Our bench today:
Stockdale, Kelly, Halliche, Kasami, Baird, Hugo, Sidwell
3 defenders (how many times does a manager need to sub off 3 defenders?)
1 box to box midfielder
1 def midfielder (Baird)
1 young inexperienced attacking mid
1 striker
Doesnt really enable Jol to make any game changing substitutions does it?
Needs a winger (Frei's injured but we need a right sided winger)
Needs a striker (cos if rod or Petric are injured we'll have no strikers on the bench)
Needs a creative central midfielder (when were really struggling to create chances)
Yeah,I really think we need another striker.
Aren't you over looking Rodallega?
devils advocate. baird came on as a defensive midfielder. frei is right footed and would be better down the right imho. but agree we need some players in. especially striker. how far off is davies as im sure he could plot up in the middle and do what murphy used to if we required him to
Quote from: YankeeJim on August 25, 2012, 07:34:34 PM
Aren't you over looking Rodallega?
hugo is his first name
count yourself lucky that we dont play in serie a. they now have 11 subs to choose from.
Looks fairly balanced to me:
Gk
CB
FB
Utility player
Box to box midfielder
Winger/CM
Striker/winger
As for strikers, don't forget about Trotta.
I don't think we need anymore wingers though as we have Duff, Davies, Frei, Kaca, Dembele, Ruiz, Dave and a certain Mr Dempsey, who is still a Fulham player, plus even Briggs could play on the wing. Thats 9 possibilities to fill 2 slots.
That being said, if we lose Dembele and/or Demps, we need to have replacements lined up, but I trust the club to have it under control.
I am forgetting Trotta as he isnt a Premiership striker yet and chances are he'll be on loan this season.
If one of Rod or Petric is injured this season we have no striker on the bench, that is not a situation any Premiership team should be in.
We have two proper wingers in th squad, Duff and Kaca, the latter of which is still finding his feet. Frei is an inside forward, Davies hasn't got the pace to be a winger anymore, Dembele isn't a winger, Ruiz can play wide but isn't a winger, Dave joined the club as a striker (he hated playing wide at Wigan) and Mr Dempsey we must assume wont be a Fulham player come September.
At the moment Ruiz has no competition for his No. 10 slot so would be good to get another advanced playmaker in the team.
Baird can play three positions effectively and one "so-so" -- having him on the bench is almost required.
Quote from: alexbishop on August 25, 2012, 09:26:29 PM
Dave joined the club as a striker (he hated playing wide at Wigan)
It's not like he has a clause in his contract that says he can throw his toys out of the pram if he is not played within 20 yards of the box. In all seriousness i think that when a player signs for a club you play where the manager tells you to play for the sake of the team. If he is needed to do a job on the wing, then he can, that is the important point.
I think Frei has the ability to play on the wing, as does Kasami and Ruiz (although he is better in the hole). Yes Davies may not be as quick, but the same could be said of Duff and he still does the job. Plus I think in the long run Briggs may end up being a winger rather than a FB. Dembele, whilst not being an out and out wide man can also do a job with his silky skills.
That being said, I do agree that we could use some reinforcement to provide security against injury, but I think it is up top or through the middle. I think we have enough cover in the wide positions.
Quote from: HatterDon on August 25, 2012, 09:43:31 PM
Baird can play three positions effectively and one "so-so" -- having him on the bench is almost required.
Great player to have Baird and I think Jol loves utility players like him, it's very 'Dutch'
Quote from: Herbie on August 25, 2012, 09:56:11 PM
Quote from: alexbishop on August 25, 2012, 09:26:29 PM
Dave joined the club as a striker (he hated playing wide at Wigan)
It's not like he has a clause in his contract that says he can throw his toys out of the pram if he is not played within 20 yards of the box. In all seriousness i think that when a player signs for a club you play where the manager tells you to play for the sake of the team. If he is needed to do a job on the wing, then he can, that is the important point.
I would think a professional player probably maintains a certain degree of control over where they are going to be played and that how the player is expected to be used is probably discussed when a contract is negotiated. I am not talking about how a player is used in a pinch of course, but a professional it seems to me has spent a lifetime honing a certain set of skills and is being paid to utilize those skills on the clubs behalf. Moving a player away from the position where their skill set is most useful on a regular basis would certainly be bad business for the player's next contract negotiation and likely bad business for the clubs immediate results.
I have no idea of course since I have never negotiated a professional sports contract but it would be interesting to hear from someone who knows how the process works. I know I wouldn't typically hire a tax accountant and shift him over to my financial audit team unless I was in a pinch.
well lets look at it another way...
if our squad has no depth... then look at man U who had on the bench 3 strikers, 2 40year olds and a shaky defender....
Quote from: ffcbulgaria on August 26, 2012, 07:30:30 AM
well lets look at it another way...
if our squad has no depth... then look at man U who had on the bench 3 strikers, 2 40year olds and a shaky defender....
difference is though they have injuries... rio comes back and then cleverly goes to bench and carick goes to midfield. smalling and evans injured too
Quote from: fulhamben on August 26, 2012, 08:32:26 AM
diference is though they have injuries... rio comes back and then cleverly goes to bench and carick goes to midfield. smalling and evans injured too
yes but we do have a few injured players as well and we're looking to add 2-3 more players while they probably wont and evans was on the bench
Quote from: BarryP on August 26, 2012, 03:08:14 AM
Quote from: Herbie on August 25, 2012, 09:56:11 PM
Quote from: alexbishop on August 25, 2012, 09:26:29 PM
Dave joined the club as a striker (he hated playing wide at Wigan)
It's not like he has a clause in his contract that says he can throw his toys out of the pram if he is not played within 20 yards of the box. In all seriousness i think that when a player signs for a club you play where the manager tells you to play for the sake of the team. If he is needed to do a job on the wing, then he can, that is the important point.
I would think a professional player probably maintains a certain degree of control over where they are going to be played and that how the player is expected to be used is probably discussed when a contract is negotiated. I am not talking about how a player is used in a pinch of course, but a professional it seems to me has spent a lifetime honing a certain set of skills and is being paid to utilize those skills on the clubs behalf. Moving a player away from the position where their skill set is most useful on a regular basis would certainly be bad business for the player's next contract negotiation and likely bad business for the clubs immediate results.
I have no idea of course since I have never negotiated a professional sports contract but it would be interesting to hear from someone who knows how the process works. I know I wouldn't typically hire a tax accountant and shift him over to my financial audit team unless I was in a pinch.
Sorry, I ws being a bit flippant with my comment, but my point was that whilst i completely agree that a player does have a preferred position, ultimately the needs of the team must come first. The case in point is Carrick; he is not a centre back but has the ability (some Man U fans may question that!) to play there when the team needs it. Or another extreme example is when a GK gets sent off and an outfield player goes in goal; they are signed as a professional football player.
Therefore, whilst some players may not be renowned for playing certain positions, if they have the ability to play there, then the manager will obviously have the option to play them there if the need of the team dictates.
Another example was the master stroke of playing Davies at right back on that wonderful night against Juventus, safe in the knowledge that when we had possession, he could overlap and stretch the 10 men, whilst having the ability to get back and forth and do a job defensively.
So, whilst we might only have a few out and out wingers, we have plenty of people that could step in and do the job out wide.
THE BARE MINIMUM WE REQUIRE. IS one forward. Although a wide player and a forward would be nice.
It would be nice to have a proper defensive midfielder,two forwards and two wide players. But seeing as we seem to have no money or are being very careful with it.
ONE FORWARD IS A MUST.
This is the weakest squad for depth we have had for years.
We could do with a centre mid and a striker imo but we do have some depth if our strongest team is
Schwarzer
Riether Hughes Hangeland Riise
Diarra Dembele
Duff Ruiz Kaca
Petric
That leaves
Stockdale , Etheridge, Kelly , Senderos , Briggs , Davies , Sidwell , Kasami , Mesca , Frei , Trotta on the bench for me we have a more than capable squad for top 8 and we also still have Dempsey on our books
You've left out two of our strongest substitutes, Baird and Hugo.
Quote from: alexbishop on August 25, 2012, 09:26:29 PM
I am forgetting Trotta as he isnt a Premiership striker yet and chances are he'll be on loan this season.
If one of Rod or Petric is injured this season we have no striker on the bench, that is not a situation any Premiership team should be in.
We have two proper wingers in th squad, Duff and Kaca, the latter of which is still finding his feet. Frei is an inside forward, Davies hasn't got the pace to be a winger anymore, Dembele isn't a winger, Ruiz can play wide but isn't a winger, Dave joined the club as a striker (he hated playing wide at Wigan) and Mr Dempsey we must assume wont be a Fulham player come September.
At the moment Ruiz has no competition for his No. 10 slot so would be good to get another advanced playmaker in the team.
It would be nice to give a chance to Trotta.Forza Marcello! :008: