City vS Braga

[BroadstairsR 2,138]

Yes old "your a moron" is back with his insults, shouting and abysmal mis-use of the English language.

 

I wonder how many different guises he''s had now?

 

 I fail to see why he bothers repeatedly changing his name as his "style" (or rather lack of it) is so instantly recognisable.

[Dubai Mark 0]

...and another decent thread ends up being spoilt!

Back to the subject......Having watched last night I didnt see any difference in attitude or effort from any of the players first half compared to second. I was actually pleasantly surprised by just how much effort was being put in for this type of pre-season friendly by both sides.

There was also no doubt in my mind that the second half performance came about mainly from all of the changes made by City and also partly by Braga upping their game a bit, but when the changes were happening both in personnel and tactics I personally wasnt surprised at all, I expected it to happen, as its in these pre season games when you do just that.

My guess is CH will do very similar in Tuesday''s friendly and only in the last match on Saturday will he tinker less, he does aftrer all have a lot of new signings to integrate into the squad and needs to see how the manage with different formations and systems, even if it is for only small sections of matches.

Sure it would have been great to win last night, but we still got many positives didnt we, in particular that first half performance where we looked really well balanced and disciplined for the most part with our new signings gelling well with the rest of the team, plus there were other reassuring decent performances from Hoolahan, Bunn and Turner in his first match back in particular.      

 

[havemyhowsonit 0]

OT F BC!!

Cancerous morons???? What sort of comment is that you twat

Clearly you have the IQ level the as same a headless chicken.

Pre season friendlies are sooo important for fitness and confidence to win their places and win games.

You need banning from this site with comments like that

[LinkNR9 0]

The Snodmeister was also superb first half, although he ran out of steam in the second half (understandable after what must have been a difficult week for him).

[Yellowbeagle 0]

Thought we did well first half. Second half the movement off the ball stopped and the basic passing then got wayward, the back four then got to deep. Still plenty of positives and hopefully the movement will there for 90mins when the fitness is up to scratch.

[Rolf Harris 31]

The second half back four wasn''t good enough, full of mistakes.

[Yelloow Since 72 54]

The back four were disappointing in the second half, but partly because the midfield fell away after Fer went off and fatigue set in.

[Yelloow Since 72 54]

On a brighter note, the article below includes a video of Hooper''s goals last night:

http://hereisthecity.com/2013/08/03/...ace-on-debut/?

[Militant Canary 0]

A lot of positives from the game last night. I was so impressed with the 1st half, but the 2nd proved there are still things to be ironed out... and I''m certain they will be.

Disagree that the midfield fell away after Fer went off. It fell away before that. Braga started the game with more intensity and we were sloppy - simple as that. We just weren''t very good in the 2nd half, but these are problems that will be fixed.

The defense was not good all game. Bassong is needed back and another Bassong-esque defender needs to be signed. There was no organiser in the back four - Turner is not a leader in that way and Bennett is basically brain-dead (I''m not being nasty. Lets just be frank about it, shall we? He is an idiot and he plays like an idiot - that is not to say that he is not a good player. But, he needs someone next to him to tell him what to do). Again, I''m sure this will be sorted.

That said, I was impressed with an obviously rusty Olsson. Made mistakes - as is to be expected of someone who has not played a pre-season game yet - but showed plenty of quality. Good!

Tettey I thought was very good. Showed some fine ball control and we saw some more of the drive and power that made him so effective during the height of last season. Combined very well with Fer.

Howson looks like he will be the man pulling the strings from deep in a number of situations (like Fox, but with a little more to him). Yet, at Brighton, the midfield of Fer, Howson & Tettey worked on a pivot, with Tettey holding deep and Fer and Howson swapping offensive duties - Howson particularly caught the eye when arriving late. The potential interchange in our midfield is becoming quite exciting!

Snodgrass looked good. Redmond looked good. E Bennett looked good. Hooper looked good (and impressive considering this is the third game he''s played in since Tuesday). The Wolf will score, but I bet he''s annoyed that Hooper got the great service last night and he came on when we starting playing poorly. It will come.

In a long winded way, what I''m saying is: I''m happy and excited for the coming season.

[barclay_boy111 0]

I try not to judge or read any thing in to pre season too much however first half was very impressing and would like to think come Everton that''s the type of football we will be playing.

finally pushing opposition players back in to their own half and gaining possession all over the pitch and going forward in a positive manner.

I do think a CB is a definite must as personally i don''t think Turner or R.Bennett cut the mustard next to Bassong who i hope is fit come Everton!

I have been impressed with Redmond, Fer, Hooper and Olsson looked solid even if he isnt 100% fit

[ZLF 271]

"The back four were disappointing in the second half, but partly because the midfield fell away after Fer went off"

that would be a worrying trait and a continuation of last years prime failing if true.