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Salopian

Left-sided strength - a problem

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One or two commentators pointed out that Surman''s two goals on Saturday increased PL''s selection problems.

We have one of the strongest left sides:

At fullback - Tierney, Drury, de Laet (even Lappin,Naughton)

Midfield - Johnson, Surman, Pilkington, Lappin, Hooly (even de Laet, Bennett)

The commentators are surely right - for one wide-left position, whether of a diamond or of a conventional 4-4-2, we have a number of contenders, the main ones seemingly Surman and Pilkington.

In comparison, the right seems much less well provided. It is a problem for PL, but it is also a strength, as there are generally far fewer naturally left-sided players. Not many years back England were desperate to find one or two for the national team.

The biggest problem is how to fit Surman and Pilkington into the team. Of course, Pilkington is capable of playing on the other wing, but then what happens to Bennett?

There will be disappointments for some players, but we have a richness which will keep them all on their toes. For the club it can''t be bad!

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Huddersfield fans said that Pilkington can also play in the gap behind the strikers, so he could also provide competition for Hoolahans place.

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I actually think our left flank was massively open all first half saturday and if we do that in the Premiership we are going to get spanked as they will exploit it relentlessly

Players who can "do a job" on the left wing is not what you want in one of the best divisions in the world, you want a left winger. Someone who will help defensively and not go wandering into a prefered more central role.

Left flank remains the biggest area for concern for me

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[quote user="Salopian"]One or two commentators pointed out that Surman''s two goals on Saturday increased PL''s selection problems.

We have one of the strongest left sides:

At fullback - Tierney, Drury, de Laet (even Lappin,Naughton)

Midfield - Johnson, Surman, Pilkington, Lappin, Hooly (even de Laet, Bennett)

The commentators are surely right - for one wide-left position, whether of a diamond or of a conventional 4-4-2, we have a number of contenders, the main ones seemingly Surman and Pilkington.

In comparison, the right seems much less well provided. It is a problem for PL, but it is also a strength, as there are generally far fewer naturally left-sided players. Not many years back England were desperate to find one or two for the national team.

The biggest problem is how to fit Surman and Pilkington into the team. Of course, Pilkington is capable of playing on the other wing, but then what happens to Bennett?

There will be disappointments for some players, but we have a richness which will keep them all on their toes. For the club it can''t be bad![/quote]Quantity and quality are very different things, I''m sure Man Utd wouldn''t swap all of those players for Giggs and Evra! Bradley Johnson has been bought to play centre midfield, Lambert said so himself. Pilkington played on the right more than the left for Huddersfield. When playing the diamond Surman will probably play left side of the diamond, when playing with wingers we might see Hoolahan or Pilkington on the left wing. I genuinely don''t expect Lappin or Drury to get much game time at all this year, I just don''t think they could handle the pace. Both good players to have around, but not to rely on every week in that league, Drury doesn''t have the legs any more. I can perhaps see the benefit to bringing Lappin on for Surman or Pilkington when we need to get men behind the ball (e.g. defending a lead for the tail end of a game). I doubt we will see Pilkington and Bennett start many games together unless Hoolahan gets injured. Playing two out and out wingers is a little bit too much unless we play two defensive midfielders, say Johnson and Crofts, and the full backs play a bit deeper.To be honest I think it''s exciting that we have the ability to play multiple systems now. The diamond came as a result of having such a poor lack of depth and flair that we had no choice but to find a system to fit what we had at the club already, including Hoolahan. Last year we still didn''t have the wingers, so 4-4-2 wasn''t really a viable option. There are probably four or five systems that we can play now, and to be honest you need that in the Premiership!

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[quote user="LeJuge"][quote user="Salopian"]One or two commentators pointed out that Surman''s two goals on Saturday increased PL''s selection problems. We have one of the strongest left sides: At fullback - Tierney, Drury, de Laet (even Lappin,Naughton) Midfield - Johnson, Surman, Pilkington, Lappin, Hooly (even de Laet, Bennett) The commentators are surely right - for one wide-left position, whether of a diamond or of a conventional 4-4-2, we have a number of contenders, the main ones seemingly Surman and Pilkington. In comparison, the right seems much less well provided. It is a problem for PL, but it is also a strength, as there are generally far fewer naturally left-sided players. Not many years back England were desperate to find one or two for the national team. The biggest problem is how to fit Surman and Pilkington into the team. Of course, Pilkington is capable of playing on the other wing, but then what happens to Bennett? There will be disappointments for some players, but we have a richness which will keep them all on their toes. For the club it can''t be bad![/quote]

Quantity and quality are very different things, I''m sure Man Utd wouldn''t swap all of those players for Giggs and Evra!

Bradley Johnson has been bought to play centre midfield, Lambert said so himself. Pilkington played on the right more than the left for Huddersfield.

When playing the diamond Surman will probably play left side of the diamond, when playing with wingers we might see Hoolahan or Pilkington on the left wing.

I genuinely don''t expect Lappin or Drury to get much game time at all this year, I just don''t think they could handle the pace. Both good players to have around, but not to rely on every week in that league, Drury doesn''t have the legs any more. I can perhaps see the benefit to bringing Lappin on for Surman or Pilkington when we need to get men behind the ball (e.g. defending a lead for the tail end of a game).

I doubt we will see Pilkington and Bennett start many games together unless Hoolahan gets injured. Playing two out and out wingers is a little bit too much unless we play two defensive midfielders, say Johnson and Crofts, and the full backs play a bit deeper.

To be honest I think it''s exciting that we have the ability to play multiple systems now. The diamond came as a result of having such a poor lack of depth and flair that we had no choice but to find a system to fit what we had at the club already, including Hoolahan. Last year we still didn''t have the wingers, so 4-4-2 wasn''t really a viable option. There are probably four or five systems that we can play now, and to be honest you need that in the Premiership!
[/quote]

 

 

I disagree, I think Tierney is exceptional and his reading of the game on Saturday was top class. I think the left side seemed pretty solid as well as the right side. I think we missed Crofts and that Giovinco was pulling the strings for them and Johnson and Fox couldn''t deal with it.

I also think Pilkington and Bennett will both play on opposite wings this year, the fact Pilkington is both footed pretty much confirms that he play probably play either side. I think the wingers will be big this year. I like the fact we can change the formation a lot now, but the biggest positive note from saturday was how well the defence played. I know that they were not playing at there best, but the defence read things brilliantly.

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[quote user="YellowLittle1"]

[quote user="LeJuge"][quote user="Salopian"]One or two commentators pointed out that Surman''s two goals on Saturday increased PL''s selection problems. We have one of the strongest left sides: At fullback - Tierney, Drury, de Laet (even Lappin,Naughton) Midfield - Johnson, Surman, Pilkington, Lappin, Hooly (even de Laet, Bennett) The commentators are surely right - for one wide-left position, whether of a diamond or of a conventional 4-4-2, we have a number of contenders, the main ones seemingly Surman and Pilkington. In comparison, the right seems much less well provided. It is a problem for PL, but it is also a strength, as there are generally far fewer naturally left-sided players. Not many years back England were desperate to find one or two for the national team. The biggest problem is how to fit Surman and Pilkington into the team. Of course, Pilkington is capable of playing on the other wing, but then what happens to Bennett? There will be disappointments for some players, but we have a richness which will keep them all on their toes. For the club it can''t be bad![/quote]Quantity and quality are very different things, I''m sure Man Utd wouldn''t swap all of those players for Giggs and Evra! Bradley Johnson has been bought to play centre midfield, Lambert said so himself. Pilkington played on the right more than the left for Huddersfield. When playing the diamond Surman will probably play left side of the diamond, when playing with wingers we might see Hoolahan or Pilkington on the left wing. I genuinely don''t expect Lappin or Drury to get much game time at all this year, I just don''t think they could handle the pace. Both good players to have around, but not to rely on every week in that league, Drury doesn''t have the legs any more. I can perhaps see the benefit to bringing Lappin on for Surman or Pilkington when we need to get men behind the ball (e.g. defending a lead for the tail end of a game). I doubt we will see Pilkington and Bennett start many games together unless Hoolahan gets injured. Playing two out and out wingers is a little bit too much unless we play two defensive midfielders, say Johnson and Crofts, and the full backs play a bit deeper.To be honest I think it''s exciting that we have the ability to play multiple systems now. The diamond came as a result of having such a poor lack of depth and flair that we had no choice but to find a system to fit what we had at the club already, including Hoolahan. Last year we still didn''t have the wingers, so 4-4-2 wasn''t really a viable option. There are probably four or five systems that we can play now, and to be honest you need that in the Premiership![/quote]

I disagree, I think Tierney is exceptional and his reading of the game on Saturday was top class. I think the left side seemed pretty solid as well as the right side. I think we missed Crofts and that Giovinco was pulling the strings for them and Johnson and Fox couldn''t deal with it.I also think Pilkington and Bennett will both play on opposite wings this year, the fact Pilkington is both footed pretty much confirms that he play probably play either side. I think the wingers will be big this year. I like the fact we can change the formation a lot now, but the biggest positive note from saturday was how well the defence played. I know that they were not playing at there best, but the defence read things brilliantly.

[/quote]I don''t really understand what you are disagreeing with there? I get the Pilkington and Bennett bit, and you may be right, but the first paragraph I didn''t really understand. I never said anything about Tierney other than that Man Utd wouldn''t swap him for Evra?!? I also never said that I didn''t rate Crofts, or any indication as to my preferred centre midfield partnership? All I said is that if we played both wingers we would have to play two defensive midfielders, such as Crofts and Johnson, in other words we won''t be putting Hoolahan, Bennett and Pilkington on the pitch at the same time at the start.... surely you can''t disagree with that unless we play one up front of course?

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[quote user="I am a Banana"]Surman wont last in the position long, he isn''t quick or strong enough![/quote]

 

- He will if he continues to get himself on the scoresheet twice a game! (who quoted that btw?).

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[quote user="I am a Banana"]Surman wont last in the position long, he isn''t quick or strong enough![/quote]This sums up the English attitude to football quite nicely in my view.

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[quote user="Gareth"][quote user="I am a Banana"]Surman wont last in the position long, he isn''t quick or strong enough![/quote]This sums up the English attitude towards football quite nicely in my view.[/quote]

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[quote user="I am a Banana"]Surman wont last in the position long, he isn''t quick or strong enough![/quote]

 

I completely agree.  Also even if your not strong you should be getting stuck in (look at Wes) but Surman doesn''t even do that, he seems scared to put in a challenge.  Also when there is a huge amount of space down the left does Surman go galloping into it? No.  He checks back to play it sideways even if there is a lot more danger of losing the ball behind him.  I''m not a fan of Surman and would even prefer to have Bradley Johnson on the left hand side of the diamond.

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[quote user="I am a Banana"]Surman wont last in the position long, he isn''t quick or strong enough![/quote]Neither are Xavi or Iniesta. Typical uneducated English football fan view.

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[quote user="ncfcfan"][quote user="I am a Banana"]Surman wont last in the position long, he isn''t quick or strong enough![/quote]Neither are Xavi or Iniesta. Typical uneducated English football fan view.[/quote]And neither do Xavi or Iniesta play on the left side of a diamond, Barcelona tend to play 4-3-3 not our 4-1-2-1-2, with the two outer forwards going wide and the centre midfielders bombing through the middle.Although I don''t have issues with his strength and speed, my issue with Surman is that he often looks to have a poor first touch and always seems to need an extra yard and an extra second. Jury is still out for me on Surman, he did look better towards the end of the season but he will have to play like that consistently. He seemed to take a while to really return from injury, perhaps it was that. I think there are games when we would appreciate tough tacklers in that diamond, maybe Johnson left and Korey Smith right with Crofts at the bottom, whilst there will be other games where we can get the ball down and play and we can see Surman and Fox in there.Who knows, sure Lambert has it all under control!

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