So this seems to be the squad to start the season off at Ipswich Goalkeepers Stekelenberg, Bettinelli, Jorenen Defence Hoogland, Stefalydis, Hutchinson, Amorebieta, Burns, Voser, Bodurov, Zverotic, Burgess, Kavanagh, Grimmer Midfield Eisfeld, Parker, Tunnicliffe, Chihi, R.Williams, Christensen, Hyndman Attacking Midfield Kacaniklic, Roberts, Dembele, G. Williams, David, Bangna, Forwards McCormack, Rodallega, Woodrow, Ruiz, Mitroglou, Taggart, Trotta, I'd pick Bettinelli Hoogland Hutchinson Burn Stefalydis Eisfeld Tunnicliffe Dembele David Rodallega Woodrow but I doubt if Magath will pick Burn, Tunnicliffe or David, instead it will be Voser, Parker, Kacaniklic? think he'll pick an unexpected forward like Ruiz or Mitroglou instead of Hugo or Cauley
My team would be, GK Joronen DEF Hoogland, Hutchinson, Burgess, Burn. MID Parker, Hyndman. FOW Mc Cormack, Dembele, Roberts, Mitroglou. Subs Stekelenberg ~ Voser ~ Kacaniklic ~ Woodrow ~ Eisfeld
Don't agree with either of those selections guys. However I'll save my two-penneth until after tomorrow's Training Day session.
Predicting the lotto is easier than predicting Magath's teams, however I'll give what I think should/will start. ------------Joronen------------ Voser--Hutch--Amore--Stafylidis ------------Parker-------------- ---Eisfeld-----------R. Williams-- ------------David--------------- ------Woodrow-----Hugo-------- Subs: Bettinelli, Burn, Hoogland, Zverotic, Kaca, Dembele, McCormack. I wouldn't start McCormack as I think he lacks match fitness as do Ruiz and Mitroglou. I don't think he'll play any players that are most likely to be leaving. I think Joronen slightly edges Bettinelli for the goalkeeping spot. I reckon he will play a narrow diamond in midfield and use the fullbacks for width. Voser gets up and down much better than Hoogland so I'd give him the RB spot. LB is a no brainer. The centre backs will be Hutchinson + 1 other. You can take your pick from Amore/Burn/Bodurov/Burgess but I'd go with Amorebieta for the experience. Parker is the only option at the base of the diamond and David is the best choice for the top so that just leaves LCM and RCM. I believe Eisfeld played as a RM for a lot of his time at Arsenal so he'd be comfortable as a RCM and Ryan Williams impressed me playing as a LCM against Rizespor so I'd give him that role. If Felix fancied playing Tunnicliffe I would have put him there but I don't see it happening so I've left him out. Up front McCormack will be our main striker but I don't think he's ready. Dembele has been in good form in pre-season but Hugo and Cauley work well together and are probably our two sharpest strikers so it makes sense to play them. That's my take on it. I'm sure I'll be looking back on it after the game on Saturday wondering how I got it so wrong.
Reports this morning 2 senior players who reported for training have injury problems. Anyone know who.
At the Training Day Tony Gayle introduced our 28 man squad, which did not include Stekelenburg or Trotta (who presumably are on the way out) nor Tunnicliffe or Cole or Mesca (who are presumably not in favour). Felix in his pep talk hyped the fact that it was a young team and that 5 of the squad were from the Academy - there’s something like 14 who have been in the Academy system so what I think he meant was that 5 were from last year’s U18 team. It was all very brisk - even Mitroglou - and lots of inter-passing exercises. Taggart I think is carrying an injury and only did light training however. Bryan, who came on a little after the rest, left the field early, so don’t know if he’s also injured or just on a different/belated training schedule to the others. There wasn’t any clear cut clues as to the pairings Felix might have in mind for the Ipswich game. Indeed he left the session clutching a dossier titled “Player Evaluation” which would suggest he hasn’t yet made up his mind. What is clear is that, as FI said, he’ll play the Diamond formation. The back is likely to be: ………………..Bettinelli………….. ..Hoogland…Hutchinson…Amorebieta..Stafylidis.. …………………Parker…. I’m going for that group because it’s an away game and slightly more defensive minded. Voser for Hoogland would add an attacking element, allowing Hoogland to come on for Parker if he flags over the 90 minutes. Amorebieta I’m still not convinced will stay and if it were a week later Bodurov would probably slot in instead. But I’ll stick with that as our starting line-up. Up front!? McCormack looked okay today, if a tad sullen, and I think will play. Mitroglou actually seemed to be enjoying himself but I really don’t think he’s match fit. Nor is Ruiz. Chihi will be there or thereabouts but not for Saturday. So I’m going to plump for: ………Eisfeld……David…….R Williams… …………….McCormack…….. …………………..Rodallega… Of course Felix and his dossier will prove me completely askew. PS .. just for rosc .. Hyndman, who looked really good and has developed physically quite a bit in the last 6 months or so, will play a big part this season for sure.
Thanks for that update Cottager, and especially your views on one of my tips for the top, Emerson Hyndman, who for me resembles a combination (only older postees will recall) the coolness of Jim Baxter the footballing brain of Bobby Moore, and ability of our own Jonny H
....................... Joronen.... ....................... Voser......... Hutchinson...... Bodurov ........ Stafylidis ......................... Parker................................ ......... Eisfeld ...................... ?????? ................. .......................... David................................... .............. Woodrow......... McCormack
Ryan Williams is suspended for the Ipswich game. He was sent off in the last game of last season. I'd be tempted to replace him with Hyndman or LVC in my selection. Either that or put David on the left and Chihi at the top of the diamond.
Right, I'd forgotten he got sent off in his last game for Oxford. Suppose Kaca is also a choice on the left or George W. Problem is if Stafydilis pushes forward we could be vulnerable to the break. I'd go for Hyndman.
I suggested Hyndman or LVC as I don't think we need a 'winger' which I think Kaca and G. Williams both are. I think a left sided centre midfielder suits that role better so Hyndman probably fits the bill best. And we know Felix rates him, judging by his comments tipping him to be involved with the US national team at the next World Cup.
Getting up in the morning is a challenge; predicting Felix's line ups is an impossibility. I can't remember the last time I knew so little about so many of our players.
In hiis lunch time press conference today Felix repeated a fair bit include in his ‘Club Statement’ (posted on the ‘Top 6’ thread). In building up his “new, young team” he said that he was not bothered by criticism from players who left - it was the players who left who were responsible for club's situation. When asked about Kostas Mitroglou he sighed, paused and went on to say, “ it was the wrong decision to sign Mitroglou in Jan. The striker is not used to English football.” He added that if Mitroglou wanted Champions League football he’s have to wait two years at least with Fulham and "Ross is the right player for us and English football." On Maarten Stekelenburg, he said the player wasn’t commited to the Club and he (Felix) wouldn’t stand in his way. Bryan Ruiz Felix said, 'had a great World Cup and I can understand he's not sure because he wants to play at the highest level” Rounding up, he said all three players were looking for new clubs and would not be selected for the Ipswich match. When asked about Amorebieta he laughed and said, two of Amorebieta, Burn, Burgess, Hutchinson and Bodurov will play tomorrow. Beyond that, which in itself still leaves us guessing, there were no clues as to the starting XI.
Edited highlights from press conference on video: [video=youtube;ma-aCYWDTtg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma-aCYWDTtg&feature=player_embedded[/video] The Club have posted this as "Felix: Ready to Fight", yet clearly 'bottled' from including the juicy bits about the three senior players from last season. Instead we get the fine words referred to by SuperBri in the other thread and yes, a bit of passion. Pity really because as fans I'm sure we relate much more to 'names' and what the manager believes they bring (or not) to the team. All we get here is a hint that Ross McCormack may not be fit for Saturday.
Starting line-up: Joronen, Hoogland, Stafylidis, Bodurov, Burgess, Hutchison; Parker, Hyndman, David; McCormack, Dembele Subs: Bettinelli, Eisfeld, Roberts, Woodrow, Rodallega, Fotheringham and Burn.
That is a young team, certainly. I assume we'll be playing 5-3-2 with Hoogland and Stafy getting forward, because otherwise there is no real width. Think it should have been Voser ahead of Hoogland though. EDIT: Average age of our team is 23.8. Guess we do finally get to see youth given it's chance!
