I'd love a winner from our new No.3. Deeney don't like it... Mario Gaspar Mario Gaspar With apologies to the late Joe Strummer.
Going to have to revert to a back 5 without Kamara. Big question is therefore: keep the midfield 3 and play Sarr in a front 2, or try to get away with just 2 of our limited CMs in order to be able to play Sarr on the right of a front 3? I'd go with the former. There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of planning going into how we use Sarr so far, and his pace will always be a threat. The midfield 2 aren't good enough, so it has to be 3 to have any chance of getting some control.
Yep, prices vary greatly, £39 was good for Tuesday, but at Blackpool for three nights for the Preston game was about £300 for the three nights. I booked Headlands hotel for total £145 and that includes full English breakfast.
I stayed in a particularly bad Travelodge in Edinburgh some years ago and vowed I would never stay in one again. It’s been Premier Inns ever since, which are usually fine but I don’t know how prices compare.
I'd be surprised if Clevs started either. I suspect that we'll go 3 5 2, otherwise Deeney will just peel off on to the LB and bully them. I suspect that Gasper will push out wider and Gosling will come in the middle. Sarr and Pedro up front to start.
Premier Inns tend to be rather more expensive, but I do have to say that Travelodge is much improved to what it used to be, you always now get clean accommodation, a good shower and a comfortable bed, so I find then alright, as long as they are not asking silly money.
Probably correct, although he was awful in the second half on Friday. Shame TDB's out. Maybe give Quina a chance?
Make no mistake if we win it will be because we are lucky and not because we are a high standard compared to this league. If we lose it will prove we are ****!! Edwards out!!
https://twitter.com/AdamLeventhal/status/1559155913382141953?s=20&t=3TwyMRKJpcYafJ9EIVeVMA Cleverley to be assessed before game, Louza to feature in September (On schedule) and Davis in squad. Gosling, Asprilla or Quina in that 3rd midfield spot?
Gosling was worse than Cleverley last week, Quina is a good backup but not really a starter. Asprilla has looked up for it in his short cameos so far. I would def start him over the other two. I really don't know what was up with Gosling last week... was it the heat?
If we only have 5 shots in total, and win with our one shot on target I think that would be a fair comment. Hopefully we can win AND be the better team.
Agreed Gosling was extremely poor when he came on but I would still start him. Asprilla to replace him if needed. Birmingham looked very slow in their defensive line so I'd imagine Sarr starts and gets replaced by Davis. I wouldn't be disappointed even with dropping Sarr to the bench and seeing how JP and Davis work as a two.
Bachmann Kaba Sierralta Cathcart Gaspar Choudhury Kayembe Sema JP Bayo Sarr Hamer, Ngakia, Pollock, Gosling, Asprilla, Manaj, Davis. Birmingham 0 - 3 Watford 'Orns!
Got to get Davis playing. He hates Birmingham and will definitely want to impress on his debut against them. For me it’s one of two formations 433 Bachmann Gaspar Kaba Sierralta Sema/Morris Choudhury Kayembe Asprilla Sarr Davis Pedro 343 Bachmann Kaba Sierralta Cathcart Gaspar Choudhury Kayembe/Asprilla Sema Sarr Davis Pedro Again, watching Birmingham the other day, they looked woeful. So definitely favourites to beat us. Our front line with Davis in it does give us the option to by pass the CM’s if we go 343 and go long up to Davis for him to bring in Sarr and Pedro. Either formation and line up should be more than enough to beat Birmingham based on what I saw the other day. However it’s these types of games that will show us what we’re made of. Anything other than a win is a poor result.
Looked at Birmingham's central midfield pairing for their last game, and if you combine their ages they are 2 years younger than Foster. Seems to me as though we should target their inexperience.
Pretty sure we'll play five at the back, but wonder whether Edwards will play Asprilla from the start to try and offset the extra defender. Bachmann Kaba Sierralta Cathcart Gaspar Choudhury Kayembe Asprilla Sema Sarr Pedro
If we lose after being the better side and missing a host of chances => "we are unlucky". If we win after being 2nd best and our opponents missing a host of chances => "a good professional win, we allowed them the possession, and none of their chances were that clear cut. It's good to win "ugly"".
At Cardiff Birmingham's defensive right side was all over the place. They looked very vulnerable. I assume Kamara isn't playing, so I think maybe King Ken might drop into that spot. If that is the case Brum would have missed a trick if they don't put somebody quick on him.
Maybe, but it's also worth considering that 3 successive 'lucky' wins or 'unlucky' losses may be suggesting something else is at play. 1974-5 taught me that in spades.
If you lose or draw but get ‘outplayed’ it generally means your midfield didn’t do well. However it can also mean your forwards were more clinical or your defenders were more effective than the opposition. Too much weight placed on the midfield when appraising performance in my book.
These next two games (not including the Cup) will tell us a lot about the side. Birmingham and Preston (both away) are fixtures that are slippery for any side. Preston looked alright so far and Brum have started well overall despite their loss to Cardiff. I do expect to see a change in tact (especially if we go ahead) and not stick 10 men behind the ball. Of course there is always the Troy factor going into the match tomorrow night, and he might be really up for it.
Someone mentioned Reading as an example earlier, but last time we went up Swansea were an example of a team getting unsustainable results based on their stats. All the forum stattos kept using Swansea’s Xg to highlight their league position wasn’t sustainable and they would eventually fall away, they eventually did fall away, but it took a lot longer than 3 games. 3 games is absolutely nothing and if our stats stay as they are we won’t maintain our current points record, Swansea and Reading didn’t, I’m not sure why that is so difficult to understand. If it was as simple as looking at the results over three games we could end the league now.
I agree, and will also add that for us, worst case happens and we lost Sarr and JP at the window closure do we have enough left to maintain a challenge? Obviously other factors creep into it like injuries, suspensions manager sackings. It would also be very interesting to see what we did in the January window - if we were still in the top two or six. Would we stick with what we had and be sensible or buy beyond our means?
Only on the condition that everybody promises to wear a Deeney mask for the entire game. But, yes there will be.
Maybe but I tend to look at end product is shots/shots on target and just a passing glass at the possessions stats when assessing "outplayed". Relative shots is an overall reflection.
Cheers @SkylaRose, reading the shoutbox is much much better than the BBC site. Where can I get Deeney mask? I could make one, but I don't think I have enough felt tips.
No we wouldn't. It would be a completely wasted opportunity. I will disappointed if either go tbh, although if Pedro goes it would be terrible.
