I think Pedro will be used centrally as he’s not fast enough to play on the wing in our current set-up. I think mostly he’ll have to accept being used as a sub, coming on as a 10 when we’re chasing a game. Maybe can get a run as the striker during AFCON depending on King’s fitness and form.
Yeah I’m still not 100% on his best position. He’s too good to spend the season sitting on the bench. Not expecting him to be a guaranteed starter, but he’s such a talent there needs to be a place for him to fight for. He is good enough to fit into the 4-3-3 but I do feel a 4-2-3-1 would probably suit him better.
I'd agree this is probably his best role currently, but we don't seem to use that in the current formation / system.
It could work in a 4231 system with him at the base of a diamond formation up front, I also think that would be Cucho's best position. They could share it with one starting and the other coming off the bench for 20/30 minutes or maybe less, depending on how any given game is going.
Oh I fully agree it could work and would suit him. But the signs are we have very much built the team for 4-3-3 with hard working midfielders and mainly pacey forwards with a bit of skill in there as well.
What a great gesture from the club to retire the number 9 Or have we got to wait until January for a marquee signing?
In January we will be that desperate, Troy will return on loan and reclaim the number 9 shirt Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
He's only on the bench for brum tonight. We'll probably have to recall him from his loan due to lack of game time.
https://trainingground.guru/articles/head-of-performance-garcia-exits-watford-after-only-four-months Interesting to see who comes in next.
We haven't kept a clean sheet in the Premier League for 21 games now. In those 21 games we've had four different head coaches and we still can't keep goals out. We're still starting games with two or three of the defence that was so awful in the 19/20 season. It's easy to see where the blame lies. Nkoulou already looks better than the other centre backs, surely that could have been done in the summer? I actually gave Leventhal's podcast a listen because I was curious to hear what he'd say about the defence. He ended up saying something along the lines of the club are happy to see if Ranieri can mould a defence from the players already here once everyone is fit and Kabasele is back. It's absolute madness, obviously we can't do anything now but it sounds a lot like we are willing to let January pass without bringing another defender in.
I've never know the club have so many players that contribute absolutely zero to the team. Maybe I've just never noticed it with previous squads but there are players who literally do NOTHING. I'm not even talking about Cathcart, WTE, Masina etc, they're just terrible which everyone knows. No I'm talking about Tufan, Kucka, Gosling and Sema. They are just bodies that go out on the pitch and exist for 90, 70, 45 mins.
This is what happens when you get involved with a people trafficking gang. They have no identity they sit on the sidelines turning up to training collecting 30k a week. They may get an extra spring in their step every few month when they hear a new set of coaching staffs voices but evidently doesn’t last long as they are proper **** players that get found out and the new coaching staff continue to play the old guard who under perform each week without fear of being dropped. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
We could lose Gosling, Tufan and Sema and be better off as a squad and financially less burdened. We will lose Rose and be better off with Kamara in his stead. We could lose Kucka and at best be marginally worse off. I know why the club had to operate on low / no fee transfers this year and there have been some positives (King, Dennis, Sissoko and I'd include Fletcher as well) but neglecting the CB situation in the Summer has put us at such a huge disadvantage for a linchpin position. Sierralta looks increasingly unable to make the step up unfortunately and Bachmann has not improved in the game time he's been given. A CB and GK are absolute musts to have a good shot of survival. A CM to go with Kayambe would be highly recommended. It hurts to watch us because there is a good team here (See Chelsea, Man U etc) but we just aren't seeing it. It's not Ranieri as this is a squad quality issue than coaching problem. With Samir and a move to 3 ATB with Sierralta receiving some additional cover and Cathcart / WTE / Kabasele to just not be thick hopefully we see a more stable platform to build off.
Looks like we are going for a 3 at the back, though the worry is having seen Sierralta today, and having heard the news about Nkoulou it begs the question of who is going to accompany him
Why does it? The worst possible thing we could do is increase the quota of our awful centre backs in the starting line up. Samir and whoever else comes in should be replacing the two centre backs, not going in alongside them. It would be ******* unbelievable if we sign new centre backs to replace dross like Cathcart, only to go three at the back so he still ******* plays.
Well the three players we've signed recently have a track record of playing in systems with a back 3, so it begs the question, what is our plan?
So any player who's used to playing in a certain system must only ever play there? We don't need to change the system, we just need defenders who can actually competently do their jobs. No doubt if we switch to a back three it'll affect out ability to score goals and that side of things will dry up instead.
It’s easier to win games by scoring 1 goal than scoring 3. Changing to a back three is the logical way to go, otherwise the signings we’ve made make no sense whatsoever
It also makes no sense whatsoever to move to a formation that includes even more of our terrible centre backs. I'm not sure safety in numbers is going to work out when those numbers include the likes of Cathcart and/or Ekong.
I've always liked 3-5-2 but there must be a plan B if it's not working, especially if the opposing team works the wings well. 3 in the middle protecting the back line and playing fast counter attack football. I think this setup could save our season, especially as we have a decent strike force that are good for at least a goal a game. It's closing shop that's the problem