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New & Returning Players and the Starting 11

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Probably discussed somewhere else, but sod it....So we''ve got the kid from Scotland, Miquel, VOO, and Hoiveld all recently signed, and Howson, Hooper, and Olsson all back from injury soon.Assuming they''re all available after the international break, who do you automatically put into the starting 11?We''ve started well, so obviously making wholesale changes is idiotic. With that in mind, the only automatic starter of the 7 is Olsson, for me. Bring him in at left back, drop Garrido to the bench. Hooper is good, but moving or dropping Grabban is out of the question when he''s scored 5 in 5, or whatever it is now.Howson is okay, but not deserving of an automatic starting place above consistently good performances from Tettey and Johnno. Same for VOO and McGrandles - Those three have a role but need to wait for their chance whilst the current side are doing well.Of the centre-backs, i''d be tempted to move Russ out to the right and bring in Hoiveld - as the more experienced of the two - but think that might be a tad harsh on Whittaker. Although i think it''d strengthen the team, he''s not really done anything wrong to warrant being dropped.It''s a conundrum, but lovely to see the squad have such quality in depth!

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As long as Adams keeps them all happy we must have the strongest squad in the league. We''ve easily got two starting 11s capable of competing at the top of the league.

We''ll probably see a couple changes next game, Olsson surely back in and maybe a different option on the wing. Despite his assist last time out Redmond did little else, in fact was very frustrating he only tried to beat his man and get a cross in another couple times after setting up the goal, the second time he did we won a corner... Why not more? And as much as I like Lafferty with the players we have in we need him, or someone to be more productive goal/assist wise.

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Agree entirely with your assessment of Redmond on Saturday, GP. He clearly had the beating of the fullback, but rarely even attempted to beat him and get the ball in. The kid clearly has talent, but his ''football brain'' worries me.That said, do you drop the guy after his first assist in ages? If so, does it not send the wrong message? For that reason, i''d keep him in the starting 11, but we all have our opinions.I like Lafferty - think he adds a different element to the side - but agree that he needs to directly contribute more in terms of goals and assists. He''d be the winger to replace, if, indeed, i was going to replace either. Though for now i think i''d keep it as it is.Norwich vs Norwich B in the playoff final would be well worth the entrance fee ;-)

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Hooper is probably a bit more neat and tidy in what he does than Grabban.

 

However, from what I''ve seen so far, Grabban is probably the more dangerous. I think if you were defending against them you''d find you''d had more to worry about keeping Grabban quiet than Hooper.

 

In some ways I would consider Grabban to be the "new" Holt. I know people have said that about Lafferty but I think Grabban is a bit closer to it. He''s a nuisance for defenders and, as he''s shown already, get the ball to him in the box and he''ll get it over the line - even if it isn''t the most stylish finish you''ve ever seen.

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agree, it would be stupid to drop grabban as he''s acting like the perfect striker. It would be hard to come to a definite conclusion that hooper is better than him whist grabban is in this type of form. I would suggest playing them together, both up top, or dropping Lafferty (who has been steadily dropping in form over the last few games) and playing grabban there, which he has done before because then he''d still be getting the sort of chances Lafferty was getting, but more likely to finish them.

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yeh switch it to 442              ruddymartin hooiveld turner garridoredmond tettey johnson olsson         grabban hooper

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Going to be very hard keeping everybody happy with such a big squad , Olsson , Hooper and Howson you would think have to start as they were bought to play in the Premier league . One thing everybody seems agreed on is that it is the best squad in the league so no excuses for Neil Adams not to finish in the top 2 .

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CCC .........''''so no excuses for Neil Adams not to finish in the top 2 .''''

....except perhaps that he''s being constantly undermined by some ''supporters''

We have a good squad, maybe the best for years, get behind them.

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Don''t think there''s any real necessity to change anything at the moment just because we have some new players, and others returning from injury. Despite a relatively poor performance against Bournemouth in comparison to the games we''d seen prior to that, the team are playing well at the moment, and we are unbeaten in 4 league games. Yes Howson is probably our best centre midfielder, and on paper Vadis should be brilliant as well, but the fact is that Johnson and Tettey have been 2 of our best players this season, why would you take them out? Same with Grabban. Arguably Hooper is probably our best striker, but Grabban is in good goalscoring form, so why leave him out.

I also don''t get why so many people want us to switch to 4-4-2, dropping Hoolahan. He''s been one of our most influential players so far, and yet because he had 1 below average game fans want him to be dropped.

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the influx of central defenders is a quite bizarre one.....its not even as if Ryan Bennett is out for a great length of time?

Miquel may well have to wait his turn and play in the U21''s....but he could have just as easily have done that at Arsenal?, Hooiveld surely wouldnt have come here if he wasn''t told that he would feature?, and then there''s the Cuellar , has Adams had some second thoughts about him already?

..but with all of these on board ,there can surely now be no reason to be playing Martin at centre back.

....the next game at Cardiff is probably a unique one in as much as it''s probably the only game on the entire fixture list that I would take a point from

therefore, just for this one, a slight change to the side/formation

Ruddy

Martin Hooiveld Turner Olsson

Tettey

Odjidje-Ofoe Johnson

Hoolahan

Grabban Lafferty

subs-Rudd,Whittaker,Cuellar,Howson,Redmond,Hooper,Jerome

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[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]the influx of central defenders is a quite bizarre one.....its not even as if Ryan Bennett is out for a great length of time?

Miquel may well have to wait his turn and play in the U21''s....but he could have just as easily have done that at Arsenal?, Hooiveld surely wouldnt have come here if he wasn''t told that he would feature?, and then there''s the Cuellar , has Adams had some second thoughts about him already?

..but with all of these on board ,there can surely now be no reason to be playing Martin at centre back.

....the next game at Cardiff is probably a unique one in as much as it''s probably the only game on the entire fixture list that I would take a point from

therefore, just for this one, a slight change to the side/formation

Ruddy

Martin Hooiveld Turner Olsson

Tettey

Odjidje-Ofoe Johnson

Hoolahan

Grabban Lafferty

subs-Rudd,Whittaker,Cuellar,Howson,Redmond,Hooper,Jerome[/quote]

Now this looks like a team.....but 4231 rather than 41212

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You can;t drop a striker who has 5 in 5 so Grabban stays in for now. I suspect hooper is not ready to start matches anyway.

Someone said above it would be harsh to drop Whitaker. I disagree. For me he''s been dodgy so hopefully with our multiple new centre backs we see Martin back to right back with one of the new signings alongside Turner. At left back Olsson in for Garrido is a no brainer although the latter has done little wrong since called upon.

As the season progresses then unless we have injuries central midfield is going to be the hardest area to accomodate all of the players I would like to get into the team. Although he really does not deserve to be dropped ultimately i can see Johnson having to make way but again i suspect Howson will be eased in gently. For the next game though as its away and one of our harder fixtures how about a 4-3-2 (with the two players starting wide but with licence to float) 1 of:

Ruddy

Martin----- Hooiveld---- Turner------ Olsson

----Odjijda-Offoe---- Tettey------ Johnson

Redmond---------------------------------Hoolahan

Grabban

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[quote user="Jim Smith"]You can;t drop a striker who has 5 in 5 so Grabban stays in for now. I suspect hooper is not ready to start matches anyway.

Someone said above it would be harsh to drop Whitaker. I disagree. For me he''s been dodgy so hopefully with our multiple new centre backs we see Martin back to right back with one of the new signings alongside Turner. At left back Olsson in for Garrido is a no brainer although the latter has done little wrong since called upon.

As the season progresses then unless we have injuries central midfield is going to be the hardest area to accomodate all of the players I would like to get into the team. Although he really does not deserve to be dropped ultimately i can see Johnson having to make way but again i suspect Howson will be eased in gently. For the next game though as its away and one of our harder fixtures how about a 4-3-2 (with the two players starting wide but with licence to float) 1 of:

Ruddy

Martin----- Hooiveld---- Turner------ Olsson

----Odjijda-Offoe---- Tettey------ Johnson

Redmond---------------------------------Hoolahan

Grabban[/quote]

Hoolahan hates it out wide, and is not very good at it. Either you play him centrally or not at all (which might happen as VOO alledgedly can play there as can Howson).

Move your players about to make it happen and here is another team that works.

Blimey this game is fun when you have a proper squad!

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To accommodate 2 up front and Wes behind, could we go 3 at the back or too risky?

Martin, turner, Hooiveld. -

Bennett, Johnson, Wes, Tettey, Olsson. -

Lafferty, Grabban.

In a 3412 / 3232 type thing.

I dunno, I''m just glad I''m not Neil Adams.

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Its difficult, for me I don''t think you can play Turner and Hooiveld if you play 3 at the back and push Olsson to LM (instead of a back 4) because they''re just too slow. If we were to go 3 at the back (which I think we should try because we''re strongest in midfield and attack) I think we''d have to put a quicker defender in for Hooiveld (Bennett - who''s tall and fast when he gets going or Miquel). Would love to see Neyul try this and put Hooper and Grabban up front because the midfield would be so congested which would suit our two best strikers imo.

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Playing 3 at the back is nonsensical expecting two wing backs to provide the width when we have wingers with pace who can provide width and score goals. Even though Lafferty or Redmond has actually scored.

We can play 4231 with the players we have been using up to now, with changes in personnel due to loss of form or injury. Or 442 if we need to be more attacking leaving out one of the DM''s and play an attacking midfielder Howson or O-O, and two wingers and either Grabbs, Jerome or Hoops up top.

The transfer window was good for us but seriously think the squad just maybe too big to keep everybody happy.

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[quote user="Yarmy Charlie"]To accommodate 2 up front and Wes behind, could we go 3 at the back or too risky?

Martin, turner, Hooiveld. -

Bennett, Johnson, Wes, Tettey, Olsson. -

Lafferty, Grabban.

In a 3412 / 3232 type thing.

I dunno, I''m just glad I''m not Neil Adams.[/quote]

There''s not enough pace between that back 3 to play 3 centre backs.

Don''t get why we need to try and find a new system, the one we have at the moment is working fine.

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Because the system we''re playing makes us good, but not a real solid powerhouse, there''s room for improvement despite our good start, its always good to not get complacent. It would be preferable if we could find a way to make sure we have our best players playing to their individual strengths.

Our best:

Defenders- Martin, Bennett, Turner, Olsson

Midfielders- Tettey, Howson, Redmond, Hoolahan (perhaps add BJ to the list and Ofoe-who knows)

Strikers- Grabban, Hooper

If we can play these players in their favoured positions, then surely as their the best players in the league we have more chance of picking up points. Teams need to fear us.

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

--------Martin---Turner---Bennett------

Redmond--Tettey--Johnson--Olsson

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

--------------Hooper----Grabban--------

or

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

Martin--Bennett--Turner--Olsson

-------------Tettey---Howson--------

Redmond---Hoolahan---Grabban

-----------------Hooper----------------

To me that''s a strong team

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]Because the system we''re playing makes us good, but not a real solid powerhouse, there''s room for improvement despite our good start, its always good to not get complacent. It would be preferable if we could find a way to make sure we have our best players playing to their individual strengths.

Our best:

Defenders- Martin, Bennett, Turner, Olsson

Midfielders- Tettey, Howson, Redmond, Hoolahan (perhaps add BJ to the list and Ofoe-who knows)

Strikers- Grabban, Hooper

If we can play these players in their favoured positions, then surely as their the best players in the league we have more chance of picking up points. Teams need to fear us.

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

--------Martin---Turner---Bennett------

Redmond--Tettey--Johnson--Olsson

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

--------------Hooper----Grabban--------

or

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

Martin--Bennett--Turner--Olsson

-------------Tettey---Howson--------

Redmond---Hoolahan---Grabban

-----------------Hooper----------------

Looking these potential teams it does worry me how Adams is going to keep them all sweet, lets put it this way, we have 5 players just signed, plus Hooper, Olsson and Howson to all compete for places in addition to the squad for last Saturday!

i think personally that we our strongest team is

Ruddy

Martin Turner Hooiveld/Miquel Olsson

Tettey Johnson

Howson, Ofoe

Grabban Hooper

I don''t think you can break up the Tettey/johnson axis though that does leave us short of width.

Subs Rudd, Whittaker, Hooiveld/Miquel, Hoolahan

Lafferty, Redmond, J Murphy.

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I''m amazed how many of you would make wholesale changes. Seems a bizarre idea when we''ve started the season so well, at least in my opinion.Still - and excuse the cliche - it''s a game of opinions.

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[quote user="mrs miggins"]Because the system we''re playing makes us good, but not a real solid powerhouse[/quote]

But we''re only 5 games in. We''re not gonna play as well as we possibly can for a few games yet, simply because we''ve had a lot of new players come in and out, as well as a new manager. Plus we''re in a whole new league with totally different challenges each week compared to last season. When we get into our stride I expect us to rip apart teams, not every week, but certainly I expect us to completely control games. I think the current system we play definitely allows us to do this.

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With the size of our squad there can be no excuses for playing players who are out of form.

Something we saw under Hughton is that even though players clearly weren''t performing they will still being picked.

It would be good to see the squad rotated when a players form dips, it should hopefully keep people on their toes also.

For instance right now I feel Lafferty''s place in the team is under threat, he has people breathing down his neck for a starting place.

Right now though our squad is looking very good, very pleased.

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We now seem to have the players to play just about every formation conceivable. Although maligned after the Wolves game - even the diamond. Possibly:

Ruddy

Martin, Turner, Hooiveld, Olsson

VO-O

Tettey, Johnson

Hoolahan (Howson)

Grabban, Hooper (Jerome)

I think that midfield would be strong enough. I feel it was the personnel chosen that was wrong at Wolves not necessarily the system.

Could use Elliot Bennett at RB instead of Russ if it was felt more pace was needed.

Our wingers on the bench as the tactical change up option.

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The only immediate change I would make is Martin to RB - not because whits is poor but just think martin slightly better, is captain and should not be at centre back.

I do think that 4231 suits us best so would stick with the current team for team for now.

Once all are fit I expect the team to be below (assuming the new players fit in)

Ruddy

Martin Hooiveld Turner Olsson

Tettey VOO

Redmond Wessi Lafferty

Jerome

Subs

Rudd Whittaker Iggy BJ Howson Murphy Grabban

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Whilst 4231 has worked well so far I think we could be caught out eventually.

The problem I can foresee is that we do not have any natural or potentially semi prolific scorers in the three. That puts a lot of pressure on whoever is playing up top to deliver the goals. If the opposition wises up and simply marks the "one" out of the game we could struggle to score. We got an early taste of that against Bournemouth. Otherwise we are reliant on the two chipping in with more goals than likely and set plays.

So I feel we need to find a formation that allows us to get 2 strikers on the pitch as well. The formation chosen needs to vary from game to game to keep the opposition guessing and we also need to be fluid enough to make a formation change mid game.

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Fair point about no prolific scorers in the 3, but the same can be said about trying to force two strikers up top,

our options are limited to grabban, jerome, hooper and loza, to be honest none of those 4 look really like a pair to me, even less so if jerome is not one of the starters.

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but why not try to put our two goalscrorers together for a few games? Gary Hooper played his best when he was alongside Stokes at celtic, he doesn''t need to have a target man next to him, although some may say the championship is a better league (true) and therefore you need a big man up top, it''s worth a try; a strict 4-4-2 has worked a for teams such as blackburn and watford, why not for us, its not like hooper and grabban are small; they''ve both played as a lone striker.

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