Scout Notes – Pre-Season Round Up – Sunday

Romelu Lukaku bags a hat-trick as Everton breeze past Hearts. Theo Walcott boosts his Fantasy stock as he snatches Arsenal’s winner against Wolfsburg, Newcastle new boy Georginio Wijnaldum nets again, whilst Palace taste defeat at the hands of Sporting Lisbon. Here are the notes from Sunday’s pre-season encounters…

Arsenal 1 Wolfsburg 0

Arsene Wenger made ten changes to the XI that swept aside Lyon 6-0 on Saturday, with only Mesut Ozil retaining his place. This saw Petr Cech handed his home debut between the posts, with a back-four of Hector Bellerin, Gabriel, Calum Chambers and Nacho Monreal. Mikel Arteta and Santi Cazorla were stationed in the double-pivot, whilst Jack Wilshere, Ozil and Jeff Reine-Adelaide tucked in behind lone frontman, Theo Walcott.

Reine-Adelaide supplied the pass for the only goal of the match, as Walcott strengthened his claim for a central berth by slotting home just five minutes after the break. Wenger made five alterations over the course of the second period, with the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Olivier Giroud afforded further minutes off the bench.

Post-match, the Gunners boss had plenty to say over Walcott’s performance in an interview with the club’s official website:

“Another goal for Theo and I’m not surprised by that because I played him through the middle. I’ve always said that he’s a goalscorer because he has the movement, he has the timing of the run, the speed for the finishing, and he has an eye for taking his chances at the right moments. When he gets into these positions he finishes well. Yesterday he nearly scored when he came on as a substitute, today he scored. I believe that Theo will score goals. In his ideal world he would like to play with a strong guy next to him, a player who is very strong physically, and he play off him. We have so many offensive players which makes that very difficult to combine all of them together.”

Wenger’s line-up for the Community Shield on Sunday will clearly give us the clearest indication on his thinking ahead of the season opener against West Ham. Walcott appears to be in the driving seat to claim the striker’s role, leaving Olivier Giroud potentially frozen out to the bench in a repeat of Arsenal’s previous Wembley appearance for the FA Cup final. While Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla remain clear early midfield targets in the light of Alexis Sanchez’s expected Gameweek 1 absence, Walcott has emerged as potentially the most explosive option. He has currently claimed 7.8 ownership in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

Hearts 1 Everton 3

A Romelu Lukaku hat-trick steered Everton to victory at Tynecastle as the muscular Belgian showed poise from the spot to convert two penalties. Gareth Barry was fouled in the box to allow Lukaku to strike home his first goal, while Seamus Coleman’s assist then set up the striker for his second to hand Everton the lead. Kevin Mirallas was then brought down to allow his compatriot to complete his hat-trick.

Significantly, the 3-1 victory marked the first pre-season appearance for Leighton Baines – confirming the fact that Lukaku is now ahead of the left-back in the pecking order for spot kicks.

Baines took his place in a first-choice back four that was made up of Coleman, John Stones and Phil Jagielka playing in front of Joel Robles in goal. Roberto Martinez deployed his side in an attacking 4-3-3, anchoring the midfield with Barry, James McCarthy and Leon Osman. An attacking trio of Lukaku and Mirallas, flanking Arouna Kone through the middle, provided the threat.

The likes of Tom Cleverley and Ross Barkley were reduced to appearances from the bench. Bryan Oviedo was also amongst one of the subs introduced in the second period as he made his belated return from injury.

It remains to be seen if Martinez maintains the new attacking 4-3-3 setup, although post-match the Everton boss was clearly enthused by his side’s display…

“Going forward we looked a threat, but then we always kept a good balance and only a lapse in concentration early saw us concede from a dead ball situation. Apart from that I thought we kept our defensive duties to a good level.”

Sporting Lisbon 2 Crystal Palace 0

The Eagles ended the inaugural Cape Town Cup with a 2-0 reverse at the hands of Sporting Lisbon. Alan Pardew again kept faith with the 4-2-3-1 setup but shuffled his pack following the 4-0 win over Supersport United two days ago.

Alex McCarthy made his Palace debut in goal following his move from QPR; he played behind a back four made up of Joel Ward, Scott Dann, Damien Delaney and Pape Souare. James McArthur and Johan Cabaye were deployed in the double pivot, with Jason Puncheon, Jordan Mutch and Dwight Gayle in the attacking three, supporting Glenn Murray up front.

Pardew was again without Yannick Bolasie through injury, while Marouane Chamakh was also absent and Wilfried Zaha was limited to a cameo role from the bench following a recent knock. Post-match, the Palace boss bemoaned the lack of creativity from wide areas…

“We lacked a little bit of width today – Zaha hasn’t been fit and only trained for one day this pre-season so that was his first 10 minutes of action and Bolasie was injured in training on Thursday and it’s a shame he wasn’t involved because we probably missed a little bit of his x-factor.”

This would suggest that we’ll see a different attacking three take to the field against Fulham on Saturday, in a line-up that is most likely to reflect the teamsheet at Norwich on the opening day.

Sheffield United 2 Newcastle 2

Steve McClaren continued with a 4-2-3-1 formation for the trip to Bramall Lane. A back-four of Daryl Janmaat, Mike Williamson, Steven Taylor and Massadio Haidara sat in front of Tim Krul, with Jack Colback and Vurnon Anita stationed in the double-pivot. Further up the field, Moussa Sissoko, Georginio Wijnaldum and Ayoze Perez took up the attacking midfield spots behind Papiss Cisse, with new signing Aleksandar Mitrovic yet to be involved.

Wijnaldum (7.0 in FPL) netted his second goal in as many appearances for the Magpies, courtesy of a Papiss Cisse pass, before Siem de Jong – one of seven second-half substitutes – notched his side’s second after slotting home a flick-on from a Colback corner. Although Steven Taylor (4.0 in FPL) started at centre-half again, McClaren is clearly determined to strengthen at the back – the Magpies have agreed a deal for Anderlecht centre-half Chancel Mbemba, with the FA expected to confirm the transfer on Thursday.

The Newcastle boss also played down rumours of a move away for Fabricio Coloccini. The Argentine has yet to play a part in pre-season due to injury and has been linked with a move to Palace but McClaren is clearly keen to keep him:

“We want him playing. He has got a little niggle, which he has every season and that has to be taken care of. He is working on conditioning. In America he was out most of the time because of the surface in the last game. We are still working and have time. He needs to have a good week and needs to play Saturday. We need him in the team. I have come in and they have told me to assess the squad. Colo has come in and I have been delighted with his attitude and the way he is around the place. That’s great – but we need him on the field. I looked at Coloccini in training and he’s one of our best players. I know things were difficult last season but I want him out on the field in a Newcastle shirt. He’s great for the team.”

After the match, new signing Wijnaldum admitted he’s still suffering from jet lag after arriving late to the club’s tour of the US before returning to the UK just a few days later:

“It is always hard to play after a flight of 10 hours but what is harder is that a lot of players still live in the time that they have in America, so most of the time I wake up at four o’clock and I can’t sleep any more – today I had the same problem. I am always pleased to score goals and always happy if I make goals. I’m always looking for that one chance and today I had that one chance, when you get it you must be ready.”