Bristol City

kirsikka said:
Wasn't all that pretty but it's always hard to read too much into these preseason games. Still, I don't think it should look so disjointed.
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Bristol City looked decent, the commentator said they looked the fitter side but he was obviously very biased. ‘Bournemouth will be surprised by the quality of City’
 
kirsikka said:
Wasn't all that pretty but it's always hard to read too much into these preseason games. Still, I don't think it should look so disjointed.
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This is why at some point we need to pick the strongest 11 we intend to start against Cardiff, so that it doesn't take 6 weeks to get into some cohesive shape. Use one of next week's games for that 11, and the other for the rest.
 
Well at least we managed not to lose, playing well below our capabilities. Positives were Mings and L.Cook ( some sublime touches and passes all game ). King took his goal selfishly, like a number 9. Had a player to his left, a player to his right and never thought once about choosing the pass. And he was right to do so. Such a shame that we will probably only see King played as a front man if others get injured. He is crying out to be our main striker but he keeps getting pushed into a supporting role. I'm frustrated about this, can't imagine how the man himself feels.
 
Disappointing! Which was the premiership side.?Only Mings for me looked real class,No real pace,Defoe anonymous,too much sideways passing ,lucky to get away with a draw.
 
Only saw the second half

That’s 45 minutes of my life I’ll never get back

Not many positives, but unfortunately Brad stood out as the main negative
 
There were times when it was difficult to see which was the PL side. Thought we looked a bit lax and not up for it as much as Brizzle - no outstanding performances really. Still, no injuries and useful game time.
 
Brad Smith is crap unfortunately. Don't agree about L Cook being a positive - thought he was anoymous. Get Lerma in so we don't have all our central midfield dropping too deep all the time.
 
Sorry Roger said:
Really bizarre when we have just spent £10 mil on someone who plays in his position? Personally I wouldn't give a toss either.
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A bit like how Daniels sulked when we signed Brad Smith? Oh no, he got his head down and was outstanding.

Sure, probably he will move on but if Daniels or Rico suffered an injury in training before then the door might just reopen. On that display of not giving a toss, I'd imagine we'd look for a different option rather than risk him.

Equally, even if he hates being at the club now getting his head down and showing what he can do in a preseason friendly for us may just catch the eye of a Championship scout or two.

Or he could sulk.

I've said on here before I thought he'd been unlucky since he arrived but tonight's criticism isn't about lack of quality, it was lack of giving a ****************. And that's pretty much unforgivable.
 
Wow, that was an impressively inept performance. Albeit Bristol City played fairly well second half. They pressed high and we couldn't cope at all. We used to press high too and other teams couldn't cope, so logically we completely stopped it.

In many ways I'm struggling to see the purpose in many aspects of today. Was it mostly about fitness? In which case at least Brad Smith ran around a lot... Defoe seemed to be enjoying a 70 odd minute stroll. He was painfully ineffective today. And if it wasn't about fitness but systems, what exactly was EH genuinely interested in from today's system? Was it some sort of test to see how long we could fail to demonstrate any sort of team chemistry at all?

I think Mings and S. Cook were the only real bright sparks, albeit Mings failed to follow the player for the goal. Everyone else looked low, lethargic, and by and large, disinterested. It drives me mad seeing players the right side of 30 clearly less effective than they were.

Still we managed to just hang on for a draw with a lower league opponent despite being largely overrun, which could be seen as success.

It's a pre-season friendly, so ultimately means nothing, and I didn't care about winning or losing, but seems to me like today was a completely wasted exercise.
 
Some other angles;
Eddie will have been aware that Cardiff spies would be in attendance?
It's only 45 mins away! Tomorrows game more relevant ?

Bristol City probably a force again in Championship.. and on their own dungheap tonight!
Eddie dishing out a couple of last chance saloons to a few flops?
Pre- season friendlies seldom reflect much..the players are not as bothered as us!
 
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MInGs is turning into a proper Eddie Howe defender. He loves running forward and, with his stride length, can really build up speed by the time he reaches the other half.
Don’t normally think of Ming’s as pacy but I wonder what his top speed is?
Maybe similar to Usain Bolt?
 
I think two friendlies in two days is probably stretching it a bit....a bit cocky if you ask me.

We had nothing on the bench....naturally.

A few observations.....as SDD states B Smith just isnt cutting it. Daniels and Pugh haven't suddenly turned back time - their time is up , Ibe appears to have learnt the square root of nothing but probably struggles with his homework.
 
It was a friendly right?....bet most players still had sand between their toes!...our style of football under Howe often looks lethargic unless it is against Chelsea or the like...but We seem to be carrying a few no hopers ( like Brad Smith) in the squad....get in Lerma and Mepham quick!
 
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