The Pre-season Friendly Overview

Fantasy Football Pre-season Friendly Overview

We sent him here, we sent him there. He came back with regular pre-season updates. We appreciated it all gratefully. What we weren’t quite expecting was that he would come knocking on the FF247 door at the end of it all and tell us that he had compiled all the results for every team into a nice little pile for us. And that he’d completed a summary assessment of each team. And that  he’d included the main transfers for each. And that he’d he then added a few observations. And that he’d even then included likely line-ups for each team. Well blow us away as he’s done all that and then some! Hats off to The Gallant Pioneer as this truly is an outstanding piece of work. Over to the man himself…

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Arsenal

Summary:

Arsenal only played four pre-season friendlies this pre-season mainly because on the last Saturday of pre-season the Gunners as FA Cup holders, faced off against Premier League champions, Manchester City for the ‘Charity’ (NOT Community) Shield.

To begin, they won at Boreham Wood and lost in New York – there is a perfectly ordinary sentence! The glamour friendly (at Boreham!) was a first run out of the season. In losing to New York, they at least were able to give 45 minutes to Aaron Ramsey (who will be featuring in many a fantasy team come the start). Yaya Sanogo scored four in the mauling of the Portuguese in the Emirates Cup and two of these were assisted by Mr Ramsey.

The Charity (sic) Shield was won at a bit of a stroll. A glossy 3-0 victory thanks to Cazorla, Ramsey and Giroud meant that Wenger has doubled his 9 year trophy haul in just over four months. It also means that David Moyes had to hand back his one and only Manchester Utd trophy.

Friendly Results:

Boreham Wood 0-2 Arsenal

New York Red Bulls 1-0 Arsenal

Arsenal 5-1 Benfica

Arsenal 0-1 Monaco

Community Shield Result:

Arsenal 3-0 Manchester City

Notable Transfers:

In: Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy, David Ospina, Calum Chambers

Out: Lukasz Fabianski, Bacary Sagna, Nicklas Bendtner, Johan Djourou

Observation:

David Ospina has been signed but not to my mind as back-up to Wojiech Szczesny. For those interested in the Pole as their first choice keeper, especially if supplemented with a non-playing GKP, please beware, this is a very accomplished Colombian goalkeeper who has been signed by Mr Wenger.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Szczesny

Debuchy Mertesacker Koscielny Gibbs

Arteta Wilshere

Ozil Sanchez Ramsey

Giroud

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Aston Villa

Summary:

The headline signing has arguably been Roy Keane as Paul Lambert’s number two. This appeared to have an early affect with the Villains notching wins at Mansfield, and the MLS Texan clubs, Dallas and Houston Dynamo. Maybe jetlag could be used as the excuse for Tuesday night’s 3-1 reverse at Chesterfield, where the goal was scored by young midfielder Jack Grealish, who Paul Lambert spoke in glowing terms about after the match although that could have been to divert attention to the rest of the underperformers. This was followed up by an unconvincing 4-1 loss in the Netherlands to Groningen with Charles N’Zogbia on the scoresheet for the second time in pre-season. Pre-season was rounded off with a win at local rivals Walsall, thanks to an Alan Hutton goal (could be our first 4.0 defender!) and a scoreless draw with Serie ‘A’ cracks Parma.

Friendly Results:

Mansfield Town 1-3 Aston Villa

FC Dallas 0-2 Aston Villa

Houston Dynamo 0-1 Aston Villa

Chesterfield 3-1 Aston Villa

Groningen 4-1 Aston Villa

Walsall 0-1 Aston Villa

Aston Villa 0-0 Parma

Notable Transfers:

In: Philippe Senderos, Joe Cole, Kieran Richardson

Out: Jordan Bowery, Nathan Delfouneso, Marc Albrighton, Yacouba Sylla (loan), Nicklas Helenius (loan)

Observation:

Villa are due to welcome back main man Christian Benteke sometime towards the end of 2014, reportedly as early as September and not quickly enough it seems. He appears to bring the best out of those around him as the absolute focal point of the team. Darren Bent is back from a loan at Fulham and should be the main source of goals at the start of the season (has scored two in pre-season). Defensively, keeping hold of Ron Vlaar will be Villa’s priority but it could again be a long hard season of struggle as they don’t seem to have greatly improved the squad after the latest foray into the transfer market.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Guzan

Hutton Vlaar Senderos Baker

Delph Westwood

El Ahmadi, Weimann Agbonlahor

Bent

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Burnley

Summary:

Burnley have had a fair pre-season where it appears manager Sean Dyche has been sticking rigedly to his 4-4-2 formation which is no surprise to be honest. Please refer again to a fantastic earlier article from our own Eddy.

After a training camp and game against amateur opposition in Austria, Burnley haven’t strayed too far in the rest of their matches. Short jaunts to Accrington, Preston and Blackpool have yielded two victories from three. Their pre-season was completed with a match in front of their own support at home to la Liga side, Celta Vigo, who finished ninth in Spain last season.

Friendly Results:

Grossklein 0-8 Burnley

Accrington Stanley 0-1 Burnley

Preston North End 2-1 Burnley

Blackpool 0-1 Burnley

Burnley 2-2 Celta Vigo

Burnley 3-1 Verona

Notable Transfers:

In: Matt Gilks, Steven Reid, Michael Kightly, Matt Taylor, Marvin Sordell, Lukas Jutkiewicz

Out: David Edgar, Junior Stanislas

Observation:

Although one of last season’s mainstays Sam Vokes is currently injured, it has to be noted that replacement strikers, Lukas Jutkiewicz and Marvin Sordell have done very well in pre-season with eight goals between them. Both are attractively priced at £5.0M and could be a nice differential for those looking for a cheap third striker.

Perhaps a gamble could be taken on one-time Everton man Jutkiewicz who has scored five including both in the Celta Vigo match but in reality there are three looking to partner main man Danny Ings in attack with the aforementioned Jutkiewicz and Sordell also competing with Ashley Barnes so it would be unreasonable to expect any of Burnley’s strikers to play 90 minutes each and every week.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Heaton

Trippier Shackell Duff Mee

Arfield Marney Jones Taylor

Ings Sordell

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Chelsea

Summary:

To begin with it looked like Chelsea had decided to play every team they could find beginning with ‘W’ – recording wins at Wycombe and Wimbledon before a draw at Wolfsberger until Werder (Bremen) swept the Blues aside 3-0.

Chelsea’s top scorer so far in pre-season, anyone? John Terry! It’s no wonder he will still find his way in to a number of your teams ahead of the start of the season.

The new boys have made their own impression of course with Cesc Fabregas already scoring against Vitesse and laying on a couple of goals. The worry seems to be that he will be playing deep in this Chelsea team. Make no mistake, he is going to be heavily involved in a lot of Chelsea’s attacks this season and it also seems he will be in charge of some if not all of his team’s set-plays. Diego Costa caught the eye, not for his goal against Olimpija strangely, but for his two assists in open play against Vitesse. Add to this that he drew the foul for Fabregas’ free kick goal and that is a hat-trick of assists in one game. It would appear he is not only there to finish off chances.

Friendly Results:

Wycombe Wanderers 0-5 Chelsea

Wimbledon 2-3 Chelsea

Wolfsberger 1-1 Chelsea

Olimija 1-2 Chelsea

Vitesse 1-3 Chelsea

Werder Bremen 3-0 Chelsea

Fenerbahce 0-2 Chelsea (45 minute match)

Besiktas 1-0 Chelsea (45 minute match)

Still to play:

Ferencvaros v Chelsea – Sunday 10th August

Chelsea v Real Sociedad – Tuesday 12th August

Notable Transfers:

In: Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa, Didier Drogba, Fiipe Luis

Out: David Luiz, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Romelu Lukaku, Samuel Eto’o, Demba Ba

Observation:

New signing from Atletico Madrid, Filipe Luis cost the best part of £16M reportedly so you would expect him to command a place in the team. Perhaps so, but it would not be a surprise to see rotation occurring from time to time. Four times in pre-season, Cesar Azpilicueta has played left back for parts of games so it looks like Jose still has his eye on the Spaniard for the left back role now and again.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Courtois

Ivanovic Cahill Terry Filipe Luis

Matic Fabregas

Hazard Oscar Salah

Costa

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Crystal Palace

Summary:

Like so many others, Crystal Palace had a good pre-season in the USA defeating MLS side Philadelphia Union and drawing with Columbus Crew before rounding off with a win against Richmond Kickers. Whilst Glenn Murray has been with the squad throughout pre-season scoring four, new signing Fraizer Campbell scored a hat-trick in a development squad match at Forest Green in what looks like another decent signing by Tony Pulis. Mind you, old habits die hard and Pulis could not resist picking up a cast-off centre-half on a one-year deal. Norwegian, and ex-Fulham defender, Brede Hangeland was the latest man to be classed your typical “Pulis signing”. Also typically, Crystal Palace finished off their preparations with a clean sheet in Germany against Augsburg in a stalemate.

Friendly Results:

Grazer 1-13 Crystal Palace

Columbus Crew 2-2 Crystal Palace

Philadelphia Union 0-1 Crystal Palace

Richmond Kickers 0-3 Crystal Palace

Brentford 3-2 Crystal Palace

Augsburg 0-0 Crystal Palace

Notable Transfers:

In: Fraizer Campbell, Brede Hangeland

Out: Kagisho Dikgacoi, Danny Gabbion, Jonathan Parr, Dean Moxey, Jose Campana (loan)

Observation:

Now that Tony Pulis has now had a lot longer to work with his squad especially the defence, we should be expecting an even more resolute Palace this season. Due mainly to a fantastic second half of last season, it now speaks volumes for Crystal Palace that defensive coverage in fantasy terms is seen as a safe bet. Goalkeeper Julian Speroni, Joel Ward and Scott Dann would be seen as the more reliable of the coverage. Adrian Mariappa if he secures a starting spot, will be the most popular given his £4.5M price tag.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Speroni

Ward Dann Delaney Mariappa

Puncheon Jedinak Bolasie Ledley

Chamakh Campbell

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Everton

Summary:

Perhaps it is with an impending Europa League campaign in mind that Everton have planned only five matches this pre-season (one of which a testimonial for Leon Osman which marked the debut on new signing Muhamed Besic). Roberto Martinez knows that he will be expected to at least match his league position from last season and ensure a decent showing in the group stages of the Europa League which begin on 18 September.

In a quirk of fate, Everton met Leicester City in Thailand in a friendly and the fixture computer thence threw both teams together on the opening day. If you believe in omens, Leicester won the friendly 1-0. A few alarm bells rung round Goodison when Lolito notched a first half hat-trick to reverse a 1-0 score given to the Toffees by Aiden McGeady, to clinch a 3-1 win. Everton again were on the wrong end of 3-1 scoreline in Germany against Paderborn with Chris Long notching the consolation.

Friendly Results:

Tranmere Rovers 2-2 Everton

Leicester City 1-0 Everton

Everton 1-1 Porto

Everton 1-3 Celta Vigo

Paderborn 3-1 Everton

Notable Transfers:

In: Romelu Lukaku, Gareth Barry, Muhamed Besic

Out: Magaye Gueye, Apostollos Vellios

Observation:

Everton paid in excess of £20 for Romelu Lukaku and he will be the focal point of a team designed to provide him with chances (except if you are Kevin Mirallas). We can only hope Martinez has been keeping Mirallas behind after training to teach him the art of passing the ball to his team-mates, in particular, his fellow Belgian! Big seasons are expected of Ross Barkley, who is proving very popular already with many of us fantasy managers, and recent England-cap John Stones who would appear to be the natural successor to Sylvain Distin in the heart of the defence.

With Europe on the horizon and six guaranteed Thursday matches meaning six league matches being shunted on to Sundays, Martinez will be utilising his squad and rotation is likely.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Howard

Coleman Stones Jagielka Baines

Barry McCarthy

Mirallas Barkley Pienaar

Lukaku

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Hull City

Summary:

Hull took in a pre-season training camp in Portugal and then arrived home to play all their friendlies in Yorkshire. Remaining undefeated in these, was ideal preparation to travel to Slovakia for their first ever European match – a Europa League qualifier against AS Trencin. A very professional 0-0 draw followed (although they missed a penalty) and the tie was won with a 2-1 win in the home tie with goals from Elmohamady and Aluko. They will now play a play-off round tie on 21st and 28th August against the Belgians Lokeren, meaning that the away trip to Aston Villa on the 30th will now be put back to 31st. The weekend match after the home leg (home to Stoke City) was already scheduled for Sunday for television coverage.

Friendly Results:

North Ferriby Utd. 1-1 Hull City

Harrogate 0-5 Hull City

York City 0-2 Hull City

Barnsley 1-1 Hull City

Stuttgart 1-2 Hull City

Europa League Results:

AS Trencin 0-0 Hull City

Hull City 2-1 AS Trencin

Notable Transfers:

In: Jake Livermore, Robert Snodgrass, Tom Ince, Harry Maguire, Andrew Robertson

Out: Matty Fryatt, Robert Koren, Abdoulaye Faye

Observation:

Hull are probably going to rotate (that dreaded word again) because of their added schedule in Europe. They have brought in two defenders – Harry Maguire and Andrew Robertson – none of these have Premier League experience however. Two players who do though are Jake Livermore and Robert Snodgrass. Snodgrass will be a popular pick as he is such an important player, he should definitely see playing time in the majority of the Premier League matches.

If you fancy a bit of the action in Hull’s backline, then the safest bet would be Allan McGregor who, if fit, will play all Premier League games.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

McGregor

Chester Davies Bruce

Elmohamady Livermore Huddlestone Robertson

Snodgrass

Jelavic Long

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Leicester City

Summary:

As mentioned above in the Everton summary, Leicester should have the psychological advantage (if such a thing exists) on Everton ahead of their meeting at the KP on opening day.

Leicester have been fairly busy this pre-season in playing matches around the country and winning them with some pretty good goals including a beauty from James Pearson at MK Dons. If you think that name is a little familiar, then yeah you would be right – he is son of manager Nigel! Although Pearson senior said after the game that he HAS to score wonder goals like that as he probably judges him a lot more harshly than his other players. Playing for Pearson must be scary enough – but if he is your dad as well? There’s pressure for you.

Leicester appear to be sharing the pre-season time around their squad of players and cover for almost all of the positions is in place for Nigel Pearson. His strongest team will be utilised from the start and they will need their reserves ready to step in as it looks like their opening games will test them to the absolute physical limit.

At least they ended pre-season on a high – a 1-0 home victory over Werder Bremen (who whipped Chelsea 3-0 in their last game) won with a header by defender Wes Morgan – his third goal of pre-season.

Friendly Results:

Ilkeston 1-6 Leicester City

Leicester City 1-0 Everton

Walsall 2-3 Leicester City

Preston North End 1-1 Leicester City

MK Dons 0-2 Leicester City

Rotherham Utd. 1-3 Leicester City

Leicester City 1-0 Werder Bremen

Notable Transfers:

In: Marc Albrighton, Matthew Upson, Ben Hamer, Leonardo Ulloa

Out: Paul Gallagher (loan)

Observation:

Leicester have a nightmare opening five fixtures with Everton, Arsenal and Manchester Utd. as their first three home matches broken up by trips to Chelsea and Stoke, two of the leagues true fortresses.

David Nugent is knocking in the goals in pre-season and will be more than capable of scoring his fair share of Premier League goals, but this will likely be from week six onwards. Certainly no defensive coverage of the Foxes is advised from week one.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Schmeichel

de Laet Morgan Moore Schlupp

Albrighton Drinkwater James Mahrez

Nugent Ulloa

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Liverpool

Summary:

Liverpool started early with a narrow defeat in Denmark and then took in their routine match at Preston as pre-season got underway with their first victory.

Like so many of the Premier League teams, the USA was the destination for the main part of the preparations for the Reds. They ended runners-up to their great rivals, Manchester Utd, in the International Champions Cup but claimed decent wins against Olympiacos, Milan and Manchester City after penalties.

Rodgers appeared to spread out the game time quite liberally amongst his men during the USA tour but what did seem to be quite standard was his 4-3-3 formation which was used to great effect last season.

Handing debuts to new defensive pair, Javier Manquillo and Dejan Lovren, Liverpool looked very tasty in the 4-0 stroll against Borussia Dortmund in their final friendly with the usual names from last season – Sturridge, Sterling and Coutinho – heavily involved in a very impressive display. Centre back Lovren seems to like Anfield – following up his winning goal there last season for Southampton, he scored on his home debut today with a header from a Steven Gerrard corner.

Friendly Results:

Brondby 2-1 Liverpool

Preston North End 1-2 Liverpool

Liverpool 0-1 Roma

Liverpool 1-0 Olympiacos

Manchester City 2-2 Liverpool (Liverpool won 3-1 on penalties)

Milan 0-2 Liverpool

Manchester Utd. 3-1 Liverpool

Liverpool 4-0 Borussia Dortmund

Notable Transfers:

In: Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Emre Can, Lazar Markovic, Dejan Lovren, Divock Origi, Javier Manquillo (loan)

Out: Luis Suarez, Iago Aspas (loan), Luis Alberto (loan), Andre Wisdom (loan), Divock Origi (loan), Jose Manuel Reina

Observation:

Liverpool have an abundance of talent, especially in midfield and the trouble may come in keeping all of his squad content, driven and focused on the challenge in front of them. They do have Champions League football this season so in order to compete in both main competitions they obviously needed to strengthen, that without factoring in the departure of Mr Suarez to Barca. So Brendan Rodgers has to work out how best to utilise the new players listed above and the players who ran Manchester City mightily close last season. Think for one second. Adam Lallana (eventually), Lazar Markovic, Emre Can, will have to fight Philippe Coutinho, Raheem Sterling, Lucas, Joe Allen, Jordan Henderson for places in this team. Whilst new signing Dejan Lovren has Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho and Kolo Toure fighting out for only two centre-back spaces, this highlights perfectly the depth of squad required in today’s modern football.

Luckily for Liverpool supporters, the excellent Rodgers realises this and has gone about his transfer business perfectly this summer. Whether or not all or some of the signings work out is another matter, however the leg work was done early and completion of the deals done early to allow an exciting group of players plenty of time to gel.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Mignolet

Flanagan Skrtel Lovren Enrique

Gerrard

Henderson Can

Sterling Sturridge Coutinho

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Manchester City

Summary:

You could feel sorry for Manchester City this pre-season (not for having to visit Dundee – you are cruel, cruel people for even thinking that), I meant for losing two consecutive matches on penalties.

After losing to Dundee and then winning against the ‘Jam Tarts’, Manchester City headed stateside to play Sporting Kansas City as a ‘warm-up’ for the ‘warm-up’ tournament, the International Champions Cup.

Despite tonking Filippo Inzaghi’s Milan 5-1, City then lost to Olympiacos and Liverpool, both on penalties to exit at the group stage. Oh yeah, and Manchester Utd. won the tournament !

The final warm-up was a let-down for the Citizens, losing as they did 3-0 to Arsenal. You can try saying it’s not important all you like, the result was a bit of a surprise and no doubt a wake-up call ahead of a potentially tricky game week 1 at Newcastle. Pellegrini will be hoping it’ll be alright on the Tyne.

Friendly Results:

Dundee 2-0 Manchester City

Heart of Midlothian 1-2 Manchester City

Sporting Kansas City 1-4 Manchester City

Milan 1-5 Manchester City

Manchester City 2-2 Liverpool (Liverpool won 3-1 on penalties)

Olympiacos 2-2 Manchester City (Olympiacos won 5-4 on penalties)

Community Shield:

Arsenal 3-0 Manchester City

Notable Transfers:

In: Bacary Sagna, Willy Caballero, Fernando, Frank Lampard (loan)

Out: Costel Pantillimon, Joleon Lescott, Gareth Barry, Jack Rodwell

Observation:

The most striking observation is no secret but is the form of Stevan Jovetic this pre-season. For those seeking any City attacking coverage, he might just be a risk worth taking providing you have an accomplished playing reserve for those ‘bench’ days.

However, I am going to direct you to the article written by our own Tekno-Kun ‘Analysing Manchester City’ for further reading. His in-depth analysis of formation and players has all you need to know about who you should have in a sky blue shirt for your fantasy team this season.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Hart

Zabaleta Kompany Demichellis Clichy

Fernando Fernandinho

Yaya Toure

Silva Dzeko Aguero

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Manchester Utd

Summary:

“It’s only pre-season” I know but you sense already the arrogant smuginess or the smuggie arrogance returning to the red half of Manchester. Looking at it objectively, they are probably right to be so.

There is a sense within the Old Trafford hoardes that they have now eventually, having suffered their worst season in a generation, got the right man. More telling is that the rest of the league maybe thinks so too.

Look at it this way, would you rather a pre-season where you beat Roma, Inter (albeit on penalties), Real Madrid and Liverpool or lose to them?

Regardless, it appears that a winning mentality, driven by a will to impress the new boss and possibly a little fear, has been instilled in the camp.

Friendly Results:

LA Galaxy 0-7 Manchester Utd.

Manchester Utd. 3-2 Roma

Inter 0-0 Manchester Utd. (Manchester Utd. won 5-3 on penalties)

Manchester Utd. 3-1 Real Madrid

Manchester Utd. 3-1 Liverpool

Still to play:

Manchester Utd. v Valencia – Tuesday 12th August

Notable Transfers:

In: Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw

Out: Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Alexander Buttner, Bebe, Federico Macheda

Observation:

So it is to be a 3-5-2 formation because that is what Louis van Gaal believes best suits his inherited Manchester Utd. squad. What is more interesting now is who he makes available for transfer now having examined it and who he then strengthens it with.

If you are going without Manchester Utd. cover to start your fantasy season, then . . . . why, exactly?

Rooney looks a little lighter to me this pre-season, Mata seems happy to be under the tutelage of van Gaal and crucially both seem to be very satisfied with their playing positions.

Just bear in mind, it has been mentioned by van Gaal that Robin van Persie is not going to play any part in the season opener at home to Swansea City. Does van Gaal play mind games? Probably not. His most attractive characteristic is probably his honesty which seems to be a pillar of his management also.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

de Gea

Jones Evans Smalling

Valencia Herrera Carrick Shaw

Mata

van Persie Rooney

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Newcastle Utd

Summary:

Alan Pardew said last week that no longer could the supporters accuse the club of not investing in the team, which does appear to be true as he has brought in no less than seven new faces for the coming campaign. Of course it wouldn’t be ‘le Toon’ without their being some gallic interest and therefore of course, they have brought in Remy Cabella from Montpellier and Emmanual Riviere from Monaco (OK not actually France but a piddly wee place housing wannabe rockstars ? ).

The new signings have hit the ground running – de Jong has two, Cabella has two and Riviere has three. A busy pre-season has seen them participate in two tournaments in New Zealand and Germany and whilst in England, face off against lower league opposition, where they have won one, drawn one and lost one. To finish, the Geordies dispatched Real Sociedad 1-0 at St James’ thanks to a Moussa Sissoko goal late on in the game.

Friendly Results:

Oldham Athletic 2-1 Newcastle Utd.

Sydney FC 0-4 Newcastle Utd.

Wellington Phoenix 0-1 Newcastle Utd.

Sheffield Wednesday 0-1 Newcastle Utd.

Malaga 3-1 Newcastle Utd.

Schalke 04 1-3 Newcastle Utd.

Huddersfield Town 2-2 Newcastle Utd.

Newcastle Utd. 1-0 Real Sociedad

Notable Transfers:

In: Ayoze Perez, Emmanuel Riviere, Jack Colback, Siem de Jong, Remy Cabella, Darryl Janmaat Facundo Ferreyra (loan)

Out: Mathieu Debuchy, Shola Ameobi, Dan Gosling, Romain Amalfitano, Sylvain Marveaux (loan)

Observation:

Better things are expecting by many at St James’ this season. Whether you like him for his openness or whether you dislike him for his pushing of officials and head-scrape of David Meyler, it has to be admitted that Alan Pardew is a very accomplished manager at this level. Generally he signs well too and all these things coming together would have most, myself included, looking on with great interest this season. There is undoubtedly talent within this Newcastle squad and where there is talent, there are fantasy points. Unfortunately the key is identifying who will score best out of this new lot. Siem de Jong and Remy Cabella are both decent midfield picks based on previous club performances and Riviere may make the striking position is own seeing as quite sadly, it now looks like Papiss Cisse couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Krul

Janmaat Williamson Coloccinni Santon

Colback Sissoko

Obertan de Jong Cabella

Riviere

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Queens Park Rangers

Summary:

QPR are new to the league and someone was going to write an article on them but that person ‘slippy-desked’ it and got some idiot to write it for them. Anyway, apparently it was quite good so you should check it out in the FF247 archives ?

The R’s pre-season has been used by ‘Arry to try a new system. Like Louis van Gaal he too it seems, has seen the merits of a 3-5-2 formation. Being able to sign Rio Ferdinand, Steven Caulker and Jordan Mutch together with the return of Loic Remy, all in the same transfer window can be termed a success. The defensive side of this system seems to be working fairly well as they have collected four clean sheets in pre-season, despite the personnel varying and the standard of opposition notably weaker than can be expected, this will be seen as an excellent starting block for QPR.

Friendly Results:

Rot-Weiss Erfurt 0-1 Queens Park Rangers

RB Leipzig 2-0 Queens Park Rangers

Leyton Orient 2-2 Queens Park Rangers

Southend United 0-0 Queens Park Rangers

Shamrock Rovers 0-4 Queens Park Rangers

Athlone Town 0-2 Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers 0-1 PAOK Salonika

Notable Transfers:

In: Rio Ferdinand, Steven Caulker, Jordan Mutch, Mauricio Isla

Out: Yossi Benayoun, Angelo Balanta, Hogan Ephraim, Aaron Hughes, Andrew Johnson, Stephane M’Bia, Luke Young, Esteban Granero, Samba Diakite (loan)

Observation:

As with any 3-5-2 formation, you are automatically attracted to the full-backs as they are usually encouraged to become involved in the offensive side of the team’s play. For QPR, we would currently have Danny Simpson and Armand Traore in these positions. Now being as Traore is already listed as a midfielder, attention turns to Danny Simpson who is a defender in FPL terms. This means he can collect clean sheet points as well as any attacking points. Great eh? Not really – there may be a spanner in the works. The Hoops have signed a new right-sided player on loan for the season – let’s see whether Mauricio Isla is listed as a defender or a midfielder to see whether he is a worthwhile pick for your squad.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Green

Caulker Ferdinand Dunne

Isla Barton Mutch Hoilett Traore

Remy Austin

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Southampton

Summary:

Now, until this season the most used exit door in the world was in my local pub at the end of happy hour but it seems we have a new champion, Southampton FC, ladies and gentlemen.

Rickie Lambert gone. Adam Lallana gone. Dejan Lovren gone. Calum Chambers gone. Luke Shaw gone. Morgan Schneiderlin (sadly for him) NOT gone.

They have brought four players in of good standard and they have won every game they have played this pre-season, so maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel.

After a pre-season camp in the Netherlands where they faced a local and then a Belgian amateur team, Saints played three local (ish) games. Wins at Swindon, Bournemouth and Brighton had Southampton on a roll until their final glamour match with Bayer Leverkusen where a Graziano Pelle own-goal separated the sides.

Friendly Results:

EHC Hoensbroek 0-4 Southampton

Hasselt 0-6 Southampton

Swindon Town 0-1 Southampton

AFC Bournemouth 0-1 Southampton

Brighton & Hove Albion 1-3 Southampton

Southampton 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen

Notable Transfers:

In: Dusan Tadic, Graziano Pelle, Ryan Bertrand (loan), Saphir Taider

Out: Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw, Dejan Lovren, Calum Chambers, Dani Osvaldo (loan)

Observation:

Although the standard of opposition has not been to as high a standard as some clubs from the Premier League have faced, Southampton have still managed four clean sheets. The attacking capabilities of fullbacks Nathaniel Clyne and new loan signing Ryan Bertrand would seem to be the best way to enjoy the best of both worlds in the form of clean sheets and potential attacking returns for a Southampton team who after they face Liverpool on the opening day, enjoy a run of potentially eleven winnable fixtures until the end of November. New attacking signings Graziano Pelle and Dusan Tadic could also have some tasty pickings from these fixtures.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Boruc

Clyne Hoiveld Fonte Bertrand

Cork Wanyama

Davis Ramirez Tadic

Pelle

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Stoke City

Summary:

As usual Stoke have not been involved in many high scoring matches during pre-season which is good news if you plan to exploit their defence which has become a sort of must have over the past few seasons. The Potters have only lost three goals (only scoring six) but winning games against 1860 Munich and Schalke 04 – not bad scalps even if it is pre-season.

Mark Hughes has brought back former Premier League man Mame Biram Diouf (not that many will remember him though) after a successful couple of years in Germany. More interestingly perhaps, Bojan has arrived on a free from Barcelona. The type of signing that could end in a cult hero status or as a one (half) season wonder. One thing is for sure, he will have his fair share of fantasy owners at his price as he now has three goals in three appearances for the Potters.

Phil Bardsley wasn’t really bothered to move from Sunderland but his agent was nipped to get him to Stoke so that the Bojan deal could go through**. Bardsley is a bit of a disciplinary nightmare but we all know how much a threat he is in the oppositions half and may well make the right back slot his own and will have his own army of loyal fantasy followers.

(**Repeat until it becomes legend)

Friendly Results:

Borussia Moenchengladbach 1-1 Stoke City

1860 Munich 0-2 Stoke City

Schalke 04 1-2 Stoke City

Burton Albion 0-0 Stoke City

Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Stoke City

Stoke City 2-0 Real Betis

Freiburg 1-1 Stoke City

Notable Transfers:

In: Bojan Krkic, Mame Biram Diouf, Phil Bardsley, Steve Sidwell, Dionatan Teixeira

Out: Matthew Etherington, Michael Kightly

Observation:

To take advantage of Stoke’s normally resolute backline is usually a good idea. The safe bets are Asmir Begovic and Ryan Shawcross. All other spots have two players playing for each position and it will be difficult to tell who Hughes will establish as his first choice back four.

Marko Arnautovic is one player who seemed to be getting into his stride towards the end of last season and it is probably between he and Bojan for coverage of Stoke in the offensive half of the field which should be considered bearing in mind that being away to Manchester City in week three is the only time in the first 12 weeks they face one of the supposed ‘big five’. I’ll let you work out who they are…

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Begovic

Bardsley Shawcross Huth Pieters

N’Zonzi Whelan

Bojan Ireland Arnautovic

Crouch

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Sunderland

Summary:

After sticking to the north and north-east of England to ease themselves back in to pre-season, picking up three wins, Sunderland travelled to Albufeira in Portugal for three games against Iberian teams Recreativo, Nacional and Vitoria Setubal (won one, drawn one, lost one).

Scotland International Steven Fletcher has been on the scoresheet three times now and last season’s main man, Connor Wickham has two although reports are that now he is locked in a contract dispute so we shall see how that affects his starting chances this season. French-born academy prospect Mickael Mandron has also scored twice this pre-season and after a loan spell at Fleetwood last season and a call-up to the Scotland U-20 team and could one to keep an eye out for this season.

Friendly Results:

Darlington 1883 1-5 Sunderland

Carlisle Utd. 0-1 Sunderland

Hartlepool Utd. 0-3 Sunderland

Recreativo de Huelva 0-1 Sunderland

Nacional 1-0 Sunderland

Vitoria Setubal 0-0 Sunderland

Sunderland 2-0 Real Betis

Sunderland 2-0 Udinese

Notable Transfers:

In: Costel Pantilimon, Billy Jones, Patrick van Aanholt, Jordi Gomez, Jack Rodwell, Santiago Vergini (loan)

Out: Phil Bardsley, Jack Colback, Carlos Cuellar, Andrea Dossena, Craig Gardner, David Vaughan, Kieran Westwood, Ignacio Scocco, El-Hadji Ba (loan)

Observation:

It would appear that Gus Poyet is sorting out his defence this season. Wes Brown and John O’Shea should play together in the centre. Granted he wanted Alonso from Fiorentina after his successful loan-spell last season, but has made what appears a fine signing in Patrick van Aanholt to replace him. He has traded Phil Bardsley to Stoke and picked up both Billy Jones from West Brom and Santiago Vergini on loan from Estudiantes again, both to battle for the right full back position. If you can’t split them, then it should be noted that Vergini scored one and won the penalty for the other goal in the 2-0 win over Udinese in the Mackems’ last friendly match. The signing of Jordi Gomez from Wigan could be a brilliant acquisition and at 5.5 may not be in many fantasy teams but perhaps could be as we go on. He knows where the goal is, is a decent player and could form an excellent partnership with Jack Rodwell who hopefully will get his career back on track at the Stadium of Light.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Pantillimon

Jones Brown O’Shea van Aanholt

Johnson Rodwell Gomez Giaccherini

Wickham Fletcher

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Swansea City

Summary:

This time to seasons ago the name Michu was the talk of this site –some explained to us all that he could be the bargain of the season. He turned out to be exactly that. Fast forward two years and after a poor injury-ravaged second season, Michu (who also won Spanish national team honours during his stay in south Wales) is packed out on loan to Napoli. Added to this is the impending departure of Chico Flores and Alexandro Pozuelo and you can see the Spanish dynasty built by previous manager Michael Laudrup being dismantled by Garry Monk. He is rebuilding in his own way with the arrivals of Bafetimbi Gomis as striker, Jefferson Montero as winger, Gylfi Sigurdsson in midfield, already a hero at the Liberty Stadium, as well as a new goalkeeper in the form of the Pole Lukas Fabianski from Arsenal.

Two unexciting results in the USA were followed by a mini-tour of the south of England where Swansea picked up some better results as many of their attackers began nicely with Gomis, Wayne Routledge and Sigurdsson all notching two goals each.

Swansea lost their final match 3-0 to a Jonathan de Guzman-led Villarreal at the Liberty Stadium.

Friendly Results:

Swansea City 1-1 Guadlajara

Minnesota Utd. 2-0 Swansea City

Plymouth Argyle 0-4 Swansea City

Exeter City 0-2 Swansea City

AFC Bournemouth 3-1 Swansea City

Reading 1-3 Swansea City

Swansea City 0-3 Villarreal

Notable Transfers:

In: Lukas Fabianski, Bafetimbi Gomis, Marvin Emnes, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jefferson Montero

Out: Michu (loan), Leroy Lita, David N’Gog, Ben Davies, Michel Vorm, Alex Pozuelo, Chico Flores

Observation:

A popular rotation is with a normally solid Stoke City, so a defensive option seems a decent idea. With Ben Davies having left for Tottenham, Neil Taylor catches the eye priced at 4.5. He should be first choice left back.

Swansea also have traditionally has two very talented, but sometimes often overlooked attackers in the shape of Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge (each 5.5). With the return of ‘Siggy’ again they stand to be generally overlooked but check this . . . . Siggy has a 7.5% ownership compared to 0.5% for Dyer and 0.5% for Routledge, a dream for those who like a differential (and they are cheaper!) Dyer for example, has scored only one less goal then Siggy in the last three seasons but has assisted two more.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Fabianski

Rangel Williams Amat Taylor

Shelvey Ki

Dyer Sigurdsson Routledge

Bony

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Tottenham Hotspur

Summary:

Tottenham were another side to do a tour of the MLS where they were quite successful on the results side winning two games and drawing one, scoring plenty of goals and playing a fluid 4-2-3-1 formation under the new manager Mauricio Pochettino.

They followed up their Stateside tour with a friendly exhibition mauling of an under-strength Celtic in Helsinki but the six goals brought their total to 24 in just four games which is impressive regardless of its pre-season standing.

Perhaps the strangest thing about the Southampton exodus is that none of these players have followed their ex-manager and switched to The Lane . . . . yet. Rumours were circulating that the Argentine Pochettino wanted Morgan Schneiderlin but that would be yet another central midfielder to add to the stockpile Spurs already have. Schneiderlin though would expect to be first choice.

Friendly Results:

Seattle Sounders 3-3 Tottenham Hotspur

Toronto FC 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur

Chicago Fire 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Celtic 1-6 Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Schalke 04

Notable Transfers:

In: Michel Vorm, Ben Davies, Eric Dier

Out: Heurelho Gomes, Jake Livermore, Gylfi Sigurdsson

Observation:

Tottenham do have a few attacking options to choose from and it appears that Roberto Soldado will be given a second season to prove how good a striker he actually is. It is of course a new manager too so it could be viewed that this is his second ‘first’ season. He should play as a focal point striker but some will still have fresh in their minds, some of his displays last season. Therefore attention may be more focussed more on the creative support behind him. In the pieces witnessed of Tottenham’s pre-season matches, the ‘three’ in support of the striker are interchangeable (Aaron Lennon for example played both left and right hand side in the game where Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen also played) and therefore there may not be anyone playing in a fixed ‘hole’ position. Lamela has reportedly trained very well this summer and will prove a popular selection. Lennon and Andros Townsend are the paciest picks in the squad and may share game time. A mention should be made to Lewis Holtby who is only priced at 5.5 and has two goals this pre-season and could be a decent budget option but the favourite should be Eriksen. For both he and Lamela to be priced at 8.0, can’t be based upon last season’s performances and is one of the biggest mysteries to me this fantasy season.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Lloris

Naughton Dawson Vertonghen Davies

Capoue Paulinho

Lennon Lamela Eriksen

Soldado

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West Bromwich Albion

Summary:

West Bromwich Albion appointed their new manager (sorry) Head Coach who was Tim Sherwood (sorry) Alan Irvine on 14th June 2014. I jest of course, but West Bromwich Albion and most of their supporters, a passionate lad I play football with being one (and my man in the know), fear the worst already. Many still can’t fathom out the Steve Clarke exit, knew that the Pepe Mel era was doomed from the beginning and having being excited by the seeming arrival of Sherwood, have now become completely underwhelmed by Alan Irvine’s eventual appointment.

A whole new defence has been signed so usually that brings its own risk and they have brought in a new Nigerian striker Brown Ideye from Russia for a sizable £10.0M outlay and all hopes will be pinned on him to get the goals to keep the club in the league. So much could go wrong this season but we just have to see.

Friendly Results:

West Bromwich Albion 2-0 Bury

Shrewsbury Town 1-2 West Bromwich Albion

Sacramento Republic 0-1 West Bromwich Albion

Sacramento Republic 1-3 West Bromwich Albion

Nottingham Forest 1-0 West Bromwich Albion

Port Vale 3-2 West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Porto

Notable Transfers:

In: Joleon Lescott, Chris Baird, Sebastien Pocognoli, Jason Davidson, Andre Wisdom (loan), Craig Gardner, Brown Ideye

Out: Liam Ridgewell, Steven Reid, Diego Lugano, Zoltan Gera, Billy Jones

Observation:

The only real observation would be the one that has caught everyone else’s eye and that is the potential value in Andre Wisdom at 4.0 if he secures either the right back spot or one of the two centre back spots.

The Baggies will probably line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with new £10M signing Brown Ideye in attack. To be honest, apart from Wisdom (and maybe Foster as a rotating goalkeeper), there is not much attraction in any West Brom coverage at least until we see how they play under the new management.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Foster

Wisdom Olsson Lescott Pocognoli

Yacob Gardner

Dorrans Sessegnon Berahino

Ideye

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West Ham Utd

Summary:

West Ham have performed quite poorly throughout pre-season and lost Andy Carroll til November and new signing Enner Valencia for the first month of the season. Hardly ideal.

The Hammers have scored only four goals in six matches and one of them was an own goal in the 2-1 defeat to Sydney FC. Manager Sam Allardyce has said he is scouring for another striker (Mauro Zarate is the only striker who has scored this pre-season excluding penalties)

The signing of Carl Jenkinson on loan from Arsenal and the capture of Aaron Cresswell should hopefully refresh the Irons defence and add to the attacking flair required as part of a re-jig to the job description of the manager to appease a growing number of West Ham’s support. However, the apparent need for a creative central attacking midfielder is not going to be addressed any time soon.

On a positive note, West Ham finished off preparations in front of their own supporters with an entertaining 3-2 win over Sampdoria to win the coveted MarathonBet Cup. A Mark Noble penalty and a Mohamed Diame strike had brought the Hammers back level twice in the game. Youngster Reece Burke scored the winner in injury time. Roy of the Rovers stuff (or Reece of the Hammers if you will).

Friendly Results:

Stevenage 2-2 West Ham Utd.

Ipswich Town 0-0 West Ham Utd.

Wellington Phoenix 2-1 West Ham Utd.

Sydney FC 3-1 West Ham Utd.

Schalke 04 0-0 West Ham Utd. (West Ham Utd. won 7-6 on penalties)

Malaga 2-0 West Ham Utd.

West Ham Utd. 3-2 Sampdoria

Notable Transfers:

In: Aaron Cresswell, Carl Jenkinson (loan), Diego Poyet, Cheikhou Kouyate, Mauro Zarate, Enner Valencia

Out: Joe Cole, Jack Collison, Matt Taylor, Alou Diarra

Observation:

Value may be to be had in siding with either of the two new full backs for West Ham. Jenkinson is cheaper at 5.0 but is currently nursing a slight hamstring injury. West Ham probably will at some point start to grind out clean sheets and it is always a safe bet to have some coverage in your squad.

Enner Valencia, after a fair showing at the World Cup, could go well once up and running at 7.0.

Probable First Choice Line-up:

Adrian

Jenkinson Collins Reid Cresswell

Jarvis Diame Noble Downing

Nolan

Cole

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Let me take this opportunity to wish you all a happy fantasy season and I hope you all break your personal bests. Remember to enjoy playing the game.

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Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Pre-season Friendly Overview. This article was written by The Gallant Pioneer.

Follow @mitchellcraig81