The New Boys

[ReadingCanary 0]

Although we only got to watch 45 minutes of them in a game which nearly ended with 11 different players on the field to the ones which startedWhat was your opinion?For me Redmond looked brilliant, extremely fast, skillful and with a keen eye for a cross. Was a shame he couldn''t bang that chance he had earlier in the top corner.Leroy Fer is incredibly strong and can pick out some truly amazing passes. There was a certain should barge he made where the other guy went flying and I can certainly see the YaYa Toure resemblance. He really did make Tettey look inferior.Wolfswinkel, well we didn''t really get to see much of him, due to some bad service. Yet he did havea  few chances which were limited due to some decent defending by the Earthquakes.I was surprised to see how physical/passionate (you choose) he was with their player. Also kinda funny he picked up a "yellow" on his debut.

[Mervmeister 18]

No service was the story I last season, hoping that changes this season as even the wolf will struggle if not.

[Mr Brownstone 0]

[quote user="Mervmeister"]

No service was the story I last season, hoping that changes this season as even the wolf will struggle if not.

[/quote]

 

It''s all about building fitness at the moment Merv, if we''re not creating much by the time we get to Sociedad and Panathinaikos then it might be cause for concern but not yet.

 

[ZLF 271]

it was only a pre season friendly

but it highlighted the difference in class between the new guys and last seasons starting 11.

a partner for fer remains a must have buy - as well as two more striking options

[Splendid Rush 2]

I agree with you RC.

Redmond looked amazingly sharp, fast and direct. Maybe a little way to go on his final ball, but I don''t think you can really judge too much on early pre-season games. A very exciting prospect.

Fer was a beast. Players bouncing off him, always had his head up and put some great balls through. Again, he can only improve as pre-season progresses.

RvW struggled to get in the game, but he did get through a couple of times when fed through from being on the shoulder of their last man, which was promising. Although I was glad to see the desire there in a meaningless match, I hope he doesn''t get frustrated and pick up yellow cards during the season.

Shame not to see Olsson, I haven''t read why he didn''t play, but I guess he''s not ready yet.

For a young lad, I thought Gafaiti was pretty promising too.

[ReadingCanary 0]

http://www.sjearthquakes.com/liveFull Game is Still Up here

[Branston Pickle 3,632]

It certainly feels that we have had some ''upgrades'' from last season, so the signs are good - definitely pleased with the reports for Fer.

Anyone reading too much into the wider performance/result is a bit mental - clearly you never want to lose games but if we wanted to win them all we could have toured somewhere like Scotland, won easily and gained nothing: far better to have ''competitive'' action and MLS is the equivalent of Champs(?), and at midseason levels of fitness/edge, so a decent level for us get rid of some rustiness against.

[ref89 0]

Another pre-season, another bunch of muppets trying to read something into it.Just go back 12 months are read the same whining idiocy rather than posting the same stuff again.PRE SEASON IS IRRELEVANT.

[ReadingCanary 0]

Wouldn''t say it''s irrelevant although indeed not much should be taken from it.We are merely stating what we saw from the new boys however

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="ref89"]Another pre-season, another bunch of muppets trying to read something into it.[/quote]It''s a message board where people want to express opinions on the new players.  Don''t be such a twunt.

[Joanna Grey 0]

Mister Chops wrote - "It''s a message board where people want to express opinions on the new players. Don''t be such a twunt."

Agreed. The comments about the game have been pretty much sensible compared to other pre-seasons anyway.

[Kangaroo Court 0]

We were mostly short in the attacking midfield area last season. Hoolahan always looks good but his stats tell a different story. As Hughton is going to play a 4-2-3-1 we need competition for Hoolahan but all we hear is our pursuit of more strikers. Who would be a good buy in the attacking midfield position?

[ReadingCanary 0]

Personally I thought Leroy Fer and Hoolahan linked up extremely well.if RVW had been the striker rather than Becchio think we would have seen something more special

[Rolf Harris 31]

Except from the part where Hoolahan kept losing the ball.

[ReadingCanary 0]

True the link up was decent, but Hoolahan did spend a lot of time running around like a headless chicken.There were a couple of one-twos however which looked promising

[Rolf Harris 31]

The second side looked a lot better than the first.

[iron_stan 0]

redmonds probably the sharpest player in the squad atm having been in action with the under 21s, very quick, but we already knew that

wolfie looks like he has a turn of pace

fer looks like the bouncer

no surprises there then

they mostly all looked like they were on their holiday still. We realyl need another striker or two to hurry through the door. if volswinkle gets injured in pre season we are f@rk3d

[iron_stan 0]

wolfswinkle spelling fail [:$]

[Lets be aving you! 0]

Ahem, WolfswinkEL.

 

 

[GJP 79]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]it was only a pre season friendly but it highlighted the difference in class between the new guys and last seasons starting 11. a partner for fer remains a must have buy - as well as two more striking options[/quote]

What type of midfield partner do you think Fer needs?

 

 

[Bill 1,788]

Could link up well with the  Irish midfielder, Kinell

[Yobocop 1,094]

Lmao loving your work

Or the Japanese international Kin-wanka

[Howson is now! 0]

[quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]it was only a pre season friendly but it highlighted the difference in class between the new guys and last seasons starting 11. a partner for fer remains a must have buy - as well as two more striking options[/quote]

What type of midfield partner do you think Fer needs?

 

 

[/quote]

 

Having seen how Fer plays, I actually think that at present, the best option to get the best out of our midfield is Howson. Fer has shown that he is very strong in the tackle but unlike Tettey and (to a lesser extent last season but still sometimes a concern) Johnson, has the range of passing to back this up. If Fer is holding Howson is freed up to bomb forward like we saw him doing towards the end of last season.

 

However, we also know that Fer is good going forward and likes to add that to his game, and in Howson we have a disciplined player who will hold to the detriment of his own game for the sake of the team, as we saw numerous times last season when asked to play that holding role.

 

The most telling thing for me though is that (if reports are to be believed) Hughton is still not entirely sure where he''s going to be playing Fer. When we were first linked with him I thought he was likely going to be challenging Hoolahan for that spot behind the striker but having seen how fierce he is in the middle of the park, I see him and Howson bossing that centre of the park and releasing the kind of service we were crying out for last season.

 

Could be some interesting positions for Fer over the next four / five games while Hughton tests the waters to get the best out of him.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Howson is now"][quote user="GJP"]

[quote user="ZippersLeftFoot"]it was only a pre season friendly but it highlighted the difference in class between the new guys and last seasons starting 11. a partner for fer remains a must have buy - as well as two more striking options[/quote]

What type of midfield partner do you think Fer needs?

 

 

[/quote]

 

Having seen how Fer plays, I actually think that at present, the best option to get the best out of our midfield is Howson. Fer has shown that he is very strong in the tackle but unlike Tettey and (to a lesser extent last season but still sometimes a concern) Johnson, has the range of passing to back this up. If Fer is holding Howson is freed up to bomb forward like we saw him doing towards the end of last season.

 

However, we also know that Fer is good going forward and likes to add that to his game, and in Howson we have a disciplined player who will hold to the detriment of his own game for the sake of the team, as we saw numerous times last season when asked to play that holding role.

 

The most telling thing for me though is that (if reports are to be believed) Hughton is still not entirely sure where he''s going to be playing Fer. When we were first linked with him I thought he was likely going to be challenging Hoolahan for that spot behind the striker but having seen how fierce he is in the middle of the park, I see him and Howson bossing that centre of the park and releasing the kind of service we were crying out for last season.

 

Could be some interesting positions for Fer over the next four / five games while Hughton tests the waters to get the best out of him.

[/quote]

 

Yeah, Howson is such a good player I''d be surprised if he isn''t a big part of the team. So I''d expect to see him and Fer in the team regularly but it''ll be interesting to see who else plays in the midfield with them.

 

But it is a squad game and you''ve got to have options so I think Johnson, Hoolahan and Tettey will still have plenty of involvement.

[birchfest 397]

I''m excited to see Fer and RVW link up, I think that it will be Fers place to lose in the centre of midfield this season.. Him and Howson could become a real creative attacking partnership with Johnson coming in against more offensive teams to break up play.

Redmond look really fast and tricky, think he is really going to push for a start this season and frankly is an incredibly exciting prospect for the future.,

[Howson is now! 0]

How awesome does this look?

 

                   van. Wolfswinkel

     Snodgrass      Hoolahan      Redmond

                   Fer         Howson

 

Or when we really need to break up play from the front?

                       van. Wolfswinkel

       Snodgrass           Fer            Pilkington

                    Johnson        Howson

[Rolf Harris 31]

                           van. Wolfswinkel

        Pilkington     Howson              Snodgrass

                                           Fer

                                Johnson

[birchfest 397]

Van Wolfswinkel

Quageliarella

PIlkington. Howson Fer Snodgrass

[iron_stan 0]

              wolfswinky   cisse

snodgrass   fer      howson    redmond

olsson    bassong     bennett  martin/whittaker/sum wan else                         ruddy

[GJP 79]

[quote user="iron_stan"]             


olsson    bassong     bennett  martin/whittaker/sum wan else

                         ruddy
[/quote]

Clearly if we''re picking our best defence it''ll be Turner and not Bennett.