Pre-season Mexican Friendlies
Posted by atleti on July 15, 2008
Puebla 1 Atleti 0
One casuality in this friendly: Álex Quillo suffered a fracture. Other than that, the scoreline doesn’t worry me too much. We have a lot of new players and they will need time to blend as a team. Let’s hope that we improve with each game.
Next up? They play Cruz Azul on Wednesday.
Also: truth be told…I’m concerned about our lack of a true playmaker. Are there any other areas that you think should be addressed BEFORE the start of the season? Or, does everything seem fairly good at this point?
Also, to any English-speaking readers out there, who don’t know, the Liga 08/09 schedule won’t be released until the end of this month (July).
Mohammed said
I think we need a play maker + 2 good sidebacks instead of Pernia and Seitaridis and that would make all our troubles go away.
day1star said
Definitely need a playmaker otherwise it will be the same as last season. Defensively, we didn’t look too bad apart from that one occasion where they beat the offside trap. Heitinga and Ujfalusi did good in their first match.
Pongolle was really disappointing he had a couple of good chances which he totally messed up. Also, Diego Costa had some great chances which he again messed up. They both need to work on their shooting and their composure in front of goal.
Cleber Santana was awful, the less said the better.
Reyes played ok.
We play Cruz Azul tomorrow and they are a good side, we need a much improved showing, remember our CL qualifier is in just under a months time and Aguero will not be available.
Willen said
I 100% agree with Mohammed. If we get a playmaker and 2 new sidebacks I think we’ll have a very very decent team. But I think we’ll should give the higher priority to the playmaker, and I guess Atlético board thinks this way also.
atleti said
Definitely! With Kun away, we need Sinama to step up his game before CL qualifiers.
atleti said
I also heard that Diego Costa did well. He did fairly well during last season’s summer, but we didn’t keep him. I guess we’ll have to see if the club consider him an important asset. Plus, he still doesn’t have a passport, which is probably the bigger issue with him, I think, no?
Mohammed said
It’s not only the passport issue, it’s also the state of the team being overcrowded, I think. Plus, he’s still young and needs time to develop his abilities.
Rumour has it that we’re going for Xabi Alonso. Benitez wants anything equal or more than 20 million euros for him.
day1star said
Diego Costa’s play was ok but in front of goal he lacks composure, he missed two great chances.
atleti said
Ya– Xabi’s move to Juventus isn’t going to happen.
What kind of midfielder is he again (I forget)?
Billie said
Really, the Atleti played very bad, specially Assunçao. He looks like Luccin or Costinha.
atleti said
Another Luccin or Costinha? That’s the worst comment I’ve read in a long time! I hope things improve!