Thought it might be interesting to see which eleven would be your starting XI. Here are the teams that started in our best performances so far this season, I haven't included Huddersfield at home because the first half was so poor!... Based on that I think my best starting XI is this...
Back 4 picks itself, stick Downes in the middle and the other combination of players doesn't matter too much (I'm only half joking!)
For me, Brooks and Aribo have to be in the starting XI going forward, probably in place of the two Armstrongs.
Brave to drop the player that has the most goals and assists plus has been the captain for most of the season but he could probably benefit from a rest right now.
I just think Brooks is a better option on the right than A Armstrong. If Martin wants to keep playing Armstrong then play him CF but I would then argue is he a better option at CF in our way of playing than Adams...??
No denying that Brooks is great option but you also have to consider the balance of the overall team, glad it's Russell's decision and not mine!
Brooks is clearly a better option right now than a fatigued Adam Armstrong. I just think it's too simplistic to have one favoured XI. For me, there are 5 absolute slam dunk must picks when fit: Baz, KWP, THB, Bednarek and Downes. The other 6 positions are either up for debate or are important to keep the players in those positions fresh and rotate when required. If Stu and Adarma were robots and didn't suffer from fatigue then I may have included them in the must picks but as they're not and we've got excellent alternatives to them in the squad they're not.
Balance, team chemistry and familiarity are important though too, the need to rotate hasn't really been an issue until recently admittedly. Joe Rothwell in particular has struggled to integrate into a starting XI and there are players that are clearly more suited to a particular role/position in the team.
Left-wing is probably where I'm most relaxed about. I like Fraser and Edozie, so am never going to mind which of them starts. (I do think that Fraser is the better substitute option, out of the two of them, so maybe that leans towards starting Edozie.) I said on here yesterday that my preferred midfield trio is currently Aribo, Downes, and Stu. And I say that without any doubt or hesitation. However, it is somewhat form based, because quite honestly three months ago I would have laughed at the thought of putting Aribo in there. But he's a different player now. His physicality is something which probably none of our other CMs have, and his willingness to drive forward with the ball is probably only bettered by Stu.
