Just watched the match back again in full as watched it in the pub last night and Jaeger bombs don't do much for your football appreciation. Given the very ropey pre-season we've had up until now I'm genuinely amazed at the number of whingy, negative posts in this thread and I'm really not sure what match some people were watching. My thoughts on the game were:
- The biggest positive by far - We kept a clean sheet! We didn't concede 3 goals AGAIN! Defended from the front really well, pressed the ball quite well with every player doing their part and whenever Valencia looked a bit dangerous we got bodies around the ball and made things difficult. The back 4 looked like a unit again for the first time this pre-season. Was great to see Aurelio back in the side and I wonder if Kenny is thinking of starting him against Sunderland given that his quality (when fit) is so obvious. Young Kelly had a good game and looked more like the player we saw last season.
- Big andy Carroll looked 20% sharper than in the previous games. I don't know if it's because he's shaved that stoopid beard and trimmed his pony tail but he looked lean and mean and more mobile than we've seen. Worked his ass off, bullied a good few of their defenders and took his goal very well. That's 3 goals for Andy in pre-season so I should hope he goes into the season with a lot of confidence.
- Stewart Downing was excellent again and I know (1 game) it's no barometer but those fans who were creamng themselves about Mata and screaming blue murder when we went for Downing instead seem to have gone very quiet. He was very lively throughout, I knew he could cross a ball but I hadn't fully appreciated his clever movement off the ball. I love the fact we've got a squad with a good few clever players (Gerrard, Aqua, Maxi, Suarez) in there.
- I thought we passed the ball quite well, the tempo was good and we kept possession well. The boys in midfield weren't amazing but I thought they all had solid games. Spearing had his best game of pre-season and Adam, Henderson and Lucas all did ok with none of them due criticism or particularly high praise either.
- I REALLY didn't expect Aquilani to start the game but maybe, just maybe he will figure in Kenny's plans after all? It's a bizarre situation. However, he did have a quiet game and wasn't really able to get on the ball despite a few very nice touches. If he's going to play in that position you sense he needs to be playing another 10-15 yards deeper and ideally you'd have a Torres type of player playing ahead of him rather than big Andy.
All in all a real confidence booster going into a new season. Valencia are no mugs and it was great to see the lads looking organised defensively and playing with a better shape than we've previously seen. Bring on Sunderland!!!
PS. We still need a bloody centre-back though!
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