I'm not sure if I could cope with losing either of them. I certainly couldn't choose which is the lesser of 2 evils. I think Gradel suits our playstyle a little more with his extremely aggressive attacking approach, he's got a better eye for goal and he covers every blade of grass, twice, every game. He's also much fitter, although where he doesn't tire physically, I think he certainly tires mentally. His decisions got worse during that period where you could see Snodgrass was knackered, I think Gradel was knackered too. Snodgrass has a far superior footballing brain, however. He reads the game better and proves better quality through the middle of the park. He's also stronger. The two players are so different yet so similar in so many ways and any Championship club could count themselves lucky to have one of them, let alone both.
Marko thats why it works so well is because one side, you have a very pacey player and the other a skillful player with a good football brain, teams struggle to deal with two different type of players
Here's a good point about Grayson that hasn't been mentioned (or even picked up on) probably by anyone except me. He made a fantastic tactical move in our last couple of games of last season. Throughout both of those matches Snodgrass and Gradel would occassionally swap wings. It was extremely effective, and their fullbacks couldn't handle it. The amount of confusion and pure onslaught from these 2 machines proved too much. I hope this trend continues.
He's always switched the wingers over. I remember one game where I noticed that we'd be better switching Snoddy over and he did it about five minutes later. It depends on the full backs. It's better for Max to be up against the one that struggles for pace and Snoddy the one that can't deal with movement.
One thing that worked really well against Spurs in the FA Cup was playing Snoddy through the middle. I can't understand why he hasn't done it in the league. I think we'd have done far better against Swansea lining up like that.
It wasn't just that he swapped them. It was like every 10 or 15 minutes they'd swap sides. It wasn't about having each winger deal with the fullback they were strongest with, it was to overwhelm and confuse both fullbacks into submission. It was brilliant and I hadn't noticed it until the end of the season.
I assume the lack of Snodgrass in the middle is down to the preference for Howson there, which does make sense seeing as it's the only position he seems capable of performing in. Snodgrass causes just as much damage down the line anyway and still manages to pull make some great passes.
I tend to agree with you but i think many people underestimate what howson does, i think that whole attacking midfield system works very well with gradel, howson, snodgrass, who in my view are our best 3 players
I've been calling for Jonny Howson to be played in that position since before he made his debut, so you don't need to tell me how effective he is in it. But it's not the only position he's capable of performing in. It just gives him the opportunity to show his class in the final third. I didn't mean Snodgrass should play centrally all the time, but it worked very well against superior opposition so I'd like to have seen it against the better teams.
Swapping them around also gives us variation between having them cutting in for passes and shots on goal or hugging the line and putting crosses in. It would be interesting to, if Howson is injured or needs a rest, try a fluid 3 with Snoddy, Max and Nunez/Sam to really confuse the opposition defence.
Not telling you how effective Howson's been, anyone with eyes in their head should know that... just explaining the Snodgrass not playing there situation. One fault of the manager's (I have to be careful here ) is his overuse of Howson who he seems to feel he has to include at all costs. Where else do you think Howson could play except perhaps up front? He always looks lightweight in centre midfield and completely clueless when he's been put on the wing other than the odd defence-splitting pass on irregular occasion. True. Against Swansea away for instance, where they weren't playing a holding midfielder of any sorts. Playing Snodgrass behind the striker there could have been a great move.
I might be wrong, but I think Snodgrass played as a second striker for Livingston before he came to Leeds. When we play the 3 behind a striker, Howson, Gradel and Snoddy can rotate and roam, which makes them so hard to mark. Imagine that if we had 2 actually good holding players behind them.
It was just a turn of phrase, Donald. I'm Jonny Howson's biggest fan but I don't know why he played every game. Players like Bradley Johnson can play every game but the more creative players need a rest, from time to time, so they can be at their sharpest. Becchio was the one player we couldn't afford to rest, yet he was rested more than anyone. Swansea was exactly the game I was thinking of. I don't think Grayson gave them enough respect.
We shouldn't have too much of a problem resting Howson next season with the likes of Nunez, Snodgrass, Gradel and perhaps McCormack capable of playing that 'Number 10' style role in behind Becchio. If we can keep hold of Gradel, we shouldn't really have to worry about our attacking Quartet. Be interesting to see what role Nunez gets in pre season. From what I've seen he seems to have an abundance of creativity and vision, which is a rarity in this division.
He could make a decent playmaker, filling the "void" that kilkenny left, not that it's that much of one.
I'm sure I remember McCormack going on as an attacking mid in one game... oh that's right I do remember it. Can't recall which game it was mind.
Well yeah, but Larry for some reason never gave Nunez the chance that he deserved. He's shown by his spell at Scunthorpe that he's more than capable of making an impact and hopefully he will be able to give us some impetus for the new season. It's like a new transfer as I'm sure that he'll be playing consistently within our squad this season, unlike last.
The difference is that Somma is fighting for a spot that can only be occupied by one player with our current system. Yes he's been unfortunate, but it would be difficult to take Becchio out of the team in his place. I'd love for us to be able to accommodate both Somma and Becchio in the same starting XI, but 4-4-2 didn't seem to suit both when they played together earlier in the season. Plus 4-4-2 would make the likes of Howson, Snoddy and Gradel less effective, due to the more defensive outlook that they would have to take up.
