July
16

A Pre-Season Catch-up

Filed under: Team News - Posted by: Mark

Powder-puff tackles, second-half elevens, the usual array of “the boys are edging back to fitness” comments when things go awry – pre-season friendlies are often predictable affairs. They are however, useful as a blueprint for a Premier League manager’s thinking before the real business starts in mid August.

Many of our potential signings have already been in action and a number of notable performances have cropped up. Martin Petrov put in a a full shift for Bolton in their 3-0 win over Charlotte Eagles and capped it with an assist and goal. Jack Rodwell notched in Everton’s 2-0 win over Melbourne Heart – a game in which young full-back Seamus Coleman also caught the eye with an assist. As for Blackburn Rovers, they may have played out a stalemate with Austrian side Strum Graz but Big Sam’s 3-5-2 formation offered a glimpse at his tactical thinking for the season ahead. Three centre-backs and the Fantasy fancied Martin Olsson at wing-back? It looks a possibility already…

The doors are of course very early but as the weeks go by we should start to get a picture on the lineups and formations that we’re likely to see come August 14. Keeping up with all this will take some doing with friendlies this evening and plenty over the weekend; that’s why we’ve put together this pre-season form guide that will help you track all the results, team news, tactical trends and the standout players so far.

We’ve been making some tweaks today and have updated it with all the latest and will work at keeping this ticking over as the friendly matches roll by. You’ll find a link in your menu bar at the top of the page for easy access.

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  • Taiwo
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The Watchlist

Goalkeepers

Player Club Factors
No Change Krul NEW A, Vs
No Change Hart MCI B, Vs
No Change Kenny QPR C, Vs, Rest, £
Up Al-Habsi WIG B, Vs, £
Up Schwarzer FUL C, Vs, Inj
No Change Mignolet SUN B, £
Up Vorm SWA B, £
No Change Foster WBA B
Up Robinson BLA C, Vs
Down Hennessey WOL B, Vs
No Change Sørensen STO B, Vs, Rest, £
No Change Bogdan BOL C, Rest, £

Defenders

Player Club Factors
No Change Richards MCI B, Vs, Inj
No Change Simpson NEW B, Vs, £
Up Senderos FUL B, Vs, Rest, £
Down Huth STO B, Vs, Sus
Up Evans MUN B, VsX, £
Up Taiwo QPR C, Vs, £
Up Cole CHE C, Vs
Up Rangel SWA B, VsX, £
No Change Bardsley SUN B, £
Up Vermaelen ARS C
Down Assou-Ekotto TOT A, VsX
No Change Clark AVL B, Vs, OoP, £
Down Riise FUL C, Vs, Rest
No Change McAuley WBA C, £
Down Johnson WOL C, £

Midfielders

Player Club Factors
No Change Bale TOT A, VsX
No Change Dempsey FUL A, Vs, OoP
No Change Silva MCI B, Vs
No Change Sessegnon SUN A, £
Up McClean SUN A, £
No Change Valencia MUN A, VsX
Up Sigurdsson SWA B, VsX, £
Down Mata CHE B
Up Taarabt QPR C, Vs
Up Ben Arfa NEW C, Vs, Rest, OoP
Up Sinclair SWA B, VsX, £
Up Moses WIG C, Vs, OoP, £
Down Walters STO C, Vs, OoP, £
Up Barton QPR C, Vs
No Change Ireland AVL C, Vs, Rest, £

Forwards

Player Club Factors
No Change van Persie ARS A
No Change Agüero MCI B, Vs
Up Ba NEW B, Vs
No Change Zamora QPR B, Vs
Up Dzeko MCI B, Vs, Rest
Up Bent AVL A, Vs
Up Yakubu BLA C, Vs
Up Cisse NEW B, Vs
No Change Rooney MUN B, VsX, Inj
No Change Sturridge CHE C
Down Fletcher WOL B, £
Up Graham SWA B, VsX, £

Selection Factors

A, B, C Current Form
Vs Favourable Fixtures
VsX Unfavourable Fixtures
Rest Rotation Risk
Inj Injured/Returning from Injury
OoP Out of Position
£ Potential Bargain
Sus Suspended/Near Suspension

Suspension Tightrope

Player Team YC
Lowe BLA 9
Terry CHE 8
Barton QPR 8
Cattermole SUN 8
Song ARS 7
N'Zonzi BLA 7
Meireles CHE 7
Fellaini EVE 7
Huth STO 7
Shawcross STO 7
Caldwell WIG 7
Henry WOL 7

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