You can't put too much stock in pre-season victories that's true, but winning games like that is usually a good sign of fitness going well and the players being up for it. Last season we would've lost that game. 

Youngsters are looking up for it which is good to see, but I don't want us to go into the season with too many of them, far too inexperienced and some just aren't ready yet. Yossi Benayoun and Ross Barkley used to play like Zidane during pre season, so you can't get too invested in performances. 

Fingers crossed we nab two midfielders by the end of this month. 

27 minutes ago, Victor90 said:

Youngsters are looking up for it which is good to see, but I don't want us to go into the season with too many of them, far too inexperienced and some just aren't ready yet. Yossi Benayoun and Ross Barkley used to play like Zidane during pre season, so you can't get too invested in performances. 

To be fair so did Victor Moses and he won us the Premier League. 

Good excuse to post this pre-season gem:

 

1 hour ago, PloKoon13 said:

To be fair so did Victor Moses and he won us the Premier League. 

Good excuse to post this pre-season gem:

 

Great goal - just a shame that the blind old man and his dead dog were the only ones there to see it !

2 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

To be fair so did Victor Moses and he won us the Premier League. 

Good excuse to post this pre-season gem:

 

Noticed the web page reference at the top of the video clip. WWW. Josh-McCeachran.com. @Nibs all time favourite Chelsea player!

Good to see this as opposed to Potter clueless on the bench or Lampard with him arms cross, grimace look on his face and not giving any tactical instructions. 

 

5 hours ago, Victor90 said:

You can't put too much stock in pre-season victories that's true, but winning games like that is usually a good sign of fitness going well and the players being up for it. Last season we would've lost that game. 

Youngsters are looking up for it which is good to see, but I don't want us to go into the season with too many of them, far too inexperienced and some just aren't ready yet. Yossi Benayoun and Ross Barkley used to play like Zidane during pre season, so you can't get too invested in performances. 

Fingers crossed we nab two midfielders by the end of this month. 

I keep seeing this and I wonder who these experienced players are? I have seen names like Maguire, Keylor Navas, and Palhinha thrown around. You look at City, and Kovacic at 29yrs is an anomaly. The oldest outfield signing Pep has made at City is Akanji at 27yrs. Arteta & Klopp’s signings this summer have been around the 22-24yr age range. Both of these clubs are not looking at signing experienced older players. 

The market is also screwed up that Fulham have rejected a £55m + £5m in add ons bid from West Ham for a 28yr old Palhinha and holding out for £80m. Do we really want the club to go do the role of spending big money on older players for experience sake with no resale value?  We already went down the experienced route last season and it blew up in our faces, thank God for the Arabs. The last few seasons we have looked stale and lethargic in possession with players not having the legs to maintain a press for the full 90mins, if this preseason is anything to go by it seems the younger players are willing to run through walls. Isn’t that the reason why your Pep’s, Klopp’s and Arteta’s opt for younger players? Arteta tried signing older players to guide his younger players in his 1st summer to add to David Luiz, Ozil, Aubameyang & Lacazette, he ended up binning all of them the season after and hasn’t revisited that strategy. Aubameyang also said Arteta sold him because he doesn’t like older players questioning his methods, and preferred younger players that will run all game. Why would we want the club to go down that path again?

2 minutes ago, ducavis said:

I keep seeing this and I wonder who these experienced players are? I have seen names like Maguire, Keylor Navas, and Palhinha thrown around. You look at City, and Kovacic at 29yrs is an anomaly. The oldest outfield signing Pep has made at City is Akanji at 27yrs. Arteta & Klopp’s signings this summer have been around the 22-24yr age range. Both of these clubs are not looking at signing experienced older players. 

The market is also screwed up that Fulham have rejected a £55m + £5m in add ons bid from West Ham for a 28yr old Palhinha and holding out for £80m. Do we really want the club to go do the role of spending big money on older players for experience sake with no resale value?  We already went down the experienced route last season and it blew up in our faces, thank God for the Arabs. The last few seasons we have looked stale and lethargic in possession with players not having the legs to maintain a press for the full 90mins, if this preseason is anything to go by it seems the younger players are willing to run through walls. Isn’t that the reason why your Pep’s, Klopp’s and Arteta’s opt for younger players? Arteta tried signing older players to guide his younger players in his 1st summer to add to David Luiz, Ozil, Aubameyang & Lacazette, he ended up binning all of them the season after and hasn’t revisited that strategy. Aubameyang also said Arteta sold him because he doesn’t like older players questioning his methods, and preferred younger players that will run all game. Why would we want the club to go down that path again?

My main worry above all is it gives us a ready made excuse if we don't hit the targets.

You mention Arsenal, they've just done the biggest title job since Newcastle in the 90s and they have had barely any scrutiny for it because people just say "yeah but it's a young team".

10 minutes ago, ducavis said:

I keep seeing this and I wonder who these experienced players are? I have seen names like Maguire, Keylor Navas, and Palhinha thrown around. You look at City, and Kovacic at 29yrs is an anomaly. The oldest outfield signing Pep has made at City is Akanji at 27yrs. Arteta & Klopp’s signings this summer have been around the 22-24yr age range. Both of these clubs are not looking at signing experienced older players. 

The market is also screwed up that Fulham have rejected a £55m + £5m in add ons bid from West Ham for a 28yr old Palhinha and holding out for £80m. Do we really want the club to go do the role of spending big money on older players for experience sake with no resale value?  We already went down the experienced route last season and it blew up in our faces, thank God for the Arabs. The last few seasons we have looked stale and lethargic in possession with players not having the legs to maintain a press for the full 90mins, if this preseason is anything to go by it seems the younger players are willing to run through walls. Isn’t that the reason why your Pep’s, Klopp’s and Arteta’s opt for younger players? Arteta tried signing older players to guide his younger players in his 1st summer to add to David Luiz, Ozil, Aubameyang & Lacazette, he ended up binning all of them the season after and hasn’t revisited that strategy. Aubameyang also said Arteta sold him because he doesn’t like older players questioning his methods, and preferred younger players that will run all game. Why would we want the club to go down that path again?

We can't expect instant success just due to the position that we are currently in. Lots of new players, almost a brand-new team, new manager, coming off the back of an atrocious season. 

But experience is important let's not downplay it. Not to be all doom and gloom because the forum actually has some positivity for once, but I see people getting carried away from a performance against Wrexham. I really wouldn't want us to start the season relying on players like Santos and Casadei, as talented as they might look they are still very young and inexperienced. I've seen it time and time again where we got carried away with youth players, it's very easily done. Someone mentioned Josh McEachran in the thread, McEachran was one of the most talented kids I've seen, I remember his performance against Marseille at 17 years old and he was phenomenal, where is he now? Let's not even mention Gael Kakuta.

The harsh reality is, some of these kids will make it, some won't, that's just how it is. That's why I seriously hope we are going to grab two midfielders before we go into the season, otherwise, I think we are in for big trouble. But I'm very confident the board will do that. 

Edited July 21, 20232 yr by Victor90

1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Good to see this as opposed to Potter clueless on the bench or Lampard with him arms cross, grimace look on his face and not giving any tactical instructions. 

 

Obviously it is very early days. One friendly against a League 2 side. It would be crazy to get carried away. 

That being said, we are clearly going to be the best team in the world, we will dominate the Premier League for the next decade, and Pochettino will be elected prime minister.

13 minutes ago, Victor90 said:

We can't expect instant success just due to the position that we are currently in. Lots of new players, almost a brand-new team, new manager, coming off the back of an atrocious season. 

But experience is important let's not downplay it. Not to be all doom and gloom because the forum actually has some positivity for once, but I see people getting carried away from a performance against Wrexham. I really wouldn't want us to start the season relying on players like Santos and Casadei, as talented as they might look they are still very young and inexperienced. I've seen it time and time again where we got carried away with youth players, it's very easily done. Someone mentioned Josh McEachran in the thread, McEachran was one of the most talented kids I've seen, I remember his performance against Marseille at 17 years old and he was phenomenal, where is he now? Let's not even mention Gael Kakuta.

The harsh reality is, some of these kids will make it, some won't, that's just how it is. That's why I seriously hope we are going to grab two midfielders before we go into the season, otherwise, I think we are in for big trouble. But I'm very confident the board will do that. 

We will get some very fun games and in my opinion challenge/get top four (if we get Caicedo) but my main concern with such a young set of players is the little details in the clutch moments with the trophies on the line.

If we anytime in the next 2-3 years get to March with a shot at the title and we're heading to Anfield, could they get the required result? Could they dig in and see us unscathed in the inevitable period Liverpool throw the kitchen sink at us infront of the Kop? (like we did with ten men under Tuchel, nine effectively given Lukaku's abilities out of possesion).

Could we win a two legged tie against Real Madrid, Bayern, City etc?

That's where my doubts lie. That said I don't want us to just look at the top line like we did a lot the previous two summers but with our recruitment team surely they could find some suitable experienced fits to compliment the set of young players we have. I don't know how good he is in the present day but if he's even half as good as his Liverpool self Wijnaldium would be perfect to go along with Enzo, Caicedo and one of Santos/Casedei.

1 hour ago, ducavis said:

I keep seeing this and I wonder who these experienced players are? I have seen names like Maguire, Keylor Navas, and Palhinha thrown around. You look at City, and Kovacic at 29yrs is an anomaly. The oldest outfield signing Pep has made at City is Akanji at 27yrs. Arteta & Klopp’s signings this summer have been around the 22-24yr age range. Both of these clubs are not looking at signing experienced older players. 

The market is also screwed up that Fulham have rejected a £55m + £5m in add ons bid from West Ham for a 28yr old Palhinha and holding out for £80m. Do we really want the club to go do the role of spending big money on older players for experience sake with no resale value?  We already went down the experienced route last season and it blew up in our faces, thank God for the Arabs. The last few seasons we have looked stale and lethargic in possession with players not having the legs to maintain a press for the full 90mins, if this preseason is anything to go by it seems the younger players are willing to run through walls. Isn’t that the reason why your Pep’s, Klopp’s and Arteta’s opt for younger players? Arteta tried signing older players to guide his younger players in his 1st summer to add to David Luiz, Ozil, Aubameyang & Lacazette, he ended up binning all of them the season after and hasn’t revisited that strategy. Aubameyang also said Arteta sold him because he doesn’t like older players questioning his methods, and preferred younger players that will run all game. Why would we want the club to go down that path again?

I dont think we need veterans, but we have alot of raw players. Players with under 100 professional games, no experience in europe, no international experience. It's not the same profile of player as City and Liverpool sign. 

Really not expecting much for a couple of years, maybe top 8, then top 6. Then push for top 4. Cant see us finishing above City, Liverpool, Arsenal, United, Newcastle, or Villa. Then it's a toss up between us, spurs and Brighton.

That's assuming we sign Caicedo, with the squad as it is now, then I think we will be 9th or 10th. 

Hopefully we at least play some good football and upset a couple of the big boys through the season. Reality is we arent in that category at the moment. 

7 minutes ago, big blue said:

I dont think we need veterans, but we have alot of raw players. Players with under 100 professional games, no experience in europe, no international experience. It's not the same profile of player as City and Liverpool sign. 

Really not expecting much for a couple of years, maybe top 8, then top 6. Then push for top 4. Cant see us finishing above City, Liverpool, Arsenal, United, Newcastle, or Villa. Then it's a toss up between us, spurs and Brighton.

That's assuming we sign Caicedo, with the squad as it is now, then I think we will be 9th or 10th. 

Hopefully we at least play some good football and upset a couple of the big boys through the season. Reality is we arent in that category at the moment. 

I disagree with that.

While I am worried in the context of getting over the line for trophies we absolutely have enough talent in our setup to challenge top 4/5 and in no way should we be finishing below Villa.

Edited July 21, 20232 yr by Argo

 

45 minutes ago, mojo said:

 

Press trying to create tension already?

19 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

It was a friendly against Wrexham......

My only concern is the players getting match fit and coming away without injuries.

I don’t disagree that it’s just preseason but if we had lost, some people would have been holding the club to a high standard. You just need to look at some of our losses during last season’s preseason

 

51 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Press trying to create tension already?

some great response there: “I don’t want easy player to manage I want player who can perform on the pitch.”

 

 

Am starting to get attached to an ex Tottenham manager 😵‍💫😵‍💫

 

There is a big difference between 19-21 and 22-26 players. As I already posted chelsea have the youngest average age title winning team at 25.x 

this team is too young to win the league but if they stay together and perform next two seasons after that could be right up there. 

If our players develop under Pochettino... We can be serious title contenders, our players lack experience but have crazy potential

 

Where was spurs/southampton before Pochettino took over? 

5 hours ago, ozboy said:

There is a big difference between 19-21 and 22-26 players. As I already posted chelsea have the youngest average age title winning team at 25.x 

this team is too young to win the league but if they stay together and perform next two seasons after that could be right up there. 

I don’t think age is the problem.

I think poor gk, questionable midfield and project st are far more concerning than age. 

7 hours ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

I don’t disagree that it’s just preseason but if we had lost, some people would have been holding the club to a high standard. You just need to look at some of our losses during last season’s preseason

There were posts in almost every thread of each player that made the biggest impression on the game. 

Winning 5-0 against a team like Wrexham in a friendly just isn't going to get people talking all that much anyway. Most people wouldn't have even watched it.

9 hours ago, mojo said:

 

Good answers, but what were the questions?

20 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Click the tweet to read the full thread

TL;DR: full backs need to press higher, will likely come with training.

Not a big fan of the analysis. There are so many thing that I disagree 

Pre season results are pretty meaningless the majority of the time, but winning is better than losing obviously. 

Managers can easily talk down defeats though, and they rarely effect the players.

I played in a pre season game once and we lost 8-0, we played the same team 3 weeks later on the season opener and battered them 5-0. The teams were almost identical too.