Friendlies Round-Up – Sunday

Liverpool maintain their 100% pre-season record with Philippe Coutinho and Iago Aspas both amongst the goals once again. Shola Ameobi continues to find the net for Newcastle, while Martin Jol admits he’s in the market for a new forward after Fulham fall to defeat at Werder Bremen. Elsewhere, Jose Mourinho gives Fantasy managers plenty to ponder after admitting he may move Juan Mata to the right flank in the season ahead.

Thailand 0 Liverpool 3
Brendan Rodgers was able to recall Kolo Toure and Philippe Coutinho after both missed the previous match with minor knocks. The Reds lined up in a 4-3-3 formation, with Toure partnering Daniel Agger at centre-half, while Steven Gerrard was the most advanced central midfielder as Joe Allen sat alongside Lucas in front of the back-four. Coutinho and Fabio Borini flanked new boy Iago Aspas in the front three and the Brazilian continued his impressive pre-season form with his third goal in as many appearances after waltzing through the home side’s defence. Coutinho then turned provider for the Reds’ second, teeing up Aspas for his third pre-season strike before the latter laid on the assist for Steven Gerrard to chip home the final goal.

Rodgers made just four changes in the second period – a suggestion, perhaps, that he’s looking to implement a settled line-up with less than three weeks until the season kicks off, albeit with question marks still surrounding the future of Luis Suarez and current fitness of Daniel Sturridge. It’s four wins from four now for the Merseysiders and with a clean sheet accrued in each of those victories, Toure – at 5.0 in Fantasy Premier League – continues to look an enticing option, having started each of the three games he has been available for ahead of Martin Skrtel in the centre of defence.

Blackpool 0 Newcastle 1
Alan Pardew trialled a change of formation for yesterday’s narrow win at Bloomfield Road. The Magpies boss moved from 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2 and selected Mike Williamson alongside Steven Taylor in central defence – Fabricio Coloccini was suspended after receiving his marching orders in the previous friendly, while Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa was afforded just nine minutes off the bench late on. With Moussa Sissoko fielded in central midfield, Sylvain Marveaux and Jonas Gutierrez patrolled the flanks, while Yoan Gouffran continued in his recent role up top, with Shola Amoebi also getting the nod. Ameobi was the visitors’ goal hero yet again – he volleyed home a Williamson assist to find the net for the third successive match. Pardew made just four alterations as the match progressed, though Hatem Ben Arfa and Cisse were omitted from the squad as the duo continue to build up their match-fitness.

Werder Bremen 1 Fulham 0
The Cottagers 100% pre-season record came to an end in Germany yesterday afternoon. Martin Jol opted for Kieran Richardson over John Arne Riise at left-back in a defence that also contained new boy Fernando Amorebieta. Derek Boateng and Steve Sidwell were named in central midfield, with Ashkan Dejagah and Alex Kacaniklic handed the wing roles, while Bryan Ruiz and Dimitar Berbatov were once again selected as the front two. Jol’s post-match admission that he’s on the lookout for a new striker may concern the latter’s would-be suitors, though, with a new face up front potentially forcing the Bulgarian into a more withdrawn role, while Ruiz’s versatility could see him shift to the flank. The Cottagers boss also gave an update on Kacaniklic’s injury and indicated he is looking to add to the midfield area before the campaign gets underway:

“Berbatov was good, but he can’t do everything and we needed to get in behind. We will try to get someone up front. We need a few more goals, since Clint [Dempsey] left we do not have enough goals in us, so we are working every day to get someone in. We have some high quality players in consideration and we would like another midfielder as well…Kača has made a lot of big steps and progress with us. But he had to come off with a hamstring injury. Hopefully it is not too bad, but he may be out for a couple of weeks. Mesca came on and looked good, he was probably our best player on the day even though he has only played with us twice. That was positive….Today we looked a bit rusty from the start. But I can forgive the players at this stage as we will go to Austria and work hard, train hard and we will do something in the transfer market and be totally different by the start of the season.”

In Other News
Jose Mourinho hasn’t been short of sound bites for Fantasy managers to mull over this summer and the Chelsea manager offered another intriguing insight for us to consider yesterday. Discussing Juan Mata’s role at Stamford Bridge for the season ahead, Mourinho hinted that he may be set to utilise the Spaniard on the right more often:

“I have my idea about him, about where he produces better and where he has more difficulty. We will try to help him perform better in those situations. I’ve always liked a right-sided player to be left-footed. I started with Robben and Duff, then Pandev at Inter, and Di Maria and Ozil. It’s more than a tendency. I like wingers coming in on the inside for the penetrative movement, for the pass, for the shot. And Juan is the only player we have to do that on the right. On the left we have Hazard, Victor Moses, Kevin De Bruyne, Andre Schurrle. Juan is also very comfortable playing as a No10. In between these two positions, he has a lot to give to the team.”

Having rolled out a 4-3-3 system to great effect in the 8-1 win over Indonesia All Stars last week, Mourinho clearly has a viable alternative to the 4-2-3-1 which has been Chelsea’s default formation in recent times. Mata’s role in “the hole” is perhaps not as nailed-on as it has been since his move to the Premier League – Mourinho’s failure to mention Oscar as an alternative for the wide roles suggests the Brazilian could benefit from a more central role this time out. While this may see us reassess Oscar’s potential – particularly with a double Gameweek 1 on his agenda – an occasional shift to 4-3-3 would perhaps be detrimental to his prospects, with the likes of Frank Lampard and Marco Van Ginkel fielded as the most advanced central midfielder, with Mata on the right.