Changes For The Better ?

[Munchkin]

First and foremost, thought Gus was 100% right in his team selection yesterday, would have been very harsh to change the side that performed so well against Palace, but I have to be honest and say the starting eleven yesterday simply won't get us into the playoffs.

My observations from yesterday:

El Abd is not a left back, I love the bloke, admire his dedication and work rate, but I'm afraid he is a centre half and looks vulnerable playing out of position, going forward Mattock needs to play in that position, I though he looked assured and we looked more balanced with him in the side.

Navvaro is simply not up to Championship standard, time after time yesterday he slowed down play and failed to pick out what looked like simple passes, the bloke tries hard and works hard, but he is affecting our style of play and yesterday I thought he also had an impact on Bridcutts performance. for me, Reyes has to replace him and quickly.

With regards to CMS, I thought he worked tirelessly yesterday, the problem we have is that his movement and work rate are not being rewarded by simply feeding him the ball in behind the last defenders, as much as I love Buckley, I just felt we became too predictable yesterday, it was a case of get the ball out wide at every opportunity rather than at times feed CMS and get him in and behind the last defender, he is getting frustrated and not being allowed to play his natural game.

Another thing that pains me to say is that Calderon has been caught out the last few games for me, defensively I think he needs to be more solid, without doubt he is a great option going forward, but his lack of pace does make him vulnerable, for me Vincelot may be the better option for us, as harsh as that may seem I think with Buckley in front of whoever plays there, defensive qualities are far more important

I felt Barnes was poor yesterday, his toch let him down and his frustration seemed to affect his performance, can't knock Barnes for his effort but for me he is not the answer, now correct me if I'm wrong but Vokes was bought in as the link man for CMS, yet we haven't seen them play together, I think Vokes will compliment CMS and give him the support that is much needed, yesterday at times CMS was the lone striker as Barnes was playing so deep, for me this is half of our problem, let's put Vokes up top alongside CMS and utilise what he brings to the team

Finally, we simply need someone to compliment Will Buckley, either Noone or Lua Lua need to start on the opposite wing against Leeds, we looked a bit lob sided yesterday and with two natural widemen I think it will give us more options and a more balanced side.

No doubt, others will disagree, but despite the excellent result yesterday, I think the 3 points papered over a few cracks we need to address.

My answer (vs Leeds)

-------------------- Brezovan --------------------
Vincelot ------- Dunk ------ Greer ------ Mattock
Buckley ------- Reyes ------ Bridcutt ---- Lua Lua
----------------- Vokes ------ CMS -----------------

P.S - I love Gus and support whoever he decides to put on the pitch, I just have my own views, be interested to know whether you agree or disagree ?

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Bloody hell, those are my thoughts and team selection exactly! SNAP!

 

[The Oldman]

Very thoughtful post with which I agree. Will add that I think Brezovan has made a difference for the better.

 

[BRIGHT ON Q]

I think that is a fair post and agree with what you say but at the moment whatever Gus tries seems to be working,I thought mattock looked very good and i agree regards Navarro but i think Gus knows that as he keeps on about a new midfielder.Be prepared for some pelters as we won.

 

[brightonrock]

I thought Navarro had one of his better games yesterday, whereas Bridcutt wasn't up to his usual standards. Barnes has been in great form recently so I think it'd be harsh to drop him at the moment. Having said that I agree entirely about El-Abd, love the man at CB but he gets caught out for pace at FB. And I do want to see two up top, I want CMS to score more than anything else, he needs a goal so badly, his confidence looks shot to pieces.

 

[saafend_seagull]

-----------brez
----El Abd--Greer--Dunk
Reyes-----------------Mattock
-----Bridcutt--Sparrow
----------Vicente-------------
-------CMS-----Buckley

 

[Shooting Star]

I felt Barnes was poor yesterday, his toch let him down and his frustration seemed to affect his performance, can't knock Barnes for his effort but for me he is not the answer, now correct me if I'm wrong but Vokes was bought in as the link man for CMS, yet we haven't seen them play together, I think Vokes will compliment CMS and give him the support that is much needed, yesterday at times CMS was the lone striker as Barnes was playing so deep, for me this is half of our problem, let's put Vokes up top alongside CMS and utilise what he brings to the team

Brilliant post, and the majority for me is very true. The only point I may disagree with is about El-Abd, who I've felt has been brilliant and is made of sterner stuff than the rest of the team.

The section I quoted you on are my thoughts exactly. I used to be a major critic of Barnes, but his play in the last month has been outstanding. I wasn't there yesterday, but it seems to me he is an incredibly hot and cold player. Against P'Boro, the Toon and Palace, he was unstoppable. But I feel in all those games we were grinding a result out, thus forcing Barnes to play deep, a role in which he played perfectly. Against the Posh, Barnes was at his most effective when we were 1-0 up, defending. In the Toon game, we needed to put men behind the ball, thus Ash looked great. I wasn't at Palace, but I heard whilst he was brilliant going forward, it was a gritty game. Ash doesn't look like an out and out striker, moreso a very good player when we're defending. Thus when we're going forward, he's not always there to support Macca. We need to see how Vokes can compliment CMS, as we're sitting on an incredibly talented striker with bags of goals inside him. I'd start Vokes and CMS together, then if we're leading with 20/30 minutes to go, put Ash on to shore up the defence and bring the 3 points home.

 

[HAILSHAM SEAGULL]

-----------brez
----El Abd--Greer--Dunk
Reyes-----------------Mattock
-----Bridcutt--Sparrow
----------Vicente-------------
-------CMS-----Buckley

Sparrow will be out for 3 games, and I dont think we will see Vicente starting yet

 

[Stat Brother]

Calde and Buckley are too good together, to split up.

I noticed Bridcutt slipping into right back cover more, yesterday, allowing us to really attack in the second half.

 

[The judge]

First and foremost, thought Gus was 100% right in his team selection yesterday, would have been very harsh to change the side that performed so well against Palace, but I have to be honest and say the starting eleven yesterday simply won't get us into the playoffs.

My observations from yesterday:

El Abd is not a left back, I love the bloke, admire his dedication and work rate, but I'm afraid he is a centre half and looks vulnerable playing out of position, going forward Mattock needs to play in that position, I though he looked assured and we looked more balanced with him in the side.

Navvaro is simply not up to Championship standard, time after time yesterday he slowed down play and failed to pick out what looked like simple passes, the bloke tries hard and works hard, but he is affecting our style of play and yesterday I thought he also had an impact on Bridcutts performance. for me, Reyes has to replace him and quickly.

With regards to CMS, I thought he worked tirelessly yesterday, the problem we have is that his movement and work rate are not being rewarded by simply feeding him the ball in behind the last defenders, as much as I love Buckley, I just felt we became too predictable yesterday, it was a case of get the ball out wide at every opportunity rather than at times feed CMS and get him in and behind the last defender, he is getting frustrated and not being allowed to play his natural game.

Another thing that pains me to say is that Calderon has been caught out the last few games for me, defensively I think he needs to be more solid, without doubt he is a great option going forward, but his lack of pace does make him vulnerable, for me Vincelot may be the better option for us, as harsh as that may seem I think with Buckley in front of whoever plays there, defensive qualities are far more important

I felt Barnes was poor yesterday, his toch let him down and his frustration seemed to affect his performance, can't knock Barnes for his effort but for me he is not the answer, now correct me if I'm wrong but Vokes was bought in as the link man for CMS, yet we haven't seen them play together, I think Vokes will compliment CMS and give him the support that is much needed, yesterday at times CMS was the lone striker as Barnes was playing so deep, for me this is half of our problem, let's put Vokes up top alongside CMS and utilise what he brings to the team

Finally, we simply need someone to compliment Will Buckley, either Noone or Lua Lua need to start on the opposite wing against Leeds, we looked a bit lob sided yesterday and with two natural widemen I think it will give us more options and a more balanced side.

No doubt, others will disagree, but despite the excellent result yesterday, I think the 3 points papered over a few cracks we need to address.

My answer (vs Leeds)

-------------------- Brezovan --------------------
Vincelot ------- Dunk ------ Greer ------ Mattock
Buckley ------- Reyes ------ Bridcutt ---- Lua Lua
----------------- Vokes ------ CMS -----------------

P.S - I love Gus and support whoever he decides to put on the pitch, I just have my own views, be interested to know whether you agree or disagree ?

Fair play if Gus goes you got the job . Atb the judge .

 

[severnside gull]

Gus has brought Jara in as a full back. He sees him as a full back not as a midfielder no matter what we might say (and despite the reports we have heard from Baggies fans Woy has also played him exclusively at full back). My guess is that when he recovers from the groin strain he incurred last week he will play as a right back in place of Calde.

FWIW I think Calde is a wonderfully entertaining player and would be fine for a side content to maintain a midtable Championship status. If we have ambition to push on then I suspect Jara is the future.

I agree with the assessment of elAbd (sadly) but with him and Calde as reserves we are in a pretty healthy position.

Navs gives us solidity - ideal for combative games - but as has been said he lacks enterprise which is why I suspect Gus is after a loan midfielder of Premiership class. Navs will probably start away from home until we get one in while at home we have to be looking to start Noone.
JFC can, I think, cover the probable loss of Sparrow for the next three games. Shame because Spaz has been in the form of his life and has played a big part in our revival.
Then it's Vokes and CMS up front for me with Barnes on the bench and let CMS play a little wider and deeper to use his pace.


Yup, all-in-all we are looking very good to challenge for the play-offs

 

[Clive Walker's slaphead]

The trouble is El-Abd gives us the grit that we were lacking for a large part of the season before his return. Ok he's not a left back but not sure we can discard him to the bench. If you watch him he is always talking and orchestrating things as we build up from the back. Don't know what the answer is but then that's why Gus get's paid X amount to make these decisions.

 

[Marc1901]

I don't understand why Gus plays El-Abd LB? He isn't a natural full back and it shows. If you see the way Mattock came on yesterday and the way Vincelot and Calde push on Adam just cannot do that. As much as I would hate to see him dropped it has got to be done I'm afraid.

Navarro - He has been playing well to be honest but a few times yesterday when going forward it was one of those moment where you would want to see another other midfielder but him have it because it was a good shooting position. I still think he has been playing well though.

 

[Weststander]

Agree about Calderon .. been saying he's a poor defender with no pace since the last month of last season. He and the covering centre halves are having to buy yellow cards, when mediocre teams attack at pace down the left & still destroy him.
We know he is creative, but a fullbacks first duty is defence.

Agree about Navarro. Not a personal thing, but worth having in the squad in case Bridcutt injured or banned, purely for protecting the back 4.
As part of our attempt at Total Football, Navarro now has some licence to join attacks, but just spoils them. Think he should have a rule that just does a Makelele & shield the back 4.

CMS is his own worst enemy by being this season October to January an awful finisher of chances & half chances. Cannot blame that on tactics or anyone else.

Adam is fine and is not the full back weak link. That is Painter (same as Calderon ... zero pace) & Calderon.
Adam has largely done this filling in role fantastically, just ask Ben Arfa, in not his natural position.
Taricco, Vincelot, Jara & Mattock ... now solve the fullback positions, but I bet stubborn Gus sticks with his mate Calderon.


This thread & my comments are just about the debatable weaknesses.

Buckley, Brez, Dunk & Greer, Sparrow, Bridcutt, and even Barnes, have been fantastic for quite a while now.

 

[BUTTERBALL]

Agree about El Abd. It is central defence or nothing for me if we are looking to attack.

Navarro is good enough, but there are too many other options for me to make him the first pick.

Don't understand the downer on Calde. Thought he we was back to his best in the last few games and gives us more attacking options than Jara. I lost count of the number of times he was free on the right wing yesterday in the second half yet the team kept failing to pick him out. When the finally did - look what happened - he played a great ball to Vicente to set up the goal.

 

[tubaman]

There was once a time when we had eleven 1st team players and a number of others who could 'do a job' and fill in when one of the others went missing. We have progressed and now we have a far more talented squad. If we could start with all the players that I want on the pitch we would start with about 17 + subs. Trust in Gus. He will pick the side to counter the opposition's strengths and weaknesses.

 

[Biscuit]

Barnes basically plays as a midfielder now. We don't play the standard 442 and haven't for two seasons now. I agree about Mattock being our first choice LB but I'd rather see Reyes in at right back than CM as I actually think Nav's is doing a good job - he's role IS to slow things down and dictate the pace.

 

[Stat Brother]

Don't understand the downer on Calde. Thought he we was back to his best in the last few games and gives us more attacking options than Jara. I lost count of the number of times he was free on the right wing yesterday in the second half yet the team kept failing to pick him out.

Me neither.
Buckley wouldn't have half his goals if it wasn't for Calde.
The oppositions left back doesn't know who to mark and where to stand, when they are both firing.
This in turn leaves the space for one or the other, on the edge of the box.

There is a reason why most of Buckley's goals are the same, and that's the relationship him and IC have built up.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

I don't think anyone is disputing what a great contribution Calderon makes to our attack. It's his basic defensive play where he is lacking.

 

[Turkey]

I get why people would prefer Mattock to start, and it wouldn't suprise me if he does become our regular left back very soon.

However, I have two comments to make on it. 1, Mattock needs to learn how we play, and a spell on the bench yesterday was good for him to watch and take it on baord. 2, A better option going forward is fine, but only if he is good enough at defending. I'm not suggestion he isn't, but you know what you get with Adam, and when Leicester went down to 10 it was no suprise to see Mattock come on as we need more quality to get balls into the box.

Jara-Reyes will be right back whether you like it or not. Calderon has been a weak link defending and his crossing generally poor. Reyes will be better in every respect.