Sunderland have 3 main players Sessegnon, Maclean and Larsson Sessegnon plays in the middle, he's fast and effective very skillfulon the ball Maclean is a young direct left winger who runs at fullbacks and delivers a decent ball Larsson is a set piece specialist who delivers a decent ball My team would be Friedal Walker BAE Kaboul King Lennon Sandro Parker Bale Adebayor Defoe Keep Sessegnon out of the game and let the wingers and wingbacks worry about our wide men. Adebayor and Defoes pace should worry a ageing slow defencein Bardsley, Oshea, Kilgallon,Bridge Strong Bench too Cudicini Gallas Rose Kranjcar Modric Saha VDV
Swap Sandro with Modric, and VDV with Defoe and it looks good I personally feel we need VDV as the extra body in midfield, and it would be harsh to drop him after his superb strike against the Swans.
With respect Last Minute Hero, I feel quite strongly that CanarySpurs' suggestions are by far the more realistic selections.
Points taken i just think if we keep Sessegnon out of the game we should win and Defoe and Ade are arguably quicker than VDV and Saha
Fella, why play two defensive midfielders with a front 2? As CanarySpurs says; VDV will start, as will Modric 4 4 1 1 with Ade up front. Simples. Friedel Walker Kaboul Gallas BAE Lennon Modric Parker Bale VDV Adebayor
if we have no creativity in the middle OP, then all it means is yes we might interupt thier play with two ball winners,but we wont have much clue as to what to do with the ball..thus losing it again.......that is what i have observed in the past.....but Modric must be in the middle..none of that putting him on the wing to accomodate him..our primary strength is 2 out and out wingers...and as good as Modders is..he is no Bale or even Lennon......so maybe a 451 with Modders in front of the two holding players...but where does that leave VDV....as i think it is a game that Ade must play in?
And Gallas doesn't look behind the pace ?? At Chelsea he was caught far too many times for comfort. I know King is struggling these days, but if it comes to a choice between him and Gallas, then it's still ledley for me.
Not sure about starting Lennon and King. King obviously has a lot of injury problems and Lennon has his recurring hamstring problem this season so I wouldn't start the two of them as they could easily end up needing to be subbed off early on. Lennon in particular as injury to him would need a change in formation.
I'm with totsfan, though I'd keep Sandro. It's a tough call. I've been going back and forth on Lennon starting.
I will be surprised if Lennon starts, he needs easing back in from the bench in my opinion. Sunderland are playing well and this is a very difficult fixture for us and I would probably go with... Brad Benny Leds/Gallarse Kaboom Kylo Gaz Scotty Sandro Modders VDV Ade 1-4-3-2-1 formation similar to what we did against Abramovich FC.
If we'd bought Sessegnon last year ( as I strongly advocated at the time) then this match wouldn't be an issue!! Trouble is, we didn't and I see him causing our defence some major probs as he pulls his markers deep and turns them - I worry about his pace - and his finishing isn't bad either. Maclean and Larsson are both dangerous - but lets face it, if we actually believe we are the 3rd best side in the PL then we should be causing Sunderland a darn sight more trouble than vice versa.
if our d/m do their job the Sessegnon should'nt cause to much trouble and Bale,ade & vdv should cause their defence a lot of trouble
