I think talbi looks the better and adingra is frustrating me by having loose touches and running in defenders but I will say pre season tempo is tough for wingers
Was discussing the other day about our midfield three and I like the look of it today. So many yards covered by them but xhaka just has that stand out quality. ELF a good alternative and something different though. I like the two wide lads who we’ve signed, and of course it’s early days, but I do have a little worry they might not have the real quality to change games enough on the break (to be expected for talbi at his age). They all work hard off the ball mind and keep our shape. Enjoyable first half against a strong side
Strange to see a Sunderland side with loads of pace, Xhaka a class above in terms of movement and positioning. Good to see the new keeper bossing the defenders about already.
Want to see more from adingra. Wouldn’t mind seeing Talbi moved to the left (to give it a try) and Roberts on the right
Good summary. Adingra looks like he needs plenty of support from the crowd. A confident player has better touches and makes better decisions. The lack of a proper LB won’t be doing him any favours atm as well.
My thoughts with talbi are - his touch is class - he’s wanting the ball all the time and making himself available - is up and down the pitch defending and attacking with effort - his passing is good - he’s not taking his man on enough but he’s got diarra under lapping and Hume overlapping so it’s not a major issue here. where as I don’t really think adingra is doing a lot of those things
Wry enjoyable they are a very good team hold the ball well just what we needed. But we have been very decent Xacka is going to be immense. Need another CB and we will be solid Starting to worry that scoring goals may be a problem though lovely football but end product missing. Think we might see a centre forward incoming
Very pre-season(y) for me. Bit slow and measured by both sides. Fair enough, but wouldnt mind us trying to play a bit quicker through the lines. Talbi has some ability, but I question his decision making at times. Couple of times today he has gone into trouble, and a couple he has tried things that werent on. When he keeps it simple and moves it quick he looks much better. Standout for me is Reinaldo. Just looks a natural defender, great positioning, calm and can play a bit too. Xhaka done well, him and Sadiki a bit on top of each other at times, but that is easy fixed. Just a couple of steps away from one of them and they will be in good shape. If Jones goes on loan then a decent championship team has to be the way. The lad looks good against serious opposition. Lastly, I had forgotten how good Isco is. Could watch players like him all day long. Pure class.
Just watched the first half and to be honest I have Been impressed by the shape and the speed of thought by the players. The ball seems to be moving quicker and the passes seem less obvious than they were. Don't get me wrong there are still some fine tuning to do over the next couple of weeks but from what I can see we seem organised and there have been flashes of what I think we will look like on opening day.
Talbi looks genuinely really good. I still think he’d suit the left better though. Adingra has underwhelmed but plenty of time for him to settle and improve. I’d still like another established winger though
Yes 100% that might be a factor too mate but silly things like running into a man and loose first touches are frustrating only pre season and we are targeting other wingers
I think Hume especially’s done well here. Looking at how we’re lining up, unless it’s Rigg or Mayenda as a 10 I think we’ll be signing a more attacking acm/10 with depth further back in midfield. It might change if Guiu allows us to have Le Fee deeper but my call is that we’ll be getting someone there. Not saying Diarra has been poor but he doesn’t seem a clean fit there.
