Rickie Lambert scores twice on his debut as West Brom put four past Bristol Rovers. James Chester is deployed at right-back on his first start for the Baggies. Watford fall to a 1-0 defeat in their final summer friendly, whilst goals from Tokelo Rantie and Marc Pugh aren’t enough to stop Bournemouth from losing at home to Cardiff.
Bristol Rovers 0 West Bromwich Albion 4
Having penned a two-year deal with the Baggies just hours prior to kick-off, Rickie Lambert bagged a brace on his debut for the West Midlanders. The first was a fortuitous deflected effort, while the second was a neat finish from a James McClean cross. Craig Gardener and Victor Anichebe rounded off the scoring for the visitors.
Tony Pulis deployed his troops in a 4-4-2 set-up, with Boaz Myhill in goal, James Chester at right-back, fit-again Craig Dawson and Jonas Olsson in the heart of defence, and Chris Brunt at left-back. A midfield four comprised of Gardner, Claudio Yacob, James Morrison and McClean supplied the ammunition for strike pairing Saido Berahino and Lambert. Pulis made eight changes over the course of the second period, with the likes of Anichebe, Brown Ideye, Darren Fletcher, Stephane Sessegnon and Callum McManaman earning minutes off the bench.
Pulis talked up Lambert’s influence after the final whistle, insisting that the veteran will have a key part to play, both on and off the pitch in the season to come:
“Rickie’s played at lower level and each time he’s stepped up he’s done well. He did exceptionally well at Southampton and probably feels he deserved more games at Liverpool. But it’s not just on the pitch that he will important, but off the pitch too. He’s a great lad and in Saido we have a wonderful talent, along with other youngsters we have. We hope the way Rickie conducts himself and how he acts will be good for him and our other young players. You cannot have enough role models. He’s been brought up through the lower leagues. When you get the chance to work down there you want to get the chance to claim everything you can – that ambition and drive remains and I hope we see the full benefits of that and I hope the other players do too.”
Bournemouth 2 Cardiff City 3
With a match against Hoffenheim to follow this evening, Eddie Howe fielded a mix of fringe players and first-team options as the Cherries’ relinquished a 1-0 lead at the Vitality Stadium. Tokelo Rantie kicked off the scoring by rounding the Cardiff keeper and slotting into a vacant net, while Marc Pugh fired home a driven finish to offer hope of a comeback in the final 20 minutes.
Charlie Daniels, Andrew Surman, Simon Francis and Sylvain Distin were the other notable inclusions in the starting XI, with the latter reportedly impressing in central defence. Yann Kermorgant was forced off on 35 minutes with a heel problem, Howe confirmed post-match.
Watford 0 Sevilla 1
Quique Sanchez Flores named a strong starting XI for the Hornets’ final pre-season friendly clash against Rojiblancos. Keeper Heurelho Gomes was protected by a back four of Allan Nyom, Sebastian Prodl, Craig Cathcart and Ikechi Anya, who took up the left-back berth. Sticking with his favoured 4-2-3-1 set-up, Etienne Capoue and Valon Behrami occupied the double pivot, while Miguel Layun, Ighalo and Steven Berghuis supported lone striker Troy Deeney.
Gabriele Angella, Ben Watson, Jose Holebas, Matej Vydra and Juan Carlos Paredes were afforded run-outs in the second 45, but Almen Abdi (knee) and Jose Manuel Jurado (muscular) sat out this encounter with minor knocks.
Taking stock after the defeat, Flores conceded that due to the influx of new players over the last couple of months, he is still no closer to knowing his likely starting XI for next weekend’s opener at Everton:
“I don’t know, we have one week more and it is difficult. We are incorporating players every week which is good news but that makes it difficult because we are then having to explain to the new players what we want from them in the system, the model and the way we want to play…Today we played a deeper defensive line in the first half and it was difficult to stop their players. In the second half we played with high pressure and a different style…We are trying to create a good balance between defence and attack. I wasn’t that happy with the football in the first half because after we won the ball we then rushed and we lost possession and the chance to build the play. I understand the players need to make mistakes in order to advance. So I am not very sad.”
8 years, 8 months agoHi guys, how´s it going. Cant wait till PL starts and would appreciate some feedback on my current team and think I´ve finally settled. (Must have changed it a hundred times now). Anyway here´s my team.
Panti (hennesay)
Mert, cedric, huth (Williams, targett)
Fab, silva, ozil, chadli (Fletcher)
Costa, rooney, sakho
Here´s a few thoughts behind my decisions.
Im going with panti at 5.0 because of his great fixtures and saving potential. Imo he´s better than a 4.5 rotation. May consider changing him when I use my WC around GW 4. Hennessy is just a 4.0 gk I´ve chosen because of chance of playing time if he gets sold.
Mert has good fixtures and nailed I think, but I consider changing him for either monorail or debuchy, but I dont know who´s nailed. Cedric because he playes for sout and is cheap, I know many think sout will keep less CS this year cause of the loss of schnei but I still think they will do great. Also going with huth who rotates well with williams who has great CBI stats. Chosen targett because he´s the only 4.0 def that gets playing time in the beginning and his potential for a prise rise.
Chosen fab instead of Haz to save up 2.5 and his great form at the beginning of seasons but may change him with haz when i use WC if haz playes good. Silva is the best player to get some city coverage at the mid imo, but may change him with sterling if he plays good. Know many in here think his price is too much, but he´s a proven player. Chosen ozil in the ars mid because of great performance in preseason and I think he will do better this year with more experience in the PL and his offensive role. Have considered wally, but he´s a little too punty imo. Also saving .5 by doing this which comes in handy. Chadli instead of Hendo/milner because I think he´s a better option. Played very little last year but managed a great PPG and I think he will player more this year. Fletcher is just a bench warmer, but I´ve chosen him instead of wanyama because I think wanyama has a potential for going down in price.
Costa was good when he played last year, but i think he will do even better this year with one year experience in PL. Don´t think he is going to be more injured this year because he haven´t played world cup this year. Also he has very good stats against swansea last year. 5 goals in 2 games. Chosen rooney because he will get a more attacking role this year with fallacy and rvp gone, and I think man ute will produce a lot of chances for him with a better midfield and fixtures. At last I´ve chosen sakho as my cheap forward. Did good last year at west ham, has one year experience now and has great fixtures. I´ll see whether I change rooney or costa for Aguero in GW 4 and who I´ll change in my midfield.
Took some time writing this RMT so i would appreciate feedback, rating of my team, where I could improve etc. Have seen a lot of RMT’s where people just write their team and hope´s for responses. It´s better doing the RMT throughout so people understand´s your thinking behind your choices. Anyway thanks for feedback