Well said Roly. But, erm, I must have somehow missed the bit in Howe's press conference where he said he'd read your posts and admitted that "Roly's right", sorry. What time in the video is that bit?
Under no circumstances can you drop Willock or Joelinton. They are contributing immense amounts to the team effort. I think its a straight swap for Shelvey anyway so I'd just do that. Would I do it now? Probably. Will Eddie? Probably not because we are getting results so he has the luxury of giving Bruno time.
****!!! PS: I'm not disagreeing with your post as I haven't read it! I just wanted to call you a **** with my 20,000th post!
I kind of agree. I think replacing Shelvey in that CDM sort of spot will be a big risk, and shelvey is doing ok. It will have to happen at some point though. I think Bruno should get more time as a sub though. We shouldn't be waiting too long to start him because he could add a lot to the team. But then again I suppose he's only 24.
This. Shelvey knows the score - he's playing for his place. He'll eventually come unstuck, he'll have a game where he ends up retreating and launching passes, then he'll be hooked and that will be the end of that. Willock/Joelinton are thriving, he won't touch them, and they can just get better. I know he said Big Joe is an "attacker" rather than a midfielder, but honestly, it's hard to agree. Everything in his game screams midfielder. Box to box, rather than attacking. His ability to read the game and allow Willock to advance is great, and will pay dividends in time. It's this weird thing we've got to come to terms with. Most decent PL clubs have something called a "squad", a luxury we've done without for years. We've been taught by Ashley, who knows better than everyone else, that you only need eleven decent players to stay in the league. Now we're in this situation where we have a top talent like Bruno on the bench. When he comes in, we'll have Shelvey on the bench. When all are fit, we have Manquillo on the bench.
Joelinton and Willock only work in 3 man CM where the CM's have space to run with the ball. neither work well in a 4-4-2, it's too static. Neither are CDM's or CAM's really. They work best in 3 or 5 man midfields and graft. They need space and freedom to run to do their best work. They cannot function in a formation that requires them to be bound too much. Same with ASM. ASM doesn't work great in a 4-4-2 where the LM is required to do a lot of defensive work. 4-3-3 is easily the best formation for us. We have the CM energy to make it work. The CM's do the extra defensive work that we would expect from the wingers.
I think the games have been tight is the issue. So managers fear changing the dynamic of the team too much. When Eddie removed Willock against Norwich for Hayden, it almost cost us the point because he just didn't have the game understanding that Willock had. Willock was gassed so its no ones fault but it just goes to show how limited some players we've been left with are. Bruno will give us plenty but there is time to allow him to adapt. At least until the mask slips from Voldemors face.
