Apart from Kelly all our lot appear to be returning (relatively) unscathed from International duties. One unknown is Briggs who has a bad back. However, as mentioned in the other thread there is the travelling toll, especially for Ruiz, which might influence Jol in his selection. Hughes and Senderos have been declared fit so the likely back four is - Baird, Hughes, Hangeland and Riise (sic!) The surprise news is that Sidwell has had a hernia operation during the break - wasn't even aware he was carrying an injury. So he'll be out. Probable line up then - Dembeley, Murphy, Etuhu and Dempsey Leaving Bobby and AJ up front. Giving Jol the option of bringing on Ruiz and Duff and re-shuffling the format - as and when ! Bit of a deja vu line up but the one most likely to a result.
The stattos at Craven Cottage Newsround unearthed evidence that our ratio of away wins with Etuhu in the side is higher than without him, once you factor in relative league positions and therefore how winnable the match was, whereas there is negligible difference between with or without for home games (statistically). If you pay any credence to that, then Etuhu for Sidwell may be good news. Either way, we could certainly do with 3pts. Personally, I wouldn't leave Sidwell out for Etuhu if both of them were fully fit, but if Sidwell is still recovering from an op, that may be different. If Kelly recovers in time, how about Baird in midfield?
Starting line up looks like the best we've got although Ruiz's performances from the bench lately have been very good so I wouldn't be opposed to see him on from the start. Given the amount we paid for him Jol must see him as a first team regular so I'm all for getting him more involved.
I'm off to Sunderland late tomorrow, although I doubt that we'll get the 0-3 away win that got us smiling all the way home. Especially given we were without Brede out and Senderos coping eventually. I recollect Davies made the game. So a somewhat different team then. I think c58 is on the money with his team selection, and I hope that MJ agrees. A point would do nicely, but 3 would be two nice surprises there in one year! C-O-Y-W !
I feel that this game for us is a must win, one,for as the season progresses we are running out of what may be described as easy fixtures.
C58, that's the most likely selection given the available options. Again will be a team without any width and will have to play direct football, unless AJ starts dropping wide and crossing low...
I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'must win', certainly not at this stage of the season. That said, I agree with roscafre that this should be our least difficult (I won't say easiest) game of the coming cluster. We really could do with 3pts. If Ruiz hadn't had lots of international week travel, I think he might have started. As it is, I suspect he'll be starting from the bench again. The interesting question is whether Dempsey should do the same this week, for the same reasons.
Captain, fair point regarding the international players. These meaningless friendly games have a bigger impact on teams with small squad like ours... At some point the teams should have a bigger say on those.
To be honest, I think the big clubs - which in this context includes us - should stop complaining about the demands on their international players. Playing international football improves the players. Would Dempsey have been the player that he was when we signed him without honing his talent in internationals as well as in the American league? Would he be the player he is now without experience of World Cups etc for America? Possibly, but probably not. You can ask similar questions of Hangeland, and even the likes of Hughes, Baird, Simon Davies, etc. Clubs get a benefit from having their players gain international experience, and the tiredness and occasional injuries that results is just the other side of that particular coin. The way the Premier League was sold to the FA when it was first proposed was as something to benefit the England national team: it was meant to be something that recognised and supported the primacy of international football. We can see now that the big clubs were just paying lip service to that idea. Most premier league squads have several players on international duty, and most have squads big enough to deal with it. I don't know how many of Sunderland's players will have been away this week, but I suspect it's not wildly dissimilar to our numbers.
I don't apologise for being parochial Captain. My complaints are pure and simple FFC oriented. 1. the loss of quality training time in a period when it was (and still is) essential for Jol to have the 1st team squad together to get his new ideas over. 2. the toll that travelling takes out of a player; mentally as well as physically. There has to be a tireness factor. Is it a co-incidence that we've lost more goals in the last 15 minutes this season than since the Sanchez days? Did the goodness knows how many thousand miles travelled imediately before Hughes was injured have a bearing? (A player who has been an ever present for the previous 2 years. ) I can understand the odd International break but 3 in such quick succession and so early in the season. It's been so stop/start and yes, for most premiership teams? But it's been horrendous for us. Could be wrong but have't we had 3 away games following these breaks and played woefully in the last 2 ? But this surely will be third time lucky tomorrow. To be fair, you're kind of correct, Captain, about Sunderland having a similar number of players potentially affected - 11 to our 13. However fewer 1st squad players involved in this round. COYW
Back to the stat-busters at CCN - http://cravencottagenewsround.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/homecomings/#comments Although you're right that we've had more away games after international breaks this season, over the last few seasons the fixtures computer has been surprisingly kind to us in that regard. No need to apologise, Cottager, it was a perfectly valid comment from you. At heart I'm still a lower division fan whose team happens to have been in the Premier League for the past decade. I just can't (or won't) let myself get into the mindset of the Man Utds, Liverpools et al who seem to think that all of football should be organised around their club. While it's true that the vast majority of fans (including me) would pick their club over their national team in a heartbeat, it's also probably true that most of us would pick the national team over any club other than our own. Looked at in those terms the club vs country balance is less clear-cut. By the way, well done for looking up the stats for us vs Sunderland. I couldn't be bothered to do any research!
Strange team selection especially the back 4. Why Briggs on the bench while he is the only left back? In any case good luck to the guys!
