season.

“I thought Torquay were brilliant tonight,” Schumacher told Argyle TV after the game. “That’s the best I have seen Torquay play in all the years that we’ve played here in pre-season. They were really aggressive and locked on to us man-to-man. They made it really hard. I said to Gary [Johnson] that it was the best game we’ve had. It was competitive and tough; they forced us into errors.

“It was a different test. In the other games we have played so far, we have had a lot of the ball and have been able to build slowly. This was a different challenge. It caused us a few problems.”

Argyle’s own performance had its moments – not least Whittaker’s beautifully taken goal – but lacked a cutting edge that Schumacher would desire.

That said, at this stage of pre-season, priorities are very much with players integrating and developing their fitness, with the season’s commencement just over two weeks away.

Schumacher said: “That’s the most important thing: learning about the team, getting the players some more minutes in the legs.

“Lewis Gibson was really good tonight, he played an hour. He looks really composed and at home in that position. I’m please for Conor Hazard to make his debut, and Callum Burton got another 45 minutes which is good. Everyone just keeps ticking the minutes off.

“I thought we were a bit scruffy in possession. When we did get it right, we looked good and we created chances. We got loads of one-v-one opportunities. We just didn’t have enough quality on the night to get more than one goal.

“We’re going to carry on working hard and will hopefully bring in some reinforcements.”

Argyle take on Forest Green Rovers on Saturday, in the penultimate preparation game. The game will be behind closed doors, with no admittance for supporters, but there will be a stream available on Argyle TV.

Following the FGR challenge, there is a seven-day gap until a trip to Swindon Town, and then only one more week until the season starts, against Neil Warnock’s Huddersfield Town, at home.

“It’s a different test,” said Schumacher, of Forest Green. “It’s at the training ground. We’ll speak for the rest of the week about things that we can watch from that game and things we can improve on.

“We’ve got a full training week then, there is loads of stuff we need to iron out, get some real detail into the lads. Then we play Swindon, which is the last one, so we’re nearly there.”