Give Pilkington a chance to settle in. Not the same as Noonie but looks a good signing. What will be like when we have the 2 of them fit? Wow!!!
Dikgacoi and Adeyemi? And Gunnar hasn't let us down this season. Wouldn't want to rely on him but okay as a back up. Championship is clearly his level.
Most sides these days play 3 in the middle. It is very difficult to compete and play a 442. I dont think we can get promoted playing that way. Ok switch to it at times. If we play 2 wingers one of our strikers will have to drop back. I think the plan is to play narrow and the full backs to push on. Fabio and Brayford played well. The midfield didnt pass and move the ball quick enough. To me Ralls has the mobility and passing ability to be pushing for a place now.
Not convinced with Gunnar, with out his long throws he does no add much and with Whitts asleep half the time can or should we play both? With talk of Kim going to Celtic I'm with Hilts with this one give Ralls a go.
Don't get me wrong, I thought Pilkington looked strong and direct. With Noone on the other side, we'll have proper wingers. I don't like being dependent on our fullbacks when it comes to going forward.
Yes, I was surprised to see Hudson benched as he had played well in our first 2 games although once he settled in Morrison played well and we looked strong at the back. He looks a lot quicker across the ground than Hudson and a great assist for our goal. I guess Ole decided to give ALF a rest with Maynard playing a similar role. Guerra looked good again when he came on. Held the ball up wall and rarely wasted it. In fact he won a ball in the air against their cb when KWJ won little in the air all night.
It was the Wigan game last night. The one where he ambled around, and was called upon to take the odd free kick and corner. City need a lot more from him; OGS must be able to see that he is a bit of a luxury.
I have to disagree but that's football. But seeing that just about every move goes through Whittingham and is a player often targeted by the opposition I fail to understand why he is the one that several people criticise when others are equally at fault when things don't go according to plan. I agree he wasn't brilliant last night but that can be said of all our other midfielders as well.
Whitts is a real enigma. It's strange that other club managers, players and their supporters, as well as the media pundits seem to think more of Whitts than we do. Every time you look at other forums and listen to the commentators, they all say what a great delivery he has and how valuable he is to the side with his vision. Must admit, I'm coming to the conclusion that what we said of him a few years back has come around again. He is a luxury player who appears to amble around the pitch one paced, but he's also one who can win a game with a single piece of brilliance. Is that enough to keep him in the team game after game regardless of his performances? On the surface, nothing seems to motivate him on the pitch and his goal celebrations are reminiscent of a wake. I'm sure deep down there's a fire burning somewhere, but I doubt Ole will change him now. I will finish by saying he's frequently far too slow on the ball as well as off it. He gets caught all too often these days and he cost us 2 points at Blackburn. It wasn't all his fault at Ewood, but they didn't look like scoring until they got that goal.
Whitts would be fine with a quick and mobile partner. Unfortunately Gunner is much slower and less mobile than him. Adeyemi seemed to be playing in front of the back 4 and Daehli was set upon by 2 or 3 players and kept losing the ball. Work is needed on the training ground. We need to pass and move it quicker. I dont think it suits some of our players though which will mean players being dropped.
We are still working things out. Wolves, Fulham, and Norwich will show us how we are shaping up. We do seem to have a good balance across the park and as stated Noone will give us more drive. I imagine we will play around the flanks when he is back.
OS, That really hits the mark. You have added flesh to the bone I sent out. He won't change, that's for sure. Maybe the answer (as Hilts suggests) is for City to play someone alongside him quicker and able to do more than his fair share of the graft. He was found out big time last season at the next level. He is a luxury, and possibly at this level City can afford that as evidenced by the free kick he sent over for Jones' goal at Blackburn, the corner he whipped in for Jones v Wigan (which led to the 2nd corner and the winning goal) and his extraordinary strike v H'sfield.
The biggest change on Tuesday against Wigan was Fabio, First half when he had Daeli in front of him he was getting forward. Second half when Whitts was in front of him he seemed to lack the confidence to push on. Whitts is a luxury player but as stated he brings real quality to the team at certain times
When players are played out of position the midfield will never work. Gunnarson was further forward than I had previously seen, Whittingham played in two positions and Daehli was frankly out of it, Adeyemi was far less effective than he was against Huddersfield and Pilkington was feeling his way. All of them played poorly on Tuesday yet Whittingham gets most of the criticism. If the manager was able to get the balance right Whittingham would be a major force and certainly not a luxury like Zaha was last season. Other teams would not target him if he was as bad as others think. Look what happened at the Blackburn game where he was clogged off the park. Would other teams target him if he was so useless? Fortunately the manager seems to have sorted out the defence and attack but that midfield needs a lot of work. Whatever formation is chosen Whittingham should feature. Once again I'm in the minority. C'est la vie.
