Michael Baidoo gets Plymouth Argyle praise after pre-season opener

Michael Baidoo earned praise from Plymouth Argyle head coach Tom Cleverley after scoring one of the goals in the 4-1 pre-season victory over Plymouth Parkway at Bolitho Park. Baidoo, the former club record signing who spent the whole of last term on loan to Umm Salal in the Qatari Stars League, has been reintegrated into the Pilgrims' squad over the past couple of weeks. The 27-year-old lined up on the left of midfield in Argyle's 4-4-2 formation against Parkway as they played their first warm-up match ahead of the 2026/27 League One campaign. Read More: Tom Cleverley gives Argyle injury updates after pre-season opener Read More: Argyle latest on search for number one goalkeeper Bim Pepple opened the scoring for the Pilgrims in only the second minute but Parkway replied with a terrific shot from Will Sullivan just after the half-hour mark. Baidoo restored the visitors' lead in the 44th minute with a well-placed strike for his first goal in Argyle colours since his £1 million-plus transfer from Swedish side Elfsborg in January 2025. Cleverley made nine substitutions for the start of the second half, with one of those coming on being Owen Oseni, who scored within the opening minute after the interval. Oseni then struck again in the 86th minute as the Pilgrims, who had five apprentices on the pitch for the closing stages of the game. It had been a strong starting line-up for Argyle, with Lorent Tolaj up front with Pepple while Malachi Boateng and Bradley Ibrahim anchored the central midfield. Baidoo and Xavier Amaechi provided the attacking width, with a back four of Matty Sorinola, Julio Pleguezuelo, Wes Harding and second-year apprentice Joe Mwaro playing in front of goalkeeper James Storer, the summer signing from Wolves. Parkway gave a good account of themselves throughout the game, which was played in very hot weather conditions, and nearly took a 2-1 lead in the first half when striker Rocky Neal saw his chip over Storer hit the crossbar. Cleverley said: "It was a very physical test in this heat and we have got through that part, coming through injury-free, which we have done. "Every time you go over the white line you want to win the game and I thought, without being disrespectful, the pitch and the heat were quite a bit of a leveller today. "We want a really quick game where we can zip it from side to side. Technically we made a few too many mistakes first half. "We created enough to score more goals but we conceded a soft goal and we put ourselves at risk too many times just by a little bit of lack of concentration, lack of technique, which is normal. "I don't blame the players for that, it's rustiness, which on a hot day is normal. We will iron that out, we will get fitter, and then I thought the second half team did brilliant. "They brought energy, a lot of those guys this year will have to impact the game from the bench. It was an average age of 19 the second half team - the outfield players. "They have scored straight away, got us on the front foot, had to be resilient at times defending set plays and it being a great learning curve for them. "Owen Oseni scored two in the practice match in Spain, scored two today, and he's doing what he needs to do to make sure he catches the eye and tries to force his way into the team in more starting positions this season." On Baidoo, Cleverley said: "I thought he was our best player today if I'm being honest. He was safe in possession on a difficult pitch, he was bright, he took up good positions. "He took his goal well, he's quite a sharp mover. There will be no summaries made in 45 minutes at Parkway but as far as starts go it was a real positive one for Michael. "My job is always to do what's best for the team. Now for me that's playing 4-4-2. In that, your eights and your 10s are the ones that suffer. "So then it's my job to realise that we have got quality - Bradley (Ibrahim) is an eight really, Michael is an eight/10. Can I play them in this structure which for me gives us the best chance of winning to see their strengths come out? "That is being creative with Michael off one of the sides, Caleb Watts type players, and I thought he understood what I wanted from him today very well. "Goals and assists from those areas are really key to us because we have got firepower in the team and I think he can add to that." Bolitho Park was sold out as Argyle played their first pre-season game against Parkway since 2023, with supporters packed into all four sides of the ground. Cleverley said: "It's my first time down here, it feels like a really nice club. They have been very hospitable. We thank them for their hosting today, wish them all the best for the season and let's hope it's a fixture that is an annual one." For Karl Curtis it was his first match at Bolitho Park as Parkway boss and there were lots of positives for him to take from his side's performance against their League One opponents. Parkway had six training sessions, plus a 3-0 win away to Torpoint Athletic the previous Saturday, before taking on the Pilgrims. Curtis said: "There were loads of parts of the game that I really enjoyed about us. I really enjoyed our physical output, I really enjoyed the way we played. "It would have been very easy for us, like a lot of teams would do when there is four divisions between the two teams, to just sit right off, sit on the edge of the 18-yard box, don't come out and try to frustrate. "I felt every opportunity we could go after Plymouth we did, so on things like goal kicks, any throw-ins in their half we were very brave. "Obviously, there is a risk to that and a couple of times Plymouth, with the quality they have got, they played through our press but there was loads of times we got a lot of success when winning the ball back high up the pitch. "So I was really pleased the boys committed to that because it's easier said than done to say 'Let's go out and be really aggressive' but they are the ones who have got to execute it on the pitch a hot day like today. "I was also pleased about the tactical formation in terms of out of possession when we could not get the press on. "I'm disappointed with the goals we conceded, really disappointed, but we would rather make those individual errors in pre-season than in the league programme. "Other than that, on another day we could have scored two or three goals so we ticked a lot of boxes in terms of what we wanted to get from today. "Overall, delighted with most of the performance. It's just those first three goals. The fourth goal Plymouth score is a really good goal - good cross, good finish." Argyle (1st Half): James Storer; Matty Sorinola, Julio Pleguezuelo, Wes Harding, Joe Mwaro; Xavier Amaechi, Malachi Boateng, Bradley Ibrahim, Michael Baidoo; Lorent Tolaj, Bim Pepple. Argyle (2nd Half): James Storer (Max Borus 61 mins); Joe Mwaro (Jared Rendle 78 mins), Sam Hayman, Brendan Wiredu, Jovan Wamani; Freddie Issaka, Seb Campbell, Caleb Roberts, Tegan Finn; Owen Oseni, James Sharpe. Parkway: Aaron Dearing; Jenson Ireland, Taylor Scarff, Toby Down, Mikey Williams, Joel Sullivan (Ethan Wright 73 mins); Rio Garside (Alex Cairo 81 mins), Carlo Garside (Ryan Brett 44 mins), Callum Hall (Ed Harrison 56 mins); Will Sullivan (Hayden Turner 73 mins), Rocky Neal (Joe Belsten 83 mins). You can read more of our Argyle stories from Plymouth Live by clicking HERE