We are very capable of putting good crosses into the box, jwp, tadic, Cedric, Bertrand especially. From a striker point of view that suits Austin, but that's it. Long, gabbi, Redmond etc are just bullied out of those crosses as its not their strength. It's no coincidence that some of our best chances fall to hoedt, yoshi, Stephens. Maybe this will suit Carrillo better. Gabbi is intelligent but his strength is not getting on to high crosses but finding space and getting in behind players. He should be starting more games and the team working on playing him in. Get the ball to his feet in and around the box we will have a chance. Bring him on for the last 10 mins, time and time again, pointless, they will never gel.
Personally if I was MP, I would have put my arm around him months ago, instilled confidence in him, told him he has an important role and Will be one of our main players for this season and work to his strengths. Instead he is now low on confidence, a bit disinterested and excluded.
Alternatively, give him a run of ten games as a starter (he was understandably rusty against Spurs, but still had shots on target) where we PLAY TO HIS STRENGTHS (through balls, near post crosses). How many do you think he scores vs how many did Long score?
I’d take Gabbi over Long every time, and I’d be playing Gabbi with the new guy also, not that I think that will happen today.
I suspect that he (Gabbi) does not show enough in training to warrant a starting slot. For the same reason, others who have played well (or ok) in a game, need to 'put in a shift' at training!...... or they run the same risk of losing their spot to their counterparts. It's a competitive situation in most Prem squads; even "Pep" changes his elven around from match to match. E.G. Aguero gets left out and benched......
It was harsh and maybe you're right. I'm not in the MP-out camp but its possible that the biggest criticism of him could be that we have players that can create chances and Gabbi is maybe the man to score from them but he has failed to complete that circle. On balance the argument that we start with Gabbi is a strong one because as much as I think we struggle without Shane's energy, it rarely results in a goal and so it doesn't amount to a hill of beans. I'm also not in the 2-up-front-camp as I think it isolates strikers unless you dominate the ball in attacking positions or the front 2 are strong enough that you can play it long to them, neither of which we can do. BUT I would play Long one of our wide front 3 behind Gabbi up front giving us pace and (the potential of) finishing. Shane would also arrive in the box (at pace) at later than when he plays up front, which I think would make him more effective. (The more I warble on about it the more I can't believe we have never tried it)
I would play Long with A.N.Other striker, but who? Carrillo is the most likely as he is the fittest, but probably unready to start. Austin...back in training, but fit to play? Gabbi missed training with an injury. Our options are few...especially as we don't have goal scoring MFs.
The argument will be that he's rusty and needs a run of 14 games to get back up to speed The problem is that when you aren't winning games anyone NOT playing can be given saviour status as long as they're NOT playing Then PEH will be given as evidence of players that should have been started before, but he might have been crap before he became a starter and maybe MP timed his return perfectly In Dorset we all share our pictures with farmyard animals so I'm not worried
Not that it means much, but I strongly suspect that an 11 team relegation battle has now become a 10 team relegation battle. Bmouth haven't reached the safety mark yet, but I can't see how they get relegated from here. On the flip side, WBA and West Ham in particular I would say have had a horror days. Barring Sturridge banging them in (which is quite possible), I'm not sure if WBA can survive from here. Table could look a little ugly for them after they play Chelsea away next weekend. And Schad has already highlighted West Ham's tough run-in. Both of them losing to fellow relegation rivals today is therefore huge.
West Brom is in serious danger of being cut loose. After Chelsea they have Huddersfield at home...if they don't win that, their chances of survival are next to nil. Agree completely on Bournemouth, as well. They were barely in the frame before today; they're home free barring an absolute collapse. Meanwhile, if I had any faith at all in Stoke or Swansea, those 8-1 odds on West Ham would be really tempting...9 or 10 points from their remaining fixture list is no simple task.
Palace - Newcastle Watford - Chelsea Everton - Palace Stoke - Brighton Swansea - Burnley West Ham - Watford Huddersfield - Bmouth Newcastle - Man Utd Saints - Liverpool Chelsea - WBA Takes us into the two-week break for the FA Cup 5th round. Real chance in particular for Palace to join Bmouth in breaking away.
Lifted off another forum: please log in to view this image Obviously the first on each is this weekend so all have been played bar Palace/Newcastle.
As much as I don't like our last six, I would take our last four over Brighton and Huddersfield's last four.
Exactly what I thought when I saw it. Swansea playing Stoke on final day could be interesting too. Also says to me that if Newcastle can pull out a surprise win today then they certainly have the fixtures to get out of it.
Swansea City midfielder Leroy Fer and striker Wilfried Bony have both been ruled out for the rest of the season. Both players require surgery after suffering injuries in Swansea's 1-1 draw at Leicester City. Fer, who was stretchered off in the first half, has ruptured his Achilles. Bony, a summer signing from Manchester City, will also need an operation after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament. Swansea are 17th in the Premier League.
