According to GFZ he has the solution to our toothless performances in recent weeks. I am very intrigued to see Tuesdays team and system. I do like the fact Zola tried something different against charlton, I do however believe he played the wrong players in said system. Who knows, he could line up 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 again, but I definitely feel it hinges on which players he names in that formation. I was someone calling for a 3-4-3 BUT with acuna upfront with deeney and fabb playing behind the two. I think yesterday was a great wake up call to the fact FF and Fabb can't be playing in the same system together. It has to be one or the other, sadly. A great headache to have, but this is wear Zola earns his stripes as a manager. He is going to have to upset someone for the good of the team. My main concern at the moment is the balance of the side and individual players abilities trying to play in a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3. For example, I don't have any reservations defensively, I feel our main problem is in midfield and upfront, ironically the two areas we were dominant in last season. For me, iriney should only be playing in a 3-5-2 formation. He is an out and out ball winner and reader of the game, he doesn't have the ability to get up and down the pitch in a midfield two like yesterday. He is in there to protect the defence and give the ball to our creative players, which he does well. Mcgugan shouldn't be in a midfield two for the same reason, he is limited to what he can do, his strengths are linking midfield to attack, getting in the box and scoring goals, his weaknesses are tracking back, tackling and general work ethic. I wouldn't say he's neccessarily lazy, just not a grafter. Should be a bench player in a 3-5-2 formation to replace abdi if tiring or injured. Playing iriney and Mcgugan in a midfield two just stretches our midfield and gives more time on the ball to opposition teams. There is no energy in there. Battocchio, love him. Has the correct traits to play as a central midfielder/ball winner in any formation, has the energy, has the range of passing, can tackle and can get forward when needed. Why on why is he behind Mcgugan in the pecking order? This is a big problem for us. Our tempo is too slow at the moment and he would change that. Abdi as we know is a top player at this level, and again I think he is being affected due to having to do more donkey work in the middle that chalobah and battocchio would have done last season. He is unable to get on the ball in dangerous positons as he seems to be restricted in what he is able to do. He isn't a grafter, but that's what he's having to do at the moment. I can't help but think if he was playing alongside iriney and battocchio in a three we would see the best from him. Or battocchio in a two. Upfront. Deeney. Poor at the moment, is that down to lack of service/support? I think it could be. No doubt troy is missing vydra. When one received the ball the other was no further than 10 yards away to link up. The problem with fessi and fabb up top is they play too deep to support deeney quickly enough. They are usually 20-30 yards away from deeney we he gets the ball. FF is better at supporting, but think fabb is still learning. I have no doubt that acuna was signed as a replacement for vydra. Both are quick, similar in stature, both have a good touch and both can finish. I just don't understand why Zola hasn't started him alongside troy yet? It's almost a carbon copy partnership of deeney and vydra, so it surely makes sense? They linked up brilliantly at reading and caused them lots of problems with fabb just in behind. That forward three would be my choice in a 3-4-3/3-4-1-2. I have also noticed this season that teams are working so hard against us that after 70 minutes they're knackered. Perhaps bringing fabb or fessi on against tiring defenders is the best way forward? When teams are tired they give the ball away more and leave gaps. Imagine what Fabbrini would do when he finds pockets of space? Scary. We aren't miles away from being a top side, we have an excellent defence with angella and ekstrand being accompanied by one of doyley, belkalem, cassetti, Hoban or nos. wingbacks in faraoni and anya that can cause sides problems, faraoni is far from the finished article, I think he will be a huge player for us come Christmas. A good squad of midfielders which aren't being used correctly at the moment, and a good choice of forwards which again aren't being used properly. Zola needs to be harder in his decisions. If that looks like dropping Mcgugan, fessi and or fabb from the side then so be it. We will get there, when it clicks when we've found our balance we will smash 4 or 5 past sides fairly frequently. The great news is our defence is considerably better than last seasons with the inclusion of Angella.
I thought we had clicked, but were waiting for gelling? Or has gellation been confirmed, with clickization imminent?
In the last 2 home matches Deeney has had a guilt edged chance in both games to win it. That's the difference right now, last year Vydra would have buried both for 2 wins.
Yesterday was a tinkering that didn't come off, that's part and parcel of the game. Next time it might work. I know people wanted us to start flying due to a slow start last season being the main reason we fell short of 2nd spot but we lost the first 3 games last season, we've only lost one so far this season, therefore we're already in a better position.
Agree with virtually all this. It seems the obvious switch to try on Tuesday night would be giving acuna a start up front alongside deeney (which I'm sure Zola did try in a couple of pre season friendlies: did he not like what he saw??) A more settled back three of ekstrand, Angella and one other should bring better defensive performances and greater chance of clean sheets. I do agree however with another forum member (apologies can't remember who) who said we don't appear to be defending as a team at the moment and the team defensive work ethic needs to improve. I think we have enough midfield talent at our disposal at the moment (even without the possible arrival of a loanee) we just need to find the right combination. I think everyone agrees that Abdi is the only one currently guaranteed a place in our first choice three. It would be interesting to know how far battochio is from his first league start: not too long hopefully. I was impressed by Fabrinni initially but feel that he is now becoming a luxury that our team can not afford to accommodate at the moment (certainly not in the same starting line up as Forestieri) As others have said I'm glad Zola showed the willingness to change things against Charlton (although would he have tried this if Abdi was fit??). The obvious change now is to acuna a start in an attempt to prevent deeney from being so isolated I'd like to battochio given a chance to try and replicate our higher tempo play from last season. I have actually been reasonably impressed with McGugan but he is the obvious choice to step aside. If Abdi is fit again I'd like to this side start against Doncaster: Almunia Faraoni Ekstrand Angella Belkalem Anya Iriney Battochio Abdi Acuna Deeney
Very true, and on the slimmest of margins Blackpool could also have been 3 or 4 down by halftime. That's another 7 points right there that you could easily argue we were rather unlucky not to get. Deeney and Fessi both seem out of form right now. Deeney from the end of last season would have buried both of those chances.
Gelling - implies time; moreover that we would give them time. Clicking however, much more instantaneous, instant results, pressure to succeed. Fighting hoofers under Dyche gel. Tricksy Latin types cllck apparently
We've been waiting for this point where we 'click' and beat teams regularly by 4 and 5 for well over a season now. It's not going to happen. This league is far, far too tight for that.
We don't even need to mention Vydra. Last season's Deeney when he stepped up to the mark would've done the job as well.
"There are obviously a lot of things that didn't work as I wanted and I know exactly what those things are and we're going to be addressing them tomorrow and working a little bit on that." said Gianfranco. I wonder what he's going to have our forwards working on?
Lots of mention of Deeney missing a couple of chances but the biggest miss was by McGugan when he tried a fancy chip over the keeper when drilling it hard and low was the obvious scoring option. Shortly after this miss there was a break in play where McGugan went over towards the benches and you could see Zola saying to him he should have hit it hard and low.
Deeney's had his head turned by Vydra living the relaxing high life and not even having to watch his own team play.
There is no evidence that Iriney is an 'out an out' ball winner. If he were our problems would be significantly reduced.
That's exactly what he was at Granada and very good he was at it as well. They changed to a different system which means they don't use this kind of player anymore
Now I know you're joking but let's play devil's advocate here. He was linked with a lot of clubs, especially some prem ones during the transfer window. He said clearly that he wanted to just get on with his football. Then he started to go a couple of games without scoring. Zola then says publicly that he needs to focus on his football and not on the rumours, after troy has already said that he just wants to focus on his football. Could he have lost a bit of respect for Zola and is starting to be less receptive to Zola? Purely speculative btw from me but you never know...
I assume you say this with tongue firmly in cheek but Belkalem and Angella put a couple of longer diagonal passes into Deeney on Saturday and it caused Charlton problems, I'm not for one moment advocating this is a better tactic than working chances through possession but to mix it up a bit will bring positive results.
I'm definitely a fan of mixing it up. Teams are expecting us play out from the back so tend to stick close to our strikers. A few long balls will shake them off and open up space.
Good post, I was quite pleased to see the formation Zola chose even though it didn't include Anya or Abdi. Obviously Abdi was injured but Zola has taken criticism for 'dropping' Anya, I can understand this considering the Scotsman's form recently. However, in fairness to Zola I imagine they have been working on this in training with Anya away on international duty and he felt it a good opportunity to try Fabb & Fessi together. I would disagree with your comment that it proves they cant play together, I personally think his performance on Saturday shows that Fabbrini hasn't grasped Championship football and how best apply his undoubted skills. He was the culprit in constantly slowing attacks down by taking too many touches when a few sharp incisive passes may have created a clear shooting opportunity. Deeney and Acuna upfront for me on Tuesday with Fabbrini dropped to the bench. I just cant work out whether I would go for Forristieri in behind the two of them with 2 of iriney, mcgugan or batto in the middle and anya on one side with faraoni/pudil on the other to make a 3-4-3 or drop Fessi too and go back to the standard 3-5-2. I'm glad Zola has the answer!
I'd like to see us try 3-4-1-2. I think the 3-4-2-1 just leaves Deeney too isolated. Almunia Doyley Angella Ekstrand Faraoni McGugan Abdi Anya Forestieri Deeney Acuna If needing to go defensive later in the game, sacrifice a striker. If needed, push Forestieri further forward. We have so many options this year but I think the 3-5-2 is still our best.
It's the role of holding midfielder that I don't think they use anymore. I could be wrong but I believe that's why he came here. That really isn't where our problem is, if there is a problem. It's the other end and the lack of support where I think we struggled on Saturday. I though Ireney had a very good game against Charlton
There are a lot of attacking players in that team which might leave us a bit open at the back but maybe we should play this side against team we should be beating especially at home. We need to take the game to the opposition like we did at Blackpool as that's when we're dangerous. Would be rough on Ireney though. Maybe Batts instead of Mcgugan as he will do more work and allow Abdi to get forward. As iljordan said, at least Zola has the answer!
I understand what you are saying Knight but I would see Battocchio as more attacking than McGugan or Abdi. Both McGugan and Abdi can play a decent holding role in the midfield along with Anya and Faraoni if needed. Forestieri likes to drop deep to win the ball, having Acuna on the field at the same time allows Deeney to have someone else there when he becomes isolated. You then have the 3 options of Fabbrini, Battocchio & Iriney on the bench. Fabbrini for FF/Acuna if tired, Battocchio for extra creativity and Iriney if you're looking to kill a game. These are the answers, the problem is that the question always changes.
I must be in the minority in thinking that McGugan had a decent game on Saturday - in the second half he was really grafting and one of the few who looked like making something happen.
