Scout Scribbles – At the Double

Wayne Rooney bags a brace and two assists as United win a seven-goal thriller in Germany. Djibril Cisse scores both of QPR’s goals to ensure they finish pre-season unbeaten, Danny Graham’s double takes his tally to five in two games for Swansea and Darren Bent also notches twice in Villa’s draw at Werder Bremen:

Hannover 3 Man United 4
Until last night, United’s pre-season was mainly based around their defensive solidity. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side had returned four clean sheets in their previous five matches and scored just three times but, inspired by Wayne Rooney, they overcame a 3-1 deficit with 25 minutes remaining to triumph in Hannover. Anders Lindegaard started in goal but was subbed off for David De Gea at the break after a mistake led to the hosts’ opener, while Michael Keane began the game at right-back at the expense of recent stand-in Antonio Valencia. Intriguingly, Shinji Kagawa was handed a central midfield berth, with Rooney partnered by Javier Hernandez up top and the trio all found the net in the 4-3 win. Rooney playing a part in all four goals – Hernandez scored the first after the former Everton man’s shot was saved before Rooney netted a 25-yard free-kick and penalty to draw United level. He then bagged another assist, setting up Kagawa to notch the winner; the Japanese star’s second goal in the last four matches.

Rooney had this to say on the contribution of United’s new acquisition…

“Obviously he’s a very clever player and with the likes of myself, Chicharito, Tom (Cleverley)… there are players there who are capable of getting on the ball and linking the play and it worked for us tonight.”

Meanwhile, Assistant Manager Mike Phelan was less enthusiastic, focusing instead on United’s alarming vulnerability at the back…

“It’s important we score goals. We can’t go into a championship and be struggling finding the net. We have progressed in that department, but we have to look at it from the point of view of how disappointing it was to give the goals away in the first place. We switched off…We look a team that can go forward and score goals, but we also look as though we can concede as well, and that’s not good.”

Man United Starting XI: Lindegaard (De Gea 46); Keane, Vidic (Valencia 73), Carrick, Evra; Nani, Cleverley, Kagawa, Young (Giggs 46); Rooney, Hernandez (Anderson 73).

Cardiff 4 Newcastle 1
Alan Pardew omitted the likes of Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse, Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa from the squad for the visit to Cardiff. Worryingly for the Magpies, the 4-1 hammering came with what was arguably their first-choice back-four on the pitch, while Ryan Taylor partnered Cheick Tiote in central midfield and Jonas Gutierrez was handed a role in “the hole” behind Shola Ameobi. Taylor was subbed off before the half-hour mark with his side already 3-0 down as Pardew looked to shore things up – clearly his game time is far from certain heading into next weekend’s game with Spurs. Ameobi pulled one back from the spot after Gutierrez was fouled in the box but Cardiff grabbed another as Pardew rang the changes to end Newcastle’s six-game unbeaten run in emphatic fashion.

As tweeted last night, Tiote suffered a calf strain in the match with Alan Pardew stating that he was now a concern for the weekend opener with Spurs, while Fabricio Coloccini was also nursing a knock…

“Chieck has a calf strain so we will have to monitor him. We are sweating on him for next Saturday…Colo also has a knock but I’m not sure how that is. He is due to travel to Argentina but we will have to assess him, too.”

Newcastle Starting XI: Krul; Simpson, Coloccini, (Williamson 46), S Taylor (Gosling 63), Santon; Marveaux (Vuckic 46), R Taylor (Perch 28), Tiote (Amalfitano 71), Obertan (Campbell 84); Gutierrez; Shola Ameobi

Fulham 1 Charlton 2
Prior to yesterday’s behind-closed-doors friendly, Martin Jol admitted the Fulham line-up would be similar to his XI for the Gameweek 1 clash against Norwich. Jol is still hopeful of adding Aaron Hughes to the squad, though, after he missed out with an ankle problem, while Hugo Rodallega recovered from injury to enter the fray as a second-half sub. Fulham began the game in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Bryan Ruiz tucked in behind Mladen Petric but Rodallega’s introduction for Alex Kacaniklic saw the Colombian shifted up front as Jol switched to 4-4-2; the alteration mean Ruiz dropped deeper to the right flank, while Damien Duff moved left. The latter scored his side’s only goal thanks to a Kacaniklic assist but two late Charlton goals saw Jol’s side taste defeat for the first time this pre-season.

Fulham Starting XI: Schwarzer; Riether, Hangeland, Baird, Riise; Duff, Diarra, Dembele (Sidwell 66), Kacaniklic (Rodallega 54); Ruiz (Frei 81); Petric (Briggs 81)

Norwich 0 MGladbach 2
Chris Hughton named the same starting XI that drew 0-0 with Hull in midweek – perhaps a sign of things to come ahead of the trip to Fulham. The former Birmingham boss employed a 4-4-1-1 again, with Robert Snodgrass in “the hole” behind Grant Holt, while at the back Marc Tierney and Ryan Bennett (both priced at 4.0 in Fantasy Premier League) continued at left-back and centre-half respectively. Snodgrass and Holt both had good chances to net but failed to beat the opposition keeper as Norwich’s woes in front of goal continued – they have now failed to find the net in their last three matches.

Norwich Starting XI: Ruddy, R. Martin, Turner, R. Bennett (Barnett 85), Tierney; E. Bennett (Surman 65), Howson (Jackson 85), Johnson, Pilkington (Morison 65); Snodgrass; Holt

Swansea 3 Stuttgart 3
With Scott Sinclair and Neil Taylor returning to the side for the first time since their summer Olympics duty, Michael Laudrup rolled out his strongest side for the visit of the Bundesliga outfit. While the Swans looked a little susceptible at the back – they have now conceded five in their last couple of matches – their offensive threat goes from strength to strength, with Danny Graham, in particular, stepping up in performance. The former Watford man has now netted in each of his last three games and, following on from his hat-trick against Blackpool, bagged a brace yesterday – his second came from the spot after Sinclair had been subbed off. Michu provided an assist, while Nathan Dyer returned an assist and goal; clearly, the Welsh club are in good attacking form going into a strong starting run of fixtures, with Graham – at 6.0 in FPL and 8.4 in the Sky Sports game – looking the pick of the bunch.

Laudrup certainly has faith in the former Watford man, tipping him for a strong goal return in his post-match comments…

“I thought Michu and Danny (Graham) are already connecting well and if Danny can stay fit then I think he can score 15 to 20 goals in the Premier League next season.”

Swansea Starting XI: Vorm; Rangel, Chico, Williams, Taylor; Britton, de Guzman (Agustien 61), Michu (Schechter 72); Dyer, Graham (Gower, 80), Sinclair (Routledge, 61).

Reading 2 Crystal Palace 0
Chris Gunter made his first start at right-back since joining from Nottingham Forest after recovering from an ankle problem, while Ian Harte was given the nod on the opposite side of defence. With Jobi McAnuff missing out through injury, Garath McCleary took his place on the left flank and the summer signing provided the assist for his side’s opener after teeing up Pavel Pogrebnyak to slot home. Hal Robson-Kanu returned an assist for Adam Le Fondre’s second; the latter has also scored twice in his previous couple of matches and could well be set to start against Stoke next weekend, with Jimmy Kebe looking highly unlikely to recover in time from a hamstring problem. Danny Guthrie – earmarked by many Fantasy managers as a cut-price possibility ahead of the Royals’ double Gameweek 1 – was named man of the match for his display, with the former Newcastle man’s distribution from deep starting plenty of breaks on the counter for McDermott’s side.

McDermott expressed his delight for Pogrebnyak in his post-match comments, indicating that his front two look to be in the box seat for starting roles against Stoke…

“It’s important to get your first goal. He was unlucky first half, made a great run and Danny Guthrie played him in but he was unfortunate just to knock it over. We’ll save them for the League though. Both strikers worked really hard, and we got Noel and Churchy some game time as well, it’s important to get people on the pitch.”

Reading Starting XI: Federici; Gunter, Gorkss (Mariappa 76), Pearce, Harte; Robson-Kanu (Obita 84), Guthrie, Leigertwood (Tabb 80), McCleary; Le Fondre (Church 71), Pogrebnyak (Hunt 71)

Werder Bremen 3 Aston Villa 3
Paul Lambert’s side signed off on pre-season duties with a six-goal thriller at Bremen last night. Darren Bent was partnered by Andreas Weimann up front, while Brett Holman and Charles N’Zogbia were handed the wide roles and Villa already look a different attacking outfit from the one that struggled so badly under Alex McLeish last term. Bent bagged a brace, while N’Zogbia (who was on most of the set-pieces) provided a pair of assists – both look likely to pick up investment ahead of their decent opening fixtures, while Ciaran Clark’s second goal in the last four highlighted his threat from the back.

The Villa boss confirmed that Matthew Lowton was left out as a precaution after a knock on his ankle in training. Chris Herd and Nathan Delfouneso were carrying thigh strains and were also rested. Lowton’s absence saw Eric Lichaj at right-back, while Enda Steavens was again given the left-back berth, with Stephen Warnock out of favour. With Clark looking set to partner Ron Vlaar in central defence in the absence of Richard Dunne, there’s certainly an array of budget options available in the Villa back four for those willing to take the risk.

In attacking terms, meanwhile, Lambert was full of praise for skipper Darren Bent, emphasising his importance to the Villa cause next season…

“I think that is goalscorers – they like to live on that and I’m pretty sure this will do him the world of good…They are invaluable to you – these sort of players who can get a goal out of nothing and that is what happened. He has made a living out of that.”

Aston Villa Starting XI:: Given; Lichaj, Vlaar, Clark, Stevens (Bannan 65); Holman (Ireland 65), Delph, El Ahmadi, N’Zogbia (Gardner 77); Weimann, Bent.

Leicester City 1 Sunderland 0
Martin O’Neill has plenty to ponder as his side slipped to defeat in a match that saw them fail to score for the fourth time in six pre-season friendlies. With Stephane Sessegnon still sidelined with an ankle problem, Fraizer Campbell was again supported by Craig Gardner and the pair linked up early on, with Campbell’s header easily saved by the Leicester keeper. James McClean had an effort cleared off the line and a Seb Larsson free-kick hit the bar but the visitors lacked any real cohesion as O’Neill made seven second-half changes – forward reinforcements looks essential as the Black Cats prepare for next Saturday’s opening day trip to Arsenal.

With Phil Bardsley also missing most of the pre-season with injury, O’Neill was left lamenting his absentees in his post-match analysis…

“We’ve been unable to do that with Phil, who was absolutely flying at the start and then hurt himself and has missed all of pre-season…Sessegnon has come back and picked up an ankle problem, which we hope isn’t too bad.”

Sunderland Starting XI: Westwood; O’Shea (Egan, 75), Kilgallon (Meyler,46), Bramble (Cuellar, 46), Richardson (Adams, 75); Elmohamady (Larsson, 46), Cattermole (Knott, 80), Colback, McClean; Gardner; Campbell (Noble, 75)

Augsburg 2 QPR 2
Mark Hughes’ side finished their pre-season unbeaten after twice coming from behind to earn a draw. The QPR boss handed Ryan Nelsen his debut at the back and rolled out a 4-4-1-1 formation once again, with Djibril Cisse leading the line. The Frenchman hogged the headlines with a brace (Nedum Onouha and Junior Hoilett provided the assists) and also hit the bar from an Adel Taarabt cross; with a home game against Swansea on the horizon, he could well be quick out the blocks, given the Welsh club’s recent poor displays at the back.

QPR Starting XI: Green; Onouha, Ferdinand, Nelsen, Fabio; Mackie, Derry (Taarabt 46), Park (Faurlin 77), Dyer (Wright-Phillips 46), Hoilett; Cisse (Zamora 77)

Southampton 0 Udinese 4
Nigel Adkins’ men were taught a lesson by their Italian counterparts as Antonio Di Natale led Udinese to an emphatic victory at St Mary’s. Saints continued with their recent 4-3-2-1/4-3-3 formation, with Jay Rodriguez and Jason Puncheon flanking Rickie Lambert up front, while Nathaniel Clyne continues to look first-choice at right-back. Puncheon – as has been the case in recent games – was the main goal threat before making way just after the hour mark; he went close with a couple of efforts and also laid on chances for the likes of Rodriguez and Billy Sharp but the hosts’ finishing wasn’t quite on a par with their visitors.

Adam Lallana’s role continues to be pivotal, with Nigel Adkins acknowledging in his post-match comments that they have experimented with this through the pre-season – suggesting that they will keep faith with the 4-3-3…

“Pre-season is about working on things and that is what we have done…We have changed things all the way through with different combinations in the midfield – whether it was one or two bombing on, and we have moved Adam Lallana around throughout…It was the final game of pre-season and we have worked all the way through the campaign in a 4-3-3, implementing and improving different things so that we are now armed when we go into the Premier League with different ways to go and play and a mentality to go and win games of football.”

Southampton Starting XI: K. Davis (Gazzaniga 46); Clyne, Fonte, Hooiveld, Fox (Shaw 46); Schneiderlin, Ward-Prowse (S. Davis 46), Lallana; Puncheon (Guly 66), Lambert (Sharp 46), Rodriguez (Chaplow 80).

Malaga 1 Everton 0
Intriguingly for Fantasy managers, Steven Pienaar began in “the hole” behind Nikica Jelavic for last night’s trip to Malaga; Steven Naismith started on the Everton left, though the pair swapped positions as the match unfolded. The link-up play of Naismith and Pienaar was lauded in reports, while Jelavic offered the main goal threat; his share of set-pieces saw him fire a free-kick just wide and he also had an effort disallowed after being teed up by Naismith.

Everton Starting XI: Howard; Hibbert, Heitinga, Jagielka, Baines; Coleman (Anichebe 63), Neville (Junior 75), Osman, Naismith (Gueye 80); Pienaar; Jelavic (Barkley 82).