Scout Notes – Pre-Season Friendlies – Saturday

Our pre-season coverage continues with details of a busy Saturday schedule, which saw the likes of Kevin Mirallas, Dwight Gayle and Cameron Jerome hit the goal trail.

A reminder that we’re collating all the pre-season action via a dedicated section here.

Barnet 3 Crystal Palace 5

Crystal Palace kicked off their pre-season campaign with an end-to-end clash at The Hive Stadium. Dwight Gayle – who played a peripheral role last term, managing just 11 starts and 1096 minutes – delivered a statement of intent to manager Alan Pardew, bagging a hat-trick within 50 minutes. Gayle has been linked with a move away from Selhurst Park, with several clubs, including Bournemouth, circling. A strong pre-season could force a rethink, with Gayle threatening Glenn Murray’s start in attack, or more likely competing for one of the wide roles in a 4-2-3-1.

Pardew’s lineup at Barnet was made up of mostly of senior players, with Murray, Gayle and Jason Puncheon fronting the attack. There was an experienced back four in front of Julian Speroni, comprised of Joel Ward and Martin Kelly at full-back, with Damien Delaney and Brede Hangeland in central defence. Pardew gave opportunities to youngsters in the second-half: 19-year-old forward Reise Allasani netted the Eagles’ fourth of the afternoon, before setting up Frazier Campbell for their fifth.

Aston Villa 1 Fulham 3

Libor Kozak netted his first goal in a year and a half for the Villains as they fell to a defeat against Championship Fulham in this training match. Micah Richards lined up at centre-back in his first start for the West Midlands club, while the lively Joe Cole served up the assist for Kozak’s equaliser.

Neither Jack Grealish nor Christian Benteke played a part against the Cottagers – despite being named on the bench. It was later revealed that Grealish picked up a hamstring strain in training but is expected to be passed fit for Villa’s clash with Braga on Friday.

Swindon Town 0 Everton 4

Roberto Martinez’s men eased to a 4-0 victory over the Robins, despite failing to breach the host’s rearguard before the break. The Toffees named strong lineups in both halves (Martinez enacted nine changes for the second period), handing starts to Tom Cleverley, Gerard Deulofeu and Ross Barkley.

Kevin Mirallas pushed his case for increased pitch time for the new campaign, recording a second-half brace. Mirallas (7.0) netted seven goals across just 1,421 minutes last term, yet Martinez’s penchant for rotation tempered our interest in the Belgian winger. Lukaku popped up for Everton’s third goal, while 22-year-old forward Conor McAleny – who notched three assists at the County Ground – topped off a productive afternoon with a goal of his own.

Everton now depart for Singapore to continue their preparations in the Barclays Asia Trophy with Stoke and Arsenal. They could be without Mo Besic for the tour, with the midfielder picking up a knock against Swindon. Aiden McGeady will also miss out with a hamstring injury, while Leighton Baines, Bryan Oviedo and Darron Gibson will remain on Merseyside as they continue to progress with injuries.

Gorleston 0  Norwich City 7

Fielding a different XI in each half, the Canaries made short work of the ninth-tier local side, storming to a 5-0 lead before half time. Cameron Jerome did the bulk of the early damage – racking up three goals and an assist – before Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe and Tony Andreu opened their pre-season accounts. Jerome ended the previous campaign as Norwich’s top scorer (18), yet there remains lingering doubts over his capacity to perform at the top level following stints at Crystal Palace and Stoke City.

A more experienced XI entered the fray in the second half, with the likes of Sebastien Bassong, Johnny Howson, Bradley Johnson and Gary Hooper gracing the pitch. Lewis Grabban and Howson extended the scoreline in the 69^th and 72^nd minutes, respectively, capping of a successful pre-season debut for Alex Neil’s troops.

Martin Olsson missed out for the Canaries as he continues his rehabilitation following a shoulder operation.

Southampton 0 Valencia 1
Southampton 0 Red Bull Salzburg 2

The Saints’ pre-season campaign continued apace with two 45-minute encounters in the Audi Quattro Cup in Austria. The first match-up against Valencia saw Paulo Gazzaniga deployed between the sticks, while Cuco Martina earned his debut for Southampton at left-back. Graziano Pelle, Jose Fonte and Sadio Mane were also named in the starting XI, with the latter two both threatening to break the deadlock when they rattled the woodwork.

A defeat to the Spanish club in the semi-finals set up a third-fourth place playoff against Red Bull Salzburg.  Maarten Stekelenburg took up goalkeeping duties, ensuring that Koeman could assess his full complement of shot-stoppers in the wake of Fraser Forster’s long-term injury. Dusan Tadic clocked his first minutes since succumbing to injury at the tail-end of the previous season, while Cedric Soares, Gaston Ramirez, Jay Rodriquez and Shane Long also featured.

AFC Wimbledon 2 Watford 2

Having netted two goals in the Hornets’ 4-0 victory over St Albans, Odio Ighalo continued his pre-season form with another, admittedly fortuitous strike, in the 2-2 stalemate. Ighalo blocked and deflected an attempted clearance by the AFC Wimbledon keeper, Joe McDonnell, into the net. Fernando Forestieri later scrambled Watford in front before a late penalty pegged them back.

Quique Sanchez Flores retained the 4-2-3-1 set-up that he rolled out in their previous fixture, with Sebastian Prodl drafted in for Gabriele Angella in central defence – Ikechi Anya was again deployed at left-back. Almen Abdi dropped back alongside Etienne Capoue in the midfield pivot to facilitate the inclusion of Vydra further up the field. He was deployed as part of an attacking three, along with Ighalo and Forestieri, pushed up in support of skipper Troy Deeney.

Peterborough United 3 West Ham United 3

Slaven Bilic opted for a 4-3-3 set-up in his first match in charge of the Hammers, with 18-year-old midfielder Martin Samuelson (left flank) and Modibo Maiga (fight flank) supporting central striker Diafra Sakho. Pedro Obiang supported stalwarts Kevin Nolan and Mark Noble in midfield, while youngster Alex Pike was a surprise inclusion at right-back.

The Irons cruised into a 3-0 lead after 23 minutes courtesy of goals from Noble, Sakho and Samuelson, only to relinquish that advantage by the final whistle. Speaking after the match, Bilic stressed the importance of finding goals from midfield:

“It is always good to see the strikers get among the goals. It is good for their confidence to keep scoring goals and we have to add more goals from midfield than we scored last year. That was missing and we cannot just rely on strikers. It is very important that people like Mark, Pedro, Kevin score their share of goals.”

Intriguingly, Aaron Cresswell was tasked with playing in the engine room for the final 23 minutes of the match. Pressed on his logic behind the experiment, Bilic explained that it’s beneficial to test ball-playing defenders in the more cramped confines of central midfield to improve their awareness:

“It is always good for a defender who is good on the ball to play a little bit in midfield because you have less space there and it was good for him.”