18 Jul 2015 07:15:24
Some points about today's game.
The first half was pretty lousy. LVG had the first half team talk as "Don't get aggressive, I don't want any injuries"IMO.
Darmian was very impressive and defended well. He was pretty good at attacking also which we could not see much. Schneiderlin was good too, just Carrick was not good today hence their chemistry was not fluent. Depay was not able to see too much of ball hence unable to demonstrate his skill but yet there was a time where he showed couple of tricks which shows what he can do. May be he would have played better at the wing but who knows. In summary, we were poor with no team cohesion. It was like everyone (except Darmian, Schneiderlin and Depay who were eager to prove themselves) were playing to prevent injuries and make it slow. Defensive combination of Jones and Blind was very poor with Johnstone always needed to play like Neuer to clear the ball.
The second was massive improvement on 1st. Maybe everyone in this team were eager to impress. They were more aggressive and fast. I must say Perreira is a real player on making. He was fast, visionary and had couple of tricks under his sleeves. Hope he does not leave the 44 jersey as Januzaj showed the same excitement on the same number :D . Wilson was trying to exhaust the defence by running at every chance and januzaj was pretty decent but was not clinical enough. Schweinsteiger played very well and constantly kept running towards the opposition with the ball. He had good passing range and ball control but towards the end, he did played some sloppy passes. Herrera was fantastic, playing the ball as fast he could with excellent first touch and ball control. He would have made some difference in the first half. Our defensive combination of Smalling and Evans were also better than Jones/Blind. Smalling may had some sloppy moments but i certainly can see him in our starting XI along with our new CB.
Overall, We have very talented youngsters in our squad with plenty of class players at first team.But it is not clear what formation LVG is trying to play. Today both team played with 4231 formation with Depay and Januzaj taking the no. 10 role. I would prefer a midfield 3 though with no no. 10.
My first team would be DDG on the back with Darmian, Smalling, hopefully Otamendi and Shaw at the back. Schweinsteiger at the base of the midfield with Herrera and Schneiderlin ahead. Depay/Young or Perreira in the LW with Mata/Januzaj/Di Maria on right wing. No competition for Rooney at the front line so Rooney/Wilson at top
18 Jul 2015 08:52:48
Good assessment I agree with all of this. Also i'd like to add the splitting balls from Memphis were real quality also in addition to the flicks n tricks. i'd like to see Memphis on the right and Pereirra on the left for one of these pre season games I think that would cause some real problems.
18 Jul 2015 09:08:47
Thanks for really detailed summary Srestha - not a lot in papers.
Be great if any other posters who watched the game might give more details also (not that I'm desperate for news or anything!) ; )
18 Jul 2015 09:34:18
It was a shocking pitch and everyone was very cautious. Also these games are about building match fitness.
18 Jul 2015 10:03:28
Club America have had a couple of games more than us so were a bit sharper, they pressed quite well so it was a good test for us, I think everyone in the first half just took it easy, but I'm not sure why Memphis was in the middle and mata on the left, I would have swapped them although Memphis and Rooney briefly swapped positions on a few occasions. Second half was better for 15-20 mins as the players had a point to prove, adnan had a chance but he pretty much refused to put his body on the line to get there. Standouts were pereira, bastian, darmian and Johnstone. Shaw also looked a bit better, made plenty of runs down the flank. Distribution from both keepers wasn't great, something we struggle with without ddg. Wilson worked hard and had good movement but little service. The game sort of petered out towards the end but all round not a bad first game against a team with more match sharpness, I think sharpness is the key word here.
18 Jul 2015 10:27:35
Adnan not putting his body on the line is something I would expect to see in a pre season game, not worth getting injured for. Surprised not to see morgan and memphis in your standouts I felt morgan was everywhere and memphis played some excellent balls and was always available.
18 Jul 2015 10:39:39
Thanks Andy
18 Jul 2015 10:56:52
Andy,
How can you have watched that game and not thought mentioning schneiderlin as important, he was immense in the first half, running everywhere and played 2 perfect 50-60 yards balls to feet that scholes would have been proud of. His long and short passing are going to be a massive asset this season, his energy is something we have lacked for a while in that position, we have an amazing player on our hands.
Schweinsteiger controlled everything in the 2nd half, he had 4 quick players ahead of him and used them to perfection, it all seemed a bit too easy for him, a bit like Pirlo in recent years who was a class above everybody else that is how Bastian played, not sure he will get away with that against Stoke on a Tuesday night though!
Pereira was man of the match in the 2nd half though, every time he got the ball I was excited, he looked fearless and that under 20 tournament has obviously given him confidence to express himself. Depay also played really well, some of his touched and one twos got me excited for what he can do when fully fit.
Other than that the tempo was that of the first pre season game, club America are a good side and there were many positives to take out of a tough game on a tough pitch.
18 Jul 2015 11:20:29
I agree morgan probably was one of the standouts, missed him on my list, he played some lovely cross field passes so hopefully we won't see Rooney dropping back and doing that now. Memphis had a couple of nice touches and passes too but I feel he should be out wide, also he had a chance to play young in but was greedy and whacked it into the defender infront of him. Still looks a good prospect though.
Full match is on YouTube I think if anyone that missed it has some spare time
18 Jul 2015 11:51:55
Has to be said and I know its just a training game and has no bearing on how the season will go but there still looks to be a gaping hole up front. I still feel we need a commanding cf and without getting into the whole rooney debate I don't think he is the answer.
18 Jul 2015 12:44:24
Any positives WAAD?
18 Jul 2015 13:10:44
Yea mate scroll up