West Brom's Steven Davies was interviewed last night on R5L and was asked about how things were different this season under Clarke as compared with Hodgson. His answer was that they were now playing with more attacking freedom, due to the arrival of the Argentinian, Claudio Yacob, a specialist DM. The defensive solidity inculcated by Hodgson was still there, but the full backs in particular were able to be more adventurous. It sounded to me as if Yacob's role is exactly the role Hughton has said he wants Tettey to play for us. How do people think Saturday's team will be adjusted to make room for Tettey?
I think tettey is coming to the 4-2-3-1 formation that isn't far off. At the base with probably howson or fox.
OK, but Saturday we played 4-4-2, were defensively pretty solid, struck a good balance between defence and attack, and had plenty of adventure from full back, Russ Martin in particular. In what circumstances would 4-2-3-1 be better? (Obviously it is advantageous to be able to play both.)
The 4-4-2 was more a 4-1-3-2 with Johnson staying back to cover the defence in the same way he did against QPR
Tettey said during an interview that he needed to get fit to play in the Prem. Training in France was different from here and he wasn't ready for a full blooded Prem battle. But hopefully the extra week will give him time. He isn't here to warm the bench but surely he is going to have to wait for Bradders to have a bad game before there can be any changes.
Well, he was pretty far forward a lot of the time. Reminded me of Arsenal's Alex Song, whose attacking instincts kept getting the better of him.
They worked it well against QPR with Johnson and Howson swapping around. I get the impression that was the plan, but Johnson's enthusiasm got the better of him by the sounds of it
Cant see Johnson or Howson being replaced just yet. Same team to play vs WH as long as they stay fit. Tetty will get his chance but Jono and Howson have been v good so far. Hope he sticks with 2 up rop as I think it works best personally. Good job Carroll is injured as well! Think he would have given our defence a tough job!
I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the same team rolled out again. Tough to drop anyone, particularly in the midfield after such a strong performance.
Tough one isn't it, Hughton can't change the system while it works but while other clubs like Swansea have no plan b if you look at our midfield we've got plan a through z, very flexible. This will be a huge advantage this season.
In my opinion was best Bradley Johnson has played for Norwich. Good defensively and offensively. Think Tettey will have to be good to knock Johnson out starting 11
Wouldn't want to change the line-up unless forced to by injuries .... Tettey may have to wait for his chance. It'll be interesting to see what happens when Elliott Bennett returns too as he was excellent towards the end of last year and also when Butterfield is fully fit. We have good options all over the park ...
Don't agree that you shouldn't make changes if the current selection worked well in the last match. That's reactive, not proactive, management. I know Lambert sometimes came unstuck "experimenting", particularly with 3 at the back, but CH has brought Tettey in with an eye to playing in a particular way and I would expect to see him selected once he is ready. Further question, we seem to be assuming that Johnson and Tettey are competing for DM spot. Yes, they can no doubt replace one another if necessary, but is it really a case of either one or the other, or are there scenarios when we might see both?
If we were away I think Tettey would come in, as it is, leave Johnson where he is for now. Bigger question might be Jackson or Morison, again I'd leave it for now, but Morison looked bright. Nice problems to have!
i think we would potentially play tettey and johnson in as defensive / holding midfielders as some of the tougher away matches this season. i'm not talking about parking the bus at places like OT or Chelski, but it would make us a lot harder to break down
Totally agree re some of PL's 'experiments' which didn't always work and I'm sure we'll see Tettey in the starting line up before long and certainly before the end of the month. IMO, I can envisage that there will be occasions when we see both Tettey and Johnson playing at the same time.
