AFCB v Marseille

I’m annoyed we have two great games in two days.

It means we haven’t learned from last seasons poor pre season that you need to give your starting eleven some games together.

That way you avoid spending the first four real games trying to work each other out.
 
Neil Dawson said:
I’m annoyed we have two great games in two days.

It means we haven’t learned from last seasons poor pre season that you need to give your starting eleven some games together.

That way you avoid spending the first four real games trying to work each other out.
Click to expand...

This was my first thought when this fixture was announced.

:utc:
 
Can only echo the above.

Two great games in two days. Realistically most will attend one or the other. So we'll have two games with sparse crowds, and two mix and match 11s, instead of one strong game with a full house. By this point in pre season, which will be around a week before kickoff, we need to know our best 11. Previous season's starts demonstrate this issue.

So yeah I'm not exactly enthralled despite the notable opposition.
 
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Neil Dawson said:
I’m annoyed we have two great games in two days.

It means we haven’t learned from last seasons poor pre season that you need to give your starting eleven some games together.

That way you avoid spending the first four real games trying to work each other out.
Click to expand...


I agree,I've never been a fan of these mix and match friendly teams that Howe puts out.
By all means do it when we are out in Spain to get the lads fit,but by the time we play the showpiece freindlies at home,he should know his best 11 and play it.

Just a thought,wouldn't it be better for the fans and the teams to play a three team round robin tournament on the Saturday with one entry fee?

Playing two games in two days smacks of a bit of amateurish organisation to me,because as mentioned above,the crowds will be sparse on both days.
 
Despite what it may be for fans, preseason isn't a jolly or a social occasion for the team. The split teams with two matches in two days that close to the start of the season looks crazy to me but there will be a very carefully thought out and researched reason behind it. A belief that it somehow gives us an extra decimal point of a % improvement in our preparation for the season ahead.

With my minimal knowledge of fitness and the true, actual hard facts of the demands of a PL season I might grumble. However, I'm sure there's good science behind it.
 
Lack of familiarity in the opening games last year could not have been the issue underlying poor performance and results because, Asmir Begovic aside, all the starting Xls had played together umpteen times. Look them up if needs be.

To my mind we did not set up sufficiently physically at West Brom and we opted for the safe pass too often. We then lacked intensity and assertiveness against Watford. Against Man City we played quite well but didn't get the rub of the green.
 
Neil Dawson said:
I’m annoyed we have two great games in two days.

It means we haven’t learned from last seasons poor pre season that you need to give your starting eleven some games together.

That way you avoid spending the first four real games trying to work each other out.
Click to expand...
Yes , performances like those v WBA and Watford :(
 
This is a rehash of lots of prior threads. I repeat, Eddie does so much prep on training ground that I don’t think he sees it as big a problem as most on this forum. Don’t think prep was the problem (although intensity maybe a factor but helps over season). Think the attitude needs to be spot on and attacking players need to be fit in contrast to last season.
 
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