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The Pre-Season Friendly Thread 2008

Been VERY impressed by vela and wilshere in pre season so far.

Cant believe wilshere is still only 16 hes going to be quality in a few years :D
 
I went and saw Spurs take on Leyton Orient tonight.

Spurs played a 4-2-3-1 formation all match with two holding midfielders. We were pretty dire in the first half and were lucky not to go into the break 2-0 down.

Dos Santos came on for the second half and everything changed. He looked very sharp and we ripped apart Orient in the space of 20 minutes. Spurs have gone from having a very mediocre midfield to having a fantastic midfield. I'm very excited about the start of the season now. :)
 
Tunney said:
I went and saw Spurs take on Leyton Orient tonight.

Spurs played a 4-2-3-1 formation all match with two holding midfielders. We were pretty dire in the first half and were lucky not to go into the break 2-0 down.

Dos Santos came on for the second half and everything changed. He looked very sharp and we ripped apart Orient in the space of 20 minutes. Spurs have gone from having a very mediocre midfield to having a fantastic midfield. I'm very excited about the start of the season now. :)
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Not to mention another Bent hat-trick :D
 
There was a lot of frightening pace in the Arsenal team last night. Sagna and Walcott on the right looked like their feet were barely touching the ground and Nasri and Clichy on the other side weren't far behind. Vela looked no slouch either.

I liked the way RvP kept dropping back into the centre and hitting balls for the wide players to chase. If he can stay fit for 75% of the games this season we'll go pretty close again.

Huge difference in attitude, and to be fair to Ade fitness, between him and Bendtner last night. Its still very early doors but Bendtner seems to be genuinely making the effort to get into the first 11 where as Ade seemed to stop in his tracks everytime he looked down and realised he wasn't wearing a Barca or Milan shirt. Its still early for him though.

Gallas and Djourou were poor in the middle. I'm sure things will improve with Toure back but its obviously our weakest area in comparison to the other teams in the top 4 last season.
 
Kop_Jedi said:
How has the 2 new liverpool full backs been?

Also, Pacheco still looking good? Nemeth how did he do?
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Degan I believe is injured, and he requires surgery, maybe a Liverpool fan can confirm that. As for the two strikers, they didn't really get a lot of time to prove themselves last night.

Although Pacheco I think it was did have a chance when he burst clean through, then for some reason decided to stop, wait for the defence to catch him, then turn and smack it wide.
 
Nothing official about Degen regarding surgery but that's what a few papers are reporting.

Nemeth only played 25 minutes as he's only just returned to training and only really had 1 half chance (wasn't even that really) from clever little through ball from Pacheco. Pacheco had a decent chance to score himself which he messed up but he showed a few more glimpses of class and played some clever passes.
 
I was fairly impressed with Dossena, I also hadnt realised how big the guy was, he is built like the proverbial house. Hope his aggression doesnt backfire on us though, apparently he has the habit of getting red-carded quite a bit.
 
My full thoughts on the Spurs vs. Leyton Orient game...

Disclaimer: I went to see Spurs play Stevenage Borough last summer. The sun was shining, Taarabt waltzed past every opposition player and Gardner marshalled the defence like a pro. Friendlies can be very decieving.

After sitting in the East stand of the Matchstick Stadium last night, I can honestly say that I’m very excited about next season. I’m not sure if we will get into the Champions League. I’m not sure if we will even get into the UEFA Cup. However, I do know that Spurs will entertain under Ramos. And that’s what I pay my money for.

Last night we saw Ramos’ most likely formation for the coming season; 4-2-3-1. That’s the usual back four, with two holding (though not neccessarily defensive) midfielders, three attacking midfielders and a lone striker.

From last night’s game, we saw the following players:

Goalkeeper: Jansson. Obviously not our first choice.
Defence: Gilberto (LB), Dawson (CB), Zokora (CB and RB), Huddlestone (CB), Gunther (RB) and a few YTS trainees.
Holding midfield: Modric, Huddlestone, Jenas, O’Hara
Attacking midfield: Dos Santos, Lennon, Taarabt, Bale
Striker: Just billy no-mates Bent

It was interesting watching the attacking midfielders roam around the pitch. Certainly Lennon and Dos Santos paired up well and continued to switch places all evening. When we beat Chelsea 3-1 two seasons back, Lennon proved that he can play just behind the striker(s) and that position worked well again from him last night.

The Good:
  • Dos Santos - If there’s one reason to be excited then it’s Dos Santos. There was electricity in the air every time he got the ball. The kind of hushed buzz that surrounded Lennon in his early days and Berbatov a season ago. Dos Santos looks like a class act and a bargain already.
  • Zokora at RB - In the second half, Ramos switched Zokora to right-back and within 10 minute he had set up a goal. Yes, you read that right, he got an assist! Didier has obviously got the pace and the stamina to play at full-back. And he can’t be worse at crossing than YP Lee, can he?
  • Lennon in the second half - Lennon raised his game as soon as the second half commenced. As mentioned, his link-up play with Dos Santos was excellent and they appeared to be two players on the same wavelength. Our front four demolished Leyton Orient in the second half.
  • Andros Townsend - Andros (not Andy) Townsend came on for Bale and looked like a good prospect. He showed some decent pace with quick feet.
  • Heurelho Gomes - This guy is going to be a fans’ favourite. Despite not playing, he came over after his half-time practice to sign autographs and have his picture taken. Cheers, Heurelho.
  • Having a flat overlooking your team’s ground - There’s a block of flats in each corner of Leyton Orient’s ground. The flats all have a balcony overlooking the pitch, essentially giving each owner their own private box. How cool is that?
The Bad:
  • The First Half - Leyton Orient ran the game in the first half. They rightfully went into half time 1-0 up. In fact, we only had one shot of real note in the whole 45 minutes! Spurs looked as rusty as the stadium.
  • The Zokora & Dawson Show - Spurs started the game with Dawson and Zokora at centre-back. Heaven help us if they ever play together in the Premiership. Dawson got caught in two minds on a number of occassions and both we at fault for Orient’s goal.
  • Adel Taarabt - Adel seems to have removed some of the show-boating of his game. The problem is that there still isn’t any end product and, without the step-overs, you’re only left with a lot of flailing arms.
  • Oscar Jansson in first 10 minutes - Oscar looked nervous for the first ten minutes of the match. He settled down eventually and did make a good save to stop us going 2-0 down.
The Interesting:
  • 10 Men - I don’t know whether it was intentional or not but we played with 10 men towards the end of the match. Perhaps Dos Santos was injured but I’d like to think that Ramos is testing his players for any red cards that we might receive next season.
  • The Bulgarian Sulker - Let’s face it; Berbatov is never going to play for the Spurs first team again. No appearance from him tonight.
  • Luka Modric - Very good strike for his goal and some decent vision. Got knocked off the ball a few times and looked at the referee rather than picking himself up. He still needs to learn the English game.
 
B1gbeard said:
There was a lot of frightening pace in the Arsenal team last night. Sagna and Walcott on the right looked like their feet were barely touching the ground and Nasri and Clichy on the other side weren't far behind. Vela looked no slouch either.

I liked the way RvP kept dropping back into the centre and hitting balls for the wide players to chase. If he can stay fit for 75% of the games this season we'll go pretty close again.

Huge difference in attitude, and to be fair to Ade fitness, between him and Bendtner last night. Its still very early doors but Bendtner seems to be genuinely making the effort to get into the first 11 where as Ade seemed to stop in his tracks everytime he looked down and realised he wasn't wearing a Barca or Milan shirt. Its still early for him though.

Gallas and Djourou were poor in the middle. I'm sure things will improve with Toure back but its obviously our weakest area in comparison to the other teams in the top 4 last season.
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Ade is just crap, last night said it all for me, fitness or not he played exactly how he played all last year, stand on a defender, move out to the left wing a lot to get the ball for no reason at all. Make runs behind the defence that are, obvious, slow, offside for every single one. He has no inteligence in his play, a complete inability to play with any 2nd striker, crap in the air, crap on the floor. All his goals come from very very simple runs in behind and praying not to get caught offside, the only reason he got goals last year is Fabregas is the best player in the world to provide those balls. The one time he made a semi well timed run he fluffed the shot which went wide even though it was called offside. He then did some comically bad ball controlling before going off.

Bendtner's pass for vela's goal was simply world class. Its something Adebayor isn't not very good it, its simply not a part of his game in any way or form. All our other strikers can play well with anyone, and set up goals and create their own, by making good runs and constantly moving and passing to each other, they make each other look good aswell as the wingers. Nasri didn't get much done, neither did anyone in midfield or RVP because the pinicle of every pass is Adebayor and he screws everything up. I want our season to be "old" arsenal football, passing and fluid attacks. lately we simply wait till Adebayor is normally incorrectly ruled onside and pray he can actually hit the target :(

It almost looks like Wiltshire is good enough for some starts against lower teams, and sub appearances, he kept the ball despite his size and won tackles, but still think he'll play little part in first team stuff this year except cup's. Vela should get some starts and lots of sub appearances, Theo is looking a little stronger on the ball, a little more direct with his runs and just better all around so should play more. Ramsey does look good but due to Fabregas, and his age I expect mostly cup play, but he's a pretty decent size already so maybe more first team games than our other youngsters.

Personally i think Eboue is vastly underrated, and I forgot about him as an option for central defensive midfield, I'd be interested to see how he does there, he's always been good at intercepting and reading the play which is key to that role. But he has a LOT more speed than gilberto ever had, and some creativity, ability to get forward, I think he could end up being brilliant in there. If he's not played there though, we really have no other defensive mid's. If the Euro's taught us anything its Defensive central + attacking central mid is the best combo, two defensive, and your team looks crap, two attacking and you look crap defensively.
 
drunkenmaster said:
Ade is just crap, last night said it all for me, fitness or not he played exactly how he played all last year, stand on a defender, move out to the left wing a lot to get the ball for no reason at all. Make runs behind the defence that are, obvious, slow, offside for every single one. He has no inteligence in his play, a complete inability to play with any 2nd striker, crap in the air, crap on the floor. All his goals come from very very simple runs in behind and praying not to get caught offside, the only reason he got goals last year is Fabregas is the best player in the world to provide those balls. The one time he made a semi well timed run he fluffed the shot which went wide even though it was called offside. He then did some comically bad ball controlling before going off.

Bendtner's pass for vela's goal was simply world class. Its something Adebayor isn't not very good it, its simply not a part of his game in any way or form. All our other strikers can play well with anyone, and set up goals and create their own, by making good runs and constantly moving and passing to each other, they make each other look good aswell as the wingers. Nasri didn't get much done, neither did anyone in midfield or RVP because the pinicle of every pass is Adebayor and he screws everything up. I want our season to be "old" arsenal football, passing and fluid attacks. lately we simply wait till Adebayor is normally incorrectly ruled onside and pray he can actually hit the target :(

It almost looks like Wiltshire is good enough for some starts against lower teams, and sub appearances, he kept the ball despite his size and won tackles, but still think he'll play little part in first team stuff this year except cup's. Vela should get some starts and lots of sub appearances, Theo is looking a little stronger on the ball, a little more direct with his runs and just better all around so should play more. Ramsey does look good but due to Fabregas, and his age I expect mostly cup play, but he's a pretty decent size already so maybe more first team games than our other youngsters.

Personally i think Eboue is vastly underrated, and I forgot about him as an option for central defensive midfield, I'd be interested to see how he does there, he's always been good at intercepting and reading the play which is key to that role. But he has a LOT more speed than gilberto ever had, and some creativity, ability to get forward, I think he could end up being brilliant in there. If he's not played there though, we really have no other defensive mid's. If the Euro's taught us anything its Defensive central + attacking central mid is the best combo, two defensive, and your team looks crap, two attacking and you look crap defensively.
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Agree about Eboue, I'm a fan. I can see where some dislike him, even hate him for his antics sometimes, but he put in some good performances last season just not consistently.
 
He was next to useless on the right of midfield most of the game last season. I rate him as a right back but Sagna blows him out of the water. DM i'm not so sure about, i'd certainly rather he was there than RM. Just wish he wasn't such a tool.
 
I saw the goals at work and i've got to say although they are all against sub par teams, Bent really is rising to the challenge. I just feel that he won't perform half as well against better teams, although i'd like him to prove me wrong.

I also wanted to watch the goals again, but all sites have taken the video down :(.
 
Ah.

You have to feel a little sorry for the Faeroe Islands team. They draw a Premiership club and end up playing at a half empty Oakwell.
 
Thanks for the round-up their Tunney. I too am looking forward to seeing how Dos Santos does, especially against some of the bigger players in the Premiership.
 
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