It occurred to me as our 30 year old striker performed another front flip to celebrate his first goal of the season, that he probably has another 2 seasons in him playing at this level. By virtue of him being Gabonese, he really hasn't ever had to play competitive football during the summertime.
The way we just tried to play it out of the back was Excruciating. We were a hair away from gifting them the ball inside the box. I can see a lot of hair being pulled out the season, at least by me.
Funny, my thought when I watched that was that it's only a matter of time until he does his cruciate during that celebration. And all of his coaches must wince every time he does it. Meanwhile Pepe, our new wonder signing makes his debut in the 71st minute.
1-0 FT. We look like we're still in pre-season form, but I'll take it. Went away to a pretty tough venue on the opening weekend and got 3 pts. And blooded 3 of our new signings. Onward.
Not sexy but 3 pts, no injuries or suspensions, and a clean sheet to boot. Take it and move on. Now down to the Benz. Cheers.
New defensive signings really made the difference. But seriously, if Chambers stayed last year and played over Mustafi, they would have qualified for the Champion's League. Not saying Chambers is good or even average, but he avoids terrible mistakes.
Given the starting XI, that was a good solid win. A cleansheet is always extremely welcomed with this team. The youngsters all gave good account of themselves, if not particularly impressive. Auba provided that much needed decisive quality. As a team, I thought we showed good composure and professionalism to control the game. More than half the players on that starting XI is arguable not in our best starting XI, so there's PLENTY of room to improve.
The only players that started today that would be on our top starting XI are Auba, Leno, Socratis and maybe Xhaka.
I liked what I saw from Pepe at least when he was on the ball. Doesn't look like he can be easily bullied off the ball which is a common problem for players that come to the Prem.
Watching the intensity and liveliness of the Chelsea v. United game right now and it's night and day from our match. The rain may have played a small part, as well as the fact we played Newcastle, but we have to be much MUCH better with our intensity and personnel in two weeks when we go to Anfield.
Good win , all things considered. The new guys all looked nervous while they were on. Mkhitaryan was complete trash. Rating him 0/10 would be insulting to anyone who's ever gotten a 0/10. Guen is going to be a stud. He's so comfortable on the ball and driving.