Pre Season Friendlies 2024/25

[Colinjb]

Bordeaux hit the post after our defence play 'After you.....'

[chownie20]

Lis! Deary me! Careless is an understatement on a few occasions

[obelisk]

Sometimes a defender needs to put their foot through it and get it clear.

[CSA96]

Saints lineup is now: Lis, Sugawara, Boot, Taylor, O'Brien-Whitmarsh, Smallbone, Downes, Aribo, Kamaldeen, Armstrong, Edozie

Edited 24 July, 2024 by CSA96

[Dan Johnson]

Lis looks terrible

[Give it to Ron]

5 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Agreed, looks a bit uncomfortable with the ball at his feet, unusual seeing as he has played the Martin way before.

Who Wood? Watching different player to me then. One thing I do think is he can pass it

[Saint Fan CaM]

Suga looks to be a good KWP replacement/ understudy…gets forward a lot.

[Disco Stu]

Surprised not to see Bednarek.

[SambaMaverick]

2 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Who Wood? Watching different player to me then. One thing I do think is he can pass it

Passing not a problem for my eyes but seems to take a long time to get it under control and can't shift it around as well as I'd expected. Could be the pitch

[Dan Johnson]

2 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Surprised not to see Bednarek.

Only just came back to pre-season, exetended break due to the euros

[CampionSaint]

2 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Surprised not to see Bednarek.

Why ?  He's only just started his pre-season after returning from the euros.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

7 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Who Wood? Watching different player to me then. One thing I do think is he can pass it

First touch a bit wayward, seems to get caught in two minds what to do sometimes.

[Disco Stu]

Downes getting lippy with the hair bleached player that threw Dibling over. They won't bully him 😂

[kjurwi]

Would be a bit funny to start a game with the central defense Wood n Boot

[skintsaint]

3-2

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

Commentator says that'll be a tongue twister as the season goes on "Suguwara to Sulemana". Easily solved. Don't play Sulemana. He seems to be given licence to roam the pitch and his touch still looks useless.

[obelisk]

'keeper should have caught the cross.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Lis really not giving a good account of himself here,

[SambaMaverick]

Shocking from Lis and whoever that was with the lazy leg at the back post

[gio1saints]

This match shows why we need another keeper- for me. 

[Disco Stu]

Best for all parties if Lis returns to Goztepe.

[austsaint]

3 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

Commentator says that'll be a tongue twister as the season goes on "Suguwara to Sulemana". Easily solved. Don't play Sulemana. He seems to be given licence to roam the pitch and his touch still looks useless.

Sulemana has looked pretty sharp today to my eye.  Who is the 25?   Looks an impressive youngster.

[skintsaint]

Sugawara with a great ball across and no one there.

[SambaMaverick]

1 minute ago, austsaint said:

Sulemana has looked pretty sharp today to my eye.  Who is the 25?   Looks an impressive youngster.

Nat Boot I believe, he's passed it brilliantly

[skintsaint]

Sulemana should have scored there.

[gio1saints]

Just now, skintsaint said:

Sugawara with a great ball across and no one there.

Great ball - And shows what might be if we had an authentic #9…

[skintsaint]

Bordeaux hit the post, think it was a save.

[Disco Stu]

FAFFING!

[skintsaint]

Hit the post twice....

[obelisk]

Saints a bit shambolic at the back. Post again.

[skintsaint]

Smallbone should have scored there...open game.

[skintsaint]

Finished 3-2, Saints put the ball on top of the net with last header of the game.

[CSA96]

FT: Bordeaux 2-3 Saints

[Patches O Houlihan]

2nd period that was not far off a current first team midfield and forward line up + Sugawara. Disappointing they couldn't score when the youngsters managed 3...

Edozie    Arma     Sulemana

      Aribo     Smallbone

            Downes

Sugawara does look sharp though

Edited 24 July, 2024 by Patches O Houlihan
formation

[waylander]

Still sloppy at the back

[Nordic Saint]

31 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Bordeaux almost score - Lis pissing about.

I didn't think it would be possible to find a professional goalkeeper even worse than Bazunu and McCarthy but Lis looks about pub league standard. 

But, there were a few good performnces from our outfield players, notably Dibling, Amo-Ameyaw and Sugawara.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

6 minutes ago, SambaMaverick said:

Nat Boot I believe, he's passed it brilliantly

....to one of their players and then they hit the post. 

Suguwara will be a good first team addition.

Lis didn't do his reputation much good, so it seems we're left with Mac and Lumley in goal, which is hardly a premiership goalkeeping dream team, unless they bring in someone else.

[Kristian Loekkegaard]

Not the best streaming watching from Denmark.
Not sure Lis was responsible for those two big (struck the post) chances to Bordeaux at the end. Maybe he actually saved one via the post.
Smallbone should have made it 4-2 seconds before the ref blew the final whistle.

[Patches O Houlihan]

1 minute ago, Kristian Loekkegaard said:

Smallbone should have made it 4-2 seconds before the ref blew the final whistle.

Definitely had a casual air to that shot

[Saint Scott]

2 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

....to one of their players and then they hit the post. 

Suguwara will be a good first team addition.

Lis didn't do his reputation much good, so it seems we're left with Mac and Lumley in goal, which is hardly a premiership goalkeeping dream team, unless they bring in someone else.

I imagine this just solidifies moving Lis back out on loan, which is a good thing. RM said there will be movement in the next few weeks with GK's and if one moves out they'll look to bring another in.

Here is hoping for Ramsdale on loan

[Saint Fan CaM]

It’s only a pre-season run-out and the first team will not be the same as the line-ups displayed today, but I have to say I expected more from the second half with several 1st team starters coming on. Bordeaux were pretty poor by EPL standards so to concede 2 goals from nothing should send some warning signs to the coaching team (I hope).

I think Dibling and SAA have something about them that Sulemana and Edozie don’t - whatever it is, the result is more emphatic and productive. Mara is a lazy slouch that needs a rocket up his arse. Suga looks a great addition with a bit of passion/spirit about him.

Lis and Mara are nowhere near Prem level and hopefully nowhere near the first team. We need a very good striker and possibly a new keeper too. At this point BBD and Ramsdale would be great additions.

Edited 24 July, 2024 by Saint Fan CaM
Additional thoughts

[Fabrice29]

16 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Best for all parties if Lis returns to Goztepe.

Pretty sure Goztepe have a young talented keeper coming through they want to promote so that’s unlikely 

[Midfield_General]

Only saw the last 25 mins but based on that: 

- Yuki looks terrific; fits into our system well, works hard, good on the ball, great eye for a pass. More than once he played exactly the right ball but none of the others had got into the right place to capitalise on it. He looks a great addition and is going to be very popular I think

- Smallbone looked decent playing further up, was playing with his head up, carrying the ball up the pitch well and getting some good passes and crosses in. Corner delivery from the left was generally quite dangerous if we had someone to attack them properly in the air. Should have scored the end

- Edozie was getting on the ball plenty but same old story of tending to lack the final ball

- Defence overall looked sloppy and disorganised. Would have conceded two late ones if Bordeaux could finish instead of hitting the post each time when they should have scored

- Sulemana did absolutely fuck all except for getting himself into a good position once and then dithering until they blocked it instead of smashing it in from quite close range

Only really a training session at this stage of course, but some positives to take along with some very familiar weaknesses. 

We look like we still need quality adding all the way through the side, but then we already knew that. I wonder if Yuki has any former team-mates he can recommend, as his quality level was noticeably higher than most of the others in what little I saw and we need a lot more of that. 

 

Edited 24 July, 2024 by Midfield_General

[Patches O Houlihan]

3 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

It’s only a pre-season run-out and the first team will not be the same as the line-ups displayed today, but I have to say I expected more from the second half with several 1st team starters coming on. I think Dibling and SAA have something about them that Sulemana and Edozie don’t - whatever it is, the result is more emphatic and productive. Mara is a lazy slouch that needs a rocket up his arse.

Lis and Mara are nowhere near Prem level and hopefully nowhere near the first team. We need a very good striker and possibly a new keeper too. At this point BBD and Ramsdale would be great additions.

I completely agree with this, and yet Mara scored in both pre-season games.

He looks for all the world like a waste of a place, but the ball seems to find him in congested penalty areas. Has he ever scored from a different position, or with a different sort of strike? None spring to mind for me currently.

[manji]

12 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

Commentator says that'll be a tongue twister as the season goes on "Suguwara to Sulemana". Easily solved. Don't play Sulemana. He seems to be given licence to roam the pitch and his touch still looks useless.

fucks sake it’s a friendly. First time some of these guys have played together . What’s the stat two games 9 goals all from different players. Yep Wood is deffo carrying a bit of weight clearly still a good player , fitness team will have that weight off him. Someone else slagging Liz only just started playing with this squad.

weve got some talented players. Clearly that team ( as it is ) would struggle in the PL but the team camp is obviously a good idea and ( yep I’m repeating myself ) we have without a shadow of a doubt have 3 or 4 incoming. 
I see no reason why we can’t have a decent finish in the PL. I don’t even believe it’s just about staying up , it’s about consolidation and continue building.

Still too many fans looking forward to having a moan first game of the season. 

[Nordic Saint]

3 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

It’s only a pre-season run-out and the first team will not be the same as the line-ups displayed today, but I have to say I expected more from the second half with several 1st team starters coming on. I think Dibling and SAA have something about them that Sulemana and Edozie don’t - whatever it is, the result is more emphatic and productive. Mara is a lazy slouch that needs a rocket up his arse.

Lis and Mara are nowhere near Prem level and hopefully nowhere near the first team. We need a very good striker and possibly a new keeper too. At this point BBD and Ramsay would be great additions.

The team that played the first 60 minutes looked a lot better than the team that played the final 30, mainly because of Dibling and Amo-Ameyaw. Those two made the game worth watching. 

[hypochondriac]

Dibling, SAA and Sugawara were the best players over the whole match for me. Would be good to have another look at Edwards on Saturday if possible and hopefully start with our first choice defense at some point too. 

[Disco Stu]

Dibling impressed me especially today and Sugawara looks capable of filling the potenital KWP void. Defending was poor, mostly self inflicted with unnecessary passing inside our own box. They scored 3 past Brighton U23's. They could have easily matched that or worse against us. I think it's clear we need a GK and CF. Charles isn't adequate backup for Downes either.

Edited 24 July, 2024 by Disco Stu

[Saint Fan CaM]

5 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

I completely agree with this, and yet Mara scored in both pre-season games.

He looks for all the world like a waste of a place, but the ball seems to find him in congested penalty areas. Has he ever scored from a different position, or with a different sort of strike? None spring to mind for me currently.

To be fair I saw him once run onto a ball just outside the pen area and lash it home - great goal. That was 2-3 seasons ago and I think he’s still trading off that one!

[Mr Brightside]

Not watching, but judging by some of the comments on here and what my lads have told me, let’s hope SAA and Dibling are doing enough for Russ to keep them in the squad for this coming season. Certainly seems we can save ourselves the rumoured £12M for the Palace lad who doesn’t appear to be any better than SAA?