RTB I see you have shuffled the pack somewhat on your selection of the starting 11. I reckon we are all trying to think how we can play best without specialist strikers. Its, Imho, I don't have a clue. Clarke has been good in the last few games, Pritchard and Roberts poor... Do we bring in a couple of the young new players. Is Cirkin fit? Alese has often been MoM! Who would be dear old Eeyore our manager.. If we can score 2 or 3 goals we will win!
Mowbray has a bit of previous with this ref.... https://www.lancs.live/sport/footba...ers-referee-mowbray-huddersfield-22628161.amp
Striker problems not solved. TM not knowing his best team/formation. It’s gonna be a tough afternoon, with Wyke & Broadhead scoring. 0-2 tho I hope I’m wrong Bart
Tony's Presser: https://safc.com/news/team-news/2022/october/wigan-athletic/press-conference-wigan-home
I'll pinch your team and put Alese at LCB with Cirkin on the bench to come on later. I'd drop Pritchard for Matete, I think he's due a fair crack of the whip he's looked good every time I've seen him in this league.
Has to be a win me thinks. The negativity is starting to creep in and this league is unforgiving. Can not go handfuls of games without getting the big 3 points. Touch calls to be made, still no stiker really damages us though. I would have Cirkin back in immediately. I see another draw here though unfortunately.
I'd say he's our best defender so he needs to be in the team. It's a tricky one because who do you then drop?
Agree on all points, especially the negativity bit. We started the season well but reality setting in now. Assuming Stewart can play the 2nd half of the season without injury then we should be comfortable but it's going to be a ropey ride between now and December. I think we'll finish somewhere near top of the bottom half, but lose these sorts of games and we could easily be sucked into the bottom 6. We are only 2 points from 6th bottom as it stands. Wins need to happen. Home wins need to happen
In central midfield ? not the perfect answer, but the best option imo. Little to chose between Cirkin and Alese both are top drawer and should start. It might be too late bringing one or the other on after 60 mins.
My lineup tomorow would be a formation change and Embleton dropped for Cirkin.. 3-4-3. ....................... Pato.................... ...........Onien...Batth...Alese....... Gooch............Ba......Neil........Cirkin. ......................Pritchard.............. Robert's.................................Clarke Not ideal with Pritchard playing central. He'd play the false #9 role similar to what Firminho does for Liverpool at a much lesser level obviously, but what else are we meant to do? Like I've said numerous times Alese cant be dropped, it's not fair on him or the team the way hes been playing. Cirkins a big player for us, so this is the only way I can see them both playing together in the same starting 11. Wigan play with a front 3 of Broadhead, Wyke and Keane which is a pretty potent strikeforce, so I think a back 3 would be a good way to keep them at bay and help stop any crosses into the box for them.
Journalist James Copley admits it was interesting that Sunderland youngster Max Thompson didn’t start in their last Premier League 2 clash amid the club’s striker woes. Sunderland enjoyed a blistering start to the season and were even inside the play-off places at one point, but cruel injuries to the likes of Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms have seen them struggle in the final third with the side scoring just one goal in their last three league games and have fallen down the table. Stewart is now not expected to be back in first-team action until after the World Cup according to Phil Smith, and while Simms is now back in training, this weekend will come too soon, according to Copley, so it could be a chance for youngster Thompson to shine. The summer signing didn’t start for the Under-21s against Leeds United in their PL2 clash on Wearside, which Copley admitted on The Roar podcast was interesting considering the club’s issues going forward. Discussing a recent vote between Sunderland fans on who should start up front for the Black Cats against Wigan Athletic this weekend, he said: “Max Thompson is actually leading that vote with 53.1%. Jack Clarke has 36% and Alex Pritchard has 8.1%, with a smattering of votes for the ‘Other’ [option]. “What’s interesting is that Max Thompson didn’t start against Leeds for the Under-21s and hasn’t really looked anywhere near the Sunderland first-team squad yet.” Thoughts on Thompson… As Tony Mowbray has shown quite often this season, he isn’t afraid to hand youngsters a chance at Championship level if they are good enough and performing well in training, with Amad Diallo and Jewison Bennette among those to feature thus far. However, given that Thompson is yet to even be named on the bench this season despite Sunderland’s lack of options at centre-forward that would perhaps suggest he’s not quite ready to cut it at this level. Although, Mowbray may well have instructed the Under-21s to rest Thompson as he could be in line to feature at the weekend for the first team as they look for answers in the final third.
CLARKE AS A STRIKER? Tony Mowbray is considering the idea of playing Jack Clarke as a number 9 against Wigan, rather than Amad Diallo. IN BEHIND "Jack is a strong boy, stronger than he looks, I would suggest. He's fast and direct, and we needed to stretch the pitch and threaten the space behind them. It's really hard, with total respect to Pritch and Patrick and Embleton, it's really hard to get them to run without the ball in behind the opposition and make their defenders think about the space behind." MISSING S&S "We put Jack up there and he can run fast, and he got a break and ran away and whacked it in. Let's see if he can do it again for us some time, but of course I would prefer Ellis or Ross to be doing that for us." ROBERTS/AMAD "Patrick Roberts has got this amazing left foot and can dance around people, while Amad is quicker and more lithe, more direct, but he needs to add goals and assists because that's what your career has to be about if you play up front. Nobody is interested in some lovely nutmegs and turns, they want to see goals and assists." RELUCTANT TO SHOOT "We've spoken about Amad, in terms of encouraging him to shoot more often rather than always looking to beat that extra player. I do think he prefers to play off the right-hand side, cutting on his left foot. I watched him a lot at Rangers last season and played off the right. We're constantly encouraging him to shoot. He seems reluctant to shoot at this moment, and he has been getting battered by most of the coaching staff! He seems to constantly want to chop back onto his left foot, and still wants to dummy the last guy. I don't think he's the kind of centre forward who plays off the shoulder, waiting patiently for the chance to burst in behind. I think he wants to get on the ball, chop onto that left foot. It's about trying to change habits of a lifetime with some of the players at the moment." DOUBLING UP "The team is functioning at a good level, but putting the ball in the back of the net in the last three or four has been a challenge for us. Teams watch you, they see how you play, the last couple of opposition managers have told me how focused they have been on our wide attackers, seeing their threat. They've seen Patrick Roberts dancing inside and scoring at Reading, Jack Clarke the same. They're doubling up and focusing on that threat, so all of a sudden it becomes a more difficult challenge. That's our conundrum."
Should be routine and measured, like regular use of squad players in the U21's. the less demarcation in the camp the better for the long term .
