Duff And Davies At Full-back On Saturday?

[White Noise]

Rich on Craven Cottage Newsround raises the interesting idea of potentially playing Damien Duff at left back and Simon Davies at right back against Villa.

Hughes and Baird worked reasonably well at Spurs in defensive terms but offered nothing in terms of attacking threat and compromised a lot of the work in midfield.

Both Duff and Davies have played at full-back before and would offer much more going forward.
The question is would it be a fatal weakening of our defence, given how strong Villa are on the wings?

[TonyGilroy]

I wouldn't.

Duff is our best attacking option and a fit Simon Davies would be a significant asset to the midfield.

I can see the sense in bringing Smalling in by playing Hughes at right back. If Kelly's the best we have at left back then he should play. If not Baird if he's deemed better. He's not essential in midfield as we have Digachoi and Greening with Etuhu soon.

Our next run of games are winnable which means that we need to concentrate on making life difficult for the opponents - take the game to them. Winning some and losing some would be better than drawing most. In terms of safety we only need 4 more wins - or 3 and a few draws. 16 games to go - hardly crisis point.

[Lighthouse]

I know a good idea. Lets play Kelly and Kallio. Both are our reserve full backs and both support the wings better than Baird and Hughes. Besides Hughes is wasted as a back. He always has off games against Villa anyway. Play Duff as provider with two up front. Kamara and Bz if both are up for it. Davies can play in central midfield if Greening is not considered good enough to replace the struggling Murphy. Or Davies outside.

Playing players out of position, even if they have played there before, mucks up the balance of the side.

[White Noise]

http://hammyend.com/?p=5010

Plugging the gaps

by Dan on January 28, 2010

The doom and gloom merchants in the summer said that the Europa League would hang like a dark shadow over Fulham's season. Eventually, it could cost us. It still might, but Roy Hodgson reinforced his squad impressively over the summer. He brought in plenty of midfielders, each of whom has had a role to play over the last six months, but not a defender.

A central defender was the priority in June, with many minds exercised by the prospect of losing Brede Hangeland. But with the Norwegian and Aaron Hughes tied to extended contracts, the defensive departure was that of a rough diamond: young Chris Smalling. There's a very real chance we'll never know just how much Manchester United paid for him, especially in these cash-guzzling Glazer days at Old Trafford.

Funnily enough, though, it wasn't centre back cover that perturbed me over the summer. I've been as convinced by Paul Konchesky as others but he's proved a key part of the side that has taken Fulham to previously untouched heights. When he's injured, he can see just how much we miss him. I'm not yet ready to write Toni Kallio off – he turned in some great displays for Finland under Hodgson's instructions and was awesome against Arsenal last season – but a left back would be what I'd be searching for in the closing hours of the transfer window.

John Pantsil was always going to miss some part of the season due to the Africa Cup of Nations. Roy had brought him in Stephen Kelly in the summer precisely to cover Pantsil's absence. That effectively marked the end of the line for Fredrik Stoor, signed as the first choice after Euro 2008, and now searching for a place to revive his career. Pantsil's transformation from figure of fun to cult hero is something to behold. You do have your heart in your mouth when he goes for overhead clearance or dallies on the ball sometimes, but he brings the ball forward with great confidence and whips over crosses too. The stats show just how good he's been – look at his strength in the tackle, those passes and the attempts created, something that signifies Pantsil's importance as an attacking outlet.

Neither Kelly or Kallio have had particularly impressive stints as stand-ins for these two. It doesn't help that Pantsil's probably the best right back Fulham have had since Steve Finnan. The fact that the pair were dropped for Tuesday at Tottenham hints at some frustration at their under-performance at Accrington from Hodgson. Such problems in the full back areas are particularly troublesome with Aston Villa visiting at the weekend.

Martin O'Neill's side are particularly blessed with pace and talent out wide. Ashley Young scored their equaliser at the Cottage last year and tormented poor old Chris Baird when he was stuck out at right back in the Sanchez season to such an extent that the Northern Ireland international was sent off. I don't suppose Baird will be relishing the prospect of a repeat. At his best he's virtually unstoppable. Worryingly for Fulham, he scored against Blackburn in a performance rull of dangerous running and again in the FA Cup tie with Brighton.

Sadly for Hodgson and Fulham, Young's not the only threat. The consistency of James Milner's form dictates that he is almost guaranteed to be on the plane to South Africa in the summer and might even have a shot of forcing his way in the first team. Milner's creativity is becoming widely recognised but his workrate is just as crucial. He certainly doesn't shirk responsibility but, like all the best players, his vision makes him just as dangerous breaking away on the halfway line as in the final third.

O'Neill could deploy him in central midfield again on Saturday. Milner looks so comfortable there that he'll pose just as much of a threat in the centre as out wide. Pushing Milner inside would allow Stuart Downing to take one of the wing spots and, having been injured for the first half of the season, the England international has been making up lost time to prove himself after moving from Middlesbrough.

Stopping those three will be a tough task. Nick W speculated after the the dark side game about potential Pantsil replacements from within the squad, but both sides of our defence are now a worry. It will be interesting to see what Roy does on Saturday.

[White Noise]

http://cravencottagenewsround.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/home-game-on-saturday-what-to-do-at-full-back/

Home game on Saturday – what to do at full-back?

Can we afford two defensive full-backs again on Saturday?

Who would you pick?

Would it be foolhardy to have Duff and Davies at LB and RB?  (yes, but...)

I don't usually go in for team selection discussions, but it is getting interesting isn't it?

My XI:

Schwarzer; Kelly-Hughes-Hangeland-Kallio; Davies-Murphy-Baird-Duff; Gera-Zamora

Assuming Kelly hasn't been banished.  Which he might have been.   Otherwise, what can you do?  We have so few options.     We can't just play a 3-5-2 with Villa's attacking width to contend with – that'd be carnage.   It may just be one of those times where we have to endure a few tricky matches and hope things pick up in due course.

[Steve_orino]

We've had a couple of days to work on it - why not go with the same line-up?  We all know how Roy is, he doesn't change all that much. 

My XI: Schwarzer; Hughes-Smalling-Hangeland-Baird; Davies-sMurphy-KD-Duff; Gera; Row-Z

[SuffolkWhite]

Just a thought but why not play 352 formation,

                                Aussie
         
                Hughes       Brede           Smalling

       Davies      Dicog      Murph      Gera          Duff   

                              Kamara
                                           Zamora

Bench
Greening
Riise
Baird
etc


We use Davies and Duff to tackle back when needed.

                             
                             
           

[WhiteJC]

Just a thought but why not play 352 formation,

a back 3 would struggle against Agbonlahor, Carew and/or Heskey so I think we'll have the same back 4 as at Spuds

with a midfield from Young, Milner, Downing, Delph, Petrov and Reo-Coker against us we're going to need some physical strength. I don't think Gera will start, Murph and Greening (Jesus to "protect" Murph and give him the time on the ball he needs) Duff and Davies on the wings

Zamora and Nevland up front, with Kamara coming on at some point when Nev tires