Pre-Season Friendlies – Weekend Round-Up

David Moyes, Manuel Pellegrini and Roberto Martinez all suffer debut defeats in a weekend that saw 10 Premier League clubs take part in friendly action. Arsenal kicked off their summer with an emphatic win in Thailand, Iago Aspas earned the plaudits from Brendan Rodgers after an impressive 45 minute sub appearance in Liverpool’s cruise at Preston and Dimiatr Berbatov was at the double as Fulham kicked off their Costa Rica tour with a victory.

Den Haag 0 Swansea 1
Swansea ended their tour of Holland on Saturday afternoon with a fourth consecutive win. Michael Laudrup’s side now return to the UK having triumphed in all of their friendlies on Dutch soil – the Swans boss once again rang the changes during the game, replacing eight of his starting XI at half-time. Debut boy Wilfried Bony climbed off the bench to replace Michu as the lone forward after the break, though failed to find the net – that honour went to Wayne Routledge, who chipped home the winner after a superb Jonjo Shelvey assist.

Singha All Stars XI 1 Man United 0
David Moyes tasted defeat in his first match in charge at United. The Red Devils went down narrowly in a match played in “29-degree heat, with 75% humidity”, according to the club’s official website. With the likes of Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa handed extended rests, and Wayne Rooney flying home injured, it was left to Danny Welbeck to lead the line – United spurned a batch of chances to equalise, though new boy Wilfried Zaha came closest – he hit the woodwork after being introduced off the bench just after the hour mark.

Post-match, Moyes again dismissed suggestions that Rooney was set to exit Old Trafford and proceeded to stress the importance of the forward for the season ahead:

“Overall my thought on Wayne is that if for any reason we get an injury to Robin van Persie we are going to need him. Wayne has a major role to play because we need to try and get him as many goals as we possibly can. Wayne can play up-top, I think he can play dropped in. I want to be able to play the two of them, I want to be able to use Danny Welbeck, Chicharito as well. I want to try and give myself as many options as possible”

These quotes have spawned a series of reports this morning, suggesting that Rooney is set for a bench role under Moyes, although it’s clear that the new United boss has expressed a desire to play them both in tandem. It remains to be seen if this does materialise with Moyes favouring a 4-5-1 at Everton and with Kagawa well suited to role up in support of Van Persie.

Elsewhere, Moyes went on to look for the positives in the weekend defeat, taking time to praise both Zaha and fellow-youngster Adnan Januzaj for their respective displays:

“I thought Adnan played well tonight and was a plus for us. He was the pick of the group. It’s always good when you give a young player a chance and he shows up, which I thought he did tonight. And the more he plays like that, the more opportunities he’s liable to get. Wilfried did well and gave us something a little different. We’ll see how Wilfried does. We brought him here to give him a chance. It’s the first time I’ve worked with him, the first time I’ve really had the chance to see him up close, so he’ll certainly be part of the squad and we’ll see where we can fit him in.”

Bournemouth 0 West Ham 2
Sam Allardyce handed both Momo Diarra and Joey O’Brien their first game time of pre-season, with the former Bolton man replacing Guy Demel after the break. The Ivorian supplied the cross for Kevin Nolan’s opener – the Hammers skipper has now scored in each of the last two but was subbed off on 51 minutes as a precaution after picking up a knock. Jack Collison also found the net as Allardyce’s side maintained their 100% winning record in a match that saw Dutchman Orlando Engelaar earn game time as a triallist. Andy Carroll (heel) and George McCartney (knee) remain on the sidelines for the Hammers.

Preston 0 Liverpool 4
Brendan Rodgers gave all four of his new summer recruits the chance to impress at Deepdale; Simon Mignolet and Kolo Toure featured from the start while Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto climbed off the bench at half-time. Philippe Coutinho broke the deadlock from the spot after being hauled down in the box within 15 minutes, while youngster Jordan Ibe hammered home the second from long range. Aspas was the standout performer, though – he teed up Raheem Sterling for the Reds’ third before grabbing the fourth with an impressive 25-yard strike. Injury-wise, Daniel Sturridge remains on the sidelines, Joe Allen and Martin Kelly returned after long-term problems, but Steven Gerrard was omitted despite returning to full training. After the match, Rodgers was quick to praise Aspas’ impact:

“Iago works hard; he’s got a trick in and around the box and he excites supporters. He drifts well in between the lines and always wants to receive the ball. But what I like is that he wants to score goals. He’s looking to create and combine or go solo by himself and get a shot in. His goal was a terrific strike.”

Tamworth 0 West Brom 4
Steve Clarke’s side cruised to victory in a behind-closed-doors match against the Conference outfit. Nicolas Anelka teed up James Morrison for the opener before Shane Long headed home the second just prior to the half-hour mark. The Baggies boss made 10 changes at the break and saw Markus Rosenberg notch the third courtesy of a Gabriel Tamas cross, while Saido Berahino completed the scoring, with Billy Jones supplying the final pass.

Indonesia XI 0 Arsenal 7
The Gunners cruised to victory in their first match of the summer. Theo Walcott opening the scoring thanks to an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain assist before Chuba Akpom gave Arsenal a 2-0 lead at the break. Arsene Wenger made 10 changes in the second-half, with Olivier Giroud climbing off the bench to notch twice, while Lukas Podolski, Kris Olsson and Thomas Eisfield completed the scoring. Oxlade-Chamberlain was hailed as the most impressive performer for Wenger’s side before he made way at the break.

VfL Bochum 1 Aston Villa 1
Paul Lambert’s side registered their third successive 1-1 draw of the summer in the final fixture of their Germany tour. The Villa boss continued his policy of utilising the depth of his squad and replaced his starting XI after the break – new boy Nicklas Helenius scored for the second time in three games for the midlanders, an indication he’s taking little time to settle and may be ready to step up at centre-forward should Christian Benteke up and leave.

Austria Vienna 2 Everton 1
The Toffees were narrowly defeated by a host side gearing up for the start of their domestic season next week. Just one new signing – Joel Robles – featured, though Roberto Martinez started with the likes of Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Steven Pienaar and Leon Osman, with Baines providing the assist for Vellios’ consolation. Martinez made eight changes at the break but Everton were unable to pull another goal back.

Supersport United 2 Man City 0
Manuel Pellegrini tasted defeat in his first match in charge of City on Sunday afternoon. The Chilean is clearly still in the initial stages of refining his squad and made wholesale changes after the break, with out-of-favour Scott Sinclair even afforded some game time having recovered from shoulder surgery. Elsewhere in the side, Sergio Aguero and Pablo Zabaleta have yet to join up with the tour after representing Argentine in World Cup qualifiers over the summer. Post-match, Pellegrini stressed he was unconcerned with the result and went on to admit he expects to see some new additions arriving soon:

“The players were clear with what they had to do in this game. I spoke with them before the match and we had four or five days working together. We’re not prepared to play the way we want them to play so this was a normal match for pre-season. I’m not worried and this is what we expected. We are not in a hurry to bring new players in but we are clear that we need two or three more before the season begins. It’s difficult to say a date for any new arrivals, but before July finishes I think we will have more players.”

Post-match reports suggest Yaya Toure will be assessed by the club’s medical staff after limping off on 84 minutes.

C.S. Cartagines 0 Fulham 3
The Cottagers got off to a convincing start in the opening match of their Costa Rica tour. While Martin Jol took the opportunity to utilise 22 players over the 90 minutes – with nine changes occurring at the break – there’s no surprise to learn it was Dimitar Berbatov who inflicted most of the damage with a first-half double. The Bulgarian slotted home a Patjim Kasami pass to open the scoring before notching a spot-kick after John Arne Riise had been fouled in the box. Bryan Ruiz added the third on 73 minutes, firing home after collecting a pass from Hugo Rodallega.