Wasn’t a great game. But a good test nevertheless. How we got a clean sheet I’ll never know, as we was just as shaky defensively as we was against Celtic. Another very poor showing from Diop again. Moyes would have to be off his rocker not to accept any bid for him if we somehow received one. This game highlighted why we need a new centre half.
I also thought Antonio wasn’t at his best. Although still had his moments. And that was probably Fornals most quiet game to date in pre-season too.
I didn’t understand the silly experiment with Ben Johnson. It made more sense to play Fredericks on the wing and have Johnson at rightback.
Coventry and Lanzini both had solid games. However, they don’t offer much defensively. We could get away with playing either alongside Rice or/& Soucek. But without Rice &/or Soucek we’ll be torn a new one. I thought it was no coincidence that Coventry went up a gear the moment Noble came on at half time, who offered us a bit more physicality in midfield.
Benrahma other than a few silly efforts in the first half had another very promising performance with a very good goal. It can only do his confidence some good and I hope he has a great season this time.
Onto our final friendly pre-season!