The bras are for gathering athlete analytics data. They are GPS and gather data on heart rate etc too. "âDuring the 2013 Serie A and Champions League season, AC Milan has used the Catapult Minimax S4 to analyse the performance of our athletes from a tactical analysis and fitness monitoring point of view. The data provided allows AC Milan a great insight into the exertion of each athlete and how they are performing physically. The Minimax S4 has become an integral part of the setup within the Milan Lab.â Daniele Tognaccini Director AC Milan Lab
Ah well, it was only a friendly and it's a clean sheet for McGregor. 0-0 is probably about right for a friendly in the heat.
Football isn't just about being a good player though. At the same time, being a good athlete can make you a superstar. Look at Bale and Messi, yes technically they are great but their physical attributes have taken them to that extra level. The likes of Berbatov and Van Persie are good/great players, if they had the physical strengths Bale and Ronaldo have they'd both be talked about alongside Messi. I'd say measuring performance and looking at stats is very beneficial, as long as they're used alongside videos too.
Back from the game! The game was......boring. The tempo was slow as you would expect in a pre season friendly, but god it made things uninteresting. I followed the banter with the fat Wednesday fan equally as much as the game for a while. We kept on trying to use the wings with Elmo and Brady jogging around, without really creating anything worth mentioning. The most interesting part was probably when the ref blew the whistle when Boyd (?) was played through 1 on 1, due to Koren losing his shin pad? Awkward moment. Wednesday had a good opportunity in the end of the first half when one of their strikers slipped through our sluggish defence and nearly finished it, but it got cleared of the line of Chester I believe, not sure. The second half was a tad more interesting. I decided to follow Claasen who got subbed on during the break. He started on the left wing (he literally had the whole left wing for himself for a while), playing in some sort of Elmo/Brady role. You can tell that he has a lot of energy and he seems really quick during his small bursts. A good passing player, although he got a bit too eager at times. He was moved into the CM role when Bruce made some changes with Aluko, Graham, etc were subbed in. He got a bit more anonymous after this, but I still like the look of him. Should be a good option to have in the squad, feels a bit Pienaar-ish. Fryatt had an awful game from what I could tell. I really don't think he will cut it in the Prem. He's too slow and can't make quick enough decisions. Davies felt very sluggish at times. He got a bit too high up in the field whiles trying to break the attack and sometimes compromised the defence. Cairney had a good game, most likely due to the tempo being slow enough. The second half didn't really offer that much either. I think we were the better team and you could tell that Aluko made a difference, but we really struggled with creating changes (sounds familiar). Had a couple of decent crosses, but no end product, together with some tame shots. Had loads of offsides..... Really tired atm, so can't bother writing any more (it was freezing cold in the second half and I decided to walk to the stadium), so I'm knackered!
Can't really base it on a friendly against Wednesday, but we'll see Fair enough. You never asked! I can't recall Graham doing anything worth mentioning btw after his sub. Very anonymous in his debut!
'tis only pre-season. Can't base it on 45 mins just 24 hours after arriving. (Saying that, I remember Quinniesta scoring and putting in a MOTM performance in the 3-1 win over Bolton less than 24hrs after signing him from Sheff Utd)
how can anyone still think fryatt can do a Job for us is beyond me. his injury has completely screwed him. also I reckon we are going to be so predictable if we rely too heavily on elmo and Brady to cross it in and also I hope they've worked on their delivery.
Reality check folks Pre-season friendlies are an opportunity for players to build up their fitness levels, for new players to bed in and for the manager to assess trialists and test formations / strategies etc. Anyone who uses these games to decide who is going to be the new scapegoat and who is our new saviour are clueless. Anyone who thinks these games will reflect how successful we will be in the Prem. are clueless. Ironically though these games are a useful way to determine the quality of our "supporters" - ie: A) The doom mongers who take pride in being the first to hammer the nails in the HCAFC coffin (who secretly will be disappointed if success spoils their predictions). B) The fannies who crumble and turn on the players and management for the slightest reason (then proclaim themselves as loyal supporters when we win one). C) The decent majority who will give everyone a fair chance and only offer realistic criticism (without becoming over-emotional) if a problem is obvious. D) The stalwarts who will support the team through thick and thin and keep their doubts to themselves because that's what they see as the duty of a supporter (and who could argue?). So how do you rate your pre-season so far?
