The Pre-season Friendly Hub Part 2
Pre-season preparations are now well and truly underway. All Premier League teams have played and depending on where you are in the world and what your sports subscription is, you may have had the opportunity to view first hand, a number of them. Be aware though that most managers see the first two or three games as purely an exercise to blow away the cobwebs and to get the joints moving once again. This is the reason a lot of the time you will see 22 (or more) players playing in a game. In short, you shouldn’t concern yourself if one of your fantasy picks only played 45 minutes in a game. This is not a reliable indication of manager intent or a forewarning to the season. Usually. The US seems to be the market everyone is trying to crack this pre-season and we know a number of site members have been lucky enough to go to some of these games. Manchester City, Manchester Utd, Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City are all in the world’s latest soccer (sic) market. Heck, even Arsenal nipped out for five minutes to face the Red Bulls last night. World Cup fever has caught stateside and the Premier League teams are dipping their bread in.
Newcastle and West Ham are in Oceania, with contrasting opening results and Chelsea are back-packing around Europe, whilst the rest seem to be preparing closer to home.
Today/Yesterday has been a massive day of action with no less than nine Premier League clubs continuing their preparations. Here is a rundown on the games involving Premier League teams from Wednesday to last night…
WEST HAM UNITED
West Ham United V Wellington Phoenix
23 July 2014
GOAL: Mauro Zarate (assisted by Matt Jarvis) 71 mins
Jaaskelainen
Demel, Reid, Collins, Cresswell
Kouyate, Noble, Diame, Nolan, Jarvis
C Cole, Nolan
Subs:
60min Zarate, Downing on – Cole and Kouyate off
68min Tomkins, O’Brien on – Collins and Demel off
77 min Potts on – Cresswell Off
81min Whitehead on – Diame off
83 Fanimo on – Nolan off
CHELSEA
Wolfsberger 1-1 Chelsea
23 July 2014
GOAL:
Jeremie Boga (assisted by Branislav Ivanovic) 84 mins
Cech
Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Luis (Ake 60)
Van Ginkel (Romeu 60), Matic (Chalobah 81); Salah (Swift 85), Baker (Boga 45)
Brown (Christensen 77); Bamford (Solanke 60)
HULL CITY
York City 0-2 Hull City
23 July 2014
GOALS:
Sone Aluko (unassisted) 50 mins
Yannick Sagbo (unassisted) 79 mins
Allan McGregor
Ahmed Elmohamady (Liam Rosenior 46), James Chester (Alex Bruce 46), Paul McShane (Curtis Davies 46), Conor Townsend
Robert Snodgrass (Sone Aluko 46), David Meyler (Tom Huddlestone 46), Stephen Quinn (Jake Livermore 46), Robbie Brady (Tom Ince 46)
Shane Long (Yannick Sagbo 46) George Boyd (Joe Dudgeon 68)
SUNDERLAND
Hartlepool Utd. 0-3 Sunderland
23 July 2014
GOALS:
Carl Lawson (assisted by Mickael Mandron) 70 mins
Andrew Cartwright (unassisted) 73 mins
Andrew Cartwright (unassisted) 77 mins
Sunderland 1-61 mins
Pantilimon
Watmore, Ferguson, Roberge, O’Shea
Cattermole, Larsson, Ba, Johnson
Fletcher, Clayton
Sunderland 62-90 mins
Cartwright
Pickford, T Robson, Harrison, Beadling
Agnew, Honeyman, Smith, Gooch
Lawson, Mandron.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Toronto 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur
24 July 2014
GOALS:
Erik Lamela (assisted by Roberto Soldado) 15 mins
Erik Lamela (assisted by Roberto Soldado) 39 mins
Andros Townsend (assisted by Lewis Holtby) 84 mins
First Half:
Brad Fridel
Kyle Naughton, Younes Kaboul, Milos Veljkovic, Ben Davies
Ettiene Capoue, Ryan Mason
Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela, Aaron Lennon
Roberto Soldado
Second Half:
Friedel
Walker, Dawson, Fryers, Rose
Carroll, Holtby, Ceballos, Townsend
Falque, Kane
CRYSTAL PALACE
Columbus Crew 2-2 Crystal Palace
24 July 2014
GOALS:
Glenn Murray (assisted by Yannick Bolassie) 36 mins
Jake Gray (assisted by Marouane Chamakh) 70 mins
Speroni (Hennessey 45)
Ward (Mariappa 51), Dann, Delaney (Ramage 60), Jerome Williams (Boateng 60)
Puncheon (Gray 60), Jedinak (O’Keefe 51), Ledley (Jonny Williams 60 {Ledley 73}), Bolasie (Bannan 60)
Murray (Chamakh 51), Gayle (Guedioura 60)
LIVERPOOL
Liverpool 0-1 Roma
24 July 2014
Jones
Kelly (Coady), Skrtel, Coates (Agger 60), Enrique (Robinson 48)
Lucas, Allen (Henderson 80)
Coutinho (Phillips 85), Borini (Can 11), Ibe (Suso 80)
Lambert (Peterson 60)
MANCHESTER CITY
Sporting Kansas City 1-4 Manchester City
24 July 2014
GOALS:
Bruno Zuculini (unassisted) 3 mins
Dedryck Boyata (assisted by Jesus Navas) 44 mins
Aleksandr Kolarov (PENALTY won by Scott Sinclair) 72 mins
Kelechi Iheanacho (assisted by Jesus Navas) 88 mins
Caballero
Richards (Clichy 46), Boyata, Rekik (Nastastic 75), Kolarov
Navas, Fernando (Javi Garcia 65), Zuculini (Huws 74), Kelechi Iheanacho (Denayer 90)
Sinclair (Leigh 88), Jovetic (Guidetti 65)
ASTON VILLA
FC Dallas 0-2 Aston Villa
24 July 2014
GOALS:
Andreas Weimann (assisted by Darren Bent) 44 mins
Charles N’Zogbia (unassisted) 49 mins
First Half:
Given
Hutton, Okore, Stevens, Baker
Herd, Bacuna, Gardner, Grealish
Weimann, Bent
Second Half:
Given
Lowton, Senderos, Clark, Bennett
Westwood, El Ahmadi, Delph, N’Zogbia
Agbonlahor, Richardson
MANCHESTER UTD
LA Galaxy 0-7 Manchester Utd.
24 July 2014
GOALS:
Juan Mata 13 mins
Wayne Rooney (PENALTY won by Valencia) 41 mins
Wayne Rooney (unassisted) 45 mins
Reece James (assisted by Ashley Young) 62 mins
Reece James (assisted by Shinji Kagawa) 84 mins
Ashley Young (assisted by Ander Herrera) 88 mins
Ashley Young (assisted by Ander Herrera) 90 mins
First Half:
De Gea
Smalling, Jones, Evans
Valencia
Fletcher (c), Herrera, Mata, Shaw
Welbeck, Rooney
Second Half:
Lindegaard
James, Fletcher, Keane M
Rafael, Blackett, Kagawa, Cleverley, Herrera
Nani, Young
SOUTHAMPTON
AFC Bournemouth 0-1 Southampton
25 July 2014
GOAL:
Lloyd Isgrove (assisted by Nathaniel Clyne) 20 mins
Boruc
Clyne, Fonte, Yoshida (Hoiveld 60), Targett
S. Davis (Reid 60), Ward-Prowse (Stephens 74), Tadi? (McQueen 60), Ramírez (Cork 45)
Isgrove (Mayuka 74), Pellè (Gallagher 74)
WEST HAM UTD
Sydney FC 3-1 West Ham Utd.
26 July 2014
GOAL: (Petkovic OG, assisted by Matt Jarvis ) 51 mins
Adrian (Howes 81)
Demel, O’Brien (Potts 72), Reid, Collins
Noble (Whitehead 68), Diame (Poyet 68), Nolan, Downing (Fanimo 81)
Jarvis (Vaz Te 59), Cole (Zarate 45)
NEWCASTLE UTD
Wellington Phoenix 0-1 Newcastle Utd.
26 July 2014
GOAL: Yoan Gouffran (assisted by Vurnon Anita) 41 mins
Rob Elliot
Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini (Haris Vuckic 78), Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (Lubo Satka 65) Massadio Haidara (Paul Dummett 76)
Vurnon Anita, Mehdi Abeid (Rolando Aarons 46), Jack Colback, Yoan Gouffran (Adam Campbell 85),
Emmanuel Riviere (Adam Armstrong 65), Siem de Jong (Ayoze Perez 33)
CRYSTAL PALACE
Philadelphia Union 0-1 Crystal Palace
26 July 2014
GOAL: White (OG, assisted by Scott Dann) 20 mins
Speroni
Ward (Mariappa 50), Dann (McCarthy 54, Ramage 65), Delaney, Jerome Williams (Boateng 65)
Puncheon (Bannan 54), Jedinak (O’Keefe 50), Ledley (Gray 65), Bolasie (Thomas 54),
Chamakh (Guedioura 65), Gayle (Murray 50).
WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Sacramento Republic 1-3 West Bromwich Albion
26 July 2014
GOALS:
Saido Berahino (assisted by Victor Anichbe) 13 mins
Yousseff Mulumbu (assisted by Saido Berahino) 30 mins
Victor Anichebe (unassisited) 62 mins
Foster (L Daniels 45)
Wisdom, Dawson (D Daniels 69), Olsson (A Nabi 83), Pocognoli
Baird (Atkinson 85), Yacob (O’Neil 45), Mulumbu
Berahino (Roofe 63), Anichebe, Dorrans (Garmston 67).
QUEENS PARK RANGERS
Red Bull Leipzig 2-0 Queens Park Rangers
26 July 2014
First half:
Green
Simpson, Ferdinand, Dunne, Hill
Phillips, Barton, Wright-Phillips, Doughty, Henry
Austin
Second half:
Green
Caulker, Collison, Dunne (Sendles-White 69), Onuoha,
O’Neil, Faurlin, Petrasso, Wright-Phillips (Ehmer 69)
Zamora, Sutherland.
BURNLEY
Accrington Stanley 0-1 Burnley
26 July 2014
GOAL: Jason Gilchrist (assisted by Scott Arfield) 73 mins
First half:
Gilks
Mee (Conlan 41), Shackell, Anderson, Trippier
Taylor, Hewitt, Marney, Hall
Ings, Sordell.
Second Half:
Cisak
Lafferty, Duff. Long. O’Neill
Arfield, Howieson, Jones, Hewitt (Lowe 70)
Gilchrist, Jutkiewicz.
HULL CITY
Barnsley 1-1 Hull City
26 July 2014
GOAL: Shane Long (unassisted) 47 mins
Steve Harper (Eldin Jakupovic 45)
Liam Rosenior (Joe Dudgeon 63), Ahmed Elmohamady, James Chester, Paul McShane
Tom Ince (George Boyd 63), Tom Huddlestone, Jake Livermore , Robert Snodgrass (Stephen Quinn 63),
Sone Aluko (Robbie Brady 63) Shane Long (Yannick Sagbo 63)
STOKE CITY
1860 Munich 2-0 Stoke City
26 July 2014
First Half:
Sorensen
Wilkinson, Shawcross, Wilson, Muniesa
Shotton, Ireland,Whelan, Arnautovic
Bojan
Diouf
Second Half:
Bachmann
Bardsley, Huth, Teixeira, Pieters
Walters, Adam, Nzonzi, Sidwell
Shea
Crouch
ARSENAL
New York Red Bulls 1-0 Arsenal
26 July 2014
First Half:
Szczesny
Jenkinson, Hayden, Monreal, Gibbs
Arteta, Wilshere,
Zelalem, Ramsey, Cazorla
Rosicky
Second Half:
Martinez
Bellerin, Monreal, Miquel, Gibbs
Coquelin, Flamini
Diaby, Rosicky (Toral 70), Cazorla (Olsson 70)
Akpom
MANCHESTER UTD
Manchester Utd. 3-2 Roma
26 July 2014
GOALS:
Wayne Rooney (assisted by Juan Mata) 36 mins
Juan Mata (assisted by Wayne Rooney) 39 mins
Wayne Rooney (PENALTY, won by Danny Welbeck) 45 mins
First Half:
Johnstone
Jones, Evans, Blackett
Valencia, Cleverley, Herrera, James
Mata
Welbeck, Rooney
Second Half:
Amos
M Keane, Smalling, Blackett
Young, Cleverley (Hernandez 70), Kagawa, Shaw
Nani
Lingard, W Keane
ASTON VILLA
Houston Dynamo 0-1 Aston Villa
27 July 2014
GOAL: Joe Bennett (assisted by Andreas Weimann) 41 mins
First Half:
Steer
Herd, Senderos, Baker, Lowton
Bennett, El Ahmadi, Delph [Richardson, 30] N’Zogbia
Agbonlahor, Weimann
Second Half:
Steer
Hutton, Richardson, Herd, Clark, Stephens, Gardner, Westwood, Bacuna, Grealish, Bent
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Chicago Fire 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
27 July 2014
GOALS:
Harry Kane (assisted by Lewis Holtby) 5 mins
Aaron Lennon (assisted by Roberto Soldado) 84 mins
Friedel (McGee, 78)
Walker (Naughton, 46), Dawson, Veljkovic (Fredericks, 80), Rose (Davies, 46)
Capoue, Mason; Holtby (Falque, 64), Lamela (Eriksen, 46)
Townsend (Lennon, 46); Kane (Soldado, 46)
CONCLUSIONS
HOT:
Man Utd started the van Gaal era impressively with a 7-0 win against LA Galaxy. Granted this was only an MLS side but any 7-0 deserves some credit. It would have been pleasing for Wayne Rooney owners to see him scoring so early (four goals in two games including sticking away two penalties) and they’ll be hoping it continues to the start of the season, especially as Man Utd. have some really attractive opening fixtures, as is well documented.
Luke Shaw appears to be lined up for the wide left position of a five in midfield as Man Utd’s default 3-5-2 formation. This in essence, makes him prospectively, the first and biggest, Out Of Position (OOP) player this season.
Ander Herrera began his Man Utd. career by dictating the LA Galaxy match and assisted two goals for Ashley Young (no mean feat!) and he may be a more attractive player in fantasy terms then first anticipated. A midfield destroyer he isn’t and never was, he is a classy player who although may play in a deep role, can unpick defences and may continue his assist scoring into the season.
The question is will Robin van Persie be used sparingly at the beginning of the season due to the burden able to be shared between Rooney, Mata, Valencia, Shaw and Herrera?
Enjoy discussing . . .
NOT
West Ham Utd. have now lost both their games against ‘A’ league opposition, in the form of Wellington Phoenix and Sydney FC. OK, so it is pre-season, they have travelled a long way but you would have to be flag these two results as ‘warning signs’.
Andy Carroll has now been ruled out through injury (again). This time for a reported four months so their main striker being out and it has been one heck of a trip for Sam Allardyce and his men. Add to this the hullabaloo surrounding who he actually wants to sign / retain (Ravel Morrison) and can’t, and who he didn’t (Mauro Zarate) and did. This is all alleged of course but there usually is no smoke without fire.
Big Sam has already agreed with the owners that to appease them he will finish in the top half of the table minimum. Also, and to appease the Hammers’ support, he has promised a more attractive style of football. A return to the ‘West Ham Way’ (whatever that may be, like some, I have no idea).
The pressure is already on Big Sam and it could be argued that he now needs results (even though it is pre-season) against Schalke 04 and Malaga in Germany next weekend.
Hope you are enjoying these reviews and happy tinkering to all . . .
RMT please
Green – Speroni
Debuchy – Shaw – Luis – Wilkinson – Wisdom
Ramsey – Hazard – Mata – Siggurdson – Albrighton
Costa – Rooney – Kone (:/)
Morning all, Burnsy, don’t fancy Kone, perhaps take a punt on Kane, gives you 0.5 mill back aswell, the rest looks ok.
Nice team. Main question mark is Kone I think, so keep an eye on Everton’s transfers. If they don’t manage to bring anyone else in (which is unlikely) then he could be a shrewd bit of business. Also keep an eye on Wisdom and Wilkinson as the season draws closer to see how much game-time they are likely to get, by which time we should see if a better option emerges to replace Albrighton too.
Who do we think for 4th Mf Puncheon , Adam , Snodgrass or any other around price
Morning Silvers, probably Snoddy.
Morning Elle Not got round to asking our Gale what classes she was in where do you live now?
Birkenhead, moved from here to s/port in 69, then moved back in 74. I do remember your mrs, in year 2 our teacher was mrs macmillan, i’ve got the class photo somewhere and shes on it and so am i, when i find it will let you know, if Gale hasn’t already got them that is.
yes that would be good dont think she has many photos thanks
In S/port on 20th August, dentist in Houghton Street.
Out Steph works there one of our daughters we have 3 say hello , (Steph Horrocks) its a small world
Morning girls and boys
Been months since my last post. But it’s that time again, head melting time…
Here’s my first draft, giz a hand making it better 😛
GK: Howard , (Krul)
DF: Jones, Rosenior, O’Shea, (Wisdom, Duff)
MF: Mata, Sanchez, Snodgrass, Puncheon, Sidwell
ST: Rooney, Costa, Giroud.
1M in the bank. who will I upgrade? I hade 0 in the bank today until I changed from Hazard to Mata.
Changed my team the usual 1,000,000 times already so no fuss :smirk:
Nice team!
Thanks, I’m happy enough with it considering I had to work around my front 3.
In a way I am glad that Suarez isn’t in it this year, his price tag would have made it harder to work around as he’d be a must have
I really wanted Yaya too, had him from the start last season but can’t fit him in my team at the moment :/
unless I use .5 of my 1m to upgrade Sanchez, but not sure…. He’s all new and shiney (Sanchez)
McButcher you seem to have a “weak” midfield there fpl wise. Not sure having 3 of Snoddy, Puncheon and Sidwell is a good idea. Upgrade one of them perhaps? I am not truly convinced by Giroud so downgrade him to Austin in order to fund a Puncheon->Eriksen move for instance?
And you only have Jones as a good defender. But you have no premium. Can’t you squeeze a Chelsea man in there ?
Everton have a tough run in so I would stay away form Howard (now that I say that see him stop 2 penalties and make 5 CS in 6 games)
Yep. I’d second all of this.
I do also agree with all of this, but at the same time it is nice to see a few different choices in there that are still not bad options. We are in danger of all fielding the same team exactly haha, or at least 8 or 9 of the same starting 11, if we keep on advising every different player someone has to be changed to the same guy that every agrees is the best choice…
Well I come here for advice so I can beat the lads at work haha. Having a very similar team to you guys isn’t really an issue to me. Although I get that you guys may feel different.
The advice you get from this forum is golden in general (not talking about mine hahah)! Helped me climb to 600th in the world when the year before that I was 500 000! So even when you hear crazy suggestions…consider them!! haha
No McButcher, I don’t mean it at all in a protective-of-our-team way, for all I care you can have the exact same 15 players as me
Calvin Clyne very true in deed! Someone has to have the courage to try and swim against the fpl manager tide! 😉 I am thinking for instance that a lot have Shaw in. But since he is at the moment the best OOP choice I would be dangerous to not have him as well. If only we could find that little gem of a cheapie defender that can outscore him! Our team may look similar in the start but I am sure as the season goes they will evolve according to when the WC will be activated for some, or also the BPS system that will encourage people to try out rough diamonds!
If our same 8-9 players is on average better than most people playing the game then we’ll start off much better, in theory. Then it’s up to each of us to make sound decisions throughout the season and keep pushing, with a view to getting as many of us in the top bracket as possible, meaning more chance of one of us having a shot at the overall title. That’s how i look at it anyway.
Speaking of top brackets and pushing for titles, anyone seen B-Bash around yet? Don’t think i’ve seen him on the forum since the end of last season… not that i remember anyway.
Exactly NIN. Hence the importance in here of finding good differentials to outscoring the peeps in here 😛 This FF247 community is….well…awesome.
As for B-Bash I have not seen him around. I am more concerned with YOU. Hope you won’t make a Houdini and disappear like last year haha! I need fellow United fans to be able to talk to!! Last year especially! (Thank you Moyesie lol!)
Indeed NIN. Just worry sometimes that the pool of prospective players is getting ever smaller, when initially I thought it was quite big (though I do get why that happens – as time goes by and we are all thrashing it out on here, we take note of what each other says and slowly do decide upon the players most likely to do well).
It is indeed and hopefully one of us can go all the way this season. B-Bash came so close! I’m here for good mate, haha. Things went fairly tits up for me towards the end of last season, shame really as i was on for my highest finish in the OR which really bugged me but hey, shit happens. Now, it’s all about this season and hopefully we all have successful seasons.
Moyes? Who’s that? Never heard of him. Haha.
Yeah Clavin, you’re right of course. It’d be more interesting if there was more variation. Having said that, at season start the closer we all are to the ‘ideal template’ team the better, then we all have a go and see what happens. The market value of the players is a real spanner in the works also. The team i had in my head before the game launched was 8m over budget! Pffft hahaha. Nightmare.
Haha the Moyes denial syndrome. I have been there too. But I have come to terms with it finally. Without him we would not have appreciated huuum…wait a second am I trying to find positives here?!?! haha
Hahaha. With a touch of luck, the bad times are behind us. It really was shocking to see such a collapse. I had a lot of faith in the appointment of ‘the unmentionable one’ but eh, no, it was a catastrophe! Van Gaal doesn’t take any shit as we’ve seen already so that confidence in his ability and ideas should see us right over the next 3 or 4 seasons.
Haha NIN spot on! The best signing we have made this year is LVG. Can’t wait to see him on the bench at Old Trafford. Opposing teams will not have such a field day as last year hopefully!! So much excitement bottled up atm….come on PL you are such a tease just get on with it!!! haha
Indeed. It just cant come quick enough. In the mean time i’d like to see us doing a bit more business in the transfer market. Couple of defenders and another mid and we’ll be in good shape for kick off, for me.
LVG is testing all his squad now. The good thing is he likes to play with 25 no more. And he will be quickly able to evaluate them all. Cleverly after his bad game vs Roma has surely lost a few points on his list so unless Anderson unleashes some magic Vidal is more than welcome!! If we could get De Vrij as well I would be happy. As for Hummels…well we can still hope…
Hummels is the dream signing. Give him the captaincy and watch the results flow! I’m not holding my breath on that one that’s for sure. Reports suggest that Vidal is going nowhere, although, Bilbao said something similar a day or so before we bought Herrera so… never know.
Yep Juve playing hardball tactics…come on already we practically gave them Evra for free!! 😉
Hi McButcher, nice team, I would personally swap Howard to De Gea due to Evertons early fixtures, then swap Jones who is not nailed on for some Chelsea coverage, Luis maybe. Also although I rate Puncheon I think in the 6m price bracket Sigurdsson looks a real bargain, but then I see a lot of people agreeing with that and we all don’t want the same teams I guess…
How did I not realise that De Gea and Howard were same price… :stupid:
ok changes:
Howard to De Gea
Jones to Terry
Puncheon to Eriksen
Giroud to Austin
I’ve not seen this Filipe Luis guy play, is he prefered over Terry? or only because of his price?
Sound changes imo. Regarding Chelsea’s defence I don’t feel that any defender or g.k for that matter is nailed on at this stage, we will hopefully know a lot more nearer the start of the season with friendly’s ect. The reason that I recommended Luis is that he is a recognised LB whereas Azpilicueta is a RB with ivanovic who can also play CB with Terry and Cahill, admittedly Azpi did a good job last season at RB but I can’t see why they would spend 16m on a 28 year old just for back up…
Solid changes those, although, the jury is still out on Austin but he’s by no means a dodgy pick. Luis is favored because of the 0.5m price difference i reckon, which is fair enough as we all have tight budgets but i’d pick Terry over just about any other defender in the whole game.
Grand I’ll stick with Terry for now, and switch to Azpi or Luis if I feel I need the money elsewhere. Knowing my luck a shock transfer will be made and I will WANT/NEED that shock in my team haha.
So anyway, *Off topic* Come On United!!!
Indeed, McButhcher. I cant wait to see how we fair this season. I’d be happy if we could sneak 3rd. It’ll be very tough though.
Yeah NIN, Top 4 would be nice.
It’ll be interesting seeing us play with our new formation under Van Gaal.
I see many goals
Yep. Thankfully Louis knows the meaning of the words ‘attack’ and ‘organization’, unlike that other guy. His name escapes me. ha.
You still about elle? I have an answer to your Gmail query!
Shite, still no van Aanholt. >.<
Which defenders will most def be starters for the topteams?:
United: Shaw, Smalling, Jones
Chelsea: Luis, Terry, Cahill
City: Kompany, Zab
Liverpool: Lovren, Johnson
Arsenal: Kos, Merte
Seems legit. Add Debuchy for Arsenal and Ivanovic for Chelsea (doubt that Mou would dare drop that beast of a defender)
As for United I donno if Smalling is most def be a starter? Let us see what the transfer window brings us!
Yeah, he got the armband in the second half and did very well. However, it’s questionable. If van Gaal does start with 3 central defenders (3-4-1-2 or 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 whatever ya call it) which central defender will most def start? Jones? Why is Evans completely out of favor as of late? Think he was one of the better ones at United before his injury previous season.
Yeah I agree I have always rated Evans. Think he is at present better than Smalling. We may though have a surprise on our hands. A guy like Tyler Blackett (he played the full game vs Roma in the back 3) could very well be introduced. Knowing that LVG likes to hand pick a few from the youth system I guess we will have to wait and see!
So I guess as things stand Jones is the most likely of the 3 at the back to start. And its a 50/50 for Smalling and Evans?
Hi Raz. We’ll have to wait and see about United center backs i think. We need to sign a few so those spots are up for grabs really. Shaw is nailed and that’s about it, for me. Arsenal should line up Debuchy, Mert, Kos and Gibbs (once fit). Chelsea defence should be Luis, Terry, Cahill and Ivan i think. Liverpool, hmm, could be some rotation there but i reckon it’ll be Johnson, Lovren, Sakho and Enrique (until they sign another LB), although maybe Flanagan will play there too.