Team for Palace

[ex-Pat]

   

    we should start with the finishing 11, that was electric..

[Moussa Dembele the 3rd]

we should start with the finishing 11, that was electric..

As electric as the finishing group was I think Raul, Tete, and ESR should keep their places.

I'm on the fence as to whether or not Kevin replaces Wilson and Chucky moves to the right, but I think it might be time for both our new wingers to start.

[TB1973]

Think Wilson should start along with Chuck and Esr

[SerbianLad]

ESR and Tete need to start at the very least. Tete had a pretty poor game, bit Castagne was even worse. ESR was MOTM (imo) and shouldn't lose his place. Id probably make 1 or 2 other changes, but I definitely disagree with the OP.

[iansthailand]

Agree with Sl. I thought ESR had his best game for us, should give him confidence to crack on.

[Count Flapula]

Bit of a curveball but I'd be tempted to start Cuenca and Diop - the competition for the no.10 spot appears to have really sharpened ESR's game and the same could be said of Chuk/Wilson and the wide players - including last season where we scored countless goals from the bench. Steel sharpens steel as they say.

I feel like Cuenca has been largely excellent when called upon and said previously he should be eased in so that he's not treated as solely an understudy to Bassey - personally I think we have 2 very good PL level LCBs so they should be keeping each other sharp, not feeling like their place is guaranteed no matter what.

Same for Joachim - although might be harder to drop him now he has the skippers armband. He does go through dodgy patches though and I think Diop plays well enough to start when Andersen's off form - shipping 5 goals might merit a chance for Diop IMO.

[ffcthereligion]

        Leno

Tete Andersen Bassey sess

     Berge Iwobi

   Wilson ESR Chuk

        Raul

Subs: king, Kevin, JKA, Cuenca and lukic

[H4usuallysitting]

Me or Leno

Castagne Andersen Bassey Sess

Berge Iwobi

Wilson ESR Kevin

Chukwueze or Raul

[SerbianLad]

Even though I thought we started those games well, we got two really poor results in the end against Crystal Palace and it might be time to try something different. I know this will probably be an unpopular selection because people will say it's too defensive, but something like this:

         Leno
    Tete Diop Cuenca
Castagne Berge Iwobi Sess
    Chukwueze ESR
          Raul

Surprise them and match their back 5(3) and play in the same formation. I'd honestly drop Bassey and Andersen after the last game(Andersen was particularly poor and deserves to be dropped). Lukic had a poor game in terms of passing and first touch, so I'd go with Berge, Iwobi to partner him so that we don't go too defensively (because we'd already play 5atb). Chukwueze and ESR to support Raul, as they are both in good form. Raul to start as he's an only realistic option to start really.

[twang]

I agree with claims to play Diop and Cuenca, as they always perform well when given a chance. It won't happen though unfortunately, but it would also give the option to rest Sess and play Bassey at LB.

Leno
Tete - Diop - Cuenca - Bassey
Berge - Iwobi
Wilson - Smith Rowe - Chukwueze
Raúl

[WindyCity]

This is gonna be a really tough game for the lads.  Palace is a very good team.  Just because we had that outstanding comeback v Citeh does not mean this will be a cakewalk.  Yeah, I know, no one here has said it would be an easy game, but I just get the feeling some may see this as an easy three points.  FFC needs to be at their best to get a result.  COYW!!!

[Matt10]

             Leno

Tete - Andersen - Bassey - Sess

        Lukic - Berge

      Chuk - ESR - Iwobi
             
             Raul

[SerbianLad]

Leno

Tete - Andersen - Bassey - Sess

        Lukic - Berge

      Chuk - ESR - Iwobi
             
             Raul

I think this team might work actually (although I opted not to use Berge-Lukic duo in my suggested lineup).

I think a huge problem in those games in which Berge-Lukic duo didn't work is the front 3 of Iwobi-Raul-Wilson. Raul likes to drop back and Iwobi and Wilson both like to come inside. They end up taking similar positions and stifling our creativity. They also make us quite predictable. I think you need a more dynamic winger like Chukwueze or Kevin(or even Adama) for it to work better, or even Muniz instead of Raul. I can't remember a single game where Iwobi-Raul-Wilson worked well.

[Jim©]

Personally I find talk of dropping Wilson slightly crazy. He's been superb and defensively offers good cover. Lukic should sit out with iwobi as the 8,wilson right, chuk left.
I'd be open for lecomte or cuenca to come in too.

[Southcoastffc]

Leno
Tete - Andersen - Bassey - Sess
Lukic* - Berge
Wilson - ESR - Iwobi         
Raul

Unless Lukic is/was unwell on Tues in which case Berge and Iwobi plus Chuk

As an aside, someone above refers to Andersen being captain but unless I am mistaken Leno was captain on Tuesday?

[Matt10]

Leno

Tete - Andersen - Bassey - Sess

        Lukic - Berge

      Chuk - ESR - Iwobi
             
             Raul

I think this team might work actually (although I opted not to use Berge-Lukic duo in my suggested lineup).

I think a huge problem in those games in which Berge-Lukic duo didn't work is the front 3 of Iwobi-Raul-Wilson. Raul likes to drop back and Iwobi and Wilson both like to come inside. They end up taking similar positions and stifling our creativity. They also make us quite predictable. I think you need a more dynamic winger like Chukwueze or Kevin(or even Adama) for it to work better, or even Muniz instead of Raul. I can't remember a single game where Iwobi-Raul-Wilson worked well.

Yeah I think that was Lukic's second worst game for us, and even then it wasn't that bad. Everyone was bad in the first half, they were out of sync and Lukic just wasn't himself. He won the ball in advanced areas though to set up some of our counters, but noone wants to talk about that.

I think the Iwobi as his replacement movement is relative to who plays that LM spot in the same fashion as Iwobi. He tucks inside the majority of the time so we essentially have two 8's already and Berge drops in the 6 role. It's exactly what Silva did with ESR and AP last season that I kept talking about.

The modern game is about dynamic positioning such as falsebacks and wide playmaker roles - which is what Iwobi is on that Left mid spot. I think the more Silva gets away from that, the more predictable we become. Context is important for the Man City match because we went to 3 at the back and Sess pulled into a falseback role, with Iwobi-King doing exactly what Marco wants as two 10's. We had the momentum and they shifted to a 5-4-1 eventually, but kept Foden wider than O'Reilly - who was an absolute menace on and off the ball.

If we want to go further into the context of the match, Berge played the entire 6 by himself, found himself on the right side more than ever and Iwobi was on his left still advanced. Lukic doesn't play on the left side. It's not an apples-to-apples comparison regardless.

My lineup is based on wanting to see Chuk in that inverted winger role, while still allowing the dynamic play of Iwobi and ESR to continue with our attacking moves centrally - and bring that solid work rate from Lukic-Berge. Wilson is the sacrifice, but Chuk still has to prove himself even more to make sure it wasn't a momentum galvanizing performance. I need to see him from the start to whatever his finish is because we've been here before where even individuals thought Lukic-Berge combo was never going to be touched.   

[SerbianLad]

@Matt10 I've mentioned Lukic's positive aspects. If you look at duels won for example, he was our best player in that first half. I don't think that excuses his poor passing and he was rightfully subbed off. His two free kicks were very poor, as well as one of the corners and he should have given a better final ball when he won it really high up the pitch and it was basically 2 on 2 (I think it was ESR that was in a decent position). A couple of times he won the ball back straight after losing it too.

I also don't think the Lukic-Berge duo was at fault for any of the three goals. First goal, Andersen and Bassey stood still. Sess and Tete both need to do better too. Second goal, Andersen and Bassey for me again at fault. Third goal, Leno should have done a bit better and maybe Sess too. The duo did fine defensively, I didn't think Gonzalez or Bernardo Silva did anything of note in that first half.

[ffc73]

The team that started the second half v Citeh = Iwobi @ 8 & Chukwueze LW.

Bring Lukic on in 2nd half, when we are winning, to see game out. Like he/we did successfully at Spurs last Saturday.

[SerbianLad]

The team that started the second half v Citeh = Iwobi @ 8 & Chukwueze LW.

Bring Lukic on in 2nd half, when we are winning, to see game out. Like he/we did successfully at Spurs last Saturday.

You wouldn't start Tete ahead of Castagne?

[Moussa Dembele the 3rd]

The problem with Iwobi and Wilson on the wings with a Lukic-Berge pivot is that the team completely lacks pace and cannot take advantage of transitions. Especially without Robinson healthy. We're too ponderous moving the ball into the final third after winning possession with this set-up. So, if we are going with Lukic/Berge in the middle we need more dynamism on the wings, so either Iwobi or Wilson would need to make way for Chuck. I think for now though, with the way both Iwobi and Wilson are playing the best solution is to continue with Iwobi at the 8 with Lukic coming on late to solidify things if we have a lead.