Valencia pre-season friendly Match thread.

[martyn]

Poor old George Thomas had an absolute 'mare when he came on.

 

Always hard to truly gauge which of these youngsters are actually good enough to break through but Johnson looks like he has the tools to be a very decent player, he's definitely a centre half and not a right back, Choudhury does a lot of good things as well in terms of breaking up play.

 

Hope we maintain that type of tempo come the real business. 1 more forward thinking midfielder of real quality and possibly another centre half would turn us into a very decent side.

Edited 1 August 2018 by martyn

[lgfualol]

Decent. Good footie. The children did some decent stuff bar Thomas who is probably a lot better than he looked tonight.

 

In conclusion, either give Darnell Johnson a proper place in the Prem squad or buy a new younger CB.

 

BUY A WINGER TO LINK UP WITH WORLD CLASS MADDISON

Edited 1 August 2018 by lgfualol

[sishades]

Really impressed with the younger players, looked comfortable on the ball, good midfield play from Silva, The future is white with bue shoulder stripes 

[TonyN11]

10 minutes ago, Babylon said:

The stats are there about him and giving youth a chance, season on season. 

Yep. Puel in!

[sylofox]

3 minutes ago, RumbleFox said:

Honestly think he will be a revelation this year.  Though I am often wrong.  

I think he could be buy of the summer.

[KFS]

Darnell Johnson to start against United, I don't even care 

[Ted Maul]

Impressive stuff against a good side. Just need that extra spark of creativity- another winger and we'll be a decent side this season.

[CarbonVirtine]

Well, as a training exercise, Valencia will be happy with the run around. They certainly got one. I'm looking forward to seeing how Puel manages this season, we've got a decent crop of youngsters to bring in. 

 

Amartey has come on too, I think we've got some decent right back options now. 

[Jobyfox]

3 minutes ago, vanity said:

He gave us zero goals and one assist after 1/1/2018 

 

We need to be rid of this sort of low expectation mindset.

 

Don’t disagree that we need better wide players and also think that Albrighton can only take us so far.

 

Just disagree that he is the route of all evil when Gray, Diabate, Musa and Chilwell have all offered less when starting on the wings - despite having more natural ability. 

 

[StriderHiryu]

I thought that was a really entertaining game to watch, good stuff from both sides on that.

 

The score might only have been 1-1 but we played them off the park in the second half and held our own in the first. Throughout both halves I thought we pressed high and quick and looked quite sharp and fast on the ball. I particularly like that Puel left out a lot of the more veteran players and I think he is quite clearly saying to some players that their time here is done. No Leo, Slim, Musa or King as obvious examples. All of the young lads that came on looked great and the way we played and pressed as a team was really encouraging. It wasn't like there was one stand out performer, but more that cohesively as a team we played well no matter the personnel. That said James Maddison was fantastic! Really looking forward to seeing him play and more importantly - what song are we singing for him!?

 

One swallow doesn't make a summer, but I for one am very excited by tonight. We've never had a proper club structure where youth team players are developed to a high quality and then come into the first team side and contribute significantly. *If* Puel gets it right, that issue might be fixed and with state of the art facilities on the way that could be the best legacy our current owners could ever leave for our club.

 

all round tonight from me!

[420Hashish]

What defense did we have at the end of the match? Heard they were much better than the one that started.

[moseeds]

Only saw the last 30 minutes, we looked excellent going forward. Very exciting football, quick and fun to watch. Really impressed by Choudhary in the middle.

[vanity]

1 minute ago, Jobyfox said:

Don’t disagree that we need better wide players and also think that Albrighton can only take us so far.

 

Just disagree that he is the route of all evil when Gray, Diabate, Musa and Chilwell have all offered less when starting on the wings - despite having more natural ability. 

 

Come on mate, he isn't evil. But we are financially Icommitted to Gray for now, and he at least demands defensive attention, but his job is made more difficult when defenses can sag away from Albrighton. We need finishing and goals, and when a team can basically ignore one wing and focus on the center/right, it makes it so much more difficult for us to score. We need better balance. 

 

What did you think of Ndukwu out there? He's a LW...

[UniFox21]

Just now, DrezZone said:

What defense did we have at the end of the match? Heard they were much better than the one that started.

ended with  Amartey, knight, Johnson and Fuchs i think 

[sdb]

Worrying that the youngsters looked more energised and ready than most of the first teasers. Same frustrations as always for me...

 

chillwell can attack but not defend

iborra can pass but can’t run

amartey can pass but only sideways

diabate can be tricky but rarely produces the important stuff

iheanacho can finish but can’t be arsed

benelouanne can play football but nowhere near professional standard! 

 

there’s a lot of players like that in (and out) the squad, potential and ability but flaws in their game that don’t seem to be developing. Gray, Musa classic examples. Only need to sharpen a few attributes and they could be valuable players for us. 

 

I’d also be going with Simpson over Ricardo at OT based on that. And Choudry could be useful in that role if he can displace someone first.

[FoxFossil]

Really impressed with Johnson; deserves a chance this season. Unfortunate that Man Utd is opener otherwise he would be good cover for Evans. Could be we don't need to buy a CB afterall.

[Ric Flair]

Johnson and Elder looked very much part of things tonight, very impressed. Get Ndukwu out at someone like Barnsley or another team looking for promotion from League One, he's got a lot of technical ability. 

 

 

[RowlattsFox]

Couldn’t watch tonight but good to see some positive comments following this thread. Good to see young players getting a chance and having a go. I think Johnson has half a chance of a start next week. 

 

Slightly worrying that with only 1 game left no outfield player has played 90 mins? Apart from Elder and Johnson who I think had 90 in the first couple. 

[weller54]

1 minute ago, DrezZone said:

What defense did we have at the end of the match? Heard they were much better than the one that started.

Wes and Benny!... 

Laurel and Hardy!!.. 

Cannon and Ball!.. 

Morecombe and Wise!.. 

Johnson and Trump!.. 

[Mehrez]

2 minutes ago, sdb said:

Worrying that the youngsters looked more energised and ready than most of the first teasers. Same frustrations as always for me...

 

chillwell can attack but not defend

iborra can pass but can’t run

amartey can pass but only sideways

diabate can be tricky but rarely produces the important stuff

iheanacho can finish but can’t be arsed

benelouanne can play football but nowhere near professional standard! 

 

there’s a lot of players like that in (and out) the squad, potential and ability but flaws in their game that don’t seem to be developing. Gray, Musa classic examples. Only need to sharpen a few attributes and they could be valuable players for us. 

 

I’d also be going with Simpson over Ricardo at OT based on that. And Choudry could be useful in that role if he can displace someone first.

I think we were clearly watching different games

Edited 1 August 2018 by Mehrez

[Ric Flair]

1 minute ago, RowlattsFox said:

Couldn’t watch tonight but good to see some positive comments following this thread. Good to see young players getting a chance and having a go. I think Johnson has half a chance of a start next week. 

 

Slightly worrying that with only 1 game left no outfield player has played 90 mins? Apart from Elder and Johnson who I think had 90 in the first couple. 

Very odd but fitness wise they look to be playing at an incredible intensity which is perhaps more beneficial than a few 90 min friendlies where they coast through to conserve energy.

[mozartfox]

2 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

Couldn’t watch tonight but good to see some positive comments following this thread. Good to see young players getting a chance and having a go. I think Johnson has half a chance of a start next week. 

 

Slightly worrying that with only 1 game left no outfield player has played 90 mins? Apart from Elder and Johnson who I think had 90 in the first couple. 

 

Not so positive on RL

[Finnegan]

Johnson looks like he could bench four Liam Moores and a spare Wes Morgan. 

 

Josh Knight looks a fun player to watch, pocket battleship.

[Guest Col city fan]

Good to see some positive reports about the performance. Nacho really does need a proper chance in this team I think.

[Livid]

That looked good, the kids are alright!

 

Just finally looked like we had some sort of game plan. 

 

The future is bright.