Team v QPR (H)

[Black]

Another reason for Charlie's inclusion is that he brings out the best in Lennon IMO.

That is a myth and a really sh!tty excuses.

 

[Mr Pink]

Great team news, Gallas will surely be on the bench and will start against Rubin. Ledley if judged fit will play....if not quite there he'll be back for Fulham, and Bassong/Kaboul at home to QPR should still be absolutely fine in any case.

Great news all round :grin:

 

[CAPO]

King Gallas Sunday, Bassong Kaboul Thursday.

 

[tommo84]

I wouldn't drop Kaboul - he's done well this season and is stronger than either Gallas or King, which means he's perhaps better suited to deal with Helguson.

 

[chrissivad]

why do you talk about everything but what is being talked about?

People said we dont need 2 DM agaisnt blackburn and we struggled, and we were worse agaisnt them than wigan.

the DM agaisnt newcastle was Parker and Livermore, now as good as livermore has been, he is still just breaking into the team, and no where near as good as sandro.

and as DJS Parker isnt really a DM type player, which is why IMO we need sandro on there.

problem is we could have played 5 and we would have still struggled.

Long balls over them/down into the corners did us. CM's didn't have much chance.

 

[chrissivad]

King Gallas Sunday, Bassong Kaboul Thursday.

too much of a risk. the could be 2 subs down with in 20mins right there...

 

[Black]

I think we rush king too much, give him time to rest

 

[Bus-Conductor]

BC and others argue that this is a waste of VdV, but I disagree, this is because VdV will not ever play a touch-line-hugging wing role even if you wanted him to - which you specifically don't want in 4-2-3-1 as opposed to 4-4-2 when you specifically do want width. He is a natural born inside forward. In fact the biggest reason people don't like seeing him on the right-side is because he won't stay there. This is an issue if you play 4-4-2 because you haven't the spare man in CM to come across and cover him, with 4-2-3-1 you have the spare man in either Parker or Sandro who can cover for Walker where VdV often won't.

Of course VdV is no slouch defensively, he's not brilliant, but he gets stuck in, especially in close-quarters, what he won't do is sprint 40 yards to cover the over-lapping FB. With Sandro or Parker willing to shuffle across if needs be you've got that covered.

Just to elaborate on the above. Not only do I not think that VDV is the best choice for the right sided role, but more importantly for me, he is our most clinical and incisive player in the final third.

VDV is our best finisher, I do not want to waste that by having him chase full backs up and down the pitch all day.

Also Modric can move past players with the ball, he is more adroit in possession, his attributes are better suited to carving in and out from a slightly wider position.

This for me has been made easier since the arrival of Parker. Parker sees almost as much ball as Modric (occasionally same/more from cm) gets forward very purposefully, and plays good incisive passes when he gets there (so far, as many as Modric ever has when he's played in CM) but he also gives you twice the defensive quality of Modric.

I really don't think our CM loses much at all by playing Parker instead of Modric, but I do think our attacking "3" get an extra brain and we as a team get an extra ball player when Modric plays instead of Lennon. It also balances out as Walker can provide the overlap on one side, and Bale provides pace on the other. Lennon and Bale is too similar, too much pace over lack of intelligence bias.

 

[Mr Pink]

Just to elaborate on the above. Not only do I not think that VDV is the best choice for the right sided role, but more importantly for me, he is our most clinical and incisive player in the final third.

VDV is our best finisher, I do not want to waste that by having him chase full backs up and down the pitch all day.

Also Modric can move past players with the ball, he is more adroit in possession, his attributes are better suited to carving in and out from a slightly wider position.

This for me has been made easier since the arrival of Parker. Parker sees almost as much ball as Modric (occasionally same/more from cm) gets forward very purposefully, and plays good incisive passes when he gets there (so far, as many as Modric ever has when he's played in CM) but he also gives you twice the defensive quality of Modric.

I really don't think our CM loses much at all by playing Parker instead of Modric, but I do think our attacking "3" get an extra brain and we as a team get an extra ball player when Modric plays instead of Lennon. It also balances out as Walker can provide the overlap on one side, and Bale provides pace on the other. Lennon and Bale is too similar, too much pace over lack of intelligence bias.

Strongly agree with most of this.

 

[SpurSince57]

Frankly, I'm finding the idea of dropping Bale and Lennon to the bench and starting with Adebayor, Defoe and VdV up front and Modric, Sandro and Parker behind them increasingly appealing.

 

[Mr Pink]

Frankly, I'm finding the idea of dropping Bale and Lennon to the bench and starting with Adebayor, Defoe and VdV up front and Modric, Sandro and Parker behind them increasingly appealing.

Yeah I must admit its tempting...I would be very curious to see how that set up would fair.

 

[sloth]

Yeah I must admit its tempting...I would be very curious to see how that set up would fair.

I think I'd prefer Bale alongside VdV and Ade than Defoe in that formation. I think Bale could play the striker role effectively, but as part of a forward trident I think he could be superb.

 

[adamthfc]

Frankly, I'm finding the idea of dropping Bale and Lennon to the bench and starting with Adebayor, Defoe and VdV up front and Modric, Sandro and Parker behind them increasingly appealing.

And me

 

[felmani26]

Frankly, I'm finding the idea of dropping Bale and Lennon to the bench and starting with Adebayor, Defoe and VdV up front and Modric, Sandro and Parker behind them increasingly appealing.

There is more chance in Harry dropping VdV than Bale so any permutations we concoct will have to feature him, despite what is seemingly a dip in form.

 

[nicdic]

Bale's suffering a dip in end product, but I think he's generally playing pretty well, if a little bit lazily. He's the kind of player you just keep going with though, because when it clicks, he can be devastating.

A 4-3-3 with a front 3 of VDV, Adebayor and Bale would be awesome.

 

[felmani26]

Bale's suffering a dip in end product, but I think he's generally playing pretty well, if a little bit lazily. He's the kind of player you just keep going with though, because when it clicks, he can be devastating.

A 4-3-3 with a front 3 of VDV, Adebayor and Bale would be awesome.

I agree, he certainly needs to help out BAE more and take a bit more care in his crossing and end product but his presence still requires the opposition to devise a game plan to stop him and in turn helps out the likes of VdV, Modric and perhaps Walker on the right so his inclusion is still very much something of a given.

 

[stemark44]

I think I'd prefer Bale alongside VdV and Ade than Defoe in that formation. I think Bale could play the striker role effectively, but as part of a forward trident I think he could be superb.

I thought Bale would be a good shout for one of those spots too but he hugs the line too much and this leaves the system unbalanced.
For us to play 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 Bale has to play LB.

 

[GoldstarYid]

I thought Bale would be a good shout for one of those spots too but he hugs the line too much and this leaves the system unbalanced.
For us to play 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 Bale has to play LB.

Well thats where Harry needs to step in. Tell Bale to play more of an LF role than LW, get him working on it in training, he can do it but he needs to be told. Not just, 433 today lads, av a good un.

433 with Bale left and Van der Vaart right is imo our best formation. The 3 in the middle of Modric Sandro and Parker would be similar to that of Barca with Modric playing the Iniesta role.

 

[sloth]

I thought Bale would be a good shout for one of those spots too but he hugs the line too much and this leaves the system unbalanced.
For us to play 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 Bale has to play LB.

I'm not sure he doesn't do that because that's what he's been asked to do, it seems to me that he likes to cut in if given half the chance.

 

[stemark44]

Well thats where Harry needs to step in. Tell Bale to play more of an LF role than LW, get him working on it in training, he can do it but he needs to be told. Not just, 433 today lads, av a good un.

433 with Bale left and Van der Vaart right is imo our best formation. The 3 in the middle of Modric Sandro and Parker would be similar to that of Barca with Modric playing the Iniesta role.

Even if Bale could play the LF role,VDV on the RF role is wasted because he can't score from there and he will naturally drift into the center.

-----------Friedel-----------
Walker--Kaboul--King---Bale
------Parker----Sandro----
-Pienaar----VDV-----Modric-
----------Adebayor--------

We actually could try out a load of players like Pienaar,Kranjcar,Lennon,Dos Santos for the RF role but for me Niko,probably would be the best choice when fit.
I know its not his ideal position and I would prefer someone there with a lot more pace but he has the intelligence to do it and unfortunately Lennon doesn't appear to have any.
For me its definitely an area in the team that needs addressed in January.

I believe that no matter what system we decide on,we must commit to it completely and I don't want an unbalanced system where we have Bale hugging the left and leaving Adebayor isolated up front.
That becomes a wishy-washy-nobody-knows-a-fuck-what-they should-be doing scenario.
100% or nothing.