Stekelenburg and Briggs are still out and, allegedly, Dejagah has a calf injury. Hughes and Ruiz are subject to late fitness tests which, in the case of Bryan at least, is as well because I just cannot see a place for him in the side for Saturday. A player that I believe must be selected is Zverotic but then of course I’d expect Riether to be an automatic choice. However, since Jol has no obvious right wing person at the present, this would be an ideal time to play Zveotic in front of Riether. Both can bomb up the wing and deliver crosses but, just as importantly, be strong defensively on that side. I say that because a definite threat from Cardiff will be Whittingham (someone I still think we should have signed the summer before last) on their left flank. We’ll need to be equally strong on the right side with Bellamy out there and I would keep Amorebieta at left back. Harsh on Richardson maybe, since he had a decent game against Chelsea. I just think Amore gives that bit more, especially with his forward passing. And anyway, Senderos who would be the likely one to drop out otherwise, has been playing fine. So that’s us sorted defensively - although I believe it gives us a deal of attacking pace up both wings. What about the main attack? Bent and Berba must play and I’d keep Kaca on the left, which leaves two midfield places. Parker will automatically take one. The other is between Sidwell, Kara and Kasami. We ought to be positive about pushing through the middle in support of wing play so I’d rule out Sidwell (not because but he won’t run forward but because his passing lacks vision and are too similar, positionally). On the basis of experience and the buzz he gives the team, I’m tempted to go for Kara but I just cannot see how Kasami cannot play after his recent performances. My starting line-up is therefore - ………………..Stockdale…………. ..Riether…..Senderos…Hangeland…..Amorebieta… ….Zverotic……Parker……Kasami.. ………..Berbatov………………….Kaca….. ………………….Bent……….
You may find that Bellers will be on the bench and Odemwingie will start. Mackay will set up for a draw and we are very difficult to break down and we have the pace and firepower to counter attack. Should be a good game though as both sides will see this as 3 points.
We will get more possession against you, and therefore create more chances, we were outplayed and outclassed against a very good Spurs outfit last week and with a little luck we may have pinched a point. Personally i will be disappointed if we dont take at least a point from your place. Should be like a home match for us judging by the amount of tickets we have bought/aquired. Plus we always seem to do well at Craven Cottage.
I think Jol will start with Berba and Bent up front, and he'll want to find a place for Kasami after his recent form. Amorebieta will start, but I'm not sure in what position. I think Taarabt will get the nod over Kaca on the left. Here's my guess (nb, this is what I'm expecting Jol to pick, not necessarily what I would pick.) Stockdale Reither / Hangeland / Amorebieta or Senderos / Amorebieta or Richardson Sidwell / Parker Kasami / Berbatov / Taarabt Bent If that is the team, I think it will have the effect of us playing very narrow - neither Kasami or Taarabt are touchline-huggers. On the plus side, lots of creativity in there. I hope Mesca makes the bench and gets a chance to come on.
Possession doesn't always equal chances. Take our team last year, we'd always be on top, possession-wise, but have very few shots on goal. I hope your arrogance comes back to haunt you.
My theory is don't change a winning team, even if it means a top player is kept on the bench. ………………..Stockdale…………. ..Zverotic…..Senderos…Hangeland…..Amorebieta… ….…Karagounis..…Parker……Kasami.....Kaca.... ………..Berbatov……….Bent………. but if not I'd go for ………………..Stockdale…………. ..Riether…..Senderos…Hangeland…..Amorebieta… ….....…..…Parker……Sidwell............ ................….Kasami…........... …....Taarabt.....……..Berbatov… ……………........…….Bent………...... Despite Stockdales good performance on tuesday I'd still be a lot happier with Stekelenberg being back, just seems to give the defense more confidence. Same goes with Hughes for Senderos.
[video=youtube;4F7XKMit_yc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F7XKMit_yc&feature=youtu.be[/video] Good interview, addresses the Boateng and Dejagah 'mysteries' and full of praise for Kasami.
Taarabt's the one he seems to be playing this week. And then there was the sneaky mention of Bryan towards the end. Mesca was playing for the U21s last night (as was Chris David) so I don't think he'll make the 18. Listening to the video interview, I think you're right about who he'll select Captain. My only query is that while he played up Kasami, as Bidley rightly pointed out, he kept saying he doesn't score enough goals, and then slipped in Bryan's name. Like you that line-up wouldn't be my choice because it is too narrow (as you say) and I don't think has that magical 'balance'. However as the man himself said, "we all have opinions, but I have to make the decisions". Let's hope he makes the correct ones.
If I've read you correctly, I think it depends what context you heard it in. I heard him more suggesting that Bryan doesn't score enough either, despite bagging loads in Holland. We'll see!
Interesting interview. Jol's highlighted what I think our biggest problem is this season. We had effective wingers last year and our drop in performance coincided with DJ's injury. I guess having wingers with goal threats means more space in the middle for our finishers to do their job. You can tell he is desperate for one of, kaka, Ruiz, duffers, dj, Tarrabt, mesca, to step up to that role. Playing kaka on the right against Everton seemed effective. I have a problem with Kasami on the wing though. He used to move way out of position too often and when playing on the right would turn up on the left. Surely one of these players will want to be no 1 more than the others. I would agree with captains team but would see kaka on the right rather than Kasami. As a matter of interest for those of you who watched the Everton game, could zverotic play on the right, he sounds like he enjoys going forward quite a bit.
Totally agreed Captain. With 2 holding midfielders shielding our defence, I would love to see Riether and Richardson flying up the flanks, supporting midfield and whipping in a few early crosses.
Most definitely, froggy, and his crossing was as good as Riether's. As I said in my earlier post I'd play him ahead of Riether - would give us lots of pace on the right and good defensive cover when needed. Separately, playing Kaca on the right against Everton didn't work.
I didn't see the Everton match. Was Zverotic that good C58? Surely Jol wouldn't drop last years player of the season...or would he? It make a nice change to have decent cover in almost every position. I'm going tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get a chance to see him play.
Sorry Bobby, I didn't mean instead of Riether I meant on the right in front of him - my original post (hopefully) explains this better. And yes, he was that good. That said, I don't believe Jol will do this tomorrow. He has made the point that Zverotic can play in more than one position (right midfield is where he plays for Montenegro after all) but I suspect that Jol sees him, as you said, mainly as cover for Riether.
Very interesting comments about width, he is right about getting it right. Although I would not have put Dempsey's success here because he played so wide. You can see what he wants to get from Adel Taarabt and he wants to gel with Taarabt - Ruiz - Berbatov - Bent at the core of our attack. Mayb one too many, bbut let's see. And it great to see that he continues to allow tough questions and answer them (compare that to some of our more sensitive managers). C O Y W !!!!
I don't think isawronny was being arrogant at all - understand what he's actually saying before condemning him. I think he was trying to make the point about possession in relation to our previous game against Spurs. We only seemed to get the ball when they didn't want it mate.... This should be different. There certainly will be no underestimation of you lot by Malky, but he will be looking for a slightly different game plan. He's not going to change from our previous overall defensive set up, but I expect him to adopt a slightly more aggressive approach. If we do get to see more of the ball further up the pitch, it's reasonable to expect us to have more strikes on goal rather than having to make up 70 yards to get there.
Not quite sure how else I'm supposed to interpret that, it looked an awful lot like he was saying you'd have more possession than us and create more chances, which is a bit presumptuous. But that's a fair comment. Should be a good game.
I can see why you saw it that way, but then again I know the poster that wrote it and he ain't like that. Good game indeed. I've said on our board that this game is actually far more important to us than our Spurs game last week - you know the reason why.
