Must play 3 CB's against Villa

[pete 368]

Even if this blunts our attacking options, just joking. But it is imperative we don''t give Bruce''s boys a free ride by playing back four. Not much to cheer this season but to stifle Villa will be a highpoint. A scoreless draw would be a nice surprise not as good as winning but lets be realistic.

[CANARYKING 706]

Sure Snodgrass will be fired up

[Pritch 3]

With Maddison and Edwards behind Oliveira.

[Diane 500]

[quote user="Pritch"]With Maddison and Edwards behind Oliveira.[/quote]

Would rather see Dennis Srbeny upfront, more games he gets the better

[TIL 1010 5,242]

[quote user="Diane"]

Would rather see Dennis Srbeny upfront, more games he gets the better

[/quote]I will have a pint of whatever you are drinking Diane.

[hogesar 10,717]

[quote user="TIL 1010"][quote user="Diane"]

Would rather see Dennis Srbeny upfront, more games he gets the better

[/quote]I will have a pint of whatever you are drinking Diane.[/quote]

You''d have to say that though, because you wrote him off as a non-league player. I would say his performances have generally disproven that, even if he isn''t the answer to our goalscoring problems. He''s certainly not offered anything less than Oliviera.

[TIL 1010 5,242]

Yes i did write him off but you yourself say he is not the answer to our goalscoring problems so looks like we agree then ? No problem with your view that he has not offered anything less than Oliviera as i said on a thread after his latest little spat with Farke that he should never wear the shirt again.

[Tetteys Jig 851]

Neither of them are the answer but sadly the problem is far deeper than 1 man. Other than Maddison, none of our front line have been near good enough this season and it''s a mixture of tactics, quality, desire and balance. We have a hell of a lot to do pre season.

Oddly, I think we need to have a basic plan for when our intricate ways don''t work as is so often the case this season, maybe a big man we can lump it to or a really pacy winger who plays off the shoulder of the full back. Yes it would be a shame to go full Pulis or McCarthy, but I think we need to add that to our game.

When we had the likes of Holt and Johnson, they were able to pick up them aimless balls forward and hold it up, giving us a fighting chance of a cheap goal where we didn''t need 1 million passes or the perfect timed run from the forward.

Teams at this level are full of concentration errors or mistakes, just like Millwall showed us earlier this season. They were far from anything special but they pumped us 4-0 with 4 fairly straight forward goals. For all our Nelson Oliveira bits of play, Matt Smith ripped us a new one by simply being tall and knowing where the ball was going to be lumped to

Yes at premiership level he''d mostly get dealt with but we''ve got to be real and realise where we are. Whilst i''m still keen to see us be able to play with some quality when it allows, i''d like to see far more ruthlessness to our game. We never seem to score easy goals like we concede and it''s been the case most seasons recently basically since Lambert left.

As for Oliveira, I wouldn''t be against him leaving for a decent fee to a team that can better utilise his qualities and getting in some more basic but more 1 dimensional forwards. You only have to look at Leicester for the perfect example of who we should be looking at. Vardy''s still not doing bad is he despite him basically having 1 move. For the other side of the coin, Chris Wood or Glen Murray, very obviously target men with decent but not notable technique but there they are, banging the goals in and making a nuisance of themselves still.

For me, we need to go to 5 at the back until we can be trusted to play with more strength and then get Godfrey and Thompson back and have a bit of a make over up top. Not sure what to do with Josh atm as he''s clearly a talented player but he''s just so irritating with his decisions. That could be confidence or poor chemistry or maybe he''s just not cut out for upper championship level. Hernandez seems similar breed as well, for all his flashy runs, he has no goals or assists to show for it.

[Tetteys Jig 851]

Meant to add "Even in the QPR game, Matt Smith..."

[Aggy 944]

I said on the Raggett thread that sometimes you need a centre half who can win headers and kick people and the same can be said for strikers, so I''d agree Tettey''sJig, at least as a plan b you need that.

I think the big thing we lack is someone who can both make the right run and be clinical. The way we play we often end up prodding and trying to find the right time to play the killer ball (where I still think Hoolahan would do us a job) but either our forwards aren''t making the runs for the balls to be played or, when they do, they aren''t clinical enough.

As for the defence vs Villa, got to be 5 at the back after QPR surely?

[nutty nigel 7,899]

I like playing three and the two wing backs but I''m not convinced that''s a key to us doing better. The stats don''t show much difference either way. 

Back 4    P30 W10 D8 L12 F31 A39 Pts 38

Back 3/5 P10 W3  D5  L2  F11 A11  Pts 14

However Tetty is much more key.

With Tetty P18 W9 D6 L3 F19 A10 Pts33

But when we''ve been able to play Tetty with Trybull.

With both  P8 W7 D1 L0 F10 A2 Pts22

[AJ 1,357]

I do think we really miss Trybull, I hope he''s back to full fitness for next season, especially if we don''t manage to persuade Tettey to stay.

It''s hard to say whether Godfrey/Thompson can come in and fill Tetteys shoes, he has a lot of experience compared to most of our squad

[AJ 1,357]

Also, given Farke''s unwillingness to play Raggett even with Hanley supposedly struggling a little with shin splints, I would doubt we have the resources to field a back 3

[nutty nigel 7,899]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]I like playing three and the two wing backs but I''m not convinced that''s a key to us doing better. The stats don''t show much difference either way. 

Back 4    P30 W10 D8 L12 F31 A39 Pts 38

Back 3/5 P10 W3  D5  L2  F11 A11  Pts 14

However Tetty is much more key.

With Tetty P18 W9 D6 L3 F19 A10 Pts33

But when we''ve been able to play Tetty with Trybull.

With both  P8 W7 D1 L0 F10 A2 Pts22

[/quote]

Again today it wasn''t the defence set up that was crucial. It was Tetty.

The stats where Tetty has started are now : -

P19 W10 D6 L3 F22 A11 Pts33

Work that out if he''d been available every game....

And yet half wits were booing him. I think half a wit is on the generous side...

[sonyc 6,144]

Tettey was immense today. Excellent game and Dennis showed glimpses of a player to emerge. Hope we keep Alex T for another season or two