One or two little dilema's for Jol in his team selection this weekend. Aaron Hughes is fit so who plays with Hangeland? What does he do about the troublesome RB position (Kelly was poor against the Villa; Simon Davies played RB for the reserves on Tuesday)? Should Diarra be in the starting line up? Should he start with Duff or Ruiz? My preference would be for the stability of Hughes/Hangeland. Senderos didn't have bad game against Villa by any means but he did (and does) get pulled out of position leaving Hangeland looking over his shoulder to see where Senderos is and out of his left eye to see where the heck JAR should be. The two H combination just seem more in tune when it comes to reading the game. I also believe we need to create space on the flanks, so I'd go for - --------Schwartzer---------- Davies -- Hughes--Hangeland---Riise ---------Murphy------ --Dempsey-----Dembele----Duff-- ------------Ruiz--- ------------Pog------
muppet's harsh! I would stick AJ in ,although Swansea aren't physical so maybe C58's call on Ruiz is inspired. He might be allowed a bit of room to play? Agree on Hughes. Senderos is committed but I can't look when he gets the ball. Davies? I know what you mean about Kelly but I'd stay with him.
As ever, I disagree with the pro-Hughes lobby. This is a game against arguably the best team in the league at keeping possession and passing it around. When we lose the ball, we can't expect to get it back easily. That makes a very strong case for Senderos, whose distribution is much better than Hughes'. Hughes falls too quickly into just lumping a ball forward, rather than patiently building up a move. Against some teams, we can get away with that; against Swansea that's just inviting them to have all the possession. I know some of you still don't trust Senderos, but it's almost always expressed with a disclaimer of 'I know he did all right in the last game, but...' I think some of us are still judging him on the basis of his dodgy spell with Arsenal a few years back, and judging Hughes on his exceptional couple of seasons under Roy. If we just look at what the pair of them have done this year, things aren't as clear cut as that. I think Senderos is Hughes' equal defensively (at least), and his superior in possession. I've got nothing against Hughes - he's been great for us and I do rate him - but he's not the best choice for his position any more. Because of the passing thing, I'd pick Baird ahead of him, to be honest.
I've got to agree with the Captain, Senderos has been decent this season. I know he's been played out of position a lot, but even when he's played centre back Hughes hasn't looked his usual self. Also can definitely see the logic in picking Ruiz. I wouldn't put him in for Duff though, behind Pog sounds a better choice.
Because AJ is one of the very few recognised forwards that we have, doesn't make him an automatic choice. But I presume that isn't why you would select him to start in this game, Spoon. Well, I'll tell you why I wouldn't. AJ puts in a tremendous amount of effort in every game and against poor sides like QPR and Wolves that pays off. However agains an organised side, and Swansea are well organised, he invariable ends up running around like a headless chicken. Also he can't hold onto the ball. As the Captain says, if you lose the ball in their half, and in particular their final third, it might be a long while before you see it again. Ruiz, playing centrally and higher up (his Twente role) will keep them more occupied and his distribution is infinitely better. Therefore more choices -players running wide; players running from behind him. Simple.
AJ offers more of an outlet with his running of the channels. and his chemistry with pog has been so encouraging i wouldn't change it. I guess we'll see what fat man jol thinks
Looks like: --------Schwarzer---------- Kelly -- Senderos--Hangeland---Riise ---------Diarra------ --Dempsey-----Dembele----Ruiz-- ---------AJ---------Pog------ Nice to be able to rest Murphy without a significant downgrade, but it will be interesting to see how well Diarra does in that role.
