I don't like the look of zonal marking but then again, we've never defended set pieces properly so we might as well try something new, let the lads work on it more in training

Seeing Kaboul do his thing without wincing was better than Soldado's pen, hes better than vertonghen

No

yes

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Coentrao

Me neither. Fryers looked competent next to him, needs to learn he can't take the world on.

Kaboul was back by the end.. Sandro with a nice pass or 2 too.. Paulinho composed and a threat at set pieces.. Good stuff

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I don't think Chadli looked confident at all lol. Reminded me of siggy in the first half of last season. He only really showed a few glimpses but combined well with rose a few times

Siggy did fack all, best we replace him with Bale.

Siggy did no less than Chadli

Don't really give a s hit about the score because it's pre season but was very impressed with the new guys and going forward i felt we looked a little more fluid thatn we did last season. The build up play was a little faster which was good to see. Chadli seems a confidence type player and i think once he gets used to the prem he will be an excellent addition (saw good ability at times) , Paulinho i was impressed with on a number of occasions (scored a perfectly good goal) and also one particular move where he completely battered a Espanyol player off the ball and put a brilliant through ball pass to a just offside Soldado. This is the kind of stuff we will see from him. Soldado for me looked hungry, lively and had a few excellent touches plus took his penalty really well. No doubt this guy will get us 20 + goals this season. All in all very optimisitc BUT this bale situation needs resolving next week. We either need to make sure he stays or we sell and replace him.

This will be the problem for Rose.

At Sunderland the expectation was not as high but at Spurs, the fans are willing to write you off within a week.

I think that his biggest challenge will be to retain the ball and play good, short passes like BAE does without getting caught out too often.

Really disappointed that BAE is not in the manager's plans as I think that he is a good player when confident. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Looks like we will have a new CB in by the end of the weekend (not a specialist though). If we keep Bale, the squad will be complete.

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To be fair to Rose he's been converted into a LB when he played his whole career before then as a LM, give the lad time, he will come good

Rose is OK going forward, but an atrocious defender. Needs replacing in the long-term. Looks good in a relegation threatened team, but no way good enough for a top four team.

but an atrocious defender.

Base on what?

Rose is OK going forward, but an atrocious defender. Needs replacing in the long-term.
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I hate this type of judgement... as if a player cannot improve over time.

Give him a few months to bed in and then make a judgement on his long term potential.

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Sign Coentrao, a CB, keep Bale and we have a title challenging squad

We obviously wouldn't challenge for the title as we don't have the mentality, but the players would be good enough to.

I wouldn't sell any of our squad at the moment, yes we're overloaded in midfield but we're in 4 comps this season and we will need a strong squad with depth,

I feel for players like Parker who won't feature this season as much as last, I think if anyone leaves it will be him and possibly Hudd, but I'd like to see both stay

Naughton needs to nail down his spot, which he is backup to Kyle Walker

Dembele is about as creative as it get's in midfield at the moment, Chadli looks a bit tentative and a bit lightweight, hopefully he comes good

Paulinho did well and seeing Sandro and Kaboul back is immense