Jack Barak 46 Posted September 14, 2014 So, in light of our recent performance of two halves and the fact we have another game within four days, would anyone make any changes? I think so far it has been fair to say (Wolves excluded) that the settled team has been impossible to change, each player has done their job brilliantly and we have shown no obvious weaknesses. However, I think the Cardiff game was the first time players had come up short and opened the door for their competition. Of those who played I think Bradders, Hoolahan and Lafferty are in themost vulnerable positions ; to be fair I am not saying they played poorly for the whole game but I did think they were not up to the high standards they had set themselves. Bradders (like many) had a shocking first half, his second was better but it still did not have the quality he had displayed in the previous good run of games. With Gary O''neil now settled in the squad and having played a bit part it would be possible to give Bradders a rest and see what GO can do. Hoolahan was very good in the second half and looked busy for the goals but at times, especially when the game is going against us, he does have a tendency to give the ball away in important areas. I think Brentford is going to be a hard game, they have started well and it is going to require us to keep our performance level up. If we did drop him we would miss his quality but maybe a rest would do him well. Finally Lafferty, I think he has been very good so far despite clearly suffering from being played out of position. In the first two games especially he looked absolute quality and was one of the few players to come out of the Wolves game with any credit. He is clearly skilful but if we are going to play the 4-2-3-1 that has served us to well we might be best seeing if we can find a better fit for the wide position. The obvious candidate to have a run instead in Cameron Jerome but I do wonder if he is the answer from the start of games in the wide position. His Cardiff performance was exceptional but the game was 45 minutes old and we pushed on with nothing to lose, this created space and allowed him to be so influential. So, all in I think I would start Jerome in place of Lafferty and see how that goes; as said above I think this is hard on Lafferty but after Saturday it would be impossible not to start with CJ. Other than that I would go with the same team but have a word in a few ears pointing out that we have a very good squad and as soon as performances drop, like they did on Saturday then there are options. Any views? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GH9 0 Posted September 14, 2014 I''d go with the same team, but with Jerome in for Lafferty. Which is slightly harsh on Lafferty as I actually thought he was our best player in the first half. But Jerome was given an opportunity and he took it with both hands. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites