Hucks on the left?

[Shack Attack 0]

OK everybody, I was under the impression that most people were now agreed that Hucks best position is up front.

However, on any thread which asks what people think our team will be next season it seems that he has moved back on to the left wng in most peoples favoured line up. Added to that I''ve now noticed a poll which suggests that 70% of posters think that he should be played on the left wing. What is the matter with you people!

Firstly playing Hucks on the left causes us massive problems defensively. Witness the way in which Adam Drury has gone from one of the best left backs outside of the Premiership to a nervous wreck who appears to have forgotten how to defend. Asking Hucks to defend is a false economy, you don''t ask your best defender to score you 20 a season so why should you ask your best attacker to defend.

The second problem is that the opposition have got wise to our tactics. When Hucks first got here he often pulled out wide left when the opposition had the ball so that Greeno could find him with a quick throw our kick and launch a counter attack. Teams are wise to this tactic now and are loading up their right hand side when they play us knowing full well that this where most, if not all, of the danger lies. Occasionaly Hucks gets through the two or three men on his side and we''re away, but couldn''t we make things a little easier for ourselves?

Stick Hucks up front just behind Dave the Striker, perhaps even playing a second deeper attacker (Cureton, Chadwick, Croft or Martin)alongside him, and suddenly he''s free to roam. That makes us a lot more unpredictable and stops opposition managers from stationing tow players in the position that they know he will always be in.

Anybody agree?

[Le Juge 0]

I agree so much as Hucks can''t play a traditional left winger role but he can''t play a traditional striker role either. He simply does not fit into any formation properly. He''s a good player and I''d like him in the team but you have to try and accomodate him somewhere else which is a big downside. It''s the age old hucks debate that everyone has had over and over and I''m just grateful I''m not the one who has to try and solve it.

 

The one thing I will say now though, is that if people put two or three players on Hucks on the left, they would be punished because that would more than likely leave Chadwick room on the right and he''s a very good player.

[Shyster 0]

Agreed.

If we start the season with what we''ve currently got, I''d like to see Huckerby played behind Cureton & Strivhavka as an AMC in a 5-3-2 formation which could easily be reverted to a 4-4-2 via a sub or two:

Marshall - gk

Shackell - dc

Dublin - dc

Drury - dc

Ostemober - dmr

Brellier dmc

Etuhu or Chadwick - dmc

Lappin - dml

Huckerby - amc

Strivhavka - f

Cureton - f

 

 

[mbncfc 1]

Shack, I completely agree with you and I think I addressed this in a thread a couple of weeks ago.

I personally feel our strongest line up would require us to play wingbacks, like so:

--------------------------------Marshal-------------------------------

------------Doc/Dub/+1-------Shackell--------Drury-----------------

Otsemobor---------------------------------------------Lappin-------

-------------------------Etuhu----------Brellier----------------------

--------------------------------Huckerby----------------------------

--------------------Dave the Striker----Cureton----------------------

 

I think we should use this formation, expecially at home against sides we should be beating. Further midfield cover might be needed against stronger team, or away from home, when we may not be able to press high enough up the pitch, or for long enough.

But, say, at home to Plymouth I believe this is how we should line up.

[burn down the ipswich 0]

i''m sorry but what are you guys on about?!?!?

hucks can''t go one on one with a keeper, most of his goals recently have happened outside, or near the edge of the box, see blackpool at home.

anyone remember west ham a while back when we were in the premiership. the fa cup game away. that game showed how bad huckerby is at one on ones. he hit the post from ten yards and hit about 6 shots wide. that was when we all woke up to the fact that we needed a striker who had a cool head.

give hucks the ball out wide and there are few better in this division. he can cut in on either foot, go down the wing and look for the cross in or he can skip past a player and look to lay the ball off to someone in the middle.

hucks is an out and out winger, not a striker!!!!

[Hardhouse44 261]

Hucks position depends for me very much on how we are playing as a team. In an idea world if we have 2 proper goal scoring forwards in the team I’d have to say he should play wide left running at his fullback as much as possible.

However, although I am encouraged by the amount of players we have signed at least. I am yet to seen them play. If they all play well in their best positions then I go with the above Huck wide left, if they are not the business (still to be confirmed) then we have to allow Huckerby a more free roll.

I would go as far as to say that if things are not any better than last season we have to allow him a total free roll in an attacking way. Free dome to pull wide to run central and to even switch if he feels is might be successful.

He has been our most potent player since his arrival as far as creating chances and he must be utilised to his full potential.

Lets hope that everybody does the business this season and Hucks is putting the ball on Dave the strikers head with crosses from the left flank game in game out.

[Shack Attack 0]

[quote user="burn down the ipswich"]

i''m sorry but what are you guys on about?!?!?

hucks can''t go one on one with a keeper, most of his goals recently have happened outside, or near the edge of the box, see blackpool at home.

anyone remember west ham a while back when we were in the premiership. the fa cup game away. that game showed how bad huckerby is at one on ones. he hit the post from ten yards and hit about 6 shots wide. that was when we all woke up to the fact that we needed a striker who had a cool head.

give hucks the ball out wide and there are few better in this division. he can cut in on either foot, go down the wing and look for the cross in or he can skip past a player and look to lay the ball off to someone in the middle.

hucks is an out and out winger, not a striker!!!!

[/quote]

So is it against the rules to score from outside of the box if you play as a striker? I''ll admit that Hucks isn''t the best in one on one situations but it doesn''t seem to have harmed his goalscoring record for us too much.

You''ve also not addressed the problem caused to our left back by playing Hucks as an out and out winger. Brellier may help in this regard by covering him but surely we need him to be breaking up play in the centre of the park rather than permanently covering our left winger. The only answer is to ask Hucks to track back, which is a complete waste of his talent.

Just behind a front two or as part of two behind a lone front man, they are the only two positions I want to see Darren Huckerby played in this season.

[Temp the Revelator 0]

[quote user="burn down the ipswich"]

hucks is an out and out winger, not a striker!!!!

[/quote]

nope, sorry, can''t agree with that.  Hucks plays in a similar style to Henry - neither a centre forward nor a winger, but a bit of both.  An out and out winger would take the ball wide, get to the by-line and whip in deadly crosses for the strikers/attacking midfielders - and tend to play on the side which foot they favour.  This is not hucks!

[ZLF 274]

Hux is an attacker who favours going down the left flank;   Grants problem is how to accomodate him (as he must because he will remain our most potent weapon this season) without weakening the defence nor blunting our goal scoring ability.   Sitting just off a tall striker and going eithert left or right or behind a front pair would seem the best solution.