SaintJackoInHurworth Posted 29 July, 2011 Share Posted 29 July, 2011 It is interesting to read about what other clubs have been doing for pre-season: I notice that Leicester have a big match against Real Madrid tomorrow. While this sounds a real glamour tie and great for the fans (and the ticket office sales!) I wonder if it is asking for trouble so close to the new season. I wonder if the players could be a little TOO comitted and end up getting injuries. I also see the possibility of them getting a real beating and having their confidence damaged. Similarly, Middlesbrough have had a big fixture against PSV Eindhoven this evening, with the same possibilities, though not on the same scale as a fixture against Madrid! More amusingly, P*mpey had a fixture arranged against Real Betis tomorrow, but have had to cancel it as they are stranded in America!! Havant & Waterlooville are playing the match instead! LOL What do people think of our pre-season? Do you think we have had enough fixtures and have they been of sufficient quality? Have the fixtures been well-structured, etc.? Personally, I think there has been a good number to give the squad sufficient match practice without so many that the players risk getting injured. Hopefully the final game on Saturday will be a chance for some players to get a full 90 minutes. I like the fact that it is a winnable game but made tougher by the fact that it is away from home. In theory it should be a good game to build up some realistic match practice while building the team's confidence ready to face Leeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 29 July, 2011 Share Posted 29 July, 2011 More amusingly, P*mpey had a fixture arranged against Real Betis tomorrow, but have had to cancel it as they are stranded in America!! Havant & Waterlooville are playing the match instead! LOL So Real Betis are playing at Westleigh Park? Well, it's a step up from Fratton. I would say the pre-season has been ok. I would hope that tomorrow shows a more settled side but all in all players have been given a chance and there are no glaring injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 29 July, 2011 Share Posted 29 July, 2011 It doesn't matter who you Play it's all a out being ready for the first game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stepgar Posted 29 July, 2011 Share Posted 29 July, 2011 I think it has been quite refreshing to have played the teams we have. I have been championing for tougher competition for years. Playing the likes of Eastleigh and then Havant and Waterlooville are good for the very early games for fitness etc but we have needed to play better opposition towards the end of pre season and this year has been perfect. Some lesser teams then teams with more quality. Should help start the season stronger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stepgar Posted 29 July, 2011 Share Posted 29 July, 2011 It doesn't matter who you Play it's all a out being ready for the first game I do understand what you mean though. Man utd would not be preapared properly if they Playd the like of millwall (no disrespects ) and other teams like that. They need to play teams similar to their "standard" or they will not be prepared. To note they are due to play Barcelona in a friendly. Point made I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kraken Posted 29 July, 2011 Share Posted 29 July, 2011 I do understand what you mean though. Man utd would not be preapared properly if they Playd the like of millwall (no disrespects ) and other teams like that. They need to play teams similar to their "standard" or they will not be prepared. To note they are due to play Barcelona in a friendly. Point made I think. They also played Seattle Sounders and thrashed them 7-0. It's about getting the balance right of games that will challenge you and getting confidence levels up. You could argue that stuffing someone 7-0 (as in the games we used to have on the Scando tours) actually don't really do the defence and keeper a lot of good. But they are good for early games to get everyone playing again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richie Posted 29 July, 2011 Share Posted 29 July, 2011 Doesnt matter what our pre season is like we always start sh1t!!! fact!! 1 win from first 6 would be par for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_John Posted 30 July, 2011 Share Posted 30 July, 2011 It is always difficult to judge preseason, for example a few years ago we played Utrecht in our final home game and lost 0-2 and Brett had the only shot on target in the game. I said to a friend we are going to stuggle this season because we seemed a yard off the pace. However, 2002-03 was one of our best seasons (8th & FA Cup final) and wGS said after the Utrecht game that it was probably a mistake to have the players doing a full training session in the morning. He was correct because our fitness levels mid season showed that pre season training had gone well. (Last 4 games of that pre season were Oxford (a) D 3-3; Luton (a) L 2-3; Utrecht (H) L 0-2; Aberdeen (a) 1-2). Other pre seasons we have thrashed sides 8-0 etc and then started the real season with indifferent results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 30 July, 2011 Share Posted 30 July, 2011 wouldn't it be nice if we had a storming start to the season.....for once Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNSUN Posted 30 July, 2011 Share Posted 30 July, 2011 It's better than last season's pre-season - I was sure we hadn't had enough of a test then. As long as the players are fit and ready to go (you'd think an ex-phsio would be top notch at this), then we will have succeeded with the pre-season preparations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintJackoInHurworth Posted 31 July, 2011 Author Share Posted 31 July, 2011 One concern I have with our pre-season is whether the players have had enough match practice to get match fit. I think this was dealt with for some players with yesterdays Yeovil match, but that still leaves a significant number of players without a full 90 minutes under their belts since last season. I was quite surprised that De Ridder didn't make more of an appearance than he did but maybe that is because he has already reached a high level of match fitness and other players need the match practice more. I am concerned about Barnard and Chamberlain though as their injuries will have prevented them getting up to that level of fitness you would want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 31 July, 2011 Share Posted 31 July, 2011 At least we're not Sheffield Wednesday???!?!?! Alfreton Town 14 - 0 Sheffield Wednesday (I assume that it's some sort of reserve/first team mix...but jesus christ!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Thomas Posted 31 July, 2011 Share Posted 31 July, 2011 At least we're not Sheffield Wednesday???!?!?! Alfreton Town 14 - 0 Sheffield Wednesday (I assume that it's some sort of reserve/first team mix...but jesus christ!) Was just an academy side playing, but still - I'd like to think our academy could give Alfreton a decent game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonjoe Posted 31 July, 2011 Share Posted 31 July, 2011 I wrote a blogpost on this subject at http://prawnsandwichsaints.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-are-saints-looking-for-new-season.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintJackoInHurworth Posted 31 July, 2011 Author Share Posted 31 July, 2011 I wrote a blogpost on this subject at http://prawnsandwichsaints.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-are-saints-looking-for-new-season.html That was an excellent read! Thank you. A very good and positive analysis. If we do sign a decent centre back and another good striker, I would agree with you. Even without them I am hopeful we will not be struggling at the wrong end of the table. However, I do have some reservations about our defence in particular if we don't manage to sign anyone. On a related note, if we do sign any players I wonder how prepared they will be. You only have to look at the lack of match practice for Puncheon and others to realise that wantaway players may not be that well prepared for the new season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintBobby Posted 31 July, 2011 Share Posted 31 July, 2011 Seems to me that pre-season has been okayish. From a ticket sales (rather than match preparedness) point of view, it does seem that a 90 minute friendly against ONE reasonably well known European opponent generates more fan interest than a match against PL opposition or the Liebherr tournament format. I think had we played, say, Bilbao or Bremen or Betis or Eindhoven at SMS yesterday, we would have got a decent sized crowd (15k +) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeweahscousin Posted 31 July, 2011 Share Posted 31 July, 2011 Good tweet I saw this afternoon:- Importance of pre-season results: Spurs in 2008 = WWDWWWWW - season starts - LLDLDLLL. Chelsea in 2010 = WLLLL - season starts - WWWWW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theyin Posted 1 August, 2011 Share Posted 1 August, 2011 Always felt our preseasons were a tad tinpot in comparison to others. Never much glamour/hardened competition even when we were in the PL. Other teams around us achieved 'big' ties and far flung tours where the club's name could be spread but it hasn't been that way with us since LM's days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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