Pre Season Tour 2018/19

I like the kit but the club are having a laugh. For the full kit (Not that any of us would buy it) it's £188
 
Chong showed in the reserves last year that he can cope with being kicked all game, he just gets back up. Hope he starts Sunday to get a real crack at it. He should at least be getting on our bench this season coming at times if we don’t bring anyone in. Could argue he should have last season when we were putting 3 defenders on the bench.

We have nothing like him in the squad at the moment. Off the bench he could provide width from the left, someone who can go to the byline at pace and deliver a cross or be someone cutting in from the right at pace. Against those bottom half teams we struggle against he could be someone who can surprise them off the bench with that something different.
 
1-1 draw against AC Milan but we least we managed to win on penalties. Check out the last penalty from Kessie for Milan, was a bit of a stinker!

From the reports it seems like Sanchez and Pereira were the standouts for us.
 
Those 2 seem to be the 2 doing best on tour. Smalling and Bailly apparently very poor for their goal. Mata too after a disappointing season from him.
 
I watched the highlights. The defence was shockingly poor at that goal. I surely hope it's just because they are still warming up for the season. But if Bailly and Smalling continue like this, I can easily see Londelof and Jones replacing them once they return from holiday.

I'm glad to see Sanchez firing on all cylinders. Helpfully he's settled in and the pre-season will help him to a flying start. We'll definitely need him in the best form since Lukaku and Rashford are late and Martial is away with his family.
 
Our centre backs are the least convincing part of our squad. Bailly has talent but was very poor last season and struggles to stay fit. Lindelof improved as the season wore on and is probably in line to be first choice. Smalling can be great one game and poor the next, need more consistency from him as the senior player. Jones is up and down too. Rojo hasn’t been the same since serious injury and wasn’t exactly the best before anyway. There’s rumours that Rojo will leave to make room for someone to come in.

However, if we don’t bring anyone in they can all do better and Mourinho needs to find a way to get the best out of them. His teams are built on solid defences and despite clean sheets last season it doesn’t convince most of the time. We need a #1 defender, I like Maguire but he’s not that, Alderweireld is but club don’t want to bring in a player with no resale value. I don’t rate Smalling highly but at the end of it he’s the only one that looked capable of staying available for every game, and I think Mourinho really values that stability but his partner changes nearly every week. Need to keep 2/3 or all of them fit and we might get a solid defence then.
 
Think I picked the right night to watch my first game of pre season. Not getting carried away as it’s Real Madrid’s mostly second string and their first game but really like the potential of the 3-5-2. Lukaku with Sanchez floating around him and Pogba having licence to join them with the wing backs also having licence to get forward more. It seems to suit most of the squad and might well explain the interest in Maguire more with him having experience of playing on the left side of the back 3.
 
Good win to end the tour. I’ve only just seen highlights but from what I could see Pereira, Sanchez and Fred were the standout players.

I agree that 3-5-2 has the potential for us going forward and yeah the Maguire links would make more sense if Jose was looking to go down this route. But if we end up with Valencia and Young as our wing backs again then I wouldn’t be too positive about a 3-5-2 working! We would need full backs who provide real width and able to get down to the byline all game. Obviously we have Dalot and Shaw but who knows how they will get on.

Oh and this tweet just outlines how Pereira has gained in confidence this tour.

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Great bit of skill there Little bit too creative and pleasing on the eye. Jose will drop him.
 
Well Jose said he's got Pereira and Fred because they'll add technique to our CM
 
We shall see then. Its just a gut feel but I think Pereira is going to be one of those players who is forever out on loan until he's eventually sold.
 
I hear Bailly has been at fault for four of the goals conceded during the pre-season tour. Is that fair or harsh?
 

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