3 friendlies, 3 wins 6 goals scored 1 goal conceded

[cambridgeshire canary 5,820]

And all that despite us playing all of those matches with a back 4 that won't be our regular starting backline (which includes one youth academy player and a winger who's never prior to now played as a wingback, and another player who's just come back from injury..) and the fact that we only played Krul and Pukki for 45 minutes out of the 3 matches having only just got them back, we have thrown in some newley signed players who have only just signed and don't really know the club and players they are playing with..  Yet despite all that's it's 3 wins in 3 and 1 goal shipped.

 

So why is it that a lot of what I'm reading online and on social media tends to be 'We play like that in the Prem we lose every match! We were poor and very lucky to win!' Well, I mean.. Given all that I said above who cares? Far as I'm concerned so far our friendly results have been pretty impressive and I'm happy with the results so far

[lake district canary 4,274]

Its not about results in friendlies. If friendlies are good for anything it is better that some of the results are not good, so as to make players realise they have to up their game. Never forget the 2009 season under Gunn we had a marvellous pre-season, lots of goals, 100% wins across the board (maybe one draw, I can't quite remember) and it led to a super positive outlook for the start of the season - and we all know what happened then.

What is of interest in the friendlies is how players are being used and in what formations and whether we're trying new things out and seeing if new players are adapting and getting in the swing of things.  Highlights for me have been the use of three at the back with Sorensen there, Mumba's performances, Lees-Melou's abiity and seeing Zimmermann back on the pitch getting plenty of minutes.

[wcorkcanary 4,283]

57 minutes ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

And all that despite us playing all of those matches with a back 4 that won't be our regular starting backline (which includes one youth academy player and a winger who's never prior to now played as a wingback, and another player who's just come back from injury..) and the fact that we only played Krul and Pukki for 45 minutes out of the 3 matches having only just got them back, we have thrown in some newley signed players who have only just signed and don't really know the club and players they are playing with..  Yet despite all that's it's 3 wins in 3 and 1 goal shipped.

 

So why is it that a lot of what I'm reading online and on social media tends to be 'We play like that in the Prem we lose every match! We were poor and very lucky to win!' Well, I mean.. Given all that I said above who cares? Far as I'm concerned so far our friendly results have been pretty impressive and I'm happy with the results so far

Se Nada.

[Midlands Yellow 3,513]

1 hour ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

And all that despite us playing all of those matches with a back 4 that won't be our regular starting backline (which includes one youth academy player and a winger who's never prior to now played as a wingback, and another player who's just come back from injury..) and the fact that we only played Krul and Pukki for 45 minutes out of the 3 matches having only just got them back, we have thrown in some newley signed players who have only just signed and don't really know the club and players they are playing with..  Yet despite all that's it's 3 wins in 3 and 1 goal shipped.

 

So why is it that a lot of what I'm reading online and on social media tends to be 'We play like that in the Prem we lose every match! We were poor and very lucky to win!' Well, I mean.. Given all that I said above who cares? Far as I'm concerned so far our friendly results have been pretty impressive and I'm happy with the results so far

Lynn, Lincoln and Huddersfield have been stern tests indeed. We could have took the easy option and played Wroxham, Yarmouth and Lowestoft but didn’t. I’m with you, what’s not to like. 

[Jim Smith 2,043]

Take your point to a degree but Hudds had 2 or 3 chances yesterday that a premier league team would undoubtedly have scored from.

[Mello Yello 2,139]

We're top six Prem.....deffo!.....

[Canary Jedi 546]

32 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

Take your point to a degree but Hudds had 2 or 3 chances yesterday that a premier league team would undoubtedly have scored from.

Yes and in fact on reflection this morning the matches so far have been games where we have been able to dominate. Will be interesting to see how we cope defensively when we play against better teams who either dominate us or have a real threat on the counter attack.

[Mullet 290]

1 hour ago, Jim Smith said:

Take your point to a degree but Hudds had 2 or 3 chances yesterday that a premier league team would undoubtedly have scored from.

The OP seems optimistic about us playing in the hardest league in the world  because we have beaten Lynn, Lincoln and Huddersfield. I cant see that these 3 games give us any clue how we will perform against some of the best in the world. We would have been 1-0 down within 2 minutes if we had been playing a Watford or Brentord instead of Huddersfield yesterday. I think we will give it a damn good go in the Prem this time, there has been no negative talk from the club about needing miracles this time so I think we could have a chance. 

[Dean Coneys boots 1,307]

From what I have seen we are behind last season's team - due to loss of Skipp our main protector and Emi our main creator. 

We have looked every bit a Championship side- with defensive errors that will lead to punishment in the Premiership. But with grounds for cautious optimism too- Rees Melou looks better than anticipated. Gilmour looked a class act. 

We urgently need 4 or 5 improvements to the starting XI if we are to have any hope of survival. The most important being, imho, a solid Skipp replacement. 

Previous promotions have always seen us NOT sign the obvious player we need- Ashton came too late, then Klose. Please God we dont try and go into this season without the physicality and protection of a solid CDM. None of those here currently will cut it. 

[cambridgeshire canary 5,820]

2 hours ago, Mello Yello said:

We're top six Prem.....deffo!.....

Putting words into someones mouth, tut tut. Very drole mind, love some afternoon sarcasm

[Jim Smith 2,043]

I think if you asked our fans during every transfer window we’ve had the premier league in the last few years the vast majority would have said we need another prem quality centre back and a strong defensive midfielder. It is a little strange that it appears it once again may not be addressed. 

[cambridgeshire canary 5,820]

7 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

I think if you asked our fans during every transfer window we’ve had the premier league in the last few years the vast majority would have said we need another prem quality centre back and a strong defensive midfielder. It is a little strange that it appears it once again may not be addressed. 

We tried getting Ajer only for Brentford to highball us, and Lees-Melou is if Paddy is to believed causing the club to have second thoguhts on bringing in a new strong midfielder 

[Jim Smith 2,043]

6 minutes ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

We tried getting Ajer only for Brentford to highball us, and Lees-Melou is if Paddy is to believed causing the club to have second thoguhts on bringing in a new strong midfielder 

The fact we missed out on one target doesn’t mean you give up though surely?

[AJ 1,192]

All about fitness at this stage, still a bit of work to do in the transfer market if we're going to stay up

[Dean Coneys boots 1,307]

change “a bit” to “a lot” and I agree