Who will Adams play vs Fulham?

[Patches OHoolahan 0]

Also meant to say that Adams was very coy at the press conference, he didn''t give anything away as to how we will play. Didn''t rule out a negative approach either, but I for one would imagine he will concentrate on counter-attacking a lot this week- that was one of the hallmarks of the u-18s last year.

[Hairy Canary 668]

Some common sense would be a start.

Get rid of the inverted wingers. Realise Wes is not a winger. Allow Howson to push forward as he is not a holding midfielder. Get players with the grit for the fight in the team - Turner and Johnson for a start.

[Dubai Mark 0]

Thats a great point PC and certainly a benefit of the change....I think just as a result of the change we will see a City side in the faces of the opposition, lots of energy....but not as attack minded as some will expect. Oh, did I see a suggestion of bringing Fox back?.....and was it a serious suggestion?  

[ZLF 271]

It seems to me that adams favours a 451 or variation of,   liking to hit players on the break.

 

Given our low confidence (even with Adams leading the line) we can not afford to go behind.   So I am hoping for

                  Ruddy

Martin  Yobo  Bassong Olsson

            Tettey  Howson

Snoddy     Fer (Wes)        Redmond

                    RvW 

 

For me Howson starts deep,  he is a box to box player and just two assists in 50 starts means Fer or wes central are the best options - both have better assist records and can drive forward well,  and Johnnys engine means he can cover box to box too.   He starts ahead of BJ everytime for me.   

On the flanks I want some pace,   so  redderz comes in.  I hope to see both pilks & Josh M on the bench ready to make a contribution and if I was sure pilks was up for it I would start with him instead of Snodgrass,  who slows play down and is too much of a focal point for the poor number of chances he has created to warrant a start,  but being joint top scorer I cant see him being dropped.

 

Up front who knows?  My view is rickys movement is better and he defends better from the front;  Since his return from injury he has gone 600 mins without a goal,  while hoopers has 900 mins.   There really is nothing between the two;  and both a much better than elmander let alone becchio, morris.

 

 

 

[mrs miggins 0]

Bryan Gunn in goal

Bowen at LB......

[Trevor Hockey's Beard 526]

A point on Saturday would be a start.

Why do we have to play with two wingers? It seems to leave us too open in the centre, especially if one of the wingers is Wes

[Graham Paddons Beard 2,424]

Himself. And hope we get a penalty!

[Sir Blobfish OBE 0]

Here''s a radical idea, how about sticking Redmond on the right as he''s right footed and Snodgrass on the left as he''s left footed? Rather than see them stop to get onto their stronger foot and get tackled or slow down play, I''d like to see them bomb down their respective wings and whip some balls for players who have been encouraged to get into the box fast.

[Yellow Wal 314]

Zipper - so you too would still play with Snodgrass on the right and Redmond on the left - inverted wingers.

If we were going to do that we may as well have left Hughton in charge.

Do you not feel that has been the biggest problem we have had all season?

Two inverted wingers does not, has not, and will not work!

[ashboy 0]

Hamface is correct get them to bomb down the wings not play around at snail pace as Snodgrass does allowing the defenders to get in position before he centers the ball or falls flat on his face appealing to the referee. Our players need to be allowed to play to their strengths and the speedy and enthusiast young players like Redmond and Josh Murphy should be given an opportunity. Lets us see a change from boring pedestrian tactics. Too much time is wasted passing the ball across the back line. A much greater percentage of play in the opponents half will rapidly in crease our goal scoring opportunities.

[ZLF 271]

Yellow

In themselves inverted wingers are not an inherent problem - never harmed hux for example.   But we you slow play down options vanish.    Playing it with pace and movement and its not a problem - thats not how we approached games though.   Also taking a leaf from Stringers book we can swap wings every 15 mins or so to play both varieties of wing play.

 

However I also said my preference was to drop snodgrass,  which would allow for redderz to move right,   I am not sure whether adams will do that;   he is woeful on the left, his non inverted flank, and playing him central can only really be an experiment;  his passing accuracy and inability to move or pass quickly would be my main concerns as to how successful he can be there in the prem... so if he plays i expect it will be on the right

 

[PurpleCanary 5,555]

[quote user="Dubai Mark"]Thats a great point PC and certainly a benefit of the change....I think just as a result of the change we will see a City side in the faces of the opposition, lots of energy....but not as attack minded as some will expect. Oh, did I see a suggestion of bringing Fox back?.....and was it a serious suggestion?  [/quote]I wouldn''t overstate it, but it should be some advantage to us.

[PurpleCanary 5,555]

[quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="Dubai Mark"]Thats a great point PC and certainly a benefit of the change....I think just as a result of the change we will see a City side in the faces of the opposition, lots of energy....but not as attack minded as some will expect. Oh, did I see a suggestion of bringing Fox back?.....and was it a serious suggestion?  [/quote]I wouldn''t overstate it, but it should be some advantage to us.[/quote]I also suspect Adams will not be that attack-minded to start, but may be more likely to change things about and attack later on. For what it is worth I would start with 4-4-1-1, with Hooper definitely as the lone striker. As to the one behind it could be Hoolahan - his ONLY position - or Snodgrass. or even Gutierrez. Saturday was my first sight of him, and he played some cute little passes forward, in traffic, of the kind Hoolahan might, but with more physical presence.

[Salopian 1]

He said that he has an open mind, choosing players who will best be able to play the way he wants. I take this to mean that all the senior squad and one or two "juniors" will come into the reckoning. He has the possible advantage of fit again Turner, Fer, Benno and Pilks? to be included.

We know that he regularly used substitutes in the Youth Cup triumph, sometimes to "waste time" at the end but at other times to adjust performance, so he will be picking 18 players, 14 of whom could appear. As a former winger himself, he may believe in using wingers intelligently, and certainly those with pace.

A Hughton style "keep them out and hope to nick one" doesn''t seem to be his way.

I am sorry that this is vague, but it is much more difficult to predict an Adams team than a Hughton one. I can think only of a few players who will probably be sure of a place - Ruddy, Olsson, Martin, Howson, possibly Snoddy.

The good thing is that if we are not sure, how much more unsure will Fulham be this week in their preparations?

[Badger 2,405]

This is all very interesting and exciting!I wouldn''t change too much but look to break with pace and purpose. I''d keep the inverted wingers but play Redmond centrally in the number 10 role with permission to roam wide. Pilkington/ Snodgrass to fill in for him when he goes wide. It''s Redmond''s pace which could be our big chance - he breaks quickly with RvW, Pilks, Snoddy bombing up behind + Howson coming in behind!

Ruddy

Martin, Yobo, Bassong, Olsen

Howson, Tettey

Snodgrass, Redmond, Pilkington

RVW