Saka in the first half and Odegaard in the second were head and shoulders above the rest and showed why they are our two best players. Aside from those two, Trossard, Jesus (open header aside) and Martinelli were good in attack, Jorginho was pretty good, Saliba, White and Gabriel weren't troubled (in fact all our CBs were u troubled throughout).
Vieira was pretty anonymous, Nketiah seemed a bit isolated on the left wing but still won us a number of free kicks, Balogun showed some decent footwork here and there but was dropping too deep. Marquinos tried but he has a bit of the Joel Cambell about him.
For the new signings Timber had good flashes here and there and is showing why I originally thought he had some Parteyness about him in the way he feignts and turns. Rice kept is simple enough although was overshadowed by Timber and Jorginho in how to show for the ball while we are in the the first and middle thirds (it's something he'll have to really work on here). Havertz was secure on the ball, scored a really good goal but I guess I kind of expected a bit more intensity in his off the ball pressing though it was a preseason friendly and in what looked to be really hot conditions so it's possible the players weren't exerting themselves fully.
Only player I was disappointed with was Kiwior. He reminds me a lot of Xhaka. Despite having a wand of a left foot, playing some great long diagonals, and being good in the tackle and positional in defence, he has the same nervousness on the ball especially whilst under pressure and has a tendency to lose the ball in those kinds of situations, and this only gets magnified when he comes inside. Worried he'll really cost us if he plays any significant role for us in that inverted LB role. As a CB or more traditional LB I don't think I'd be as worried, similar to Tierney as a traditional LB.
