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 . . .
Sky Sports understands West Ham are set to win the race to sign Arsenal defender Carl Jenkinson on loan.
? Ward C/P or Davis Tot
If Schneiderlin signs for Spurs I would definitely go for Davies as he should provide some protection to the back four.
Hi All,
Please help RMT
Krul Mannone
Shaw Debuchy Wisdom Targett Bruce
Mata Sanchez Sig Eriksen El Ahmadi
Rooney Costa Dzeko
Yes I know my defense is crap but Shaw and Debuchy will basically start and the 3rd spot will shuffle among the other 3 defenders… that being said should I rather take Debuchy out and put in Ben Davies and upgrade Bruce to Chester? Get a guaranteed starter? or another 4.5m defender? If someone else then who?
Strong team. Risky having three 4m defenders though. The rest I really like. Pondering on Dzeko myself but think City have really hard fixtures and you really don’t know what Pellegrini will start with (apart from Silva/Kun/Yaya).
Raziel
I dont mind the risk, just want guys who will start and cheap haha.
I have doubted Dzeko for the past 2 years and hurt my points by that, I have now come around since Negredo is injured… that and Aguero played in the WC final so he might be eased into the PL…
What you think about my defensive problem though?
If I were to take a risk I’d only risk two 4m defenders. And you could be right about Dzeko. I’m taking a risk with a new forward arrival, same price.
As for defenders. I’d want 3 solid, always starting defenders (of which 2 premium, meaning top a 5 starter). Third defender could be a 4.5m or 5.0m one. A lot of good choices out there. I remember last season, suddenly everybody was getting injured and than you have to fall back on the rest of your team. Usually it are defenders that take the hit for you and if they don’t play.
Good solid choices at cheaper prices for me are: O’Shea (4,5m) and Vlaar (4,5m). Villa only have 3 good fixtures to start with though. After that either swap him or get another good one, they have dreadful fixtures till GW9.
I think Im going to bin Debuchy for Davies and upgrade Bruce to Chester or Vlaar maybe. Else go Debuchy to a 4.5m and upgrade the rest of my 4s to 4.5m
Shep the jury is still out on the best 4.0-4.5s at the moment, so just think of the cheap players you have now as cash that you will spend closer to the start of the season when everyone has better info.
If you did want to free up a little cash from one position I would go with Sanchez to any of the several great 9.0 options and keep Debuchy, but that’s just me
Clyne could you have a look at Dreamers team a page back? I was sort of harsh with my critics on it. Wanted to help him out… Fear I pissed him off though. Anyway, NOBODY ELSE HELPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ha! I missed that one. I’m coming and going, just refreshing the page every 10 mins or so while I’m working. Will have a look, but shame on you monkey.
Hopefully refresh will be a thing of the past soon too. Testing out rolling comments at the moment. Few teething probs but we are getting there.
Awesome init :thumbup: Rolling comments over instant chat though right? Wouldn’t want it to descend into the chaos that is TotalFPL 😛
Oh yes Calvin totally mate. Basically no difference to how it is now just that you won’t need to refresh. Total is a mess.
Hey Raz – I think ur missing the point of playing around with a team.
Certain things are so bad you just don’t play around with them Dreamers. For instance, would you play around with Susan Boyle?
And yes Clyne, I know you would. Dirtbag. :hippo:
In this case unsure if you are :hippo: or Susan Boyle is the :hippo:
Nasty thoughts Raz. Nasty.
I’ll have you know it takes a real man to satisfy that much woman :hippo:
One of my monkeys wouldn’t be allowed to touch that. HAHAHA!
If the apes do take over the planet I’d prefer Susan to join their side. Doubt they’ll accept her though. 😛
Anyway, off for bed. Take care peepzzzzzzzzzz.
Oyasumi Nasai
Will Debuchy be nailed on, now Chambers has arrived..?
Maybe rotation risk..
Still reckon Debuchy is leagues ahead of Chambers, I cant see Chambers making the Arsenal team this season and if he does it’ll be mid season, although he’ll be subject to coming on as a sub, just pray Debuchy hits the 60 minute mark.
A quick RMT fellas?
This is probably my favourite draft so far, but there are a few spots that I’m still not to sure about.
Szczesny (Hamer)
Wisdom—Terry—Davies—Dawson (Duff)
Gerrard—Mata—Herrera (Davis, Siggy)
Rooney—Costa—Dzeko
The two spurs defenders are one of my worries, as I’m not yet sure who will start and who else to replace them with. I think a few people may be surprised to see Gerrard in there, but he can easily be switched with any of the other 9 mil mids. I see him as a more reliable option than Fabregas or Ramsey, atleast for a start. Once I see that Fabregas for example is worth it, I can easily bring him in.
I have Caulker in instead of Dawson, even Rio Ferdinand will do the same, the 34 game rotation with Totenham and QPR does it for me.
I think Szczesney could be a good move actually although I have DDG myself. Gerrard is another good move, he could be a key asset for the pool and I think he’s the only player nailed on for them.
I think 7.5 is too expensive for Herrera, but thats just me.
Front line is very good, almost identical to mine. I have Jovetic in at the moment, but Im going to monitor their friendlies and choose off their last friendly game.
Thanks mate, good to see you got a grav!
Personally I think Rio will be rotated/rested a bit more than I would like, but I’ll have a look at Caulker. I think whoever I’m replacing the spurs defender with will have to rotate well with Wisdom or Duff, rather than Spurs tho.
Herrera has looked really good so far, but is just pre-season I guess. Someone else I was considering was Ashley Young (never thought I’d say it!!), but it’s likely LVG will bolster that midfield and he won’t get the minutes he is now.
Yeah I managed to sort it, nothing supports a travelling hippo more than a few black males using rocks as weights! Haha. Thanks for pointing that out to me mate.
Yeah thats a possibility, Caulker is an excellent defender and nicks goals aswell so I think he’s perfect for it! I have 2 Chelsea defenders and Im going to have Davies and Caulker rotating, Im playing 4 at the back the first week though because Davis (Sot’ton) will do very little against Liverpool.
West brom and Villa rotate well I assume, although the Villa defence will be shredded from weeks 4-9.
I’d say its unlikely he’ll play even with Uniteds current team and the fact they’ll sign a few more will do very little for his chances. herrera was excellent against Galaxy though.
The game rotation between Spurs & QPR is only 8 and not 34 unless I am looking at the wrong sheet dated 26 July !
Pvr – u going 4:3:3? Looks like a fair bit of money on the bench. I’d switch out Dawson. Other than that, cases can be made for and against Gerrard and Herrera but that’s just telling you what you already know.
Morning Pvr I have set an g-mail address up send me your e-mail & I will send details looking @ your team not sure on Wisdom & Terrys game time Terry seems to be injured quite a bit , good midfild although Gerrard might be used sparingly & although I have Dzeko myself not sure he will start
HI
this year , i decided to try raise some money for Charity, So The Cup will have a Charity Sponsor and a just giving page ! with all that is donated going straight to that Charity of choice, So as we have a poppy as part off our logo & it is also 100 years sinse the great war, this season Charity is (Help The Heros) So the Cup will now be known as The Help The Hero Banterbury FA Cup
so dig deep
Thank you very much for your kind donation. With your help, I’ve raised £0.00 online for Help for Heroes so far.
Please send my JustGiving page on to anyone else who might like to donate:
http://www.justgiving.com/owner-email/thankyou/Banterbury-Football-Leagues
JustGiving sends your donation straight to Help for Heroes so it’s a quick and safe way to donate.
You can make your own JustGiving page to support your favourite charity at http://www.justgiving.com/process/raisemoney.
Thank you,
The Banterbury Football Leagues
Nice one Bench, great cause so let’s hope you make a bit for them along the way.