This should be easy The last 30mins of yesterdays debacle should have said it all and I hope Steve Bruce saw the error of his ways or the calls for his head will gain in volume and intent. Forwards Hernandez – he has had a difficult start to his time with us; he is played inconsistently with poor support. He missed chances yesterday that should have gone in, another day who knows. It can be put down to luck, but it is always best to make your own luck. He needs a run with Jelavic as a front two and the goals will come for sure. Jelavic – superb guy and will score when he doesn’t have to chase his own arse. Him and Hernandez, it’s a no-brainer. Sagbo – not as bad as some bang on about, but down the pecking order – a useful sub, but a move would be a better thing for him. Aluko – he is a forward who needs someone in front of him, he is classed as a forward and he should do better than he does. There are times when a faster release to a team-mate would make us more threatening and him more useful – it’s a small step he needs to take, but can he and how long do we persevere? My Teams Ideally McGregor Rosenior -- Chester -- Dawson -- Robertson Elmohamady -- Livermore -- Diame -- Brady Hernandez -- JelavicYesterday McGregor Rosenior -- Bruce -- Davies -- Figueroa Elmohamady -- Livermore -- Ramirez/Quinn -- Brady Hernandez -- Jelavic (sub him at half-time if suffering) This is an opinion thing - so what is yours?
Aluko's ball retention, strength and ability to shoot or pick a pass aren't good enough at this level. He is good with a few moments of brilliance overall he isn't a big enough threat. Hernandez is a lazy finisher, Jelavic is a good finisher but when hes off form he lacks the strength and first touch with his back to goal. Sagbo is underated but not good enough.
You wouldn't have Diame in your ideal starting eleven ???? REALLY??? WOW!!! McGregor Chester Dawson Davies Elmohamady Robertson Huddlestone Diame Livermore Jelavic Hernandez Bruce experimented with 442 early doors in the season and dropped Chester, but he soon regretted it and changed back to a 352 which I think is our best formation (If we had the players my favoured structure would be 4231.....but we dont!)
Have to say I agree with Strov on our best team, picking on the system and players. I'd include Ince and Ramirez as impact players. Rosie as a flat back four addition. The rest are squad players.
You wouldn't have Huddlestone in your ideal starting eleven ???? REALLY??? WOW!!! I'll give it a few minutes to give you a chance to edit it again!!!
McGregor Elmo Chester Dawson Robertson Huddlestone Diame Aluko Ramirez Hernandez Jelavic Would probably be mine once they're all back. Aluko, Ramirez and Hernandez can all rotate positions freely with Hernandez moving up front if we need a goal. I would say Ince in for Aluko but we haven't really seen enough to judge him properly yet. Similar with Brady who I think only operates well down the left and would stop the advanced three from moving around the pitch. Despite what many are saying I think Aluko is finally starting to pick up and get back to form. He had a very good game at Sunderland and a decent first half yesterday. It's hard to judge though, we have some very good players and its harsh to leave some out but we just can't fit them all in at once. Ramirez I'm not sold on yet, his talent is undeniable but he does look very lightweight and easy to bully out of a game. Saying that he does seem to be growing into the team and he's got that inventiveness and guile we sorely lack a lot of the time.
I like your tolerance, but nope, no edits now! Huddlestone is a decent player but he has been one of a few weaknesses for us of late. My team selection is one I believe will enable individuals to express their best game giving us a bigger, less fractured impact. This is where I would start and only very poor performance (initially) or injury would change it - the players need consistency to find their partnerships and rhythm - this has been a big miss for us. We have just lost 3 very valuable points by trying to be clever when there was absolutely no need. I know you wouldn't use my formation, but who would you drop from it for Hudds? Thanks for joining in; we have a few days where we can focus on the players and the shape to try and better understand whether the manager has a point or not - preferably without the usual nonsense.
In that line up we only have 2 defensive minded players, the two centre halfs. Hernandez Aluko and Ramirez don't track back, and their work rates are terrible defensively, Huddlestone is too slow in defence and Diame isn't brilliant in the tackle. Robertson is poor positionally at the back and has a lot to learn, Elmo is better on the right wing.
Aluko works in a team that is high on confidence, and technically good. He gets lost when we scrap. He would be great if we were full strength and firing on all cylinders.
I agree with the firs team, I just would maybe play Brady at left back and Robertson on the left wing. I think you'd need Huddlestone away from home with Hernandez dropping out or Diame.
Bar Sunderand, Palace and maybe Stoke have we actually deserved 3 points from a game? This alarming. Maybe yesterday on chances.
Well football is horses for courses. A team may have a particular strength or weakness (a tall striker, a small centre half, a particular style of play) that could require shaking up the team to properly suit or exploit. Unless you're Man City, Chelsea etc. there is no best 11 because we can't expect to beat everyone. Sometimes we'll need to set up to be tight at the back, sometimes to peg the opposition back and dominate the game and attack. I'm a firm believer of attack being the best form of defence, and that team I picked was one I think capable of playing the best football and creating chances against the teams around us, possibly with a few changes of personnel as I mentioned we have so many good players it's just too difficult to pick one over another. The personnel will constantly change down to current form (and obviously suspensions and injuries), though I think Huddlestone will always be a given in there. I also think you underestimate Toms and Momos defensive capabilities. Personally I think Huddlestone is the best defensive midfielder at the club, nevermind his mobility, he's a clever player who knows where to be and is excellent and breaking up play. Diame isn't quite so good but he's definitely capable and has the legs and quality on the ball to form an excellent midfield partnership with Huddlestone. All opinions of course. We could stick Alex Bruce in attacking midfield where we know he's going to track back and put a shift in if we need to be more defence minded?
We definitely deserved 3 points against Lester, that game should have been 3 or 4 one in our favour. We could easily have nicked all 3 points against Everton as we finished much the stronger team. I don't think we would have lost against Spurs had we kept 11 on the pitch. There's another 6 points without even trying which would have got us to 22 points and 12th above Everton.
I see where your coming from, but we aren't good enough to keep the ball for prolonged periods of the game, and will come under pressure. I find Livermore's main downfall is usually Huddlestone, Livermore is the only one pressing and teams ease past both of them with fast football. One alarming thing is we sometimes don't look when we are passing the ball, the amount of times we give it away needlessly is untrue! On the attacking front in the first 15 minutes against Swansea we where very good at pressing and won the ball back numerous times and looked dangerous. Then the goal sucked all life out of us.
Greegsy Rosie--Chester--Dawson--Robertson Elmo--Diame--Livermore--Brady Jelavic--Hernandez I'm torn between Livermore and Huddlestone in midfield but I think Tom often doesn't release the ball quickly enough and slows down our play too much. In some games Huddlestone could come in for Hernandez and have 5 in midfield with Diame further forward. This team gives great options out wide with Rosie/Elmo and Brady/Robertson both being able to overlap. It also means everyone is in their correct positions and we have actual strikers on the pitch so I'm sure Brucey won't ever do it.
Huddlestone has to be in the team, when he doesn't play generally we lose the mid field. The only player that stood out yesterday for me in Lesta side was Cambiasso, and he plays a similar role to Huddlestone, without him in their side they would have been even poorer.
Cambiasso was brilliant yesterday but he also looked to release the ball quickly, for example that quick free kick that created a very good chance. Tom doesn't do that enough.
