On Friday we asked whether Mauricio Pochettino would reveal his hand in the friendly against Real Sociedad, we now have the answer.
Some might say that the starting line up for the final pre season friendly against Spanish team Real Sociedad gave some hint as to the Argentinian's thoughts about his starting line up against West Bromwich Albion, but the truth is in many positions Pochettino had little real choice in his starting line up.
In fact the game threw up more worries than it did positives, last season Luke Shaw came to the fore in pre season, in this game he was stretchered off with potential knee ligament damage that could see him on the sidelines for what is at the moment an undetermined period, over at right back Nathan Clyne didn't play any part meaning that if both Shaw and Clyne fail to pass muster next weekend then we could have problems at right back.
Callum Chambers once again filled in for Clyne and it was also pertinent to note that Jack Cork came on for the final half hour and it could be that with Clyne having had little pre season that Cork who has played in the position before, might be preferred to the youngster if Clyne isn't considered fit enough.
Other than that it was the usual mix and match with the squad with every position and 22 players in all getting a game.
The 4-3 result was pleasing, but as said at the beginning of pre season, nowadays results mean nothing, its good to see a win and its good to see some goals, but friendlies are no longer any gauge of how good a team is, they are merely steps in getting players fit and used to playing games, Real Sociedad themselves used almost as many players as Saints.
The crowd of 8,434 was reasonable, but at £18 a ticket I knew many season ticket holders who felt that it was just too much money for a game of this nature, up until recently aints used to get big gates at their friendlies, by keeping the prices low they perhaps took more money through the gate, had a decent crowd and atmosphere, but perhaps more importantly encouraged the younger generation to come along and get the bug, perhaps next season thinking will change of ticket prices.