Whittingham Yes he scored a peach of a goal. But what else did he do? I forgot he was on the pitch 2nd half. Huddersfield were pouring through our midfield in first half, with only Adeyami there to try to stop them. Whittingham has no pace, and just lolls around. He is a luxury that City can ill afford to be in the first X1 all the time. When is Dikajkoi fit? Connolly My man of the season so far. He reads the game well, can distribute and has a fair degree of skill. For me (until Turner is fit to compete for his place), I'd go Connolly and Morrison. Marshall Yes he is a great shot stopper but this season in both games he has shown his vulnerability with crosses. It is only a matter of time before he is found out by the league and is peppered with crosses.
I'll go with that assessment of all three. The one thing I will say about Whitts is that he does possess the armoury to unlock a game with either a shot or a sublime pass. Connolly has been a revelation. Early days, but Marshie has flapped a bit - reminiscent of his early days with us.
Agreed all round but once Dikgacoi fit, I see Whitts moving wide on left where he has played his best football for us. No pace I know but can pick pockers with his left foot and he won't be exposed defensively while being able to support Fabio. Is it just me or does Daehli look less than comfortable in the hustle and bustle of the Championship? He has been guilty of giving the ball away (as have others) but lacks physicality and while having a short burst of pace, after 7 or 8 yards he has no extra gear to get past players he can beat over a short burst. This showed a couple of times first half Saturday. I know Whitts can't do it either but he is so much better at ball retention and playing others in. Tomorrow night's selection will be interesting with Pilkington looking to play. I think on the right as Burgerstall also looks a little out of place at present.
Connolly, even though playing on the left hand side has been outstanding so far i can see him and Morrison being the centre pairing until Turner is fit. Agree about Marshall as well, getting peppered with crosses though will be the difficult thing as not many will get behind our fullbacks to allow crosses to come in from the byline. Sure we had a thread about the conundrum that is Whitts, When Dicakgoi is fit i can see him and Adeyemi playing as the 2 central midfielders, which will leave 2 spaces to fill can Whitts force his way in to the left side or behind the forwards.
Pilkington i believe is better as a left sided midfielder/winger, may be able to move to the right side to accommodate Whitts.
Burgi is a strong boy who will play others in, but the Championship may need a little more directness when required. Pilks certainly provides that and has a turn of speed that most of our midifeld options lack. On the Daehli subject, I think he needs to adjust to this sort of football - and will. It may take him a dozen games to get in tune, but the intensity of play by opposition midfields in the Championship seems to catch him out and he looks more indecisive than last season. Though I've said I'm not sure both him and Whitts should be on the pitch at the same time, I'd stick with him in the hole and use the pace of Pilks out wide.
I'm not the biggest fan of Whitts but he can change a game with one magic moment. When everyone is fit I think he will be a bench warmer he can come on with 25/30 minutes left if needed.
Fair comment Nin, I was basing my comment on the current position with Noonie out for a few more weeks. I could see us with different tactics home and away, depending on the opposition. Whitts maybe getting more starts away from home.
Marshall would walk into most PL sides including the probable winners Man City. Joe Hart is ropey at crosses and isnt in the same league shot stopping. Marshall could have stopped the Blackburn goal but lets face it weve had 2 seasons of world class saves from him. I hope no one is suggesting hes dropped. 1st name on the team sheet. I was abroad on Saturday. From what ive been told Ole started with a 2 man central midfield. Thats a recipe for disaster and if he persists he will lose his job.However im told he changed it. Hope hes learned from it. Daehli would be better in the centre behind a loan striker but clearly Ole wants 2 strikers so I doubt thats going to happen. Ole gets it right we walk this league. Get it wrong and Pulis should step in and quickly.
disagree about whittingham, he's got no pace and sometimes games can pass him by, but he keeps things ticking over and his delivery and goals keep him in the team…. i have never been convinced by daelhi, he seems one of those players that shows a few nice touches but has little end product. i think someone with less skill, but more championship knowhow, like pilkington, will offer us more from wide left. adeyemi was very good though, for £2m we have a very good player who will go box to box and be a good foil for whittingham…..
I think Ole will be reluctant to drop Whitt's because of his "sensitive" nature quite apart from his game-winning capability. That may be wrong, but Whitts is very much a confidence player. It certainly wouldn't make him any quicker, but keeping faith him in rather than chopping and changing may bring the best out of him.
As we're on midfielders, may I mention Joe Ralls. He was excellent at Coventry (yes, I know it was "only" Coventry) but his season in the championship with Yeovil appears to have done a lot for him, in terms of physicality and pitch presence. He's not shy of going for goal either. I'd have no qualms about him being given match time. I foresee a big future for this lad. Some points made about Daehli above. He is slippery and will unlock plenty of championship defences. His pass to KJ for his 2nd was excellent. Not sure yet about Burgstaller. He looks cumbersome to me. Looking forward to seeing Adeyami and Dikajcoi together with one of either Noone or Pilks out wide. Anyone see a future for Kim with the riches at OGS's disposal? His display at Coventry did not inspire me for one.
Kimbo is not Ole's man, and given his lacklustre stuff this early season, I think he might go. I know it's early days, but I can't see him making the starting lineup too often if at all. Advocating the ground he covers as some sort of virtue and justifiable reason to keep him doesn't cut it with me. He's been poor so far and loses the ball far too easily.
True Sparks but when he came to us ball retention was his one of his strengths. He hardly wasted a ball in his first few games. What's gone wrong, lack of confidence, carrying a knock. He is such a changed player.
Last dozen games of our promotion season when he displaced Whitts, Kimbo was awesome. Something not right at the moment - seems to have lost all confidence taking on his man. Obvious skills in abundance, but they're not coming out. At least he got in the box to score when Kenwyne hit the post against Yeovil, but that was the highlight so far.
I was also impressed with Ralls. If we could get fees for Gunner and Kim id sell both. I think Ralls is better than Gunner and Kim must be on high wages so if hes not going to start then needs to go.
I would prefer to see Ralls in the team than Kimbo. He seems to have gone backwards at an alarming rate. Something is clearly wrong with him. I have always been impressed with Ralls from his early games as a youngster. He never stops working and is always available for the ball.
