Wes and his shadow

[Squire 0]

Most seem to agree now that Wes is a vital component in our team. It was not always thus. His decent goal count, assists, etc seem to have won most over.

So far, Millwall are the only team which have nullified him for virtually the entire game (I think). His shadow was seldom more than an arms length away. Other opponents will obviously pick up on this and may similarly deploy their own shadow? I''m surprised that more haven''t tried it already, or perhaps they have, unsuccessfully.

What would Lamberts plan B be, to counteract this likelihood?

[Canary Man of Kent 0]

Bring Holt back into the team which will give them a further problem. They can''t man mark everyone. If they did Forster would have a free run with the ball every time he got it.

I''m confident Holt will be able to bring Hoolahan into the game.

[Its only my opinion 0]

Hartlepool done the same? If i remember rightly

[morty 0]

The thing is, if you have a player or two marking Wes that makes space for other players. Also you can mark Wes for 90 minutes but you can bet that he''ll slip his marker at least a few times and create something.

[Lambert is King 0]

He already uses plan b he changes to 4 4 2 during games

[jeagle 0]

I think Wes is intelligent enough to get away from a man marker. All he needs is a chance to set up a goal for our two strikers (who are quality finishers) or score one himself.

If not we have McNamee who can add width and we can go two up top.

[Its only my opinion 0]

[quote user="SimonOTBC"]

Bring Holt back into the team which will give them a further problem. They can''t man mark everyone. If they did Forster would have a free run with the ball every time he got it.

I''m confident Holt will be able to bring Hoolahan into the game.

[/quote]

I agree with this.... With holt the formation  isn''t so rigid Hoolahan, Martin and Holt drift about with Cody playing we played with 2 up front with Hoolahan behind,

[a1canary 0]

Have we actually switched to 4-4-2 when Lambert brings the subs on though?

It usually looks to me like he goes 4-3-3 with McNamee or Oli or whoever on one side of Holt and Martin or a.n.other sub on the other.

[a1canary 0]

...or a straight swap in midfield if bringing hughes on for smith

[Lambert is King 0]

[quote user="a1canary"]Have we actually switched to 4-4-2 when Lambert brings the subs on though?

It usually looks to me like he goes 4-3-3 with McNamee or Oli or whoever on one side of Holt and Martin or a.n.other sub on the other.[/quote]

I agree sorry I should have put 4 4 2 or any other system Lambert thinks will work

[Northern Canary 0]

Its pretty easy to see that he is a key player. I imagine most teams will have identified that and tried to combat it, most of them simply couldnt manage it. Like someone else said, man marking one player out of the game does draw attention away from our other players who can benefit from that. And the odd time that hooly does manage to get past 2 players who have tracked him, it can leave the opposition low on numbers elsewhere which opens things up for a quick counter.

[CJ 1]

Wes does seem to struggle when man marked and lambert needs to work with him on this.Usually the player marking is not at same skill level or fitness level so it is vital to keep tempting him into foulseven if it means giving ball away a few times. Hopefully in the end marker in the book and then he hasto be much more careful

[Jacko 0]

[quote user="Squire"]Most seem to agree now that Wes is a vital component in our team. It was not always thus. His decent goal count, assists, etc seem to have won most over. So far, Millwall are the only team which have nullified him for virtually the entire game (I think). His shadow was seldom more than an arms length away. Other opponents will obviously pick up on this and may similarly deploy their own shadow? I''m surprised that more haven''t tried it already, or perhaps they have, unsuccessfully. What would Lamberts plan B be, to counteract this likelihood?[/quote]

Probably going to get shot down here but I think the fact the opposition have been man marking Wes is irrelevant. He is too skilful for most people who will mark him. I think what is more important is where Hoolahan recieves the ball on the pitch. He is not blessed with pace but where he comes into his own is in and around the box where his skill makes him dangerous. I think the problem has been that without Holt we are missing that link man who can bring him into the game in the final third. I hope this will change on Saturday now Holty is back