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SEASON FOUR: PRE SEASON UPDATE
“We were simply just a free scoring side” – Zinedine Zidane
Results
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I was very happy with our performances during pre-season. Going into the tour across Europe, I told the players to just enjoy themselves. Go out and work on your fitness, results were not important to me. I wanted to gel the team and play attacking football.
The team did not let me down at all. They worked extremely hard and were very professional. The football we played was exceptional at times and very pleasing. I was happy with the amount of goals we scored.
The beginning of the tour did not provide is with strong opposition, I was fully aware of this. Never the less I want keen to ensure my team played football and played well as I knew bigger tests were yet to come.
As we landed back in England, we are too important games to finish off pre-season. French billionaires PSG came to Goodison Park, with a very strong line-up which included the likes of Sterling, Cavani and Thiago Silva.
I was very happy with the way we dismantled the PSG side and really showed our strength. The result shows how far we have come as a club. The team is a looking very strong and raring to go for the season ahead.
The momentum from this game continued into Tim Howard’s testimonial match, where we took on New York Red Bulls. The intensity in this game was surprising for a testimonial match. We were very strong and played very quick, attacking football. I was very happy to see Oxlade-Chamberlain grab a hatrick. He has settled very nicely at the club.
Player of Pre-Season
Romelu Lukaku
Granted, opposition was not its strongest but Romelu has scored twelve goals in just six preseason matches. This is an incredible record and he has shown why he has become one of the top strikers in the world. I am defiantly hoping for more of the same for the remainder. He has defiantly shown why clubs like Manchester United and FC Barcelona are after him.