AND there are two more good quality friendlies to enjoy to pass the time. We're up against Leeds tomorrow and Fiorentina the week after. Who have you guys got?
Ah lucky man! You'll have to give us a full run down on the performance and tactics as surely that will be near enough the team that plays Liverpool bar maybe O'Shea?
Off to see my local team Brighton this afternoon play Spurs at their new stadium at Falmer. Looking forward to it, it's a beautiful new stadium and I reckon with Poyet in charge Brighton are in for a good season. Obviously looking forward to our season opener more so than Brighton, but at least I'm getting my fix for live football. KTF.
Not too bad then. I'm surprised Bruce didn't ramp up the difficulty of the opposition to prep the team for EPL matches. Seems to be what Pards has done for us.
Burnley are pretty equal to Leeds mate. Admittedly Fiorentina are markedly stronger than Hibs and Hartlepool, but Hartlepool will be well up for it, be a good workout for the lads.
Aye, Firentina are my second team, not a glory hunt, my nanna was from Siena, but a big Viola fan (guess she was a glory hunter, as Siena are ****). They're having a strange time of it Fiorentina, missed the Champions League places by miles, and as a result haven't been able to get in the striker they desperately need, they've retained Gilardino, but he's slow, they need a pacey lad alongside him, as Jovetic had a really bad injury and may struggle to get fully on it early doors. Montolivo still hasn't signed a new deal and he'll leave a massive hole if he goes, which would be almost impossible to fill, and the move for Aquilani fell through cos they simply couldn't afford the wages, and they have just sold Sebastian Frey, in my opinion the most underrated keeper on the planet to Genoa. If you get to see the game, look out for Juan Manuel Vargas, another player linked with moves away, i've rarely seen a left sided player with so much imagination, a wicked left foot, and if he was a bit quicker, he'd probably be at Madrid or Barca. Gamberini is a beast of a defender, Ba wants to watch his knees, as he goes in very hard, typically Italian no-nonsense CB.
You weren't kidding about them being your second team. You seem to really know your stuff. Quite looking forward to it myself. They're no EPL top 4 team, but they're good quality opposition to fine-tune our team before we hit the EPL-level teams. Oh joy. Sounds like a nice fellow.
They are probably around Everton level, they are a strong team, had such a bad start last season and never recovered, a load of fringe players have left, which means they are gonna struggle if they have injuries and suspensions, big time. It's hard in Italy as Inter, Roma and Juve have so much spending power in comparison to others, but still not close to English and Spanish teams, bar Inter. It'll be a good game that, if i can find a link, i'll be watching it
