The Pre-season Friendly Hub
Pre-season friendlies have begun. The time of year where you sit down to watch a game and then it is ruined in the second half by subs being made every two minutes of the second half. You forget who is playing where and generally drift away to write an article about it! This happened yesterday – Preston North End v Liverpool had 43 substitutions and so as my interest waned, I checked out all the Premier League teams and how their pre-season either shaped up or had begun. From a fantasy point of view, it is worth while keeping an eye on these matches regardless of how meaningless you think they are. They often throw up little nuggets of information which can help you settle your initial squad and prepare you for future transfers. Bear in mind though that it has been known for players to play all pre-season and then the search party is out for them on GW1! But it is better having pre-season information and basing your selection policy and your transfer strategies on them than going in completely blind. Here follows some information on what has already gone on. Our grand plan here is that you use this article to post as normal for now but then refer back to it as and when tou have any relevant pre-season info to add and post relevant comments to keep it updated over the next few weeks. So please take it upon yourself to add in the comments, any information from pre-season games, training or whatever… You might just be helping one fellow manager with a nugget of information but that’s what FF247 is all about.
ASTON VILLA
Mansfield Town 1-3 Aston Villa – 17th July 2014
First half team:
Given
Lowton, Okore, Clark, Bennett
Bacuna, Carruthers
Delph, Tonev, Cole
Agbonlahor.
Second half team:
Steer
Hutton, Herd, Baker, Richardson
El Ahmadi, Westwood, Gardner, N’Zogbia
Bent, Weimann
GOALS:
Darren Bent (assisted by Alan Hutton) 61 mins
Craig Gardner (assisted by Darren Bent) 85 mins
Darren Bent (assisted by Andres Weimann) 90 mins
Aston Villa now travel to the USA to meet Dallas and Houston Dynamo. They will play Groningen in Holland which is sandwiched between trips to Chesterfield and Walsall before finishing off their preparations at home to Italian Serie A side Parma.
[divider_1px]
ARSENAL
Boreham Wood 0-2 Arsenal – 19th July 2014
First Half:
Szczesny
Jenkinson, Ajayi, Hayden, Monreal
Ramsey, Coquelin, Zelalem, Willock
Toral, Sanogo
Second Half:
Martinez
Miquel Plequezelo Bellerin Gibbs
Rosicky Diaby Flamini Olsson
Akpom Afobe
GOALS:
Kris Olsson (assisted by Tomas Rosicky) 68 mins
Benik Afobe (PENALTY won by himself) 85 mins
Arsenal will now travel Stateside, for a meeting next Saturday with a familiar face in the form of Thierry Henry and his New York Red Bulls. After this they welcome Valencia, Benfica and Monaco for the Emirates Cup where they will play the Portuguese and French across the 2nd and 3rd August.
[divider_1px]
SOUTHAMPTON
EHC Hoensbrook 0- 4 Southampton – 15th July 2014
Kelvin Davis (Paulo Gazzaniga 46), Calum Chambers (Jason McCarthy 46), José Fonte (Jack Stephens 46), Jordan Turnbull (Jos Hooiveld 46), Nathaniel Clyne (Matt Targett 46), Jack Cork (Jake Flannigan 46), Harrison Reed (Steven Davis 46), James Ward-Prowse (Dušan Tadi? 46), Jake Sinclair (Lloyd Isgrove 46),
Sam McQueen (Billy Sharp 46), Emmanuel Mayuka (Sam Gallagher 46).
GOALS:
Sam McQueen (no assist) 11 mins
Calum Chambers (assisted by Sam McQueen) 44 mins
Billy Sharp (PENALTY won by Steven Davis) 62 mins
Steven Davis (no assist) 64 mins
Sporting Hasselt 0-6 Southampton – 17th July 2014
Southampton: Kelvin Davis (Artur Boruc 46), Jason McCarthy (Calum Chambers 46), Jack Stephens (José Fonte 46), Jos Hooiveld (Maya Yoshida 46), Matt Targett (Jordan Turnbull 46), Jack Cork (Jake Flannigan 46), James Ward-Prowse (Harrison Reed 46), Steven Davis (Billy Sharp 46), Dušan Tadi? (Sam McQueen 46), Lloyd Isgrove (Emmanuel Mayuka 46), Graziano Pellè (Sam Gallagher 46).
GOALS:
Graziano Pellè (assisted by Lloyd Isgrove) 5 mins
Graziano Pellè (assisted by Jason McCarthy) 32 mins
Sam McQueen (assisted by Calum Chambers) 59mins
Weerts own-goal (no assist) 67 mins
Emmanuel Mayuka (PENALTY won by a handball) 78 mins
Sam Gallagher (no assist) 87 mins
Saints now play Swindon Town (21st July) and then two teams from the south coast in Bournemouth (25th July) and Brighton & Hove Albion (31st July). They will complete their schedule by welcoming Bayer Leverkusen to St. Mary’s on 9th August.
[divider_1px]
MANCHESTER CITY
Dundee 2-0 Manchester City – 13th July 2014
First half:
Caballero
Bossaerts, Boyata, Denayer, Kolarov
Navas, Fernando, Rodwell, Huws
Jovetic, Guidetti
Second Half:
Caballero
Richards, Mastasic, Rekik, Leigh
Nasri, Garcia, Zuculini
Sinclair, Negredo, Huws
Heart of Midlothian 1-2 Manchester City – 18th July 2014
First half:
Wright
Richards, Leigh, Nastasic, Rekik
Garcia, Zuculini, Sinclair, Nasri,
Navas, Negredo
Second half:
Caballero,
Bossaerts (Clichy, 71′), Boyata, Kolarov, Denayer,
Fernando, Rodwell, Sinclair, Huws,
Jovertic, Guidetti.
GOALS:
Scott Sinclair (assisted by Alvaro Negredo) 24mins
Alexsandr Kolarov (PENALTY for foul on Emyr Huws) 79 mins
Having begun their preparations in Scotland, including helping commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Main Stand at Hearts’ Tynecastle Stadium, the Citizens now head across the pond to face-off Sporting Kansas City for the ‘Summer in the Soccer Capital – Champions Shield’ . But you knew that already, right? This is all a warm-up for the International Champions Cup where they are in a group with Liverpool, AC Milan and Olympiacos. If they win the group and only if they win it, they will face a final against Roma, Real Madrid or their chums from across the way, Manchester United!
[divider_1px]
LIVERPOOL
Brondby 2-1 Liverpool – 16th July 2014
B Jones (Ward 81)
Kelly (Wisdom 45), Ilori (Stewart 22), Agger (Skrtel 45), Smith (Flanagan 45)
Lucas (Peterson 45), Rossiter (Coady 45), Coutinho (Allen 45), Suso (Adorjan 45)
Borini (Phillips 45), Teixeira (Ibe 45).
GOAL: Kristoph Petersen (assisted by Jordan Ibe) 47 mins
Preston North End 1-2 Liverpool – 19th July 2014
B Jones
Kelly (Robinson(Enrique)), Flanagan (Coates), Skrtel (Stewart), Wisdom (Coady)
Lucas (Peterson), Allen (L Jones), Can (Ibe), Coutinho (Rossiter)
Lambert (Suso), Borini (Adojan).
GOALS:
Suso (assisted by Jordan Ibe) 75 mins
Peterson (assisted by Jordan Ibe) 78 mins
Liverpool will now face Ashley Cole’s AS Roma (23rd July) in the US, where they will also take part in the International Champions Cup against Olympiacos (27th July), Manchester City (30th July) and AC Milan (2nd August). They could play one more game in the form of the final if the win the group. A glamour home friendly against Borussia Dortmund on 10th August rounds things of for Brendan Rodgers’ men.
[divider_1px]
SUNDERLAND
Darlington 1883 1-5 Sunderland – 19th July 2014
First Half:
Mannone
Watmore, Jones, Roberge, O’Shea
Cabral, Ba, Larsson, Honeyman
Clayton, Fletcher.
Second Half:
Pantilimon
Mavrias, Ferguson, Diakite, Brown
N’Diaye, Cattermole, Gomez, Moberg-Karlsson
Giaccherini, Wickham.
GOALS:
Steven Fletcher (assisted by Max Clayton) 10 mins
Steven Fletcher (assisted by George Honeyman) 20 mins
Emanuele Giaccherini (assisted by Connor Wickham) 55 mins
Connor Wickham (assisted by Charis Mavrias) 77 mins
Jordi Gomez (no assist) 88 mins
Sunderland have two further matches on 22nd and 23rd July against Carlisle Utd. and Hartlepool Utd.
[divider_1px]
CHELSEA
Wycombe Wanderers 0-5 Chelsea – 16th July 2014
First-half:
Mark Schwarzer
Todd Kane (Kurt Zouma 20), Nathaniel Chalobah, Andreas Christensen, Nathan Ake
Oriol Romeu, Marco van Ginkel; Lucas Piazon, Lewis Baker
John Swift; Patrick Bamford.
Second-half:
Mark Schwarzer (Mitchell Beeney 73)
Branislav Ivanovic, Kurt Zouma, John Terry (c), Jay Dasilva
Oriol Romeu (Jordan Houghton 73), Nemanja Matic; Mohamed Salah, Jeremie Boga
Izzy Brown; Dominic Solanke.
GOALS:
Patrick Bamford (assisted by Nathan Ake) 20 mins
Izzy Brown (assisted by Jay Disalva) 47 mins
John Terry (assisted by Jeremie Boga) 50 mins
Branislav Ivanovic (assisted by Jeremie Boga) 66 mins
Izzy Brown (no assist) 86 mins
Wimbledon 2-3 Chelsea – 19th July 2014
Chelsea
First half:
Mark Schwarzer
Ola Aina, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christiansen, Nathan Ake
Marco van Ginkel, Nemanja Matic
Mohamed Salah, Jeremie Boga, John Swift
Patrick Bamford.
Second half:
Mark Schwarzer (Mitchell Beeney 69)
Branislav Ivanovic, Nathaniel Chalobah, John Terry (c), Jay Dasilva
Oriol Romeu, Marco van Ginkel (Jordan Houghton 69)
Mohamed Salah, Lewis Baker, Izzy Brown
Dominic Solanke.
GOALS:
John Terry (assisted by Lewis Baker) 74 mins
Mohamed Salah (assisted by Lewis Baker) 82 mins
John Terry (assisted by Lewis Baker) 89 mins
Chelsea set off on a mini-European tour in preparation for the new season. They will be calling at Wolfsberger (Austria, 23rd), Olimpija (Slovenia, 27th), Vitesse (Netherlands, 30th), Werder Bremen (Germany, 3rd August), Ferncvaros (Hungary, 10th) before signing off pre-season at home to Real Sociedad on the 12th August.
[divider_1px]
SWANSEA CITY
Chivas Guadalahara 1-1 Swansea City
Swansea
First Half:
Lukasz Fabianski
Angel Rangel
Kyle Bartley, Chico Flores, Stephen Kingsley, Jazz Richards,
Jonjo Shelvey, Josh Sheehan, Wayne Routledge
Alex Bray, Bafetimbi Gomis.
Secnd half:
Gerhard Tremmel
Dwight Tiendalli, Jordi Amat, Ben Davies, Neil Taylor
Leon Britton, Adam King, Josh Sheehan (Alex Bray, 72; Jazz Richards, 82), Nathan Dyer
Rory Donnelly, Marvin Emnes.
GOAL: Nathan Dyer (assisted by Marvin Emnes) 57 mins
Minnesota Utd. 2-0 Swansea City
Swansea:
First Half:
Gerhard Tremmel
Angel Rangel Chico Flores, Kyle Bartley, Stephen Kingsley
Jazz Richards, Adam King, Jonjo Shelvey, Nathan Dyer
Rory Donnelly, Bafetimbi Gomis.
Second half:
Lukasz Fabianski
Dwight Tiendalli, Chico Flores, Kyle Bartley, Neil Taylor
Leon Britton, Jonjo Shelvey, Marvin Emnes, Wayne Routledge,
Alex Bray, Bafetimbi Gomis (Josh Sheehan, 59).
Swansea will now face Plymouth Argyle on the 27th July, Exeter City on the 29th, Bournemouth on the 1st August and Reading on the 2nd– all away from home before rounding off at home to Villarreal on the 9th August.
[divider_1px]
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Seattle Sounders 3-3 Tottenham Hotspur – 19th July 2014
Tottenham Hotspur
Friedel
Naughton (Fredericks, 46), Dawson (Kaboul, 46), Fryers, Rose (Veljkovic, 46)
Carroll, Capoue (Mason, 63)
Holtby (Falque, 68), Townsend (Lamela, 46), Lennon (Ceballos, 46)
Kane (Soldado, 46)
GOALS:
Lewis Holtby (assisted by Harry Kane) 10 mins
Roberto Soldado (PENALTY won by himself) 55 mins
Yago Falque (PENALTY won via handball) 82 mins
Tottenham next visit Toronto FC (23rd July) then Chicago Fire on the 26th. After that they play Celtic in Helsinki, Finland on 2nd August and then finish at home to Schalke 04 at the Lane on 9th August.
[divider_1px]
STOKE CITY
Borussia Moenchengladbach 1-1 Stoke City
First Half:
Butland
Wilkinson, Shawcross, Wilson, Muniesa
Shotton, Nzonzi, Ness, Ireland
Arnautovic; Diouf.
Second Half:
Sorensen
Bardsley, Huth, Teixeira, Pieters
Walters, Sidwell, Whelan, Adam
Shea; Crouch.
GOAL:
Crouch (assisted by Jonathan Walters) 65 mins
Stoke kicked off with a decent draw against Borussia Moenchenflapjack (sic) today and will continue preparations with two more games in Germany 1860 Munich on 26th July and then Schalke 04 on 29th. They return to England to take on Burton and Blackburn in two days (2nd and 3rd August) before their ‘glamour’ home friendly on 6th August against relegated Real Betis. Strangely, they then go back to Germany to meet SC Freiburg on the 9th to cap a busy pre-season schedule.
[divider_1px]
What would United’s strongest current 11 look like? My thoughts:
DDG
Rafael Evans Jones Shaw
Herrera Fellaini
Mata Adnan
Rooney
RVP
If Fellaini is in Uniteds best 11 then they may as well give up now.
hmmm, might be not far off. It will be interesting to see how Louis rotates that midfield. There’s some quality players there, and I would guess that they will share a lot of the minutes.
SOUTHAMPTON
Swindon Town 1-2 Southampton
21st July 2014
GOAL: Jos Hoiveld (assisted by James Ward-Prowse) 51 mins.
Kelvin Davis (Paulo Gazzaniga 46)
Nathaniel Clyne (Calum Chambers 62), José Fonte (Maya Yoshida 62), Jos Hooiveld (Jordan Turnbull 62), Matt Targett (Jason McCarthy 62)
James Ward-Prowse (Jack Stephens 62), Jack Cork (Jake Flannigan 62), Harrison Reed (Billy Sharp 62), Lloyd Isgrove (Jake Sinclair 62)
Sam McQueen (Emmanuel Mayuka 46), Graziano Pellè (Sam Gallagher 62).
Evening lads,
This season’s pricing & team selecting is far tougher & unsure if better or worse but time will tell.
After so much tinkering just as everybody else then I have come up with this draft but would appreciate some feedback if possible guys.
Mannone, Krul
Ben Davies, Cahill / Terry ( currently cahill ), Debuchy, Janmaat, Upson
Sanchez, Silva, Siem De Jong, Siggy ( if goes to Swansea ), Poyet ( bench warmer as doubt gametime in west ham )
RVP, Costa ??, Naismith
Bank – 0.0M
Therefore need to know if rvp is worth the extra 2.0M over rooney though don’t rate rooney personally.
Like Aguero but legs made of glass & expect him to be rested early part and slowly brought into the team due to world cup exploits.
Anyhow fire away guys as will appreciate all comments both positive & negative.
Cheers lads.
Hi Marky, I’d definitely look at switching Naismith he’s not guaranteed a start by any stretch. Personally I’m going Rooney and Yaya rather than RvP and Silva but that’s just me. You have ??? on Costa so guessing you aren’t too sure. I’m having him given the opening fixtures. Get what you are saying on Aguero but if you fancy City cover up top then I’d say Dzeko is fairly nailed on now given the Negredo news today.
Hi Init,
Thought of Naismith due to a nice run of scoring end of the season & Everton not having a recognised starting striker now lukaku has gone back to Chelsea ?
You think yaya will run riot again this season like last ? … I’m unsure if lightning will strike twice in my honest opinion but silva will always produce if his jelly legs stay in 1 piece ( similar to aguero )
Yeah negredo breaking his foot clears the striking options but you think dzeko will be ahead of a fit jovetic ? … think it’s a coin flip again though I like dzeko but don’t want 8.5M striker on my bench that’s the gamble.
Yes unsure on costa & have him due to fixtures & guaranteed starter especially if lukaku moves away from Chelsea too !!
From what I’m hearing Lukaku is almost a done deal for Everton but to be honest even if it wasn’t I’d pick the tea-lady up top rather than go with Naismith. IF he gets a game it’ll be on the right of the 3 behind Lukaku / tea-lady but there’s a lot of competition for those 3 places.
Yaya got a lot of points from pens and free kicks last season which was due to Aguero being out so yes you may be right if Aguero is fit.
As for Dzeko I think he proved himself to a certain extent last season and will be the main striker at least to begin with.
haha … don’t see the tea lady in Everton’s squad to transfer in mate !!
Not heard anything about lukaku going to everton but that would be a bonus but then on the flip side of the coin gives me more headaches wanting to play 3-4-3 with improving Naismith ?
As mentioned dzeko most defo proved himself & do rate him BUT unsure how much pellegrini rates him ahead of jovetic as he’s said publicly how much he likes jovetic.
I was hoping Lukaku would leave the PL so that he wouldn’t cause me anymore heartache!!
You and me both Kop but if it’s not lukaku it will be Giroud or someone else mate !!
Any thoughts on Pelle at Southampton ? … reports says he’s looking sharp & had a good season @ feyenoord last year & Koeman knows him well from his past few seasons @ Feyenoord.
Really rate Koeman as a manager and think he will develop a lot of those Southampton youngsters since they sold quite a few of them to pool.
Marky we covered both Pelle and Tadic in one the articles last week and I have to say they both look excellent purchases with good recent season stats albeit in Holland. Shame Pelle is 7.5 and not 6.5 or something but he could still be good for that if he hits the ground running.
Just checked and tea-lady is on mine mate, 4.5m. Bargain.
Init you crazy rooster, well I will keep an eye on Pelle in advance of the season kicking off because I’m certain my squad will change numerous times before kick-off.
HULL CITY
North Ferriby Utd. 1-1 Hull City
21st July 2014
GOAL: Shane Long (PENALTY won by himself) 51 mins
Allan McGregor
Liam Rosenior, James Chester, Curtis Davies, Conor Townsend
Robert Snodgrass (Matty Dixon 89), Jake Livermore, Stephen Quinn, Tom Ince
Sone Aluko, Shane Long (Johan Ter Horst 85)
What do people think to this as a first draft team?
Green (Speroni)
Terry, Shaw, Cameron (Vlaar) (Davies)
Yaya, Taarabt, Fabregas, De Jong (Dyer)
RVP, Pelle, Ings
Evening Shadow,
Unsure on Cameron gametime with bardsley being transferredto stoke & doubt he will be moving there to sit on the bench ?
Like the MF but also unsure about fabregas gametime with such a huge MF option available to mourhino ? … could be rotated.
Like pelle as an option up front and assume ings will be on your bench playing regularly 4-4-2 ? … if so then looks a decent squad mate.
Yeh was unsure on Cameron, could get Rio for 4.5m but that would mean doubling up on QPR defence. With Fabregas his stats are phenomenal, surely he will get regular gametime.
I think it’s a decent starting point anyway. Seems to be quite hard this year for the money to stretch to a top quality squad.
Yes rio was in my squad & then noticed hooiveld popping up & playing well for Southampton along with lovren going to pool ? …. Could get him & at 4.0M could be a bargain buy BUT 2 qpr defence is asking a lot mate as don’t anticipate many CS from them this season personally.
Agree fabregas is class but don’t see him playing all PL matches this season with the options mourinho has available mate so all that money benched occasionally would be a painful pill to swallow pal.
Hi Shadow, just a heads up on Taarabt. He was left out of the QPR squad for their pre-season tour today.
Great, knew he was a liability!
Thanks!
Are AC Milan not in for him again? Shocking news
HULL CITY
Harrogate Town 0-5 Hull City
21st July 2014
GOALS:
George Boyd (assisted by Yannick Sagbo) 23 mins
Robbie Brady (unassisted) 42 mins
Calaum Jahraldo-Martin (unassisted) (time not given)
Robbie Brady (assisted by Yannick Sagbo) (time not given)
George Boyd (assisted by Robbie Brady) (time not given)
Steve Harper (Jakupovic 45)
Ahmed Elmohamady, Joe Dudgeon, Alex Bruce (Aimson 57), Paul McShane
Robbie Brady (Jahraldo-Martin 75) David Meyler, Tom Huddlestone (Topliss 75) Calumn Jahraldo-Martin (Margetts 65)
George Boyd Yannick Sagbo