FC Köln 25/07/25

[thpike]

1 minute ago, Noahfence said:

Fatawu seems like he’s trying too hard 

Only his second competitive match in how long though?

[Noahfence]

1 minute ago, lcfcsnow said:

Last thing we want is some of these taking places on the bench instead of Page, Aluko, Monga

That’s my fear 

[Stadt]

Just now, thpike said:

Only his second competitive match in how long though?

Not even competitive!

[Noahfence]

Just now, thpike said:

Only his second competitive match in how long though?

Not a criticism of him I love the guy. Just an observation 

[thpike]

Just now, MPH said:

Noticed there’s been no outgoing move that’s been sanctioned yet.. feel like Marti wanted to give everyone the once over during the tour..

He's gotta see all that he has available to him somehow I suppose

[moore_94]

At least 1 centre back, 1 centre mid, and 1 striker are definitely needed

[Stadt]

If Fatawu adds goals to his game then he'll go to the top 

[Taz_The_Fox]

Creativity still seems like a massive issue. 

[Noahfence]

So basically all our midfielders are utter crap? (Not including Page with those rotters) 

[Bert]

Have only seen snippets of the game. So not in a great position to comment, but will just echo what I said after our game last week. It’s pre season. Players still getting used to a new style & management. Plenty of work has been put in. They’ll be more than prepared for the season - but it’s clear we need a few new additions. 

[Suzie the Fox]

Quite enjoyed that, a few pros and ofc alot of cons but i'm hopeful for the season.

 

Really hope Cifuentes saw how lazy Winks and especially Vesty were today. 

[99.1% BLUE]

Fatawu pulling off elastico in a game 

[kingfox]

This team badly needs more athleticism added to it. 
 

Can’t be playing Skipp and Winks as a combo, this team is crying out for an N’golo Kante type midfielder to go alongside one of them. 

[l444ry]

Was like watching the Leicester City of last season. Bloody awful. Vestergaard, Winks and Ayew are just a waste of space given the energy of some of our youngsters. Think the Manager will have had his eyes opened with some of that lot. 

[Jonezy]

Only watched the last half hour. Köln looked better organised no surprise; the move that earned the pen was smooth. Fatawu is going to drive us nuts isn't he? Brilliant in glimpses, but also runs into dead ends and loses the ball a lot. 

Marti has have a looked at the most now. Hopefully we can start getting rid of players then. Squad so bloated with average.

[Taz_The_Fox]

Yeah I think its midfield where the issue ultimately lies.  None of them are remotely creative, there's no real top level athleticism from any of them so what do they really offer? 

 

KDH really was the difference maker two seasons ago. He wasn't the most technical but he was a goddamn workhorse who could get box to box. We have no one like that at the moment 

[Ashley]

New style and new system. The players are still adapting to it. 

 

Our press will cause no end of problems this season in the championship. 

 

From what I seen of the Koln game. Monga was very dangerous. 

[CosbehFox]

Need a spine of athleticism. The central positions in our squad have very little dynamism. Largely puff and huff type players. 

[Bob Weasel Fox]

12 minutes ago, MPH said:

Noticed there’s been no outgoing move that’s been sanctioned yet.. feel like Marti wanted to give everyone the once over during the tour..

I'm sure he would of seen plenty need shipping out now 

[Parker Pen]

3 minutes ago, kingfox said:

This team badly needs more athleticism added to it. 
 

Can’t be playing Skipp and Winks as a combo, this team is crying out for an N’golo Kante type midfielder to go alongside one of them. 

Couldn’t agree more, Ndidi and Soumare offer that  but aren’t seen as good with the distribution. Winks definitely not at it today and Skipp just isn’t very good. Again the young lads getting stuck in was promising and if Silko could head then that could/should have been 2-2.

[Spudulike]

What's with the long hopeful hoofs from Coady? Wasnt expecting that given what we've been told about Cif-wen-tes.

[Taz_The_Fox]

9 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

What's with the long hopeful hoofs from Coady? Wasnt expecting that given what we've been told about Cif-wen-tes.

I think calling them hoof balls is a little harsh. They were diagonals out to the winger which most of the time found their man. 

 

Koln were set up well defensively and Skipp and Winks are not good enough to turn out from the press so we weren't afforded many options other than to go longer. 

[kingfox]

8 minutes ago, Parker Pen said:

Couldn’t agree more, Ndidi and Soumare offer that  but aren’t seen as good with the distribution. Winks definitely not at it today and Skipp just isn’t very good. Again the young lads getting stuck in was promising and if Silko could head then that could/should have been 2-2.

Winks and Skipp are both midfield controlling “6s”. Can’t be playing them as a combo, when they are pretty much identical players. 
 

As for Ndidi and Soumare, I’d bin both of them off. 
 

Then replace them with two athletic midfielders who can cover ground and press relentlessly. 

[Sunbury Fox]

He’ll probably leave but if he doesn’t, I would think about playing BEK as an 8, to give us more creativity and pressing ability deeper in the pitch. The problem is that we would then need to find someone else to play as a 10…..

[whoareyaaa]

31 minutes ago, kingfox said:

This team badly needs more athleticism added to it. 
 

Can’t be playing Skipp and Winks as a combo, this team is crying out for an N’golo Kante type midfielder to go alongside one of them. 

Bilal should really be playing there instead of one of those or both I would have Ricardo and Bilal in that deep position, I would even go as far as saying Hamza would be better suited to that role swapping with Ricardo 

Edited 25 July 2025 by whoareyaaa
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