There's no reason to pack the defence for 70 minutes and play on the break now. There's no reason for bypassing midfield with continuous punts up-field by McGregor and the defence. There's no reason to rely solely on Elmo's long range crosses. There's no reason why Huddlestone can't start venturing into the oppositions half. We have talented attacking players now, who possess the ability to dominate many games - and that means Bruce needs to take the shackles off and put much more onus on possession and attack. Getting the balance right so we can score freely without shipping goals will be a real test for the manager, but if anyone can do it Brucie can. COYT
It's not a bad post... but if it wasn't for Dawson's last ditch tackles we'd have lost 5-2 last night. The midfield was often out of the game so purely attacking could have a negative impact. We have a new look side and Bruce is simply seeing what we can get away with at this point. I imagine we'll attack more once everyone is bedded in!
All the best teams have someone sat in front of the back four/three for protection! Thudd isn't the man for that job! Jake needs to be more disciplined and stay put! I'm sure SB will be looking at finding his best line up? But we can't just stick forward thinking players on! Any half descent team will pick us off.
I thought the issue was that having Dawson and Davies together meant we where lacking in someone who could take the ball out from defence who could draw a man, or step into midfield if necessary. I thought Chester may solve the issue in playing out from the back more as neither Davies or Dawson looked great under pressure. Wondered if it was just me or if anyone else spotted it.
I expected Diame to play at the back of the midfield diamond as a kind of defence protector but he played at the front of it - shows how much I know
I like chester but I dont think our defence was the biggest problem last night! ...there is something not quite right in midfield, half the time diame was tracking back into where huddlestone should of been winning the ball! Not sure what is wrong with huddlestone, he let west ham get control of midfield and did the same against villa! This made it very hard for our defenders! ....im glad diame was plqying, I normally rate huddlestone and think he has the ability to control the midfield, but diame saves him quite often!....I notixed him at villa, and played similar (maybe better) lat night, he maybe tired or of lost hunger, I'd give him a couple of games and think about dropping him for a few weeks, hopefully tiredness! But they have had a international break, I know he's a good player but looks fed up (perhaps)
I think That Huddlestone is stil getting used to players around him and he will come good as he did last year. Personnally I prefer a back 3 with Dawson Chester Davis midfield well there lies a headache for someone with a far better knowledge of team selection than I. Steve Bruce will come good on this just hope all the squad are on the same train of thoughts with him. Lets get behind them solidly now for this could be another record breaking season COYT
I'd expect so, I think with the midfield being so narrow on Monday the full backs were totally exposed and that's why West ham got so much joy from wide. Luckily 3-5-2 means that we can still play with the same attacking players (Diame, Hernandez, Jela) while still having Livermore and Huddz holding, and also having that solid back 5/3.
McG Chester Dawson Davies Elmo Thudd Livermore Diame Robertson Jelly Hernandez Looks good on paper. I just hope they can move the ball quicker than we normally see in this formation.
I'd set up like: Greggs Chester Dawson Davies Elmo Huddlstone Diamé Robertson Ramirez Hernandez JelaSwap/rotate Ramirez with Ben Arfa. The good thing now is we are very versatile as a team and can play loads of different formations.
I would also be very very Tempted to drop Livermore, I really don't think he's stepped up or improved, he's got great ability he's a very strong, powerful and fast midfielder. I really like Livermore, but he's not a young lad anymore he's nearly 25, I think a lot of the dirty work that people don't notice is done by Huddlestone, Livermore at times seems to coast through games.
He hasn't been up to boil so far this Season. His passing is sloppy, he's not constantly chasing the player with the ball anymore, he seems reluctant to shoot etc. I think he needs to miss a game. Definitely needs to recapture last Season's form.
Would you want to break up the Jelly and Hernandez partnership? It seems like those two had an immediate understanding, much better than Jelly and Long's first game together, IMO.
