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Pre-Season 2024/25

deletubbies

Active Member
Jul 9, 2024
58
156
How are we knackered? Very difficult training sessions in very difficult conditions. What we are trying to do is build a base level of fitness that carries into the season. It means “overworking” now, so that the players are fully fit in GW1
Yeah this makes sense tbf, hopefully it's just this. I presume we will be back to normal training sessions now and won't look as tired next bayern game
 

spursville

Well-Known Member
May 7, 2019
1,346
2,231
Bergvall looks a far better option to start than Maddison right now
Perhaps but was that the plan when he came in this summer? That's a lot of pressure on a youngster and again says something about our planning, transfer strategy and quality of squad depth.
 

philll

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
11,582
40,073
I know it's pre-season, I know we're waiting for players to come back (including 3/4 of our back line), I know we were playing a good side and it was by far our toughest test so far... but it feels like we're going to be just as random in certain aspects as we were last season.

There's so much work to do in the window for me to be optimistic that the scoring bit of the team will be good enough to make up for the hecticness of the not conceding bit. Ange can't be happy on that front - towards the end of last season he kept saying how there was a plan, we were going to look to get our business done early, it was the front third that needed attention etc and here we are, about to head *back* from our pre-season tour and it's crickets since Gray signed. We're going to need a closing month of the transfer window that people write songs about, we absolutely have to see things starting to happen early next week.
 

Third Kit '87

Well-Known Member
Aug 14, 2012
357
1,272
Johnson has the attributes to be an effective impact sub to stretch the game and add energy, and is a decent finisher but his all round game is severely lacking- we cant be looking to him as a starting player yet
 

SonicSarr

Well-Known Member
Jun 7, 2012
3,028
5,243
I really don't want to see Royale play again. He's leaving anyway and is such a limited footballer. Was the plan always to play him and Skipp and others out of position? Bit difficult surely to get team play, systems and patterns established in pre-season without proper centre halves except Dragusin. Lack of planning or lack of squad depth? Discuss.
Wow, I'm questioning why we are even selling Royale. He's looked very good pre-season, he's quite versatile and really seems to have developed into an assured passer.
 

Cochise

Well-Known Member
Aug 8, 2019
5,857
15,273
Johnson is such a timid player. His game is about hiding out wide coming inside for a tap in. It's just not enough.

If we can't get Neto I'm not against playing Porro at RW and Spence as a RB. In fact I hope Ange consider this as Porro is so dangerous and has a big presence on the field.

Kulusevski is the opposite of Johnson, always looking for the ball and to get involved.
He's a real divisive player because his thread is full of people who are either don't rate him or 100% do, not much in the middle. His G+A gets used a lot, but I don't think he's that guy that will create something out of nothing. He's not beating his man from a standing start, he's using his speed and movement to get into good positions. When it works he looks good but when it doesn't he looks like a lost cause.
 

sparx100

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2007
5,265
7,980
Personally i would have Spence right up there. Maybe thats because we didn't see it coming, but he has looked like a man on a mission- determined to impress and he has shown genuine quality- may have saved us about 15-20 mill as he is perfectly suited as Porro backup/rotation.
I agree with this. Spence has had a redemption arc which noone expected.
 

only1waddle

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2012
9,554
16,620
I really don't want to see Royale play again. He's leaving anyway and is such a limited footballer. Was the plan always to play him and Skipp and others out of position? Bit difficult surely to get team play, systems and patterns established in pre-season without proper centre halves except Dragusin. Lack of planning or lack of squad depth? Discuss.

The Euro's and Copa 🤷
 

anydange

Well-Known Member
Jan 31, 2013
3,869
8,091
Really not confident about our prospects. We’re going to struggle at the start of this year’s campaign if we start with close to the same eleven that finished so poorly last season. We’ll all be screaming for the youngsters after 4/5 matches.

Hope I’m wrong and overthinking it all.
 

the yid

Well-Known Member
Dec 14, 2010
2,745
12,305
I said after season when people said they'd be happy without signing a striker if we get Eze and Neto that you've clearly fortgot how we played without a striker. Striker is a priority and the fact we haven't signed 1 is negligence. A stop gap for a year is better than what we have now.
 

Arden

Well-Known Member
Apr 19, 2021
695
1,798
I get they were possibly tired from a lot of double sessions etc but some of our decision making and basic execution at times was shocking
 
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