lambert, sharp and lee...

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Super Kelv deserves his chance for a shot at the Premier League, IMO he is better than what he was when he first joined us and he has been picked for the last 3 divisional teams by his fellow pros. A good keeper is a good keeper in any league he plays in, but I agree we may need to sign a good back up to eventually replace him

Agree he has improved massively, but I disagree with the "good keeper is a good keeper in any league" part. Paddy Kenny was in the team of the year last year for the Championship, and he has been very poor this year. I do agree that he should be given a chance though.
 
Oh, without any question. As I was banging on and on about before we signed Sharp, the guy knows how to get on the scoresheet. Rarely are his goals spectatular, but he gets in the right positions time and time again.

But against PL defenders, I do wonder how many opportunities Sharp would get to poach goals. And if he's not getting service (either because of lack of quality on our part, and good defending on the opposition's part), then he doesn't add a whole lot to the team. Certainly nowhere near what Rickie adds.

Yes sticking with 4-4-2 (either flat or diamond) will be fine against some teams, but I do fear playing Lallana out wide against quite a few PL teams. I can see teams really exploiting our left flank if he's still playing LM. Thus play him in a free role, off of the one main striker.

Sharp will bang them in if we give him the service. Getting that service will be the hard bit.

As for 4231/433 suggestions, I've got:

.....................Davis.................,...
Richardson...Fonte...Hooiveld...Fox
..........Schneiderlin...Cork.............
New RM........Lambert........Lallana
.....................Sharp....................
It's not far off what we do at the moment with Sharp sniffing for goals and Lambert a bit deeper. I think in the PL, we'd need to reign him in a little to make up the nubers in the middle. We won't see the best of him with some meathead centre half stuck to him, but in the hole he'll be more free to pull the strings.

.....................Davis.................,...
Richardson...Fonte...Hooiveld...Fox
..........Schneiderlin...Cork.............
....................Lallana....................
Lee..............Lambert...........Sharp
A truly mental 433. Could be worth a shot if we're chasing a game.
 
If its pace we want just sign up the entire Jamaican 4X100 men's relay team at the end of the Olympics!! With a bit of training they could make very fine footballers.
 
In the premier league you get alot more time on the ball then the Championship. This being the case i think the likes of Morgan and Adam will improve even more next year. I also think Lee will be a surprise package. His change of pace and work rate is second to none and he has already showed the pure class of his little give and go's. Think he will frustrate many of the older slower CB's Like Ferdinand next year. Now that is a good thought... Lee making Ferdinand look even more useless.
 
I agree with the original post that our play has altered since the introduction of Sharp, however I think we will have to adjust and adapt in the Premiership anyway. I think we may have to chop and change our formation a bit next season, as Paul Lambert has done at Norwich. We just need a squad able to make these adjustments, but the biggest difference between this division and all the others is the quality of strikers, and it is best to have plenty!
 
In the premier league you get alot more time on the ball then the Championship. This being the case i think the likes of Morgan and Adam will improve even more next year. I also think Lee will be a surprise package. His change of pace and work rate is second to none and he has already showed the pure class of his little give and go's. Think he will frustrate many of the older slower CB's Like Ferdinand next year. Now that is a good thought... Lee making Ferdinand look even more useless.

The defenders stick tighter and don't dive in so often. It doesn't make anyone's life easier.
 
I think we should play 4-2-3-1

Davis

New RB
Jos
Jose
Fox

Morgan
Cork

Lallana
Lambert
New RW

Sharp


I think a right midfielder/winger is the position we need to sort out urgently, followed by a right back.

The positions I think we could also do with strengthening are at centre back, left back and I'd personally love to see us bring in a quality CM to play alongside Morgan but I accept that might be asking too much!

Cannot wait until the fixture list is announced!