So with one more fixture to go just a few bits and pieces i've picked up on in the games that i've seen.
Bartley - Looks to be playing more at CB than Fernandez, the latter didn't even feature today at all, guessing he'll start next week though. Bartley on the whole hasn't been too shabby and would personally keep him as a back-up CB over VDH (Van Der Horsesh*t).
Mawson - Hasn't been too impressive so far really, seems like he's putting a few of our players under pressure with dodgy-ish passes. Perhaps still has a U21 Euro hangover.
Mesa - Seems to be integrating quite well, looking more involved each game and his passing accuracy seems decent (Reason why he signed).
Ayew - A little disappointing playing as a striker, doesn't really seem to test the keeper enough. Pace is good though and likes to take on defenders as we found out towards the latter games of last season.
Abraham - Looked really good so far, probably the stand out player of this pre-season to date. Good on the ball and dangerous in the box and in the air. Pretty quick too, he could be starting quite a lot for us this year. Looks sharp.
With one game to go i'm still convinced that we need the following positions strengthening with first team players (Improvements and not £5 million Bignose token signings):
- RB (Naughton has improved, but Rangel at 34 is not a PL RB and Kyle needs to be replaced with a better alternative).
- CB cover is required i'd say. Badstuber would be a great signing, quiet on that front though. Pep's also interested.
- CM - I'm convinced we could do with another CM (Mesa - Carroll - Fer/Ki) isn't too shabby but could be improved.
- ST Think we need to sign another out-and-out striker since we only really have Abraham and Llorente on the books, assuming that Oli is off out on loan again (He isn't PL yet, and not sure if he will be).
On the whole not too bad in pre-season so far, which is mainly about fitness and trying out new things, but our current batch of players look far better and more composed on the ball than this time last year, and a little more creative too with Carroll, Abraham etc.
Can't see us signing 4 players as mentioned above, but a couple of those are probably required before even looking at potential Sig/Llorente replacements.
And oh yes, more binning of dead wood please - Barrow, Routs, Grimes, VDH etc etc. [Post edited 29 Jul 2017 17:05]
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