So 3 signings in and a few out, so how are we going to be playing in the new season ? MAF will be expecting some results from his big investment Ruiz this year. So, can we assume that we are going to work the formation around getting the most out of him ? It seems that Dembele is hopefully staying so we have a spine to work off in him, Hangeland and now Rodellega. So where does Ruiz fit into things. I feel we will play 4 - 2 -3 -1, with Rodellega roaming around up top to free up space for the 3 behind him. If Dembele stays he will slot into the Murphy role alongside Diarra to provide a bit of steel. If Demps stays he can continue on the left, if he goes in comes Frei or Kaca. I would like to see Kaca on the left and Frei on the right, just to see if it works. They may be too inexperienced to risk playing both but offensively it could be very exciting. Duffers is still well worth the right wing as well. That leaves Ruiz to float around the middle looking for the runs into the box. With a bit of pace from Rodellega up front we should hopefully see plenty of goals. Petric will give Ruiz some competition which will hopefully bring out the best in them both. Whatever Jol decides to do, he and his management team have made a great start to the summer trading. COYW
I really don't see Rodallega as an automatic starter. I think you are right that Jol will play with one man up top but I think it may be Carroll, which I wouldn't be too disappointed with considering how well he did for Newcastle. If Dempsey goes then he will need to be replaced, make no mistake. It's all well and good saying either Kaka or Frei can step in but can they replace Clint's goals and assists? Not quite yet. I can see us signing Narsingh to replace Dempsey and Carroll signed up front, which will be our summer spending. Jol is signing freebies to save money for a big signing, Carroll being that.
Would Carroll suit us any more than he would Liverpool? Our midfield, as it stands, is easy our strongest area. Long balls to the target man would take them out.
Carroll throws an interesting option into the mix. I don't think it is necessarily true that we would lob a long ball to Carroll to get on to the end of (we will sometimes clearly but it won't be the first option) and Carroll could open up space for people like Dembele and Ruiz to run into by dragging centre backs out of position. I think he would add an interesting dimension providing us with more options and, whilst I am not his biggest fan, if he came to us I'd be more than happy with our market activity this summer. Of course, talk of him actually walking through the gates of Craven Cottage may just be pie in the sky.
Agreed Fulhaman, this does pose an interesting idea. I have not been a big fan of Carroll but was very impressed with his performnces at the euros. I have 2 issues though: Dempsey has said he will only leave for champions league football and Liverpool are some way off of that, so if the swap deal that is being mooted were to happen, what does Dempsey gain. Secondly, Carroll is on 60,000 a week with 10,000 image rights and 5,000 performance bonus, we cannot offer that sort of wages. Not denying he would be a great acquistion though.
Watching Carroll playing for England this summer, it struck me that he played the Zamora role, but lacked the touch to bring team-mates into play as effectively. He was good at holding it up, but not as effective at laying it off accurately. Given that Zamora didn't fit Jol's pattern of play, someone who does the same role less effectively isn't appealing. As a goalscorer, he's far better than Bobby, but I'm still not convinced he's a good fit for the style Jol wants to play. Bandit's issue of whether Liverpool played with one or two strikers is, I think, irrelevant (sorry Bandy - you've not convinced me you're right on everything yet!). The thing I kept hearing last season about the difference between Carroll at Liverpool and Carroll at Newcastle was that Newcastle set their team up to deliver early crosses into the box for him to fight for. We've got wingers who can do that - Kacaniklic and Davies are probably the best two if that's the main criteria - but that isn't how Jol has set up his teams so far. I saw an article last season that commented on how attacked more through the centre and with less width than any other team in the Premier League. Maybe that will have to change now that Danny Murphy has gone, but of all the teams outside the top six I can't think of one that seems a less natural fit style-wise for making the most of Andy Carroll. If he can't fit a Brendan Rodgers team, I'm not at all sure he would fit Martin Jol's Fulham. If we get him permanently and build a team around him, fair enough. If he's just on loan for a season, I think it would be a mistake to completely reshape the team to make him fit. Even if he does join permanently, I'm not at all convinced that Jol wants to play that style of football. That said, the rumours about us wanting him do have a ring of truth about them, and Jol knows what he's doing far more than I do. If we sign him I'll be excited, but I'll also be more than a little concerned that it could all go horribly (and expensively) wrong.
