Must admit I still fear for us a bit this season. Didn’t see any of Aribo today as I only saw the final 15 but hopefully he can create and score some goals for us. Otherwise I am not sure where the goals are coming from.
What concerns me is that we are still trying to play a high line and pinch the ball. It didn't work last season and it didn't today.
They say it’s the hope that kills you. Based on that performance we’re all in for a long life. Yes it’s the first game of pre-season, but all the old flaws were still there, defenders switching off, no creativity, Small setting a record for the number of times the left back is caught offside. (That’s a new flaw) We are desperate for quality further up the pitch to keep some of the pressure off of the defence.
At this current time I can’t really see how anyone could predict anything else for us apart from being in the mix again. You could make a strong argument that we are the most likely to go down from teams who were in the league last year. But there is still a few weeks until the opening game and longer still for the transfer window. And I also think the 3 promoted teams are the weakest they’ve been in a while
I’ve watched a lot of preseason games over the years and that was definitely one of the better ones. First half. The midfield and defence looked solid and probably resembled our starting line up. Add Arma and Che to that and it will be a decent lineup. Second half saw a completely different lineup and more resembling Saints at the tail end of last season. Standouts - Djenepo, Lavia, KWP, Ely and ABK. Arma and Smallbone in second half. Overall, only Romeu, McCarthy and Small looked off the pace a bit but early days so no criticism of any. Aribo has only just joined us so too soon to comment either way. Overall a quiet game from him (or maybe I was just expecting more).
Today was pretty much purely a fitness exercise, the first few games of pre season always are. Toward the end of preseason games you start to get a feel for where we are, but even then it often takes us 5-10 games of the season to get into our stride. Not to mention we are quite likely to have several more incomings yet in the window. Really no point in even a cursory concern about todays performance or result. And that’s not even mentioning the opposition who are a quality team.
Lol. Just browsed the rest of the thread. Really? People writing off the season based on one friendly against a top German side? The only thing it told me is that we’re not ready for Champions League opposition just yet!
Don't forget Bazunu decent save and caught a couple of crosses although admittedly he did not have that much to do but when you don't have much to do it is very easy to switch off
How did I forget him! Yes, there wasn’t a single aspect of his game that I didn’t like! Loved the way he organised the defence and commanded the area.
