Well the pictures of Rigg a few days ago gave away our new formation of 4-1-4-1 and it appears the pics today on the website may just have given away our starting 11 Struggling to cut and paste but pic 24 has today's training game and the 11 in green bibs are Lonergan Richards Burn Hutchinson Kavanagh Cairny LVC O'Hara Pringle Ross Smith Betts may come in for Lonergan as he wasn't involved at all
I think that's just the 11 that will play against Frankfurt tomorrow, not necessarily what Kit thinks is our strongest 11. They're just the lads that didn't start against Hertha Berlin. This way everybody gets a full 90 minutes under their belt. I saw the formation in the video and I see it as a traditional 442 with 1 CM sitting deep with the other box to box. Number 9 role leading the line and number 10 role dropping deep and linking up. If that is the formation we are going to play then along with a Centre Back, Left Back and possibly a Defensive Midfielder I think we need another Right Winger. I'm not comfortable going into the season with just Cole, Eisfeld, Cairney and LVC as options on the right when none of them are naturally a winger (with the possible exception of Cole - not sure of his natural position). Ryan Williams is with the squad but hasn't featured pre-season so I don't expect him to play. I think if Kaca plays wide left regularly this year he'll be in with a shout of being our player of the year next year. Williams and Pringle are more than adequate back up in that position.
Not far from who I'd pick as our first XI, though. Currently I'd go with Bettinelli, Richards, Burn, Hutchinson, Garbutt, Cairney, LVC, O'Hara, Pringle, Ross, Smith. I think we still need a CB & a RM (to replace Amorebieta & Roberts) and possibly a DM, then we're good to go for the new season. And who knows, maybe next summer we won't have to completely rework the squad again.
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I always look to partnerships when chosing my best XI Lonergan Richards Burn ???? Garbutt Cairney LVC O'Hara Pringle McCormack Smith With the new players I see O'Hara being better than Parker and hope either LVC or Hyndman could slot in next to him. I like the look of both Pringle and Cairney better than I would Kacaniklic and Tunnicliffe, the new comers have a more defensive mindset to their play and track back to help their defenders out, both Kaca and Tunni seemed to give up on tracking players to often during a game, ie they look lazy. McC and Smith are already a partnership and if we play 2 up front are our best combination. I'd try to partner Burns with a new guy (I liked him with Turner), Burns is needed for defending and attacking at corners , along with Smith he can be a barrier at corners (something we've lacked) and also at corners from Pringle the two can worry defenders. For me Hutchinson is too nervous a player, he tends to panic in his distribution when put under pressure. For me Burns and Hutchinson don't compliment each other and are not a partnership.
I think we have to sacrifice one of the strikers for a defensive midfielder if we are going with such an attacking midfield. I expect our defence to be exposed again this season if that's the plan.
Is Cairney right-sided? I thought he was a central midfielder. Going back to SBM's line up, I would have thought LVC wide and Cairney in the middle made more sense. We know from last season that Kit sees LVC as an option on the flank.
He's a central midfielder who can and has played right and by the way we set up against Frankfurt I think Kit will play him on the right. The formation that we saw in the Mike Rigg video was a 4-1-4-1 and I think that's what we'll be going with this season. He uses the traditional numbers so bare with me when I describe who I think plays in what position. please log in to view this image Back 5 is simple enough in regards to their roles. I think the number 4 role (holding role) will be O'Hara/Parker/New CDM. 7 will be Cairney and 11 will be Kaca or Pringle. Traditional wide midfielders. 8 is the box to box role which I think will be LVC/Hyndman. 10 will be Ross. He will be more of a striker but with the freedom to drop deep and pick up the ball in those pockets. 9 will be Smith who I fancy to hit double figures easily this season. That's the way I see it at the moment anyway. If I was picking the team I'd probably be more likely to put LVC on the right wing simply for the reason that he's right footed so he'd be more likely to stay wide rather than tuck inside. I still think we need to sign 3 more players: CB, CDM and RM. The team is starting to take shape though.
Just back from a little trip to New York and still catching up. The discussion about the best position for Cairney is interesting. One thing for sure is that with the current squad and real choices now open to him, we'll get to see what Kit has in his bag tactically. And it won't only be about whether his starting line-up takes account of the oppposition but also how he uses the bench to change/consolidate a game. Both aspects I think most will agree, were definite shortcomings of Kit's last season. Personally I'd be more comfortable with someone experienced standing on the touch line with him (and I don't mean Curbs).
