Midfield and team selection

[FulhamStu]

Players were given a chance today and messed it up.

Was Wilson on go slow due to Wales game?

The no 10 roll does not seem to be working for BDR.

STARTING TO SEE WHO OUR BEST 11 ARE.

keeper, Rodak deserves 5 games.

Tete——Tosin——Ream/Mawson——Robinson/Bryan

Now the difficult bit - midfield

Seri has to start but can Chalobah stake a claim at the moment it's Reed ?   Carvalho has to start unless Cairney is fit. 

Up front Wilson has to start as does Mitro but which other player... it's between BDR and Kebano.

Odoi is fine as back up to Tete, I still think A fit Kongolo could eventually partner Tosin.

Muniz is ok off the bench and Mitro will get suspended.

Onomah / Cav / Knockers, not at the level we require try and offload if you can in Jan.

This of course will not happen and Cav and Onomah are clearly highly thought of, just not by me at the moment.  Things change quickly in football and let's see where we are after the next 9 games. 

Bournemouth are top but are not looking that great, WBA slipped up again and we just need to get a regular more consistent first 11.  It's still very early days and all to play for. 

What I am most concerned about is lack of a natural leader on the pitch.  Mawson maybe the most obvious.  Ream for me is similar to Cairney, too nice, too timid and I want to see more aggression and passion especially when things are going wrong.  Maybe I am too old school and this is not how you do it anymore!

Lots for Silva to consider.

[filham]

Agree with all of the above and would emphasize that the midfield really needs sorting. We need Carvalho back and should then try Rise/Reed/Carvalho together for three consecutive matches in the hope they will develop an understanding.
Knock and Cav. should not set  foot anywhere near the championship team this side of Christmas and BDR needs a good spell on the bench.
Forget all about rotation, we need to see a settled team that develops understanding. That doesn't mean that we play half fit or tired players returning from international duty but that we make fewer changes if players are fully fit.

[FulhamStu]

Why did Mawson not replace Ream?   That was the biggest cockpit yesterday.  Onomah frustrates the hell out of me.  Whenever he has played well it's further up the pitch.  He just does not work hard enough to be in the 8 box to box position.

[rebel]

All 'this and that', if you've got a winning formula, stick to it, Klopp does that, all good managers do it. He found a winning formula. That is what he needs to stick too. Rotating, trying new things is only going to lead to more results like yesterday. We looked 'uncomfortable' from the beginning.
We were slow and sloppy. The only time players should be changed in the first eleven is injuries.

Play the winning formula, build the understanding.

[rebel]

Why did Mawson not replace Ream?   That was the biggest cockpit yesterday.  Onomah frustrates the hell out of me.  Whenever he has played well it's further up the pitch.  He just does not work hard enough to be in the 8 box to box position.

Onomah was 'awful' yesterday.

[JimOG]

Yep good post. I can imagine us moving for Grimes if Zambo is sold but we need more. Chalobah needs to get fit. Silva sees Reed as an attacking midfielder with Seri behind. I'm not sure about that. Onomah just isn't good/consistent enough but I'm confused why Silva pins Wilson to the right touchline. He surely needs to take on the 10 role. In behind Mitro he's got a great shot and is tricky. But he has gone into the doldrums. You're right it's not a functioning midfield. Truth is we're as far away from having a Premiership core as we've ever been

[filham]

Lets all understand that successful teams have a strong midfield and that if we are to gain promotion this problem needs addressing as a priority.
Reed and Seri have the quality, add Wilson as the attacking midfielder until Carvalho is fit and that could well be the answer.

[FulhamStu]

Lets all understand that successful teams have a strong midfield and that if we are to gain promotion this problem needs addressing as a priority.
Reed and Seri have the quality, add Wilson as the attacking midfielder until Carvalho is fit and that could well be the answer.

I agree with this, we don't really know how good Chalobah can be and Wilson is not influencing the game out wide.  Move Wilson to the 10 until Carvalho is fit.  We have so many decent centre backs but I don't think we are playing the best 2 yet.