Kiko being back in the team would definitely be a boost for us, he really helps taking some of the pressure away from Sarr on the right flank and giving him more opportunities in the attacking third.
For a couple of seasons after we were promoted back in the PL last time we were a really tough team though - Holebas, Britos, Prodl, Behrami, Capoue, Deeney (when fit) etc. . We'd lost that completely by the season we went down.
The problem is that you automatically expect fans of EFL teams, and ‘smaller’ ones in particular, to have more of a handle on reality and not the insane ‘I only am aware of the existence of my club and the 3 or 4 other billionaire playthings around us’ mentality that results in all these bafflingly idiotic and ignorant football shouting bouts on Twitter and YouTube, where they don’t know anything about any other team and so just make it up every time. It’s doubly jarring when fans of a team that doesn’t belong to that ilk at all, and has no justification whatsoever (if there can be one) for acting in a similar fashion, display that same attitude - even more so when en masse.
Our forward line has particularly struggled against Brighton and Wolves (bar 10-15 minutes) I think, and they both have 5 at the back formations which enabled them to double up on our attackers when going forward, Norwich are known to play 4231/433, so I’m hoping Sarr and Dennis will have a bit more freedom tomorrow.
As long as we do no play that awful formation from last week we stand more of a chance to provide some form of an attacking threat. With Kiko back in the side, it increases our threat (as said above), so I expect us to look a little less blunt. We do not have a striker who can play the lone role like Kane/Son/Messi/Aguerro(sp can. We are much more effective at using our width and midfield rather than lumping it up to the front man who can just hold it up and then has nothing to play off.
Given that the club has described him as ‘back with the squad’ and ‘to be assessed’ I wouldn’t be at all surprised not to see him feature.
Ah yes very true. No doubt he will stub his big toe walking into the changing rooms and be ruled out for another month .
So far he's been wrong, right, right, right. So, either he is getting better or we are just that bad atm even he can see it. Time to change it up.
Whilst I admire your optimism and also think Watford might do it tomorrow, there is never any certainty where WFC and the Premier League are concerned.
And Graham Taylor’s second spell, and the Boothroyd era - it does seem to be a recurring theme for whatever reason…
Seen a few calls for Cleverley to start on social media. Our fans fierce loyalty towards hard working cloggers who have long since shown they're not good enough and are in the twilight of their careers continues to amaze. I can definitely see how adding 32 year old Tom Cleverley who can't really tackle, create, pass, shoot, score, dribble or run at over 4mph could turn around our poor run of form. He tries really hard!
Sissoko is more powerful, more athletic and progresses the ball forward more effectively than Cleverley, Etebo has a specific role in sweeping up in front of and protecting the back four, and Kucka - despite being poor since Villa - is strong and aggressive and can play a bit. I literally have no idea what Cleverley would be bringing to the team or what his role would be? He's a downgrade on an already struggling midfield, with no standout attributes beyond trying his little heart out. He just brings nothing at this level at this point in his career.
It’s the same as the Deeney complex a lot of our fans have, they seem to subscribe to the ‘better the devil you know’ theory rather than, seriously, what is the worst that any other player could possibly do in comparison, yet imagine what the potential upside is theory? In other words, the worst case scenario in playing literally anyone else is you’re not going to be any worse off.
I don't agree with any of this (the rest is debatable) - tackling is one of his great strengths, it's how he drives us forward, winning the ball higher up the pitch, and he seems to be less card-prone than Etebo or Kucka. Also set up or scored a fair few goals with us. As for not shooting, watch this at 13:22 (granted it was a while ago, but that's not an ability you lose in the latter stages of your career): https://www.watfordfc.com/video/mat...palace-1-2-watford-premier-league-201819#play Comparing the Cleverley situation to the Deeney one is frankly ridiculous, he just seems to have been totally marginalized after a good performance against Villa, not even making the bench for Wolves (could hardly have made us worse in the second half), which is a shame. I'm one of Xisco's supporters, but I feel not giving Cleverley another chance is one of his flaws.
Hope Gosling gets a start in this one. He wouldn't have been kept at the club if he wasn't good enough and couldn't contribute. Think he could still be a top class PL midfielder. Eddie Howe used to rate him highly.
Five minutes until someone suggests we just need to bite the bullet and pay him whatever he wants to come and save us.
Lol, I'd have him in a heartbeat if we were any sort of normal club! No way he comes to us though, he was the undisputed head of Bournemouth, no way that happens here!
Clev played well against Villa, and is a better option than Gosling at least, but we're in serious danger if he ever has to play more than the very occasional game here and there for us this season
I thought it was a little odd that, when Howe decided not to go to Celtic, no other club came in for him. Maybe they did and he turned them down. When the sackings begin in the autumn I expect someone will, but it will be interesting to see at what level. Will it be a PL club trying to avoid relegation and would he accept that?
Howe is an old school manager, he wants a level of control that is very rarely give by any club these days. It’s part of the reason he left Bournemouth in the first place, he made some awful buys in the transfer market and the owner wanted to take back control of transfers from him. His move to Celtic collapsed because he couldn’t get all the back room staff he wanted. It’s why he’ll never be our manager, we’re about as far removed from each other as possible. That said, there aren’t too many PL clubs who will give him the overarching control he wants, we’re just further away than most.
This is the true long game coming to fruition - getting the drop on all the rest trying to tempt saint Eddie in when we're looking for a new coach in October with a USP he can't refuse - another classic example of 4D chess from the Pozzo.
Yeah, his 3 goals in 79 Premier League appearances for us definitely indicates he can shoot. 79 games, 3 goals, 5 assists, and that was in his "prime". I can only imagine how little he actually has to offer now at 32.
