The Big Friendly Catch Up – Thursday & Friday

Bringing us right up to date with the significant pre-season games thus far, here’s the scout notes on Thursday and Friday’s action…

Man United were beaten on penalties Audi Cup Final against Bayern Munich after a 0-0 in 90 minutes. Ferguson fielded an entirely different eleven to the one that took the field against Boca earlier in the week. That saw Fletcher at right-back, with Evans, Ferdinand and Evra completing the back four. Scholes and Giggs lent their considerable experience in midfield, with Nani and Gibson either side of them. Owen started with Berbatov up front with Rooney again spared on the bench.

With Ferguson still clearly shuffling his pack over the two Audi Cup games, there’s little we can deduce at this point. Wednesday’s friendly with Valencia at Old Trafford will surely bring us a far better impression of his starting eleven for the Community Shield clash with Chelsea on August 9. After that, we should go into the season with a clear indication of the side that will take to the field for the home game with Birmingham.

Moving on to Friday’s games and another pre-season tournament – the Barclay’s Asia Cup. This saw Spurs take on Hull in the final, while West Ham played out the third-fourth playoff game against hosts Beijing Guoan.

Spurs lifted the trophy with an emphatic 3-0 win over Phil Brown’s side. Robbie Keane with a brace, issuing a timely reminder to boss Harry Redknapp and to us fantasy managers, as to his qualities. Keane got the first following a glorious searching pass from Modric and then converted a second-half spot-kick after Defoe was felled by Warner in the box. That was followed by an Aaron Lennon strike from a Kyle Naughton assist.

Redknapp again started with Corluka and Huddlestone in the troublesome centre-back position, while at full-back he juggled things, starting with Chimbonda and Assou-Ekotto. Jenas returned from a hip injury to take a midfield berth alongside the ever-present Palacios which meant that Modric started on the left with Lennon on the right. Keane and Defoe were paired up front. A very strong side from Spurs, which aside from the back four, had a whiff of first-choice about it.

The arrival of Peter Crouch is of course the big lanky spanner in the works – just how Harry includes Crouch with Defoe and Keane is still up for debate. Presumably there will be heavy rotation, unless Keane is handed an unfamiliar wide role, with Modric shifted to the centre of midfield. Friendlies against South China on Sunday and Olympiakos a week later, should provide more clues.

As for Hull, it’s difficult to find too many positives here, despite the claims of Phil Brown. They started in a 4-5-1 formation, with Cousin the lone striker. Brown did make an array of changes to his lineup around him, with Barmby, Marney and Boateng the only players to keep their starting roles from the win over Beijing Guoan on Wednesday. All Brown really learned from this however, is that his second-string players struggled to match Spurs. Hull surely need multiple signings if they are to avoid another flirtation with relegation. But with even Bobby Zamora appearing to turn them down – omens aren’t good that Brown will manage to strengthen significantly for the season kick-off.

Meanwhile West Ham sealed third place in the tournament with a 2-0 win over Beijing Guoan. Danny Gabbidon capped another comeback appearance with the first goal, while youngster Zavon Hines sealed the win late on.

Zola made four changes from Wednesday’s semi defeat to Spurs. Jonathan Spector, Danny Gabbidon, Mark Noble and Scott Parker all came into the eleven with Julien Faubert, James Collins, Luis Boa Morte and Junior Stanislas all dropping out. Jimenez again caught the eye, starting in an attacking role once more and playing a prominent part in set-plays.

Gary Megson’s Bolton earned a credible 2-2 draw with PSV Eindhoven in Holland. Kevin Davies and Tamir Cohen notched Bolton’s goals, before the latter was awarded a red card late on for a wild challenge.

Megson made a string of changes from the side that started against Den Bosch in midweek, with Jlloyd Samuel and Mark Davies the only players to keep starting roles. Aside from that pair and Davies up front, the lineup had a second-string look to it so it’s difficult to take too much from this game. Tuesday’s friendly with Hearts and next weekend’s clash with Hibs should tell us more about Megson’s thinking prior to the season kick-off.

Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa progressed to the final of the Peace Cup with an encouraging 2-1 win over Porto. They will now face Juventus on Sunday. Emile Heskey returned from concussion to fire Villa in front from an Albrighton pass in this one, while Steve Sidwell grabbed Villa’s second from a scramble following a corner.

Sidwell was again started alongside Reo-Coker in midfield and that pairing look certain to start the season given the recent shoulder injury to Petrov. With Sidwell scoring goals in pre-season – he could be worth consideration as a low-to-mid price option, although the absence of a Villa fixture in gameweek 2 puts a slight dampener on that early season. As another side note, Heskey was awarded a red card for “an altercation” and there’s a chance that he will now face a three-match ban in the Premier League as a result.

Paul Hart fielded a very young Portsmouth side as they went down 2-0 to Vitoria in the opening match of the City of Guimaraes Trophy in Portgual. David James made a welcome return from injury in goal; aside from him Richard Hughes, David Nugent, Marc Wilson and Martin Cranie were the only recognisable names in the Portsmouth lineup. There’s little to take from this one then, today’s clash with Benfica is likely to give us a far better indication of Paul Hart’s thinking for the opener with Fulham.

Finally it could be worth noting that Paul Gallagher hit the goal trail again – a hat-trick for Blackburn’s reserves at Accrington Stanley acting as another nudge to Sam Allardyce. It seems unlikely that the Rovers boss will save his cash and turn to Gallagher for back-up to McCarthy and Roberts but certainly, Gallagher is doing all he can to convince him right now.