Friendlies - what have we found out?

[Didsbury Dave]

This is going to be a season to remember.

Halle fucking luia. We have width and pace.

I'm still gonna moan though, cos of the total reliance on Navas down that right flank. We need some pace and width down the left too, cos Prem defences will take about 5 mins to realise that doubling up on Navas will blunt us. Also, need some pacy cover at centre half too. Three simple through balls twixt Lescott, Garcia and Kolarov, cost us 3 goals in 5 minutes.

Big plusses have been Dzeko (looks reborn under Pellers), St Micah's link up play with Sat Nav, and Negredo, who looks a proper 'Goat' style, run the channels, centre forward.

We should do well, but I think we need proper pacy cover for Kompers, and ditto for Navas, still yet

Although you sound like a broken Girls Aloud 45, I am forced to agree that we could do with adding a fleet-footed left winger and pacey centre back to the squad.

I know the arguments against it but I an not averse to the use of Micah at CB and, although I would never have signed him, I do not think we have seen anything like the best of Sinclair yet.

Not fussed about a left winger myself. We have creativity in abundance now and I'm sure Silva will play there when available. Jovetic can play there too, and at a push Nasri. It still remains to be seen whether we will play with the 4222 or 433 I suppose but having at least one player who can go outside people in Navas, and an overlapping fullback like Micah back, gives us real options. A centre half would be a good addition and I think we will sign one.

 

[I'm no cynic but...]

We've learned that our regular back four is pretty well rock solid, but apart from RB, if Vinny or Clichy is out, we are in trouble.

 

[capiloton]

Kolarov play decent football against Milan. very good when attacking. his lack of discipline on defensive however, doesn't get much help with 2 slow CB at the back - Lescott & Garcia. if we can sign Pepe or Rami, i'd like to see Kolarov stay. as I said before, i have good felling about the prospect of Balkans player playing together (Dzeko, Jovetic, Kolarov & Nastasic). the game last night prove my opinion regarding Balkans Connection.

if Bale did go to Madrid, i hope Txiki will consider to bring in Di Maria. his presence will complete City tactical flexibilities. all i ask for 2 more signing - experienced CB & left foot/tricky/speedy winger.

 

[Hart of the Matter]

Two games in two days. Very happy with developments. Still not sure what our starting eleven will be though. Surprised by speed of . Trying to work out Kun role when he is fit.

 

[Worksop Blue]

Jesus has arrived and he's going to create carnage, especially when operating alongside Micah against mid/lower table defences.

 

[Akira]

All four signings look class. Defence still looks a little lackluster in the absence of Kompany.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

What have we found out?

1. That Kompany is utterly indispensable.
2. That Micah looks better in tandem with Nav, than Zab does.
3. That Navas is what we've been crying out for.
4. That for all his critics, Ya Ya is still a huge presence in the engine room.
5. That without Navas we are still horribly short on pace going forward, and that if we aren't intending to buy some pace and width for the left flank, then a like for like understudy for Navas down the right mightn't be a bad idea. Callum McManaman perhaps? He's lightning quick and he's English, which would allow us to offload Sinclair without interfering with our home grown quotas.
6. That Dzeko looks reborn under Pellers and may score a hatful this season.
7. That Garcia's horrendous lack of pace and mobility make him a complete no-no at centre half, and especially not alongside Lescott. We need athletic cover for Kompany.
8. That Sinclair, Garcia and Kolarov can all be improved upon.
9. That our new signings all look like money well spent

 

[Deleted member 52846]

This is going to be a season to remember.

Halle fucking luia. We have width and pace.

This is what a good squad looks like. I'd say we're a really good third centre half (with Kompany and Nastasić first choice) maybe someone older and experienced, and a few high class youngsters, away from being a great squad.

You see where I've been coming from all this time when I've grown tired of that talk of "we should be doing this..." "we should be doing that..." "...with the squad we've got", when we had such huge gaps in the squad (mobility in central midfield, width and pace, strength in depth in attacking mid...)? We were never going to do as well as some people demanded with such gaps in the squad. If ever Silva or Nasri were off form/suspended/injured, we were lighter in attacking mid than all the top European sides and even Chelsea Arsenal and Spurs.


What have I found out from pre-season so far:
Txiki and Manuel know about what a squad needs and have addressed our weak areas to give us the chance of really becoming a decent outfit. In terms of how good we are you can't really judge from pre-season training games but we look more balanced than I've seen.
Overall our players have had a good few work-outs and conditioning will have improved greatly.

 

[Matt the Giant]

What we, and everyone watching us have found out is, that Manchester City will be an extremely tough opponent to beat this season. I am so optimistic it's hard to put in words.

I think we are going in as favourites for the title, followed by Chelsea. The battle for third to fifth spot will be between Manure, Spurs and Liverpool.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

This is going to be a season to remember.

Halle fucking luia. We have width and pace.

This is what a good squad looks like. I'd say we're a really good third centre half (with Kompany and Nastasić first choice) maybe someone older and experienced, and a few high class youngsters, away from being a great squad.

You see where I've been coming from all this time when I've grown tired of that talk of "we should be doing this..." "we should be doing that..." "...with the squad we've got", when we had such huge gaps in the squad (mobility in central midfield, width and pace, strength in depth in attacking mid...)? We were never going to do as well as some people demanded with such gaps in the squad. If ever Silva or Nasri were off form/suspended/injured, we were lighter in attacking mid than all the top European sides and even Chelsea Arsenal and Spurs.

I dont see it like that at all. The squad was the best in the country for the last 2, arguably even 3 years. It just needs to be managed properly and that's happening now.