2-0 win over Sunderland to kick things off. Darboe assisted Felix for the first goal and Felix assisted Zaniolo on the second.
Friendly against sporting. Ibanez having a howler gives up a pen and header off a corner. And got skinned for an almost 3rd goal.
3-2 loss. All 3 goals completely avoidable. The usual culprits were at fault, Cristante and Ibanez. Pellegrini scored as well as an own goal by Sporting.
I never understood why Mourinho preferred Ibanez to Kumbulla. I know they both played this game but talking about last season
I hope we start going back to 4-3-3(or 4-2-3-1) once Dybala officially joins. The formation we currently play was a stopgap because of our full back issues which no longer exist.
I always thought the switch to a back three was to protect our weaknesses in the middle - a switch to a midfield three or two defensive midfielders would require a midfielder of the quality we can't afford. Plus are best players going forward wide are our fullbacks.
And we have Matic now and are in talks to buy Frattesi. So even if that was the issue, our midfield should be able to handle the new formation.
Both are very competitive but it has to be athleticism as a side centre back. Kumbulla could still make a great sweeper and would be a nice vice for Smalling long term. The brainfarts are going to cost Ibanez from reaching the very top unless something big changes in his mentality and quickly but it seems like theres a brick wall there. Raw talent no doubt but he is a liability over a season.
Both Zalewski and Spinazzola played very well. We’re lucky to have those two on the left wing. No need to keep Vina around I guess… sell him.
Zalewski and Spinazzola are both among our few best attacking players, especially in being effective from the left. I recall Rudi Garcia once playing two left backs together against Man City in CL. Hard to read too much from friendlies but I am tired of Perez too. Hope he's on his way to a place where he can play and contribute. I'm not sure what he adds that's much better than just giving the minutes to Volpato since this past season showed we don't really care about playing guys once in a while to keep their market value from completely disappearing. Will be interesting to see the final pieces added. We obviously still need the big midfield upgrade of 1 or 2 new guys depending on who can be sold. Would be nice to also see a CB that's able to step around defenders when pressed and pass between lines a bit better. If not, I hope Dybala doesn't get discouraged watching 50 long balls a match sail over his head to opposing CBs.
I can't say I'm not a bit worried after the last few friendly results. We're not scoring a lot and losing to teams that are not very good.
Roma (3-4-1-2): Svilar; Mancini, Kumbulla, Vina; Celik, Matic, Bove, Spinazzola; Volpato; El Shaarawy, Dybala. All. Mourinho ... Yes very worrying
Friendly match against Tottenham Hotspur will start soon. (3-4-2-1): Rui Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Karsdorp, Cristante, Pellegrini, Zalewski; Dybala, Zaniolo; Abraham