No chance he will make it as he has ligament injury, gutted for him and us. http://www.swanseacity.net/news/article/chico-injury-648282.aspx
Yes saw this earlier. Shame but we have Monk or Bartley. I know most would prefer Monk but I'm not so sure. Bartley has been very impressive imo. Having said that, Monk is so experienced and has been to Wembley recently where he played exceptionally well. Difficult one for the Manager.
Feel sorry for Chico. Bad luck for the lad. Good luck in the final guys. You've been the best team in the competition by a mile and deserve it
No disrespect to Bradford, but Monk would fill the role against them and if you want to be sentimental then fine. But, there is a lot riding on this for next season, and I would want to go with the best center-half alongside Ash .... for me that's Bartley.
As well as Monk has filled in for us, I would select Bartley. Bradford have a beast of a centre forward in Hansen and they tormented Villa from the set piece scoring some goals. They have a definite aerial threat and that's where they will look to attack us when they get the chance. Monk's experience won't count when the ball is flying over his head. We need Bartley's height, in my opinion. If we have the game won, or if Bartley struggles then by all means bring Monk on because he deserves a cup final appearance.
Monk = experienced ,played there before , no nonsense defender who will lump it forward then deal with the situation as it develops, not the greatest header of a ball but will give his best Bartley = young ,inexperienced , tries to play in out from the back when sometimes the better option would be to lump it forward , tall good header of the ball and fitter than Monk. I'm glad that i don't have to choose but who ever gets the nod won't let us or themselves down .(I'd be happier if we weren't in this position though).
Really difficult one this. If we were against Premier League opposition I'd opt for Monk but seeing Bradford play Villa they did hoof it a bit and perhaps Bartleys extra height might swing it for him.
With all due respect to Bradford, I don't see them playing through us. If they do manage to do it, boy will we have problems. I think they will rely on two things. Firstly, the obvious set pieces, so we should watch the "iffy" tackles in our own half. Secondly, at every chance they will look to swing high crosses into our box looking for Hansen's (a BIG unit) head either for a goal or for supporting runners to feed off the flick-ons. I just feel that Bartley's strength, physique and speed is better suited to deal with that. If Bradford try to play their way through us then probably Monk with his greater experience would be the better shout. I don't think they believe they can do that and will play to their strengths ie stick it into the mixer and see what falls.
Could well be right there Ivor. Bartley is the better header of the ball but Monk may have a more galvonising effect when the bombardment comes in! im quite calm about it as i think Laudrup normally calls these things spot on . If we can keep the ball and tire them out im hoping that we will get goals in the secnd half but make no mistake this Bradford team are there on merit and deserve ultimate respect. The one thing in our favour is that its the first big final for our boys too so the will to win should be as strong as theirs, if we cant run through brick walls in our first cup final then when can we ?? That should even out the desire, we then move onto the tactics.Bradford will cause us problems but as long as we can contain their set pieces and limit their balls into the box we should create enough to trouble them. We all know a cup final means nothing in terms of league position but i see two teams who will be desperate to become legends and gain glory, something that more established clubs like Chelsea,Arsenal,Man utd and Liverpool take as a given in such finals sometimes.
gutted he is out but like said we have monk as cover and even Tate should be enough if needed...no problem really...
I would go with Bartley but only due to the Hoofball we'll be facing and his extra height. Keep Monk on the bench just in case. Tate shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the match day 18. Jack legend but not a first team player any more
Not for me , Rangel should be at rb with maybe tiendalli coming in off the bench. Lets do what we do best possession with purpose, the adrenaline will be pumping big time but if we can starve them of possession with our passing and quicker movement I can see us getting control of the game after the first thirty and then the final thirty minutes where it counts. During all games one team is always in the ascendancy during differing periods of the games, it's whoever finishes strongest usually prevails ! I am now going to lie down !
Sorry no, we've got options but I wouldn't include Rangel as one of them , weakening one position to accommodate another isn't a good idea. We'll be fine with either Monk or Bartley ,Tate I feel has had his time and would have a lot to do in training to convince Mr Laudrup otherwise
Big blow for Chico, dirty QPR scum! We do have good cover though, no doubt Bartley will come in, can't see us risking the Cup with Monk. He'd struggle with their aerial attack, they have some serious boys who can heart us at set pieces, we really need to nullify that, and we'll be ok!.............
He wouldn't want to do that, the same way he wouldn't want to put a goal past Newcastle!.................. please log in to view this image
