Maybe I was a bit strong saying tw4t, it was just his hair...yet his play made the biggest impression on me.
Wasn't Philipp Wollscheid mentioned as a possible target? Looked the part when he came on in the second half.
My thoughts on the new arrivals following todays game are as follows:- Bertrand - looks good going forward (shawlike) and quite tidy at the back Tadic - some great skill and awareness but will need to adapt to the pace of the prem Taider - looked really good when he came on ( we are going to have to forgive him the stupid haircut!) Pelle - won almost everything in the air but lacked support (a lot of his knock downs fell to the opposition) Having now captured Fraser, if we can add a CB, winger and striker then I think the squad will be stronger than last season - whether we will finish as high though, only time will tell.
Just like to say again. Good on Kat for turning up (with her Saints scarf!) and supporting the team and her new manager in preseason. She's not an asset stripper - as Ralph has said, she has affection for the club. We could have it so much worse.
Back from the match via some local night spots. Yoshida brings panic. There were a number of situations where it needed a little calmness on the ball and the ability to find a team mate. Instead he would lose control or slice a clearance and we would find ourselves on the back foot. Wanyama had to constantly recover the situation either by winning the ball back or committing a foul. Bertrand defended well, he lacks that incredible acceleration Shaw possesses and we're going to miss him as an attacking outlet, but he looks like he will be able to do a decent job. It should be pointed out that the Germans pressed fantastically well and put our back four and deeper midfielders under early pressure and sadly we regularly coughed up the ball. I think this is partly down the new team/players but also a few individual mistakes. Agree with Koeman that the players need to be quicker with the ball. Positive is the link up play between Clyne and Tadic. Easily our best attacking source. Davis was very good today too as well as Captain Fonte. JWP is missing something and I think it's too easy to claim he is not strong enough on the ball, I think he needs to be a little quicker in possession Taider looks to have something about him. Bright in possession and hit a nice cross field pass and looked a step up on JWP. Still would prefer Morgan of course but if the worst did happen then he looks like a talent. Isgrove looked out of his depth. He is Quick, has a surprising leap on him and has clearly worked on his upper body but it's the decision making and lack of a trick which concern me. Pelle is more Beattie than Lambert and control was mainly a disappointment. Having said that he put in a good shift and defenders will know they've had a game. We do need to support him better as he did win a number of aerial balls, but he was too isolated
Ok, it's time for me to sound like a broken record again. Given that central defence I can see how important Wanyama is to breaking up attacks simply by throwing himself in the way (literally in some cases). But, we aren't going to win many games with that midfield set up. It was only when Cork (and Taider it must be said) came on did the midfield have any shape or coherence. Cork, who has admittedly been poor pre-season, slipped back into his fetching and carrying mode and suddenly players like Tadic, who was pretty much anonymous for most of the game, got the ball in dangerous situations. I would start with Wanyama, Cork, Taider and Tadic, assuming Morgan's head is off somewhere else. Talking of heads, I was a bit concerned for Pelle's hair every time he went to head a ball. But my wife told me not to worry as we are a fully fledged Premier League side and we are sure to have a hair specialist on hand. This is becoming an important position if Taider gets to play. As for Pelle, he wasn't really able to get into any situations to show us what he is capable of (that is me being diplomatic).
I think if RK goes for the 433 formation, we could see wanyama with cork and taider either side of him. Morgan instead of cork if he gets head in the game. Davis and jwp as cover. I'm not worrying though as we actually have a good amount of depth in that position
I think we need one of Davis and Prowse in there or there will be no attacking threat through the middle, unless Taider proves to be better in the last third than I realise.
Cork, Taider and Wanyama offers us nothing going forward, and it seems Pelle will need all the attacking support he can get. JWP can put dangerous balls in so I'd rather he plays than Cork.
Preparation games are always difficult to give an insight into a new season, however I thought yesterday's game was a perfect one for the coaches to identify areas that we must sharpen up on. The centre midfield cannot continue to take the ball into feet in such a static way, we were constantly harassed and dispossessed by taking too much time over control and move. Sharpen this up and it immediately reduces counter attacks and sets a more dynamic pace. When in possession, the spare man at the back has to work harder at quality distribution or pressing the line up the pitch. We have an excellent coach in RK, and quality players, I'm so looking forward to the impact he will have on our play. COYS
LFF...fully agree that when Cork was introduced that the link between the defence and attack started to work properly. I can't see why RC would start at Anfield with JWP instead of Cork. Just no comparison
