Midweek Friendlies Round-Up – Wednesday

We’ve another batch of friendlies to dissect for you today, with eight Premier League sides in action over the past 24 hours. Jan Vertonghen anxiously awaits an ankle scan after an awkward fall in Tottenham’s loss to Sunderland, Steven Gerrard helps Liverpool to a third straight win, Edin Dzeko gives Manuel Pellegrini his first win as City boss, Andreas Cornelius is off the mark for Cardiff, while Stoke and Norwich fall to defeat in the early hours of this morning.

Sunderland 3 Tottenham 1
A pre-match downpour not only delayed yesterday’s game but resulted in a slightly shortened match consisting of two 40-minute halves. Paolo Di Canio fielded Vito Mannone in goal and partnered John O’Shea with Wes Brown at centre-half, while new boys Cabral and Emanuel Giaccherini were named in midfield, with Stephane Sessegnon tucked in behind lone forward Jozy Altidore. Altidore and Cabral combined for the Black Cats’ first, with the US international teeing up the latter to fire home before another new boy, David Moberg Karlsson, climbed off the bench to play a pivotal part in the victory. The Swede’s corner was headed home by Brown just after the hour mark and he followed that up with a goal of his own moments prior to the final whistle. New boy Mannone’s heroics between the sticks were hailed by the club’s official website – perhaps a sign he’s edged ahead of Kieran Westwood in the role for the number one jersey.

After the match, Di Canio reserved special praise for Brown and, after revealing the player had rejected the chance to end his contract at the club, went on to suggest he could now be a key asset to the club over the season ahead:

“Wes was a very good player already but he didn’t have a very good season last year. This year he decided to push harder because he is a very good professional. Thanks to him and thanks to my staff he has the chance to come back. He is an important footballer for me and I am very glad to have him back in the squad. He still has to improve because it is only the first friendly game but with his experience he can handle the situation and he can have a big part in my squad, I hope.”

Andre Villas-Boas rolled out a 4-3-3 formation, with Clint Dempsey and Aaron Lennon flanking Emanuel Adebayor up top. The likes of Heurelho Gomes, Tom Huddlestone, Danny Rose, Scott Parker and Gylfi Sigurdsson were also named in the first XI as the Tottenham boss handed plenty of his fringe players game time. Spurs took the lead after Sigurdsson slotted home courtesy of a Kyle Walker assist but failed to hold their advantage in the rain-soaked conditions. Gareth Bale missed out once again, while more worryingly for the north London club, Jan Vertonghen was forced off after falling awkwardly on his ankle. After the game, the Spurs boss gave an update on the pair’s conditions:

“We’re trying to get Gareth involved in training tomorrow . Not with the team, unfortunately, but on his own. It depends. If we see some evolution on his injury we might give it a try but if not then he will probably be on the bench (against South China)….It seems like he (Vertonghen) twisted his ankle, it could be sprained ankle ligaments. Hopefully there is not too much damage as he has a good range of movement still, but it is swollen a bit. We hope it is nothing very serious, the MRI scan is positive and he’ll be back for the start of the season.”

Melbourne Victory 0 Liverpool 2
Brendan Rodgers gave some of his squad players a chance to impress as the Reds made it three wins and three clean sheets from three pre-season matches so far. With Kolo Toure and Philippe Coutinho missing out with a tight calf and knock respectively, the likes of Martin Skrtel and Fabio Borini were named in the starting XI alongside Brad Jones, Andre Wisdom, Raheem Sterling and Jordan Ibe. A familiar face gave the visitors the lead, though, as Steven Gerrard opened the scoring courtesy of a Joe Allen assist, before Luis Suarez teed up fellow substitute Iago Aspas to net his second goal in three appearances just before the final whistle.

After the game, most of the talk centred around Arsenal’s £40m bid for the Uruguayan, though Rodgers remained adamant his star forward will remain on Merseyside:

“There’s nothing new to report. He’s very much a Liverpool player and over the course of the next couple of weeks we’ve got to get him up to speed. The support he has received from the supporters and the people of the city of Liverpool has been unrivalled. In this period of time he’s missed a lot of games for the club through various reasons. The people have stood by him, like a son and really looked after him. Whatever happens in the coming weeks that will be in his mind because it’s something you can never forget.”

Schalke 2 Southampton 0
Mauricio Pochettino’s side fell to their first pre-season loss yesterday afternoon. According to the club’s official website, Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez were partnered together in a front two, with Jason Puncheon and Lloyd Isgrove on the flanks. Kelvin Davis got the nod in goal, while elsewhere in defence, Calum Chambers started at right-back for the second match in a row. Pochettino made nine changes in the second-half but despite the alterations, the Saints failed to find a way back into the match. Guly de Prado – scorer of a hat-trick in the previous game – missed out with a thigh complaint, while Gaston Ramirez and Maya Yoshida were omitted; both players continue to build up their fitness after an extended break due to their involvement in the recent Confederations Cup.

South China 0 Man City 1
Manuel Pellegrini registered his first victory as City boss yesterday afternoon. Edin Dzeko headed the winner, with James Milner providing the assist in a match that saw the visitors start in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Yaya Toure handed the role in “the hole” behind Dzeko due to a number of absences. While the likes of Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Jesus Navas and Stevan Jovetic were unavailable (though “two or three” could return at the weekend, according to Pellegrini), it was perhaps telling that the Chilean didn’t start with Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo together, instead introducing the latter from the bench just before the hour mark.

After the match, though, Pellegrini’s thoughts on his quartet of forwards were probably the last thing Fantasy managers wanted to hear. The Chilean was asked if he felt his side had the strongest forward line in the Premier League and his response suggested rotation could be very much on the cards:

“I think so, yes, very strong. That’s correct. I think we have very good strikers with Dzeko as well. They can play together or we can play one of them with Jovetic or Agüero. We have four very good strikers and that’s very necessary if we want to play in the Premier League and Champions League as a competitive team.”

Forest Green Rovers 3 Cardiff 4
The Bluebirds picked up a narrow win in their first pre-season match of the summer. Malky Mackay started with two up front, with Andreas Cornelius partnered by Nicky Maynard, and both forwards were amongst the goals early on. Cornelius marked his debut by heading home a Kevin McNaughton cross before Kim Bo-Kyung teed up Maynard to steer in the second. Mackay then replaced his entire starting XI at the break and watched on as Peter Whittingham slotted home a spot-kick after Joe Mason was brought down in the box, before fellow sub Craig Noone added the fourth from long distance.

Portland Timbers 1 Norwich 0
The Canaries registered their second consecutive 1-0 loss as their US tour came to an end earlier this morning. Chris Hughton made seven changes from the side that lost to San Jose Earthquakes at the weekend, though retained his usual 4-4-1-1 formation, with Wes Hoolahan selected in “the hole” behind Ricky Van Wolfswinkel. Intriguingly, new boy Nathan Redmond was again named in the first XI and has now started all three of Norwich’s pre-season games. At the back, Hughton’s rolled out a somewhat experimental side; Russell Martin was the only regular name involved from the first whistle, with Elliot Bennett, Ryan Bennett and Steven Whittaker making up the rest of the defence.

Houston Dinamo 2 Stoke 0
Mark Hughes tasted defeat in his first match in charge of the Potters. The new Stoke boss fielded a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Geoff Cameron and Erik Pieters at full-back, while Charlie Adam was installed in the centre of midfield alongside Steven Nzonzi. Cameron Jerome tucked in behind Peter Crouch up front, with Jon Walters shifted to the flank. As expected, Hughes made several changes as the match progressed and took plenty positives from the run-out as he looks to implement a more attacking brand of football at the Britannia:

“It would have been nice to have picked up a win but the fundamentals are building up the levels of fitness and working on the things that we have been doing in training on a daily basis. I think the lads did well in many areas tonight, despite the result. They started to play the ball out from the back and I think we controlled the play for long periods….It was important to get all of the lads out there and see what they are capable of. We used a few of them in different positions to try and gauge an idea of where we feel they will be best utilised this season.”

In Other News
Ahead of Chelsea’s friendly against Indonesia All Stars later today, Jose Mourinho has handed Fantasy managers a heads-up over Frank Lampard’s game time in the season ahead. Previously one of Mourinho’s “Untouchables”, Lampard missed just six of 120 Premier League games during the Portuguese manager’s first stint in charge and arrives on the back of netting 15 times in 2012/13 but, in light of yesterday’s comments, it seems Mourinho is keen to protect his midfielder and be a little more selective when it comes to handing him starts:

“Before, we didn’t analyse. Before, it was, ‘Every match, he plays’. Sometimes I wanted to give him a rest in a Carling Cup match and he said, ‘If you give me a rest the next match I will not be the same, because I have to play every three days’. At this moment, though, we have to analyse the fixtures, to analyse the matches, to analyse the week we have and make some choices. While I believe he is the same player, the difference is at 35 he needs time to recover from match to match. It is not the same for a man of 25 as a man of 35. We have to be gentle with him. He can’t play 60 matches like he did before, but the quality of the player and what he represents for the way I like to play football is exactly the same. The role doesn’t have to change. What has to change is the way we analyse competition.”