Went last night and overall things looked generally OK but you cannot read too much into a friendly. Positives - Fer was excellent and will be player of the season is my early opinion. Redmond and Olsen also looked good. Wolf got a scrappy goal but he will be pleased to get one before the Everton game. Negatives - service to the Wolf if the lone striker ( which unfortunately I think we will be seeing quite often this season) was not brilliant. Defensively we looked a bit fragile at times and are needing Bassong back. We had a lot of decent build up play but the final product was again often not there. As I say, it was a friendly so not going to read that much into things at this stage.
I'd be a little stronger with my description of the service to the strikers. It was none existent, not a single player attempted to play in Wolfswinkle apart from a long effort from Howson which he controlled fantastically with his chest but was offside. RVW was full of movement all game because I watched him specifically, nobody else seemed interested in him however. I was also hoping to say good things about Redmond but despite a lot of effort did not come the slightest bit close to creating anything. Very little from us after 1/2 hour in terms of passing and creating and as Real found there rhythm just outplayed us. Even during the first 1/2 hour we created very little. I've been impressed with Fer in the previous games but I don't think he was excellent, Johnson was the better player for me on the night. Olsen looks quite short of sharpness and all over the place at times at the back. No linking between the wingers, Wolfswinkle and central midfield when attacking. The ball is still going out wide early and staying out there regardless, very few short through balls for the wingers/Wolfswinkle to escape. I think we had some positive intent to score at times, just a lack of joining up the bits due to tactics, set up and being pre season.
The only complaint I had with Wolfswinkel was when that awful back pass put him one on one with the keeper, that really should have been "goodnight Vienna!"
I fear that people are building up Redmond too early just because he has a bit of pace and quick feet - this was my impression of him, i.e. that his final ball, decision making etc. are still not quite there. I maintain he should be used relatively sparingly - i.e. a frequent sub and maybe starting in cup matches. He is still only 19 and is far from being our key player this season. I hope most people weren't expecting more than this - Real Sociedad are a very, very good side, even without Illarimendi. A number of post-match comments suggest that he was too far forward - in a Fellaini-esque position. Was that the problem? Too many long balls to him and not playing to his strengths. Apparently he moved back later in the game - was there any noticeable improvement? That's odd - I thought most reports suggested he was some way off the pace? Why did you feel he was better? I think this is to be expected as well, given he was clearly not fit when he first signed and, against a team like Real, I don't think it's too concerning. How did you find him going forward? There were very positive comments from others. Looking at our formation, I don't think (or at least I hope) we're not going to set-up like that, it was just for the purpose of giving the right players a run out and experimenting in unusual positions. I also think playing teams like Stoke is an entirely different kettle to playing Sociedad, so I don't take this as too much of a negative at this stage.
People at the game was saying how good Redmond was and I would have to agree, he's still young and will improve more in time, but I have to say I was very impressed with him. Olsson was great too, I'd actually like to see him be first choice LB.
i've got carrabuh on ignore (its been a lovely week without reading his droning posts) but thanks rob, now i can hear from him once again! and judging by this sparkling post, its going to be another very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very long season for him. i just can't understand why there has been no miracle this summer. **** sake.
The thing is, it's easy to be dazzled by quick feet and a nice turn of speed, but you have to put it into context with how the performance suits the team. It's exactly the same situation as with Raheem Stirling - yes, they look great in short bursts, but they need sparing use and careful management to make sure their decision making improves.
I actually thought that, by his standards, it was quite a thoughtful post. Carrabuh is just someone who doesn't tend to list positives, not that he didn't see any. They need to be massaged out of him.
redmond is far from the finished article but boy oh boy has he got serious potential. he's a player (a bit like the murphy twins) where patience is key. he needs to be eased in and out of the season at the right times but i think hughton managed him well at birmingham and will again here. as with almost all young players its decision making which lets them down - that's something that comes with experience. he'll certainly get bums off seats like no player has since huckerby and that has to be viewed as an exciting thing to look forward too for everyone (bar carrabuh, obviously)
I have been away for most of the last fortnight but got back in time for this friendly. Whilst I think that a couple of comments made by Carrabuh are a bit harsh I find it difficult to disagree with most of his assessment. As I was in Worthing at the time I went to see our match at Brighton. I don't know how it was reported up here but I was disappointed. Brighton looked poor - as indicated by their start to the season - but managed to outplay us for 70% of the game. Overall I regret to say that some of my earlier confidence for next season is beginning to ebb away.
I had a feeling that you might have thought it was a disaster. I really want to know what you want from our football team, what it would take for you to be somewhat satisfied with Norwich City. Would fielding the X-Men do it? Were you in the stands at Wembley in 1966 with your arms folded shouting "Their goal went over the line!"?
For the last 2 years I was convinced that we would be relegated - after the signings made this year I said on several threads that I did not have the same fears this year. Unfortunately new signings can only play as well as a system allows. Unless a striker is given a goal scoring opportunity he won't score -simples. We could have had Messi or Suarez up front last year and wouldn't have scored many more. What I have witnessed in the 2 friendlies seen was not, to me, encouraging. With one exception, Redmond, I saw midfielders more intent on looking over their shoulders to see what extra defensive cover was required and because of that just getting rid of the ball rather than go forward. Understandable for central midfielders but not wide players unless the full back is making a forward run. The result was Wolfswinkel making promising runs but never getting the ball or strikers getting the ball with their backs to the goal as happened last year. To me Redmond looked like Walcott 3 years ago - pace to burn, very tricky, full of promise but very little end product. Like Walcott the end product will improve with age and experience so I can but hope that Hughton sticks with him as, to me, he is the best chance of getting the best out of Hooper in the same way that Wes is the best chance of getting the best out of Wolfswinkel. Lots of people on here think I am a pessimist but I think I am a realist. The main objective every season is to stay in the Premiership - success is not being involved in the relegation scrap with a month of the season to go. What I have seen so far is moving my expectations and confidence from ' success ' to ' objective '
