I was not offended by you referring to me as a '****' 23 more that you likened my jokes to that of Bernard Manning who is known for his Homophobic jokes which I thought was more in line with the **** comment than anything I said. I apologise if you misinterpreted my post as a accusation.No attempt to get you Banned, and I did have to look up the word Insidious which was a tad harsh I thought.
I think what it is, is that every manager wants to include Wes in some way as he can make things happen and create something out of nothing.
i agree kemp, but by playing him out of position we seriously neutralise his ability to do just that! not to mention the fact it completely unbalances the rest of the side. this was one of the issues hughton had and he was seriously criticised for not trying to find a way of fitting him into our side, but actually adams is proving why hughton was right not to. its a different level of football now but still wes is a problem for us. he either has to play behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1 or god forbid at the tip of a diamond, or not at all if we employ the 4-4-2 we are currently using. hopefully we'll see the 4-2-3-1 reinstated on saturday. no doubt people will moan that it's 'only rotherham' and 'why are we playing one up front?' but that is the formation and system which suits our players. i also hope howson is included in the starting line up at the expense of johnson who has taken a serious dip in form lately. i'd possibly start garrido ahead of olsson too - he's been disappointing so far this season. i'd take jerome out of the starting eleven and reinstate lafferty, either on the left, or upfront and move grabban out left.
Totally agree with supers, Hoolahoops can only be effectively deployed centrally, diamond is very risky and the midfield can too easily get overrun. Wes behind Jerome for me. Redmond also must be played on the right. Then Lafferty, Grabban (could do with a rest, him or Jerome) or Murphy (we lack midfield goals) on the left. As for the middle it's hard to argue against Johnson + Tettey when they have dominated in a number of the games so far. However I agree with supers again, time to not only use the squad, with Howson fit, but use his extra go forward and attacking nous. If Johnson's form has dipped, then he should make way. I periodically have tuned into radio norfolk in the past but cannot recall any criticism from Adams of playing Wes out of position, maybe some for not playing him at all. But that may just be my own squewd recollections from mine and others opinions on this board. Bah!
Excellent OP, Supers, provoking a good discussion (though I skipped over the WUMs in the middle pages). At 32, Wes isn't going to be able to play every game this season, so we should plan for that. Like others, I think the 4-2-3-1 is our best formation and it's perfect for Wes. Both Grabban and Lafferty can play wide (but not as wingers) and the 4-2-3-1 allows the FBs to play as wing-backs and provide six attacking players against packed defences. I'd also like to see Howson and Tettey in mid-field in those situations, starting against Rotherham, which is now a must win. I'm becoming more and more convinced by Adams, but my chief concern is the recent use of the 4-4-2 with Wes out of position on the wing.
I also think a 4-2-3-1 is the best way to go, I don't rate Hooper as much as you do though for me it would be Jerome or Grabban depending who's in form. In a 4-2-3-1 Wes does look pretty handy and it gives us the 5 man midfield that you need to try and tee off from the half way line and run the midfield. With the quality and pace we have on the wings with Murphy and to a lesser degree Redmond we should be miles ahead of most teams in this division, especially with Wes, Tettey and or Howson in midfield. I dislike the 4-4-2 system as it is both old, can be very unbalanced and also virtually hands control of the midfield over to the team playing a 5 man midfield. No brainer for me to totally ditch it. Just as a side note: I'm doing my FA level 1 coaching this weekend and can't wait! I've been helping to coach/manage a under 7's team and looking forward to learning a bit and helping the kids develop.
great to hear kemp. hope it all goes well. there are a couple of others on here also taking their coaching badges - can't recall who - but you'll learn loads and it'll give you a different outlook on the game.
yep, a few. you have to have an fa certificate level 2 amongst other health and safety requirements to take the course though.
I think this ties in with Supers comment above about Olsson lacking form. Because he doesn't have a proper winger ahead of him, is he being restricted in an attacking sense more than he would be with a genuine wide player? I wonder if Olsson's less inclined to try and get beyond Lafferty/Grabban/Hoolahan because none of them would pick up his defensive duties? At times he's got the freedom of the left flank and it might be that he's too concerned about exposing the CB's to fully utilise that. I did mine about 5 years ago now, great fun and definitely learned an awful lot.
I also wonder if the 442 is hurting Brad and Alex form. They are more limited in go forward and passing options in front of them and certainly close infront of them. C'mon Neil 4 2 3 1 you know it makes sense. No coincidence that everyone looked better, more comfortable in that formation. Bah!
I think Howson's our only CM who could play in a 4-4-2 comfortably, I don't see Tettey or Johnson as having the all-round game for it, which makes 4-4-2 before Howson's fit all the more baffling.
Excellent post RER. I read the first few comments, then ignored the dross in the middle and also hope that Wes won't be in the starting 11 for every game. Eddie Howe worked out how to neutralise him and I'm sure other managers have seen that too. OK, it may be a week or two before Howson etc are fully fit, but I'm really hoping for a few tweaks to the starting 11 after the international break.
I'm sure most teams visiting Carrow Rd will look to combat us with a 5 man midfield. We need to do the same, though am I right in thinking that the first half failures that we've experienced up till recently have all been with the 4231 set up??? I may be wrong, it happened once in the 80's too.
Personally I think that whilst we have a decent haul of points thus far we could certainly do much better. Despite playing well for prolonged periods in most games we have also had periods when we have been over run by frankly ordinary teams. I think that this season (in stark contrast to last) we have had the rub of the green with a number of key goals for us arising from deflections and on Saturday an OG. Whilst I accept that in this division we are likely to have more possession and territory and so are probably going to have more shots to deflect in than our opponents I do feel that at some point our luck will turn and the ball will start deflecting off target or onto the post and out. Had some of these attempts not gone in at key points in the game we could just as easily be sitting with 12 or so points in mid table with an awful lot more moaning going on. I do think that we are currently flattering to deceive. I am concerned that our performance level is inconsistent and the NA seems to play his perceived best 11 players rather than the best team and formation we can field and that we are not achieving as much as we could. I get that a lot of teams will come flying out of the traps against us and tire late on increasing the likelihood of us getting a disproportionate number of late goals but wouldn't it be nice if we could go the odd game without falling behind or heaven forbid actually score in the first half! With the squad at his disposal NA should have the capacity to win this division. We have a first XI as good as any in this league and a second XI capable of finishing upper mid table. When fatigue and injuries/suspensions start kicking in around Christmas the strength of our squad will, I am sure prove to be a telling factor in the league. I am in the unusual position of us being top of the league with real quality to come back into the squad and yet worrying that if our luck turns we will see a drift back down the table when I feel that we have significantly better resources than pretty much anyone else in the league. My mark for our first 10- matches would be a B-, decent start but plenty of scope to improve.
