Aye there was a half hearted link a few weeks back, he’s a physical monster but can play with it. Porto know what they’ve got sadly. As do half of the ‘tier 2’ clubs in Europe.
Aye there was a run he had towards end first half where he could have maybe slid a ball in for Diarra, a move he loves, but he had a weak shot. Just sharpness. We now he’s unfinished, we know he a steep curve for him. We also know he’s potentially monstrous. I’m not worried about Ely.
Next week we have games on Saturday (A) and Sunday (H) The Saturday game is overseas at Augsburg. Is it purely a reserve game or will it be like the recent second halves where we changed the whole team and the second half side will be playing them for the whole game meaning the probable first 11 plus subs will be playing the home game against Rayo Vallecano. I can’t think the lads will all be going abroad for Saturday then flying back for Sundays game.
Well so far Neil has played just over a half and Roberts has played 0 minutes with the 'starters'. Even against Shields it was Tuterov who played with the main team.
Been trying to think of a player of a similar quality that stepped in. I remember when Steve Bould first pulled the shirt on and he was so far above any other bugger. A defender of his class would be perfect now btw. Schwarz brought just bucket loads of know how. A knackered old Waddle was still miles ahead of anyone else - the ball stuck to him. Bracewell coming back from 2 titles and a uefa cup at Everton is probably the best example. He just saw the game differently and played it his way.
Just got back from match,Xhaka pointing,organising and playing the simple balls was sublime,Reinaldo was so assured looks a player,Diaara looks a powerhouse in midfield but the player who impressed me the most was Sadiki what a irritant he was in midfield and never stopped, very unlucky to lose the game which isn’t important, but came away happy enough just a few more tweaks and we will give it a real go
Think the best example in recent times is Defoe in his first spell. Movement, pressing angles, link play. Had it all.
Yeah mate, good shout. I was probably thinking more of those captain / leadership roles when I posted. Defoe certainly transformed us in a great way.
I missed the team announcement, took me quite some time to figure out who 27 was. Sadiki, he was everywhere. Motm for me.
Agree with everything @Pure River Slut and @FellTop said. I know it’s only pre-season but there were a few really interesting things to see. Roef’s distribution looks levels above what we are used to. Really looking forward to seeing more from him. He’s barely even trained with them so far. There was once when we were passing it around at the back, keeper to centre mid and he first time passed it back to keeper and their players leapt forward to press. I nearly had a heart attack but Roefs just calmly passed it to Reinildo and we played around them and into midfield. reinildo also looks level above what we have seen the past. Anticipation, positioning, communication, comfortable on the ball and aggressive to intercept. Xhaka is a rolls Royce and nothing I really need to add there. Interesting to see him with Sidiki, who on paper compliments him best. He’s happy to run the yards and do the dirty work which enables Xhaka play forward. I don’t think we will have a “first choice” midfield 3. I think it will change depending on opponents and form, I can see sidiki/xhaka/diarra start when we are away at the emirates and don’t expect to see much of the ball, with Enzo coming on for the last 30 mins. Might not be bad way to the start the season. I expect to see a few defensive additions soon so don’t think we need to too judgemental. Well played to Jones who filled in where needed and did his best, showed some nice touches and loads of effort. Across the whole of pre-season, It’s making chances and finishing them off that I am concerned about. The new forwards need time to gel. If it’s not working, we are going to need options to change it. Right now our bets options off the bench would be Guiu, rigg, Isidor, and roberts. Will be interesting how many forwards we bring in, one versatile attacker should be enough but we could also upgrade Isidor/roberts too. i think we need a versatile forward, ideally left footed right wing starter, and two defenders, both centre halves with one that can cover right back. That would compete our squad. Any further additions would then lead to a sale/loan as RLB has said he prefers a smaller squad.
It is mind. Hopefully he can have a chat with a couple of centre backs and a striker and sell them the project.
It’s one of them ‘you know he’s good, you know he’s a level up’, then he’s your player and you watch the whole game and his whole game closer and it’s actually staggering. Just effortlessly good at everything.
