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| wolfswinkel |

What is our strongest 11

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That''s a tough question in that you''d have to go with a formation and no one knows what our best one is now.

At the moment with a fully fit squad I think I would go with a 4-4-1.

GK:Ruddy

DF:Martin, Bassong, Turner, Olsson.

DM: Tettey

MF: Redmond(RW), Howson, Fer, Pilkington(LW).

STR: Hooper.

Arguably that can fluctuate between a 4-1-4-1 and a 4-3-3.

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I would agree with you chicken. The positions that we debate about most are the ones that probably need strengthening. So a centre half, a right back, a defensive midfielder, a left winger and an attacking midfielder. Half a team! It frustrates me that every transfer window most of the fans have been able to spot what is missing and identify what we need (eg last summer a striker to help Holt Jacko etc). We realised that it was creating the chances that was the problem. Hughton brings in the strikers we needed the season before. He seems to be 12 months behind the rest of us, whether that''s down to identifying what the team needs or whether he can pull the transfers off or not.

He strengthened the defence last year. We haven''t built on that more solid foundation. This year we should have focused on building a midfield that could compete IMO. Just bringing in Fer was never going to be enough. Which other clubs only have 4 CMs that they''d consider playing, and 3 of those were in the championship within the last few seasons. Villa? (Redmond I count as an attacking player, and is raw and not going to save our season). We need players with the characteristics that we need for this kind of season now: people who with battle for the cause, who are up for a fight. Leroy Fer doesn''t look up for that kind of fight!

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Mine wouldn''t be far off chicken''s suggestion tbh.                     RuddyMartin, Bassong, Turner, Olsson                     Tettey        Howson              FerRedmond                          Pilks                      RVWIn a flexible 4-3-3/4-5-1/4-1-2-3 formation, where either Fer or Howson can push up into a more advanced position to support RVW (with the option for someone like Fox to play instead of either if we are against a side we can ''play'' against more) and with a style of play that focuses on slicker passing and putting much more pressure on opposing teams rather than sitting back incessantly and then trying (and usually failing) to counter attack.Think along the lines of the football we played under Stringer/Walker, but with these players in a more modern formation/setup.I still think we need another top centre back however, and arguably a ball playing central midfielder to replace someone like Fox longer term. If Pilks can''t stay injury free, we may to look at that if either Redmond or the Murphy''s can''t fill the gap.

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That''s also pretty close to what I''d go for Indy ... we just swap Redmond / Bennett on the RW, Turner / Bennett at CB. Once all our players are fit RB will be the weakest position in our squad IMO.

Ruddy

Martin R.Bennett Bassong Olssen

Tettey Fer

E.Bennett Howson Pilkington

RvW

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At the moment, I''d pick THIS!

--------------Ruddy--------------

Martin Turner Bassong Olsson

-----------Fer---Johnson--------

-------------Hoolahan------------

---Redmond-Hooper-Murphy---

Pace on the counter attack, enough steel in the middle, some youthful exuberance in Murphy and Redmond and a bit of guile in Hoolahan. Swap Fox for Johnson against ''weaker'' sides (are there any weaker teams than us!?)

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unfortunately no one knows, I would like to think in terms of ability, our best team is:

------------------ruddy-------------------

martin---bennett--bassong---olsson

redmond---fer----howson---pilkington

-------------RVW--hooper----------------

but its all about combinations in my opinion to see which players work best together, hooper was injured at the start and then when he came back, ricky got injured. Our best players from last season are out of form at the moment, so to pick our best starting 11 will develop as the season progresses imo

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With Howson and Turner out we''ve got no chance of picking our best side.

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It''s an interesting one. Yet again we have seen that our best performances are when Tettey plays. It is partly about the best players but equally about the best blend.

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The problem we have at the moment is that people underrate the players that are essential and then only realise when they are missing.

Howson - seems to get lambasted for a lack of crunching tackles but people appear to miss that he covers a lot of ground. He does this by pressurising the opposition midfield, positioning himself to be able to intercept passes and then moves quickly to join and support the attack.

Having both him and Tettey injured at the same time is a massive blow to our midfield. Fer is on his first season of English football and I think is still very much finding his feet. Johnson is good but no Tettey and no Howson. He is a good back up and on any other day if just one of the two was out would be a good back up.

Then you look at our width. The only ''senior'' winger that is available for selection at the moment is Snodgrass. The Murphy''s and Redmond are still young and relatively inexperienced. I know they can still do a job but against the bigger teams sometimes experience counts for more.

Pilkington and Bennett are obvious absentees - Pilks more so. Not only that but if you look at the impact Surman had in our first Premier League campaign, I do think we miss his abilities somewhat too.

In terms of defence - we have had most of them available for most of the season. Not sure where it is going wrong there?

When it comes to right back - it''s a tough one. If you get another one in who do you ship out or do you just shuffle Martin to centre half? I think Martin can be incredibly influential on the pitch and has more value to the team than Whittaker.

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Strongest 11 players are as follows; not sure about formation though!

Ruddy

Martin

Turner

Bassong

Olsson

Fer

Howson

Pilks

Hoolahan

Hooper

RVW

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The problem is this isn''t FIFA - strongest XI doesn''t necessarily mean strongest team. Our strongest XI would probably include Hooper, RVW, hoolahan, howson and fer. But in reality put those in a team together we would get completely destroyed by almost any team in the prem

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RB calls it right for me about the best players not neccessarily being the best team but I have to admit I have no idea what our strongest team is. For me the easy bit is the back five being Ruddy, Martin, Turner, Bassong, Olsson. But after that it becomes a bit of a lottery with so many of our midfield and attacking players being injured for long periods. But I do think Snodgrass is in the best eleven and I find Seattles comments about driving him back to Leeds unnacceptable and hardly those of a supporter. Also can''t for the life of me see what justifies Elliott Bennett being in the best eleven unless it''s the Becchio syndrome. Elliott is one of my favourite players as well. Based on what I''ve seen so far my best eleven would probably include Fer, Tettey, Redmond, Hooper and Wes as well as Snodgrass. So looks like I''ve talked myself into....

 

Ruddy

Martin Turner Bassong Olsson

Snodgrass Tettey Fer Redmond

Hoolahan

Hooper

 

Oh heck! Changed my mind already. Same back five with...

Tettey

Fer Howson

Redmond RVW Pilkington

 

Tough isn''t it!

 

 

 

 

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I''d go with chicken''s side as well I think (although not sure about his maths - 441 that aint!)

I''d love to get Hoolahan in there, and with our current injuries, a 4411 with Hoolahan off the striker is doable, and could well work out to be our best formation - possibly Hoolahan might bring more out of RVW than our current system. However, if the midfield 3 of Tettey, Fer and Howson were all fit, I think that is our strongest combination/formationso unfortunately, Hoolahan would come out for the greater good. Snodgrass still a big player for us, but at the moment, Redmond is our best winger imo. Pilks/Snoddy fairly interchangeable otherwise.

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" I find it quite interesting how Snodgrass isn''t mentioned in this thread (I think). Is it time to drive him back to Leeds? "

If you or I did that Seattle it''d be avery long (and wet) drive, but yes I had noticed that too.

One of the things that puzzles me most about CH is what he sees in Snodgrass'' contribution (i.e this season) compared to his other options - I''m so looking forward the the pacey E.Bennett that started the season v Everton coming back ...

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-------------------Ruddy------------------Whittaker----Turner----Bassong----Olsson

------------------Tettey------------------------------Fer

--------------Howson-------------------------Hoolahan--------------------------Hooper-----------RVW-----------

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That would see us get completely ripped apart down the flanks Barossa, whilst giving us no width in attack in the process...

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If everyone was fit based on what I have seen this season:

-------------------------Ruddy---------------------------

Martin---------Turner----Bassong----------Olsson

-----------------Fer---------Tettey----------------------

Bennett--------------Howson------------Pilkington-

-------------------------RVW-----------------------------

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[quote user="Barossa"]-------------------Ruddy------------------Whittaker----Turner----Bassong----Olsson

------------------Tettey------------------------------Fer

--------------Howson-------------------------Hoolahan--------------------------Hooper-----------RVW-----------[/quote]

That is also a system and team I would love to see.

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[quote user="Indy_Bones"]That would see us get completely ripped apart down the flanks Barossa, whilst giving us no width in attack in the process...[/quote]

As opposed to our free flowing attacking football we are currently seeing down the flanks. Hooper thrives on through balls and playing on the defenders shoulder.

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[quote user="Barossa"]As opposed to our free flowing attacking football we are currently seeing down the flanks.[/quote]No, as opposed to the defensive minded style of play our wingers are being asked to play which is hamstringing their attacking ability.Stick no-one on the flanks and it really would open the floodgates and we''d spent virtually the whole 90 minutes defending in our own half and trying to clear away their incessant crosses.[quote]Hooper thrives on through balls and playing on the defenders shoulder.[/quote]As does RVW, but the problem is that for all his flair and craft - Hoolahan doesn''t provide the killer ball anywhere near often enough. He''s great at bringing other people into the game as such, but if you''re looking for the guy to play inch perfect balls through the defence - he''s not the answer.I''d argue that Fox is probably the most technically able to do that, but he''s not suited to a more attacking role that would put him in the right place to facilitate those balls...Personally I think that unless we''re up against weaker opponents who won''t take full advantage of the space on the flanks, then the diamond we saw under PL is almost dead in the water.

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Ruddy

Whittaker. Bennett. Martin. Garrido

Johnson. Fox. Tettey

Howson. Hoolahan

Hooper

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Ruddy

Martin. Turner. Bsssong garrido

Tettey. Fer

Redmond. Wes. Pilks

Rvw

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