Interested to get some other points of view on Gunnar. I genuinely don't think we missed him at all whilst he was injured. I think he was very sloppy last night and prone to errors. His defending was also non existent. Granted, his 1st start since injury, but once Ralls comes back I just don't see a place for Gunnar in the starting 11.
Played far too deep with Grujic last night - the space they left vacant for Sheffield in the middle 3rd was criminal. If he starts and does that again against Wolves they'll annhillate us in midfield - it'll be like the Gold Rush all over again.
To be honest mate, I dont think much will stop Wolves from spanking us anyway. I think their style of play will prove to be the deciding factor. I know we beat them earlier in the season but (evidently) they've had a lot of time to gel together since . I just can't see a place for Gunnar in this team. We've done superb without him since November!
We need a degree of skill as well as grunt - Ralls being out has made a big difference and it showed especially last night. To be honest, if Ralls hadn't been injured, I doubt we'd have seen Gunnar up till now except for maybe on the bench. Desperately need someone to take control - we can't rely on "never giving up" as our mantra.
Sadly, I think Wolves will give us a spanking if they play their game. Lots of space in the midfield last night. Play the same against Wolves and they'll play us off the park.
If we play high tempo then we’ll be ok; they lost at Villa & Fulham don’t forget but if we sit back you’re right they’ll be all over us. Certainly NW has to get his CM right
Gunners and Grujic are a little too similar , both very strong but not a lot of flair. Patterson was playing too far forward and was chasing shadows. Sheff Utd midfield really overrun us , always on the move , and always seemed to have plenty of space. But having said that , when we play a ( top) side , with 3 central midfielders we are always going to get over run. Definitely against Wolves and Villa , I would play 3 proper midfielders , Bryson,Ralls ,Gunner , Grujic , any 3 from them . From now on in , it should be horses for courses . Even moving Bamba into midfield , man marking against some teams. At least the pressure is on Villa and Fulham tonight , both must win games .
At start of season city had an awesome trio in CM with Gunnar, Ralls & Damour. It’s a big decision for NW to make as to whom plays there on Friday for sure. Can’t see anything but a comfortable win for Fulham but Villa v Reading is more unpredictable but expect a home win.
I'm with Jay on this one Gunnar was terrible last night. I'd go 3 in the back plus wing backs on Friday. 3 midfield and 2 up front. The wing backs can slip into midfield when needed.
I thought the same but not played this for a few months. Might be hard to adapt against the top club. I was also considering Peltier to rb, Manga to cb (yes, I know) and Bamba in front of back four to kick seven sorts of sh!t out of them. Then either 2 in midfield and 3 up top with wingers covering back or 3 in midfield to flood the area and just Ken and Junior up front with loads of options off the bench. Who would be a manager eh?
Got to put some pressure on Coady and Boly or they'll control everything at the back for them - they'll move forward off that sound base. I wouldn't mind starting with Zohore and Madine - that'll ruffle a few feathers in their back line and give them something to think about. If we sit back waiting for a mistake from them and let them run the show, we'll get beat.
Harsh to judge Gunnarsson on last night’s performance. He was isolated. Grujic for me didn’t perform and Paterson played in a more advanced position. City were overrun in CM as they had 3 to their 4 so it was always going to be difficult. City got their point. They didn’t lose. Its history. It’s on to the Wolves game now.
I agree. Manga looked so sloppy last night. If he plays like that on Friday we WILL get torn a new one. No if's, and's or buts. I'd bring Pelts in for the Wolves game.
I thought Gunnar was awful against Sheffield, personally i would put Damour in against Wolves. We will beat Wolves as i think there will be cracks in thier team during the run in.
The problems with Damour are his headless chicken approach and no end product. Don't forget it was Gunnar's first full game back. Anyone would be a bit ring rusty after that long a lay off. He will improve game on game. Therein also lies the problem with Ralls. Reading Colin's comments, he could well be in the squad for Friday but I wouldn't risk starting him with no recent game experience. At least Gunnar had 45 minutes for Iceland and 20 minutes or so v. Burton. As discussed earlier, we could see a different shape on Friday, set up to blunt the main Wolves threat. As we did at theirs and against Villa and Boro.
Bryson had a good game against Wolves last time out and I suspect he could be in the line up ahead of Gunnar. I think Wolves will attack from the off Gunnar would be invaluable replacement late on, maybe 60th minute. Wolves are a completely different proposition to the first game of the season and could easily overwhelm us in the midfield. Maybe I am overestimating the threat from Wolves and it is squeaky bum time. All season I would have been happy with a play-off place, now I want to go up as champions because the lads deserve it as does NW.
I know things change every game but I thought Bryson was shocking against the lesser talents of Burton - poor tackles (yellow card), missed passes, failed to convert a sitter of a goal and generally off the pace. We became more stable once Gunnar came on. yes, Wolves are a different animal ( no pun intended) but, if Colin keeps the same shape (a big IF), I would prefer Gunnar who will get better with each game he plays. Our views may differ but the one who's views matter is Colin so we will know about 7.00 pm Friday night.
