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tom cavendish

Scouting thoughts v WBA

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Firstly, I would be looking to address the Norwich problems in the final third

to give greater movement, win more set-pieces, provide more of a cutting

edge to score goals.I would want Hooper, Snodgrass, Wes and Redmond all on from the start to give as much time as possible for us to score goals.I

would want Tettey in front of the back 4 to try to force the opposition

into making mistakes, help us retain possession, and to lay the ball

off to the more creative players.Howson is weak in a deep

position but neither does he create many chances for others when going

forwards. Johnson isn''t great at passing the ball and when he makes a

challenge the ball often goes straight back to the opposition.I would start with this midfield and forwards:            Hooper            SnodgrassWes Jonas Tettey Redmond That

would gives a lot of flexibility for Wes to cut inside and for Jonas to

cover the space on the left. Jonas could also try a few runs from a

more central position. Snodgrass could have the freedom to go anywhere

in front of the WBA back 4, and at times swap positions with Wes or

Redmond.We need that movement because we don''t have a lot of

pace (neither do the WBA central defenders Olsson & McAuley). I

would fancy our chances of gaining set-pieces from them.WBA have

been looking to play a high pressing game to create chances from wide

areas. Giving Snodgrass freedom to go left or right would help combat

that and give us an advantage in those wide areas. The threat of pace

from Redmond should make WBA cautious of pushing forwards. Should they

do so then Redmond would give us an option on the counter attack.I

don''t know why Pilks hasn''t performed to his previous standards but I

would still have him as an option from the bench if fit enough.Defensively, obviously Olsson at left-back and Ruddy as goalkeeper.The other 3 defensive positions are more difficult to decide upon because a lot depends upon who is fully fit.Yobo''s

positioning has been good. Is Turner fit enough? Bassong makes basic

errors that seem to be the result of a lack of concentration rather than

a lack of ability. Bennett can be very good one moment and then turn

his back the next.There isn''t much to choose between Martin and

Whittaker for the right-back position. Neither are great at defending. I

think Whittaker can be a bit better going forwards.                Hooper                Snodgrass  Wes  Jonas Tettey Redmond Olsson Turner Yobo Whittaker                   Ruddy

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fack me I have read some drivel on here but this is up there.

Howson is our most creative player by a street and I would have him over Wes all day long.

Whitaker in defence, don''t make me laugh, was awful against southampton, crap going forward and left wanting at the back, Martin all day long and he is a leader on the pitch.

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[quote user="lappinitup"]Isn''t scouting about looking at other teams or players? [:^)][/quote]And not a word about charging West Brom a peppercorn rent for using the dressing room.[:@]

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Let''s show Mr Cavendish respect. Apparently he once scouted for Salhouse under 13s reserves!

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Brilliant.

Wes is wasted on the wing and Jonas will not play in central midfield.

Perhaps the OP could try scouting our team instead? He might learn something.

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[quote user="Paul"]Whitaker in defence, don''t make me laugh, was awful against southampton, crap going forward and left wanting at the back, Martin all day long and he is a leader on the pitch.[/quote]

Yeah, Whittaker was awful against Southampton.

 

But Martin was just as bad at Swansea. He was also very poor at Villa and average (at best) against Stoke.

 

People seem to have quickly forgotten that Whittaker has been a good player for us. And Martin''s popularity and image as a "leader" seems to cut him a lot of slack.

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[quote user="Joanna Grey"]Brilliant.

Wes is wasted on the wing and Jonas will not play in central midfield.

Perhaps the OP could try scouting our team instead? He might learn something.[/quote]1. You obviously don''t realise that Jonas did very well playing for Newcastle as a central-midfielder in a number of matches.2. I said that Snodgrass would have the freedom to swap places with Wes. Also Wes being able to cut inside and Jonas then covering. For example, at times going forwards down the left it could become more of a 4-3-3 formation:                      Hooper                  Wes                                    Snodgrass       Jonas    Tettey      Redmond   Olsson Turner Yobo Whittaker                      Ruddy

Or:                   Hooper                       Wes                  Snodgrass               Redmond               Jonas     Tettey   Olsson Turner Yobo Whittaker                      Ruddy

If you select those midfielders and forwards together then there are a huge number of creative possibilities. When we had Hooper, Wes, Redmond, and Snodgrass starting on the pitch together we were very unlucky to lose 1-0 to Man Utd and then we got a point at Palace. We lost 4-1 to Villa but we had played some great football and went ahead (but some terrible defending and great Villa finishing cost us the match).

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fack me I have read some drivel on here but this is up there.

Howson is our most creative player by a street and I would have him over Wes all day long.

Whitaker in defence, don''t make me laugh, was awful against southampton, *** going forward and left wanting at the back, Martin all day long and he is a leader on the pitch.

Report

Right behind you mate lol! Wes on the left, snodgrass behind front man lmao! Jonas too? Really?! Whittaker? Over Russell Martin, why not russ Martin cb??

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[quote user=" wolfswinkel "]

Right behind you mate lol! Wes on the left, snodgrass behind front man lmao! Jonas too? Really?! Whittaker? Over Russell Martin, why not russ Martin cb??[/quote]1. Perhaps you have already forgotten that Wes played a lot of the last home match towards the left and he did very well.2. Jonas played very well as a central midfielder for Newcastle. It would therefore make sense having him move towards the left at times when Wes goes more forwards and central to become more of a 4-3-3.3. There isn''t much to choose between Martin & Whittaker. Flip a coin if you like.4. I would rather select Yobo than Martin as a central-defender.

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Still waiting for the baggies scouting report, which your experience should make easy. what are their weaknesses and how can we exploit them? And what strength are we negating with your team? How does your selection and formation support us?

So far you tell me they are slow at cb but not how to exploit it, that we can win free kicks. Free kicks wide, where we attack are good for what purpose if they are much stronger than us aerially?

So much wrong with the selection.

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How about same team as played v Sunderland? What was wrong with that and why would anything different be more effective against WBA?

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I would look to play to our strengths which for me means playing a lone striker (we have 7 league goals between 3 of them,  why play 2?) and making an assumption that the long term absences are still not ready I would play a high pressing game against their slow cbs,  making sure the 3 are constantly in and around the striker to go

 

                    Ruddy

Martin  Yobo  Bassong  Olsson

            Tettey   Howson

   Snodgrass   Wes   Jonas (if fit)

                      RvW

 

Options?

Martin v Whittaker - martin has been incredibly inconsistent but still been better than Whittaker;  very fortunate to keep his place but lack of competition does it.

 

Johnson v Howson - Howson rightly subbed last week after an away day shocker,   but he still passed and defended better than BJ - no contest and his strong home game against Sunderland keeps his place 

 

Snodgrass v Redmond - snoddy simply does not give up,  but he slows build up down, consistently crosses with inaccuracy,  his passing has got worse the longer the season has gone on and his presence an overbearing preference to our build up play (no coincidence we played so well against Citeh when he was absent),  but he has scored so I cant see him being dropped.   Redmond to remain a sub option.

 

RvW v Hooper v Elmander - well neither Hoops nor RvW are setting the world alight but both better at the lone role than Elmander;   RvW marginally better at it than Hoops buts its a toss of the coin.  Stick with Rick.    

 

Why not play 442/4411?   While we did sparkle against sunderland poyet confirmed he wanted to make 8 subs not 2 before half time;  they were that poor - that our 4 man midfield with wes left outsparkled their mid 5 summedit up.  West Brom will not be that bad.  

 

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