Scout Scribbles – Wednesday Friendlies Round Up

Bojan Krkic scores for the third successive match as Stoke brush aside Real Betis at the Britannia. Elsewhere, Everton winless summer continues with a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Celta Vigo, with Aiden McGeady grabbing the Toffees’ only goal:

Bojan Strikes Again for Potters
Stoke’s summer signing from Barcelona continued his excellent pre-season form by scoring for the third time in as many appearances last night. Bojan was fielded on the right of a 4-2-3-1 formation against Real Betis, with Stephen Ireland behind lone forward Mame Biram Diouf and Marko Arnautovic on the left – the new boy also played a part in the hosts’ first in a 2-0 triumph after playing in Phil Bardsley, who provided the assist for fellow full-back Erik Pieters.

Available for 5.5 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL), Bojan’s ownership has noticeably risen over the last few days as Fantasy managers take advantage of his budget price tag. Now sitting in over 10% of FPL teams, the Spaniard is the ninth most popular frontman thus far and the bandwagon is certainly backed by the Potters’ opening fixtures – Mark Hughes’ side play host to (AVL, LEI, NEW, SWA, WHM, BUR) in the first 12 Gameweeks in a run that pits them against just three of last season’s top eight over that period.

Certainly, there’s no questioning Bojan’s form and, as the highlights against Schalke,Blackburn and Betis show, his strikes have been far more than mere tap-ins. The main downside is the poor away form that saw Hughes’ side scored just 18 times on their travels last season; many owners may be persuaded to rotate the Spaniard on the road unless he can inspire a turnaround in fortunes.

After the game, Hughes was understandably enthused by the 24-year-old’s display and reckons he’ll become more influential as the months progress:

“He’s a good player, but we knew that when we were trying to bring him here in the summer. He has grabbed the headlines again and rightly so because he put in another really good performance and capped it off with another superbly taken goal. We can probably exploit his abilities in an even better way, but I am sure that will happen the more we play him and the more the other lads and him become accustomed to what they are each trying to do. It is still early days with him and there is a lot of work to be done yet, but from what we have seen so far we are really encouraged because he has come in and made a good impression on everybody here at the club.”

In terms of team selection, Hughes continues to ease Geoff Cameron and Peter Odemwingie into action after both featured in the summer World Cup. After handing the duo their first taste of action at the weekend, the Potters boss threw the pair on after the break and while Cameron (at 4.5 in FPL) may yet nail down the right-back berth in the long run, Bardsley seems to be in the driving seat after featuring throughout pre-season. Hughes’ decision to pair Ryan Shawcross with Marc Wilson at centre-half was somewhat surprising – Robert Huth was afforded just six minutes off the bench, coming on as a late sub for the injured Marc Muniesa.

McGeady Nets in Toffees Loss
It’s four summer friendlies without a win for the Toffees after last night’s 3-1 home loss to Celta Vigo. At the back, Roberto Martinez was without Seamus Coleman due to a hamstring problem once again, while the Toffees boss chose to rest Phil Jagielka, affording John Stones the chance to partner Sylvain Distin in central defence. Furthermore, with both Leighton Baines and Tim Howard fielded for 45 minutes apiece, it’s fair to say the Merseysiders’ backline was far from full strength last night. Further up the field, Martinez continued with Steven Naismith as the lone striker, though Romelu Lukaku is expected to join the action next weekend in the final summer friendly against SC Paderborn, while Ross Barkley hit the woodwork in his first full 90 minutes of the summer.

A disappointing result, then, though Martinez’ under-strength backline goes some way to explaining the capitulation – nonetheless, Everton’s form is a little disconcerting ahead of games against Arsenal, Chelsea, Palace, Liverpool and United in the opening seven fixtures.

After the game, the Toffees boss explained why he chose to rest Jagielka and Steven Pienaar for the loss:

“Phil and Stevie were involved on Sunday at Goodison and it was always the plan to work through the week and make sure they are ready for the game in Germany [against SC Paderborn] on Saturday.”