Enjoyable enough game. 3-3 was fair and we certainly have a lot of things to work on but it was good to see the players on the fringes of things getting a chance, I really like the look of Ceballos, could become a useful player for us so I hope he's kept on rather than loaned out or sold.
Yeah, definitely their willingness to take on players and get into attacking areas was good to see. I won't jinx him like I jinxed Soldado, I promise
Good game overall - thought we looked reasonably competent going forward. The game highlighted our defensive problems pretty well too - I'm sure Poch already knew about them but it certainly reinforced them for me.
According to the stattos, Dawson managed to pass the ball to opposition players seven times in the first half, before being hauled off at half time. Pretty sure that's going to be the final nail in his Spurs career's coffin.
Another season and, rustiness aside, little seems to have changed..... I was beginning to wonder if some of our players had visited deed poll during the summer as every time I heard the name Dawson it was preceded by the word 'Anerrorby' and Naughton, 'Amistaqueby'..... They were dreadful. A few bright spots and a lovely goal from Kane/Holtby combination. I would snap up Yedlin ASAP. I know a Rb isn't a top priority but he looks to be a real exciting prospect.
Links to the full game can be found here: http://www.reddit.com/r/footballdow...ttle_sounders_vs_tottenham_hotspur_preseason/
I was completely out of my nut last night down the pub but was trying to watch the game with as much attention as possible. Defence looked woeful in both halves in my opinion, midfield were ok, Holtby, Capoue and Carroll played fairly well. Falque was impressive when he came on (I think ). Seattle are top of their league I believe so it was a good test for us for a pre-season game. Will need to watch extended highlights if it becomes available though so I can see it again and perhaps have a better opinion of it all.
Coco? Excuse my ignorance who is that. I watched the game and it seemed that the second half subs handled it better that the starters. Carroll played the whole game industrious but seemed to fade. Lennon got a mention about twice.
Didn't think Lennon offered all that much. Even his 'cutback' for Kane in the buildup to the Holtby goal looked more accidental than deliberate to me. Falque and Ceballos offered more in their brief time on the pitch than Lennon did IMO. Townsend looked very much off the pace too but there is time for him to get going. Lamela showed glimpses. I'd like to see him get as much game time as possible. Holtby will have a big future under Poch.
Good effort overall, despite woeful defending, mostly because it was a sign we'll play attacking, exciting football. It was good to see the following create or score goals: Kane, Holtby, Lennon (?) Soldado, Ceballos, Townsend. Both Holtby and Soldado deserve serious consideration as midfield starters IMO (assuming Ade will start in front of a 4-2-3-1). A front four of Eiriksen, Holtby, Soldado and Ade would score as many as any other combination. It was striking watching us playing a fast moving, attacking game how much better Soldado's technical skills were than most. Forget about needing him to score. Lamela is a good player, but he tried to do too much by himself. The pen on Dawson was a pen. The fact that PL officials ignore the rules doesn't mean everybody should, or has to. I enjoyed how the MSL ref blew the whistle after exactly one minute of extra time. There's certain kinds of bulls**t Americans can't quite get the hang of. (...and a lot more we invented, of course...) Even if you knew the back four would be Naughton, Frederick, Dawson and Rose you would have been shocked at their calamitous defending. We were better in the second half with Soldado and Kaboul, controlling the game for the most part. The two goals the Sounders scored were a worldy and an offsides goal. They would have scored five in the first with decent finishing. Ceballos and Falque looked good. Capoue and Carroll were decent. God only knows how Poch is going to pick a starting 11 with this many players who look like they deserve to start. We've got to sell four or six and buy two, I think. I remain a Rose fan, though I guess that ship has sailed. His speed is so useful, and he made no more mistakes last year than the other defenders, or hardly more.
I'm guessing that was wrong of the ref, he ought to add on time for any stoppages which occur during the extra time also - hence why time added is always the "minimum" time added. I do think that football should follow rugby's lead though and simply stop the clock when the ball isn't in play - it would eliminate any notion of timewasting which is a plague on the game. Football could learn a lot from rugby, like video referrals, general respect for the officials who only captains can speak with, and not making a meal out of the slightest bit of contact - where are footballers' senses of male pride? Was interesting to hear Lee Dixon say that when he was playing he would refuse to admit another player had caused him pain - today it's the polar opposite.
