Gallowgate Toon

I think Riviere will do well here. Good athlete, by the looks of it, who will benefit from the more open nature of Premier League games.

Lee Ryder ‏@lee_ryder 1m RIVIERE opens the scores 1-0 16 mins #nufc Fucking dweeb

Rodwell's a talented player and would be decent business but he's not someone I'd want if I'm most likely going to be battling relegation.

I've got high hopes for him as he seems to be able to actually strike a ball well, as well as having some skill, athleticism and good technique. Sammy's a good dribbler and has pace but his delivery is often totally crap, his general ball-striking is poor and that's always going to hold him back. I'd be careful with this lad. My preference would still be to send him out on loan to a Championship side but wouldn't be averse to doing what Liverpool did with Sterling, initially using him as a super-sub and easing him in to the first team, if he makes an impact.

At least it's a statement of positivity. I fully expect it to have been completely contradicted before September 1st, though.

So we've signed Argentine Cisse? Brilliant. He sounds nothing like Cisse, 'fragility' aside.

I think he'll last the season, unfortunately. We'll do similarly to last year, in terms of position, but will be more consistent rather than a pretty good period followed by months of utter crap.

It should be Moussa and another in the middle. Only midfielder we have with genuine drive.

When was the last time we had 3 lefties together at LB, LCM and LM?

Riviere seems a solid player. I love Aarons.

I still love Debuchy.

Colback

They exchanged passes a few times too though. Three nice little 1-2's near the centre spot. Yeah. They were OK when on the ball, getting them involved was the problem. Didn't really help that Armstrong was playing in the most important tactical role.

If we're going to leave the defence as open as we did in that first half then we desperately need a centre back, even more than we initially thought. Today was reminiscent of 09/10.

It's got to be Sissoko with someone else. Anita for games against lesser opposition and Tiote away, or something like that.

To be fair, we played a bit of a mishmash side, attacking wise. Our main playmaker went off the pitch when our senior striker(s) came on. It was just a bit of a shambles, really.

I thought Abeid was better than him, to be honest. No way he should be starting ahead of Anita.

Aye, no mention of how s*** the defending was, as if having more experience up front somehow means we get the ball to them and defend better. We didn't attack whatsoever and defensively were tragic. Worrying but totally expected Well, there was a total mess in front of them, to be fair to the back four. That did start with us not really having anyone dropping into midfield to counteract their midfield 3. The team he put out needed far more direction due to their inexperience.

Some smart-ish moves at half time. Used some odd starting combinations though. Very harsh on Perez and Armstrong to be paired up like that against high level opposition.

Better width, this half.

He's a changed man!

Coloccini, Haidara, Colback, Sissoko, Cabella will all start the first match imo. Let's face it, Taylor is going to as well. Hopefully, he picks up another injury before City. We're missing Mike Williamson, man. Desperate state of affairs.

Yeah, wide players offering no support to the full backs, centre of midfield congested with no options and the attackers completely and utterly isolated. It's like they found eleven random players outside the stadium and threw them onto the pitch together. I know it's pre-season but that was just awful. The team's spine is just totally being overrun. Malaga have got 3 players in central midfield to our two, neither of which are athletic or intelligent enough to counteract being a man down. Perez and Armstrong are young lads trying to scrap for aerial balls against players who are bigger, stronger and more experienced. The defence is being completely blitzed, as a result. I'd stick 3 players in the middle to help us control possession a bit. Either that or try and pin them back with 2 players properly up top.

Rubbish dickhead. Once again, not sure what what the hell to do when faced with tactical issues.