George Long praises Leeds loanee Cresswell and penalty king Voglsammer after Millwall’s away day win at Reading
BY ALEX GRACE
George Long praised Millwall duo Charlie Cresswell and Andreas Voglsammer after their 1-0 win at Reading on Saturday.
It was Voglsammer’s 11th-minute penalty that secured all three points for the Lions and took them back into the Championship play-off places.
Gary Rowett revealed that the matchwinner, talking about the spot-kick, said to him: “I’m German, of course I was going to score.”
Goalkeeper Long admitted that Voglsammer’s penalties are tough to save.
“He is class to be fair – free-kicks or penalties, ” said Long. “He gets so much power on them. Even though the keeper has gone the right way he’s still nowhere near it. He’s got great technique and he can smash a ball.”
Asked if he saves many of his Voglsammer’s penalties in training, Long replied “No, not really. I’m going to have to start asking him which way he’s going and try and save it.
“It was a great penalty, and he took it well.”
Leeds loanee Cresswell has been a mainstay in the Lions’ starting lineup in the past two months due to injury to skipper Shaun Hutchinson and managed the threat of Reading’s Andy Carroll very well on Saturday.
“Cressy was outstanding today,” said Long. “For a young lad who is coming up against an experienced pro like Andy Carroll, he dealt with him incredibly well. He’s won his fair share of headers, didn’t let Carroll get the best of him and that was a big part of what they wanted to do today.
“He’s a young lad learning his trade and to do that at Championship level is credit to him.
“Like any young player when you go out on loan you are going to make mistakes. You are sort of learning on the job and trying to get things right and figure out yourself how to play. Cressy has had his ups and downs this season but he’s not let it get to him.
“He’s carried on working hard, he’s getting more consistent with time, which is inevitable. The more games you play, the more consistent you become. Today was a great show of what he can do. He’s a really old-school young lad, if that makes sense. He just loves it, he loves a scrap and to be fair, if you can do it against Andy Carroll then you should be alright.”