As the weekend is starting to approach my thoughts are turning to Sunday's match and our possible line up. My choice would be the following players in something like the following formation: ----------------------GREEN--------------------- -----CAULKER-----FERDINAND---ONUOHA----- ISLA ---------------------------------------TRAORE ---------------BARTON-------FER--------------------- ----------------------MUTCH------------------------- -----------------REMY------AUSTIN------------------- However, I would not be suprised if Harry (being Harry) would choose to play Dunne, or Hill, in place of Onuoha. I also do not know if the three midfield players would play flat or if one will play in "the hole". I have chosen Mutch for this more advanced position but it could easily be Fer, and after all, he has got our iconic number 10 shirt. Any thoughts or alternative formations?
Think it should be: ----------------------GREEN--------------------- -----CAULKER-----FERDINAND---ONUOHA----- ISLA ---------------------------------------TRAORE ---------------FER-------FAURLIN--------------------- ----------------------MUTCH------------------------- -----------------REMY------AUSTIN------------------- Faurlin’s first game back for about 9 months last week so not as fit or as sharp as he can be but still showed he is head and shoulders above Barton. Can’t afford to be as wasteful in possession as Barton is especially away from home. Also Onouha will have to start because we cant have Dunne getting in 1 on 1 situations against Aaron Lennon!!!
Faurlin v Barton for a place is an interesting one. I can only see Arry favouring Barton due to character although I am a fan of Faurlin. Onuoha v Dunne is another one - ultimately I'd like to see Nedum there (he was phenomenal towards the end of last season) but by all I have gleaned on Saturday's game, Dunne did very little wrong so it might be the same as last weekend in that position. I'm not much of an expert on formations but I do wonder if there are occult connections to what looks like an inverted Christmas tree?
Peter, your thoughts are interesting. I like the idea of playing Faurlin from the point of continuity and the need to "win places", but I envisage he would then be substituted. However, I personally cannot see Barton being dropped as he was the "on-field" captain last week. Anyway, it is a great dilemma to have!
Spurs dont have a lot of pace up front, be it Kane, Adebeyor or Soldado. They are all powerful, technical players who are good in the air. Therefore, a solid back three might be useful and I wouldnt put it past HR to select Dunne for his experience. However, if we are playing wing backs, then they have a job to do with Lamella and Lennon coming in with pace which WILL expose our back three. In this instance, you need your two central midfield players to do a lot of work helping out the back three when the wing backs are out of position, so I would probably suggest Fer and Barton might have the edge here. If spurs attack with their wingers and Erikson then we need the wing backs to work their way back into position as I can see us getting exposed and wouldn't be surprised to see spurs counter down the flanks and cut back to a free man in the box to get a shot away. I would start solidly and use Mutch/Austin/Remy as a creative trio to fashion as much as they can for themselves while our wingbacks join them on the counter attack. Spurs dont have a great back four if Vertongen is still disinterested as he was last season, we can definitely get at them if we can get the ball.
awjm posted this elsewhere on the match thread.... http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2014...orms-alexis-sanchez-and-everyone-else-in-key/ Barton did give the ball away too much last week, but also made six 'key' passes, creating goalscoring opportunities. It's easy to keep possession if you don't take any risks, playing sideways and backwards. I'd like to see both Barton and Faurlin in the side for Sunday, with either Mutch or Fer taking the third place and the other on the bench. Happy to see someone else take the set pieces though. James Ward-Prowse would do.
----------------------GREEN--------------------- -----CAULKER-----FERDINAND---ONUOHA----- ISLA ---------------------------------------TRAORE ---------------BARTON-------FER--------------------- ----------------------MUTCH------------------------- -----------------REMY------VARGAS------------------- I would choose this if Vargas has signed and is available
Apparently 60% of the time Barton’s passes work everytime!! Stats taken out of context are so misleading. I’m fairly certain that the ‘key passes’ are just the set pieces!! Of which only 1 was a genuinely ‘key pass’. Barton gave away short medium and long range passes. He doesn just give it away when trying a Hollywood pass. And with his low rate of conversion he tries it far too often. He should play the Shaun Derry role and know his limits. Tackle then pass to someone with ability. Worst offences I remember. 10 mins ago after the Hull goal having had virtually no possession and under a bit of pressure he picked the ball up near the half way line. Instead of getting hold of some possession and moving our way up he pitch he hit an aimless ball over the top and that went off for a goal kick. He also took a free kick in the second half near the centre circle after waving Rio away. Remember thinking Rio must think who the f*ck does this guy think he is as th ball went over everyone and straight out of play but probably still counted as a ‘key pass’. Worst of all was the free kick in the first half after Remy got away and Davies got booked. All day long that was meant for a left footer. Barton steps up and floats one harmlessly into the side netting. In his desire to be captain marvel he tries too much. Taking on passes that aren’t on, taking free kicks that he shouldn’t take. Faurlin was far more effective in possession and without. Also no one can say he takes the easy route and only passes sideways.
He was captain after all. As hit and miss as Barton's free kicks may be, I'm not sure Ferdinand is the best alternative, and I don't imagine a free kick going straight out of play would count as a key pass. We need an alternative set-piece taker. Perhaps Mutch or Fer will fit the bill.
It's great that we're beginning to be able to have these kind of discussions with genuine competition for places. Whether Faurlin or Barton (or both) start, and I slightly favour Barton, it bodes well for the season.
Was the sort of place on the pitch you would expect a centre back to take it. Ball floated in for an opportunity to head the ball on goal, could technically count as a ‘key pass’. Has to be the terrible set pieces that counted toward his tally because he definitely didn’t lay on six genuine goalscoring opportunities
I fully agree with your statement on competiton for places. The key will be to rotate the team (assuming they are all fit) and choose the best individuals for the the particular match - with the correct tactics. This is where I hope Hoddle will may provide added insight and value. The danger is to demotivate any potential players. But is is great to have real choice.
Fer on the bench for me, Ale and Barton in the middle and bring him on later, hasn't had enough time to fit into the team yet. IMO same team as last week except Isla (though you could argue a bench start for him as well), re-enforce the expected roll of wing backs but good to go.
I'd start Isla as Simpson looked way out of his depth last week. Plus we want Isla to fit in ASAP so he needs competitive game time to catch up. I think Fer should come in for Ali, as well as he played he needs to take it slowly. Plus I think it would good idea to rotate players regularly to get everyone playing regularly and keep legs fresh. Does make me laugh, 2 weeks ago a lot of people were close to suicide with our lack of depth and signings, now we have a multitude of choices and everyone's happy. I'd be interested to hear how dyer our situation looks to flyer.
I think I heard Fer say himself he wasn't fit enough for 90 minutes. I'd like to see something like this for a difficult away game if all are fit: Green Caulker, Ned, Traore Much, Henry, Ale Phillips, Isla Adel Remy Barton instead of Henry or Ale maybe.
What? Fer isnt fit but you want to play Adel? Whats up with you ? Stop with the obsession Going with the OP set up for this week. Im happy to see that we have some decent standard competition for places now esp Barton v Ali this season. Personally Id go with Ali, but Barton was captain, so it'll be intresting need to get the new signings in and playing ASAP ans Simpson really did lok lost. Hope he can develop.
