General Football Thread

Do we know which particular January that might be?

 

Oh come on RER get real. It can't be a coincidence that the only constant in our defence for the last 3 seasons has been Martin. We've kept 2 clean sheets this season Birmingham and Martin wasn't in the squad and QPR - Martin was on the bench and only played 22 minutes. Of course it's never down to one player but as a coach you've got to deal with your biggest issues first. Of course others make mistakes but not with the same frequency as Martin. The other thing is when he plays he's captain so he has the additional responsibilty of organising the defence, which invariable seems more disorganised when he plays. If I had a water leak in my house with water gushing out and a dripping tap then I'd sort out the leak not the dripping tap. Martin is our leak.

 

That's true enough, especially as we've brought in 10 new players and 5 younger players. We also need to build a defense though and that means playing together to develop more understanding. Resting Tettey makes sense though and I'd like to see a natural WR player against Burton.

 

To be fair to Reed he hasn't done badly, he's just been asked to do too much. So for me Reed & Trybull makes sense and despite some reservations I think I'd also play Hoolahan instead of Maddison.

 

I agree with others that squad rotation is important especially with Tettey and his knees, Klose just back from injury and the sheer frequency of games in the championship. I think I'd go with the following for Burton:

Gunn
Pinto (the skipper)
Zimmermann (he's indestructible! probably plays in his sleep)
Klose ( for match fitness) (bring on Hanley early to save Timm but enhance his match fitness too)
Spiderman (I hope he can keep playing because I don't want husband near the pitch!) (though he also has not had the benefit of a solid midfield to play with)

Reed (Tettey should be saved for Sheff utd, he couldn't play again with his knees anyway!)
Trybull
Wes (rest Maddison for the weekend)
Wildshut
Don't hate me, Naismith (Vranic isn't pulling up trees, Naismith can still come good! ............though I'm probably deluded!)
CJ

obviously if it's not going well, Maddison, Murphy (don't need to specify Josh anymore) and Nelson can be the cavalry charge.

Bah!

 

I'd probably go with:

Gunn
Pinto Franke Hanley Stiepermann
Reed Trybull
Wildschut Maddison Wes
Jerome

-CB is bold, but as other have said, this could be a gritty game and without Tettey, perhaps a more gritty CB pairing might be worth trying. I'd expect a Reed/Trybull axis to offer better ball retention than a team with Tettey in it, so hopefully the ball-playing skills of Klose and Zimmerman will be missed less. I wonder if in time Farke might try and establish 2 pairings, rather than a pecking order.

-As I stated on the Birmingham thread, having the wide midfielder in the three drift inside a lot (in that case Vrancic) doesn't mesh well with an attacking full back (Pinto). With Stiepermann the more reserved full back on Saturday, I'd like to see how he handles a "drifting" midfielder in front of him. I think Wildschut and Pinto could be a really dynamic pairing which can cause a lot of trouble for the opposition.

 

Oh, Jarvis is contracted until June 2019 by the way. Top marks to whoever decided that was a good move.

 

It's totally ludicrous. As was extending Turner and Whittakers' contracts but that's all water under the bridge.
What matters is the new regime, led by Webber, doesn't make similar naive, expensive and just plain dumbass decisions like those

[and I didn't even mention Naismith's wages once! ]

 

Wildschut could be a good call for his tracking back capabilities, but the same could be said about Naismith at WR. I'm less sure about Watkins in that regard. I'd play Oliveira up front and then Jerome on Saturday for his strengths in away games.

 

Hmmm....maybe it was a red......

 

Andy Carroll starts tonight for West Ham. Is he a new striker?

 

I think he comes from the same academy as Jarvis!

Bah!

 

Bugger Wet Sham go 1-0 up thanks to a massive deflection!!!!

 

An excerpt from Connor Southwell’s offering on today’s MFW - “That’s what made Saturday’s performance so heartwarming and pleasing. Following the mutilation at Millwall, many, including myself, vented and ranted. Yet these players who took to the field stood as a collective. It was a performance that contained the essence of what football should be.
Players fighting for one another. A clear approach. A desire which hasn’t been seen consistently for a while. Players who give a damn, heading crosses away and blocking anything with the goal of the team being greater than themselves.
If Norwich can build on this performance, with the robust core and injections of pace and excitement in wide areas, then many supporters will happily depart with their cash once more and the pendulum between fans and players might just neutralize.”

Full article here - http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter...ar-beyond-the-odd-hiccup-here-and-peak-there/

 

Nice to see cocky Rodgers got humbled last night. Look forward to watching a re-run of game. Neymar and Mbappe scoring.

Great to see United off to a flyer, and with Rashford getting a Champions League, another debut goal for him. On his first Champions League run out.

Chelski 6-0 against the side I've never heard of is pretty basic. Plenty of goals to watch re-runs of games for though!

"Crisis" team Barcelona beating Italian Giants Juve is a surprise.

 

Not much 'bulding on that' last night. DF tried to change it by moving Vrancic back to CM and bringing on Wildschut, but too little, too late.

 

Sign him up quick!

 

MB on the EDP website was baying for a change much earlier and I've seen other articles saying the same. Hopefully DF will learn from it.

 

Yay, the champions league is back for another (protracted) season

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41253949

 

Letter to the fans from the Barnsley owner.
What a diamond geyser

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41249300