This man must play on Saturday

[pete 318]

Who is it? the maligned and castigated Gary O Neill. Why let me give you a few facts. In the last 4 matches which he has missed due to a ridiculous tackle at Stoke City have conceded 14 goals.

In the most recent games he has played we drew with Everton (H), beat Man Utd and Southampton.

Evidence that when O''Neill plays he gives the defence a more solid identity together with Alex Tettey. When missing the defence and midfield suffer. O''Neill is a solid performer with a good distribution. And must play on Saturday in what is a must win game.

[Guest]

Agreed.

[Guest]

Undoubtedly the break up of the Tettey/O''Neil partnership has played a big part in our recent decline.  Sadly, now it''s Tettey''s turn to serve a two match ban. So I can''t see things improving on that front.  Mulumbu still looks off the pace, while Howson and Dorrans just don''t protect the back line enough when played in the middle.O''Neil should at least add a bit of leadership and game management - providing he doesn''t lose his head, as he did at Stoke.

[Hairy Canary 668]

I thought the two match ban for 10 bookings was up to the 31st January?? I really hope you''re not right as Tetty is vital for us

[Guest]

It''s on the FA website: http://www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/suspensions

[Hairy Canary 668]

Pooh! That is bad news. We so need Tetty and O''Neil back together in the centre.

[HampsteadCanary 0]

I hope its Mulumbu and O''Neil. I think Mulumbu needs a run in the team to get up to speed and showed glimpses of his ability last night.

[Mr Jenkins 0]

O''Neil is not the greatest but against lower table opposition he will do a good job for us IMO and I would be very surprised if he didn''t play against Villa. His sending does appear to have been pivotal to our recent demise, perhaps the truth is it fractured a fragile confidence.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

Its a sad state of affairs when Gary O''Neil is our salvation but I do agree that he appears to have become fairly integral of late. he seems to be the only one able to provide the necessary leadership and communication.

The other man who simply must start is Wes. Neil continuing to leave out Wes is one of my biggest frustrations. he must start whenever possible. I don''t buy this "can''t play two games in a week" business. he did so 6 times last season (on two occasions playing 3 games in a week) and on 5 of them we got back to back wins. We average 1.3 points a game with Wes starting in the last 3 seasons in the prem. Without him its much, much less.

[Chip20 69]

[quote user="Jim Smith"]Its a sad state of affairs when Gary O''Neil is our salvation but I do agree that he appears to have become fairly integral of late. he seems to be the only one able to provide the necessary leadership and communication.

The other man who simply must start is Wes. Neil continuing to leave out Wes is one of my biggest frustrations. he must start whenever possible. I don''t buy this "can''t play two games in a week" business. he did so 6 times last season (on two occasions playing 3 games in a week) and on 5 of them we got back to back wins. We average 1.3 points a game with Wes starting in the last 3 seasons in the prem. Without him its much, much less.[/quote]

I agree that Wes brings loads to the table but where do you play him? If you have Mbokani/Bamford/Jermome up top and Naismith in the withdrawn role then Wes has to go out on the left somewhere, which doesn''t seem to be his most effective area.

[Chip20 69]

Apologies for the Jerome typo. Dunno how that happened.

EDIT BUTTON!!!!!!!

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

You can check and edit before you press ''post''. That may help.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

[quote user="Chip20"][quote user="Jim Smith"]Its a sad state of affairs when Gary O''Neil is our salvation but I do agree that he appears to have become fairly integral of late. he seems to be the only one able to provide the necessary leadership and communication.

The other man who simply must start is Wes. Neil continuing to leave out Wes is one of my biggest frustrations. he must start whenever possible. I don''t buy this "can''t play two games in a week" business. he did so 6 times last season (on two occasions playing 3 games in a week) and on 5 of them we got back to back wins. We average 1.3 points a game with Wes starting in the last 3 seasons in the prem. Without him its much, much less.[/quote]

I agree that Wes brings loads to the table but where do you play him? If you have Mbokani/Bamford/Jermome up top and Naismith in the withdrawn role then Wes has to go out on the left somewhere, which doesn''t seem to be his most effective area.

[/quote]

I''d play him exactly where we played him against Liverpool because the Naismith/Mbok/Wes combo worked really well in that game. In fact it was the one element of our set up that was really impressive and should not have been changed for last nights game. Naismith should not automatically start ahead of Wes if its a straight choice between them unless he has earnt it. Naismith did nothing last night and was completely ineffective. That said i would play them both as i''ve said above. Jarvis does not convince me at all.

[It's Character Forming 1,160]

It is a real worry to have Tettey missing (viz Newcastle away).  I''d hoped Mulumbu could play there, failing which O''Neill, hopefully the 3 match ban will stop a recurrence of the red mist.

 

We need protection down the flanks where I would go with Brady in front of Olsson and Howson ahead of ? on the right.

 

Then with a striker up front - and I don''t know who we should start - if we play Naismith and Hoolahan behind the striker, are we strong enough defensively in midfield ?  Or do we have Dorrans in midfield instead of one of them ?

When you factor in illness in the squad it''s a headache for a crucial game.