It's been a fairly impressive preseason, but you can never really take too much from it.
Positives:
Positives:
- Solanke - looks a steal at the price, hugely talented, mature with great awareness and he takes up the proper forward positions that maybe only Daniel Sturridge does for us. Works his bollocks off too, which of course is a perfect fit.
- The front three/four - assuming Coutinho stays, then a front four of him, Mane, Salah and either Firmino or Solanke, has pretty much everything you'd want. Goals, creativity, zip, and the ability to continuously interchange, making it a nightmare for opposing defenders to pick up.
- Moreno - we bought him when he was young, he was/is rash and makes mistakes, but he's an impressive outlet going forward. He didn't moan once last season and just got on with barely playing. Any player who gets his head down like that, works hard and manages to re-win the faith of the manager, deserves a huge amount of respect. You can only judge and reward players on form, and right now he's one of our best performers. Fair play and good luck to the lad.
- Salah - looks a huge signing. He seems to have integrated with the rest of the lads well and has slotted seamlessly into the team, another great, quick outlet for Coutinho and co to pick out, you could see how much the little Brazilian was thriving on having both Mane AND Salah breaking away into space, for him to ping those wonderful passes to.
- The Kids - TAA, Kent and Woodburn in particular have looked like they've stepped up a notch over the Summer, with impressive performances against good opponents. I've a feeling Woodburn might go on loan this year, but it would be interesting to see him or Kent given an extended run in the match day squads.
- Grujic - I'm hoping this will be his year and he will come to the fore alot more. He offers something the rest of the midfield don't, a bit of ingenuity and presence. Good in the air, great at whacking it from 30 yards, he has alot of talent and with more games this season, he can get the chance to show what he can do and to force his way into the first team.
- The Defense - Clearly it's still not right, maybe it never will given how expansive we are when we play. You could see against Bilbao how easily it was cut open, and I don't really blame that too much on individuals, just the lack of protection from midfield and acres of space between them, positionally. Perhaps a defensively disciplined midfielder might help us when caught on the break, just having that extra body in there and someone who's natural at dropping back when they sense danger. You could see the difference in the second half when Flanagan moved into the backline, he's more defensively minded and helped close those gaps.
- Gomez - I was never completely sold on the lad, even though it's clear he has alot of talent, but he looks like he regressed since he came back from those lengthy injuries. It's a bit like Wisdom all over again. He's made daft mistakes and generally looked a level below in terms of quality.
- Origi - had a brilliant end to the season before last, only to then look a complete shadow of that same player for most of last season. I was hoping the added competition and Solanke and Salah might have woke him up, but he still seems to be in a slump. No confidence infront of goal and generally ineffective. It's a big season for him.
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