Saints finishing with a 4-2-3-1 formation. Gunn Valery Bednarek Yoshida Cedric Romeu Hojbjerg Djenepo Armstrong Boufal Long
The fact that he was in the squad whilst Ely wasn't would suggest that, at the very least, Boufal is ahead of Ely in Raph's pecking order. (Although ultimately it might come down to which of them the club receives a decent for, if either.)
Ings, Adams, Long, Obafemi, Redmond, Boufal & Djenepo. Think that’s a decent mix heading into the new season of forward options. Speedsters, Tricksters & finishers
For me the front 3 have to be Redmond, Adams, Boufal. They look a step ahead of the other's so far. Boufal's passing was also spot on today, picking out the marauding fullbacks from often deep in midfield. Prowse had a quiet game today and his set pieces didn't come off, but so did Romeu. hard to chose between them. Koln had chances but didn't take them, bit of luck but Gunn played well and pulled off a couple of good saves. Bring on Burnley
Just back, thought we looked very good against a pretty poor side. We definitely look so much fitter and more well drilled than last season. Che Adams impressed me a lot, his touch is great. Boufal also looked good. Very happy. Although what the hell was Ings second pen
He had some fantastic little touches, we really looked classier after he came on. He worked hard too.
Just got back. I thought Köln were actually quite good and broke up our play quite effectively but offered little in front of goal. Special mentions to Che (still raw but lots of potential), Boufal (OK, I'm converted), Vestergaard, Armstrong and Obafemi. Nice to see the Bertrand / Redmond partnership flourishing again. PEH got better as the game went on as did JWP. Stephens did OK but Yosh still the better defender. Djenepo has speed but didn't see much else. Raw talent - one for later in the season maybe when Ralph's had a chance to work his magic in training. Home kit looks nice (but not the keepers....!!!!). I get what people don't like about the black shoulders but that is UA as three sleeve stripes are Adidas. The two broad red stripes give a lovely balance to the shirt. You can't even see the sponsor logo from the stand - I wonder if that's why it's all gone pear shaped?
I'd quite like to see: Gunn Valery Besnarek Yoshida Bertrand Romeu JWP PEH Boufal Adams Redmond Given a try. I feel like we were better with an extra man in midfield. The 3-4-3 might be a good shout against the big teams, and counter them. But we don't get as much possession in that formation.
Personally I'd see this as our Best 11 Currently, Gunn; Valery, Bednerak, Vestergaard, Bertrand; Romeu; JWP, PeH; Boufal, Adams, Redmond. Whilst still keeping the front narrow and the WBs very wide. The problem we have is more of mobile DM which I believe we should be investing in.
Burnley beat Parma (14th in the Italian league last year) 2-0 Guess who scored both goals? NEARLY TIME FOR A MATCH THREAD!!!!!! and are you doing the Prediction League @jacksk1?
Thought boufal looked a different class today and was trying really hard for the team. If Ralph can get him playing well it's a new signing for us. He linked up well with cedric too who I thought looked good. Both vestergaard and Stephens looked like they went back to learning the basics over the summer so they had a good game too. Only one I thought was below par was romeu.. He just seemed a bit sloppy.. Could be interesting if we have a lot of motivated players..
