Friendlies Round-Up – Tuesday

Papiss Cisse helps fire Newcastle to victory in his first appearance of the summer. Cardiff fall to defeat at Brentford, though Kim Bo-Kyung impresses with a goal and assist, Chris Hughton admits Seb Bassong may struggle to make the start of the season after undergoing minor surgery over the summer, Roberto Martinez discusses tactics, while Michael Kightly and Brek Shea grab a goal apiece as Stoke finish their US tour with a win:

St Mirren 0 Newcastle 2
Alan Pardew named a strong starting line-up for the trip to Paisley. The Magpies moved to a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa partnering Fabricio Coloccini at centre-half, while Hatem Ben Arfa and Sammy Ameobi were handed the flank roles as Papiss Cisse made his first appearance of the summer after resolving his dispute with the club. The Senegal striker needed just 19 minutes to make his mark, firing home thanks to an Ameobi assist before Mathieu Debuchy notched the second before the half-hour mark, with Vernun Anita supplying the final pass. Both Moussa Sissoko and Yohan Cabaye were given the night off as Pardew rang the changes as the second period progressed, making eight alterations in total as he continues to utilise the depth of his squad in order to boost match-fitness.

After the game, Pardew revealed he’s expecting progress to be made over the next few days as the club step up their search for a new forward. The Magpies have been linked with Darren Bent, Loic Remy and Bafetimbi Gomis over the past few weeks but, as yet, no deals have come to fruition – a situation their manager reckons will be resolved as he looks to rectify his side’s meagre 45-goal haul in the previous campaign:

“I’m hoping something happens before the Rangers friendly. I think that’s a realistic deadline for my team in the background to hopefully get something done. All I would say is that we’re keeping our options open regarding strikers because we can only do a deal that’s right. If a deal’s right we’ll do it, if a deal’s not right we won’t do it. You can only be as confident as the feeling that you’re getting and the feeling I’m getting at the moment is we’re pursuing and at the end of the day we’ll get something.”

Brentford 3 Cardiff 2
The Bluebirds fell to their first defeat in three pre-season matches yesterday evening. Worryingly for Cardiff, Malky Mackay fielded what many feel will be his first-choice back-four next term, with John Brayford making his first start at right-back alongside Ben Turner, Mark Hudson and Andrew Taylor, though Brayford and Taylor were amongst several second-half changes late on. Further up the pitch, Mackay omitted new boy Andreas Cornelius from the squad and handed Fraizer Campbell the lone striker role, with Craig Bellamy and Craig Noone on the flanks. Once again, though, it was Kim Bo-Kyung who was the Welsh outfit’s main man – the midfielder scored for the second successive match and also provided the assist for Campbell to fire the visitors two in front before Brentford clinched victory with an impressive comeback.

After the match, the Cardiff boss admitted he was keen to bring more new additions to the squad, though refused to confirm reports linking him with a loan move for Steven Caulker. The Tottenham man’s potential arrival may raise question marks over the starting roles of Turner and Hudson, with the former perhaps the likeliest to make way should the deal transpire:

“The group we have are at the fitness level we expect them to be at, so that’s important. but at the same time I still need to add two or three players. We’ve got various plates spinning. We’re working hard on it but they’ve got to come in and add to this group. We’re looking at good players to come in and we’re trying to improve in all areas.”

Brighton 1 Norwich 1
The Canaries recovered from back-to-back 1-0 losses to register a draw at the Amex Stadium last night. Chris Hughton handed new boys such as Ricky Van Wolfswinkel and Leroy Fer starting roles, while Nathan Redmond was selected in the first XI for the fourth match in a row. Redmond supplied the assist for Jonny Howson’s goal in a game that saw Gary Hooper make his Norwich debut after climbing off the bench to replace Fer with half an hour remaining.

Hughton – who made six second-half changes – was without many of his first-choice players for the clash, though, as Seb Bassong, Michael Turner, Robert Snodgrass and Anthony Pilkington all missed out. After the game, the Canaries boss explained the quartet’s absence and admitted Bassong may struggle to make the season opener against Everton, though refuted the recent speculation linking Snodgrass with a move to West Ham:

““It is very, very simple and I can set the record straight. It is a family issue. If he (Snodgrass) is not with us at Cambridge United then definitely at Braga. Any speculation is wide of the mark. It is a personal family issue and we look forward to seeing him again later this week….We’re hoping that Michael will play some part on Friday (against Braga). He is closer than Seb. Seb is maybe a week or two behind him. It is going to be very, very tight whether he makes the start of the season or not. We’re disappointed that we haven’t had them for the bulk of pre-season. Seb and Michael both had small operations in the summer and they are a little bit behind the rest. Pilks has got a slight knee problem but he will be fine. He has missed this game and he will probably miss Friday as well.”

Philadelphia Union 0 Stoke 2

Mark Hughes shuffled his pack and made seven changes for the final match of Stoke’s US tour. At the back, the Potters boss handed Marc Muniesa and Ryan Shotton the full-back roles and gave Thomas Sorensen a rare start in goal, while further up the pitch Michael Kightly and Brek Shea patrolled the flanks, with Marc Wilson afforded a start in central midfield as Cameron Jerome led the line in a 4-5-1. The two wingers played a pivotal part in the victory, grabbing a goal apiece, while Kightly also supplied the assist for Shea’s strike in a comfortable win. Hughes made a number of alterations after the break and introduced Peter Crouch and Kenwyne Jones as he moved to a 4-4-2 but the visitors were unable to find the net again.

Stoke suffered an injury blow midway through the game after Shea was forced off following a rash challenge and according to his manager, the US international looks likely to miss the start of the new campaign. A livid Hughes spoke to the club’s official website as he awaits a clearer prognosis:

“It’s incredibly frustrating and hugely disappointing to lose Brek, especially in a game like this where you would expect players to look after their fellow professionals. I really have no idea what the lad was thinking about by going in for the challenge like that. Maybe he was trying to make a name for himself, I have no idea, but whatever he was thinking it was totally wrong. We have been waiting a while to get Brek back here, and up until the injury he looked very bright, very dangerous and appeared to have a real understanding of what his role was on the left hand side of midfield. He will go for a scan tomorrow, but we know that we will definitely be without him for a number of weeks. It looks fairly serious, but fingers crossed it isn’t anymore serious than we already know it is.”

In Other News
Roberto Martinez took time out to discuss his tactical plans for the season ahead the other day. The new Everton boss has mainly utilised a 4-3-3 formation since arriving on Merseyside but reports in the local press indicate he trialled a three-man backline midway through the weekend win at Blackburn, with a defence comprised of Sylvain Distin, Johnny Heitinga and John Stones allowing the Toffees to move to the 3-4-3 shape Martinez preferred at former club Wigan.

The Spaniard admitted post-match that due to the numerous options available in his first-team squad, he’s unlikely to stick to just one set formation for the campaign ahead – a suggestion that we cannot be guaranteed the likes of Seamus Coleman will be fielded as an out of position midfielder every weekend:

“I don’t want to be a team that can only play in one way and to do that you need to experiment and try things in pre-season. This is about making ourselves a bit more expansive in terms of how we play and that is going to be a real strength for us. I want the players to be flexible and take on many different systems. You can see that certain players are suited to certain systems and I think it is about picking the right time and moment to use those players in those systems.”

Martinez also rolled out an update on Antolin Alcaraz, after the Paraguayan was omitted from Everton’s US tour due to a hamstring injury. The Toffees boss expects the defender to be back in training prior to the start of the season, with the problem deemed not too serious:

“Antolin will be out for a couple of weeks, I wouldn’t expect any more than that. It was more beneficial for him to work at Finch Farm so we can make sure we get him fully fit as soon as we can.”

Manuel Pellegrini has admitted Matija Nastasic requires further tests on the ankle injury sustained against Sunderland in Hong Kong last week. City were expected to find out the full prognosis of the central defender’s problem earlier this week after he was stretchered off in the 1-0 win over the Black Cats but with the situation still unclear, the Chilean was a little downbeat in his assessment:

“We will have to wait to find out how serious the injury to Nastasic is. At this moment, we don’t know whether he needs an operation or if there is another solution but I have a lot of players that I can rely on. There are enough players who can come in to replace any that are missing.”

While the news could promote the likes of Joleon Lescott or Micah Richards as a potential partner for Vincent Kompany, a length of absence may force Pellegrini into the transfer market again. Reports in Italy suggest the agent of Cagliari’s Davide Astori is already in talks with the Etihad club, while the new City boss may renew his interest in Real Madrid’s Pepe, having been linked with the Portuguese player all summer.