I thought the whole purpose of pre-season was to –
a. Gel and integrate new signings into the culture of their new team
b. Work on fitness and avoid injury
c. Work on systems, new formations, trying different players within the new formations
d. Work on attacking and defending set piece routines
e. Learn from mistakes
And bring all the above together by playing games against opposition who are also trying the above in their own way.
I would much rather the management team and players be doing all the above than smashing whatever team they are playing 10-0. As much as it is nice winning 7,8,9,10,11-0 do you learn anything from that? (yes we can score goals but as a contest it’s potentially over as soon as the third goal goes in).
We saw last season that you cant just chuck 10+ players into a team and expect them to come up with the goods, it takes time. And that is the beauty of pre season. There should be nothing on the results I’m more bothered about staying free from injury, creating a starting 11 with 5 subs who can slot in when/where required and have a sub set of players who can interchange with the 16 matchday players when/where required and the whole squad knowing what their role and what is expected of them when they are playing.
Save the performances and results for when they really matter starting on the 5th of August.
