Done a great job in his first season and unlucky to not start the season. Time to go for it at home. Mason and Bellamy up front , Helguson to the bench , Noone back in. Hopefully Turner back. Lets have a go at Blackpool.
disagree with bellamy up front - you cant have both him and mason up front as neither of them are out and out strikers.... helguson is not a flashy player but leads the line well and must and will start. but then of course you have the issue where to play noone, as he has been class and should play, and smith also. its much more difficult having a squad of quality but also means resting players.... so who knows maybe helguson wont start and bellamy up front.......
Disagree. Mason hasnt really had the chance to play as an out and out striker. I reckon he could bang in 20 if allowed to play the role. I do think it will be Helguson will play though.
Smith ,Mason up front ...Bellers on wide left ,Noone wide right ,Whitts,Kimbo and Gunner in middle for me .
If it keeps the opposition guessing as well, that's not a bad thing. Last season we were bemoaning the fact that the team stayed the same, the season before that DJ wouldn't change his 442 irrespective of who was available (Jay off and someone who can't play the role on). Now we're moaning that we don't know what formation or what players MM will play. Are we a fickle lot or what? I think I'd rather be in the position we're in now than where we were last year and the year before. isaw, 451 was the making of us against Blackpool last year. It might be what suits us for this game.
Oh yes i love being fickle, its what its all about isnt it ? We on here all love this football club, and i think it just shows how much we care. Some show their care in different ways, but in the end we are all pulling in the same direction. I loves it i doos.
i've said it before, its not necessarily about 4-5-1 or 4-4-2, its about players mentality and whether they will push the boat out and be positive, so far i think its fair to say under mackay we've held back a bit.... i agree hilts mason could get 20 goals if he played week in week out up front and who knows with maynard being injured it may reopen the door for him, he showed promise last season and i've been surprised he's been benched this, shows how good our squad is this season when you get the likes of cowie and gunnarsson on the sidelines...
Good spot. Jordan Mutch has to play as well. Better than Gunner in my opinion. Smith/Mason is an option. Id be happy with that.
With regard to Jordan Mutch, as I have only seen him on the TV and I'm not able to get to any live games, he looks a bit of a lump but also quite mobile, does he also have pace? If we played 3-5-2 would the back three be Turner, Connolly and Huds?
Mason played approx. 60 minutes for the Development Side on Tuesday - we can only hope this is an effort to get him 'match fit' for Saturday. Please God, not Bellamy in the centre again! Play the bloke where he should be. What next, Whitts in goal?
Mutch does look a bit cumbersome but he gets around well and provides something we haven't had for years in a midfielder driving forward with the ball with pace. Useful to have a 6 ft plus player in midfield where we have never previously won anything in the air. Also good at attacking and defending set pieces. He does seem to get subbed whenever he plays and I wonder if he is still carrying the injury he had last year at Brum. I think Malky could be protecting him until he is considered fully fit. Iggy - or..........McNuggs at centre forward?
Good decision from Malcky ----------------------------- http://www.walesonline.co.uk/cardif...son-to-fire-against-blackpool-91466-31915191/
Malky seems to play Helguson for the nuisance value and expects others to score the goals. If he plays with Noone wide left and Mason up front, how does he accomodate Bellamy? I'd prefer Helguson up there rather than him, so that means someone else in midfield has to be benched to let Bellers start (maybe wide right?). With those four starting, and assuming we keep the back 4 as is, that only leaves two more spots in the middle of the park. Whitts has to get one, but who would start alongside him from a choice of Gunnar, Smith and Mutch as front runners, with Cowie and Kiss still in the background?
Maybe Bellers to be on the bench and be used as an impact sub. If MM goes 4 4 2 with HH and Mason up front then we need Smith and Noone as our wide midfield to give more strength in that area and cover our full backs as Blackpool have Ince and Matt Philips who can do damage from out wide. See from the WoL article that Malky expects Maynard to be out for the season. That's a big loss as he was just starting to show what he could do.
Well Bluey, Palace had Zaha and Bolasie on the flanks posing much the same threat as those two and we got stuffed in all honesty. Malky chose to defend against them rather than play our own game and if he takes the same approach for Ince and Phillips, we'll hand it to them on a plate. I accept that we were up at Selhurst and maybe a cautious approach had some merit, but we're at the CCS this time and we shouldn't be afraid of anyone - let Holloway do the worrying about a Bellamy/Mason/Noone/Helguson combo. Having said that, if he starts with those four in the side, I'll eat my bloody hat!!......
True Sparkey, but if Mason plays alongside HH that will give them more to think about and take some pressure off HH. I wasn't at Palace but read that Smith played much tighter to HH and looked like a fish out if water. Keep him out wide and he seems to do a better job. Also, Mason can drop off HH a little and play in the hole making harder to mark. The other choices are does he keep Gunnar or bring back Mutch? If going for it then Mutch has to start. Then does Turner come back for Connolly? Connolly has been okay without setting the world alight and is possibly quicker on the ground than Big Ben, but Ben is much more effective in the air. I'm 50/50 on that but those who went to Selhurst may have a different opinion on Connolly who has been part of the back four in our 2 poor defeats.
