Player Selection & Formation

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Surely a guess. Hughton won't be very happy if it's not a guess!

[ThePromisedLand]

Surely a guess. Hughton won't be very happy if it's not a guess!

Can’t be true.
The big man hasn’t told him what the team is yet.

Only joking  :P

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Surely a guess. Hughton won't be very happy if it's not a guess!

Can’t be true.
The big man hasn’t told him what the team is yet.

Only joking  :P

:D :D

[Camms]

Surely a guess. Hughton won't be very happy if it's not a guess!

Can’t be true.
The big man hasn’t told him what the team is yet.

Only joking  :P

Good one!

[Mad Squad]

Been a lot of talk recently about player selection and which formation would best
Suit our squad etc so I thought that debate deserved it's own thread. So who should start the next game, Ribeiro or Bong? Figs or Soh? Colback or Sow? Lolley or Freeman? Plus which formation would you like to see the manager go with?

I was one of many who wanted Knockaert and Freeman to start together. Well they did start together at Boro and they were very poor. I really don't know why we are not firing at the moment.

[stirred]

Been a lot of talk recently about player selection and which formation would best
Suit our squad etc so I thought that debate deserved it's own thread. So who should start the next game, Ribeiro or Bong? Figs or Soh? Colback or Sow? Lolley or Freeman? Plus which formation would you like to see the manager go with?

I was one of many who wanted Knockaert and Freeman to start together. Well they did start together at Boro and they were very poor. I really don't know why we are not firing at the moment.

Me too, but it's not sufficient. In Colback & Yates we don't have a midfield to integrate the play with them. And as Alf said here the other day, the full backs are worse than last season. The onus for attacking is on 4 players without sufficient support from the rest of the side. And the deeper Freeman and the wide players play to be closer to their support, the more isolated the striker is.

I recall Real Madrid several years ago have a team with a relatively separated attacking 4 players succeed, with from memory Ronaldo, Ozil, Di Maria & Benzema in their prime. They were talented relative to their opponents, but also had pace, and the likes of Alonso to feed them. Leicester played a 'low block' and counter-attacked to win the title, but they had pace, they had Vardy & Mahrez.

Our attacking 4 are good, but not outstanding relative to our peers, and don't have those attributes. We don't have pace - and have chosen not to use Mighten at all so it appears that is not the plan - and we don't have an Alonso. So the alternative is to play better as a team.

So then we need to fundamentally adopt a more adventurous approach, of committing more men forwards to support the designated attacking players. But we seem to have a safety first manager, so unless Arter can return and provide that link, and the fullbacks wake up, Freeman is going to go the way of Carvalho, and the performances and results will continue to disappoint.

[PsychoStanleyStone]

Been a lot of talk recently about player selection and which formation would best

I was one of many who wanted Knockaert and Freeman to start together. Well they did start together at Boro and they were very poor. I really don't know why we are not firing at the moment.

So then we need to fundamentally adopt a more adventurous approach

yeh, time to flick the switch, something like a 3 5 2 would, could or should be quite exciting, factor in lots of crosses and long distance shots, but there is no way this would happen

but if it did i'm sure we could score buckets full of goals

Psychological is the main problem, everyone in this league has something to give them confidence, 1 or 2 really good results, everyone except us, bizarre as it sounds forget the result, forget defending, just score goals, i'll be honest, it's all i am really interested in at the moment, it's becoming a bit of a weird fetish fantasy though, the sort of thing that never happens in reality

[ThePromisedLand]

We’ve got:

McKenna
Worrall
Mbe Soh
Figureido
+
Dawson & Blackett

Play to your strengths - crying out for 3 at the back!

Samba

Mbe Soh McKenna Worrall

Lolley Yates Arter Ribeiro

Knockaert Taylor Freeman

( or something similar - lots of options - please )

[PsychoStanleyStone]

We’ve got:

McKenna
Worrall
Mbe Soh
Figureido
+
Dawson & Blackett

Play to your strengths - crying out for 3 at the back!

Samba

Mbe Soh McKenna Worrall

Lolley Yates Arter Ribeiro

Knockaert Taylor Freeman

( or something similar - lots of options - please )

yes, i like that, players being up the pitch on the edge of the D knowing there are options, we gotta start scoring, this is gettin serious ... don't say what ya about to say ...

[stirred]

Been a lot of talk recently about player selection and which formation would best

I was one of many who wanted Knockaert and Freeman to start together. Well they did start together at Boro and they were very poor. I really don't know why we are not firing at the moment.

So then we need to fundamentally adopt a more adventurous approach

Psychological is the main problem, everyone in this league has something to give them confidence, 1 or 2 really good results, everyone except us

I think there's something in this. People are speaking like these draws are giving us some sort of base to build from, but it's wins that breed confidence. Did the players look happy as they left the pitch with a point from Rotherham? Or Derby?

Except we did have a psychological boost, from that last minute winner against Blackburn in Hughton's first match, we should have built on that. We could have taken a chance to follow it up with more wins, but we played safety first, against some of the weaker teams. We lost momentum, we're low on confidence now and playing like it.

We have a really tough run of fixtures coming up, and if we're not taking wins from these next few matches we could easily end that run in the relegation zone. That run ends 18 league matches in, 14 for Hughton, and mid December. We don't have young and hungry players, trying to earn their big contract or prove themselves. This summer we signed mostly experienced, i.e. financially secure, players who thought they were signing up for a promotion push, not a relegation fight. Our season depends on us getting wins, not draws, soon.

[stirred]

We’ve got:

McKenna
Worrall
Mbe Soh
Figureido
+
Dawson & Blackett

Play to your strengths - crying out for 3 at the back!

Samba

Mbe Soh McKenna Worrall

Lolley Yates Arter Ribeiro

Knockaert Taylor Freeman

( or something similar - lots of options - please )

Yes, would love to see that. My question mark would be Lolley on the right, if only we still had Cash!

But I come back to my point about the manager. Based on what I've read from his past clubs' fans, and his start here, that's too radical for him.

Maybe he would play those players, switching Lolley for a RB, but with the wide men each moving back a line, so more of a 5-4-1?

[PsychoStanleyStone]

Been a lot of talk recently about player selection and which formation would best

I was one of many who wanted Knockaert and Freeman to start together. Well they did start together at Boro and they were very poor. I really don't know why we are not firing at the moment.

So then we need to fundamentally adopt a more adventurous approach

Psychological is the main problem, everyone in this league has something to give them confidence, 1 or 2 really good results, everyone except us

I think there's something in this. People are speaking like these draws are giving us some sort of base to build from, but it's wins that breed confidence. Did the players look happy as they left the pitch with a point from Rotherham? Or Derby?

Except we did have a psychological boost, from that last minute winner against Blackburn in Hughton's first match, we should have built on that. We could have taken a chance to follow it up with more wins, but we played safety first, against some of the weaker teams. We lost momentum, we're low on confidence now and playing like it.

It's the psychological damage and fragility that is a worry, not just the benefit of leaving the field with 3 points but i think for offensive players, if they know they are going to be swarmed and kicked by a wall of 3 opposing players everytime they get the ball it will take it's toll, like you say financially secure mature players expecting a promotion push and glory finding themselves pitched into a gruelling scrap for points, might be the wrong horses for the wrong course.  Tough job for the manager and every game it's gonna get more difficult until it all clicks .. which might be more about a bit of a luck coming our way.