Interesting tactical analysis of our systems under Struber

Yer not often right - but yer wrong again.

 

I cannot fault your picks or anyone else's either because I do not understand the system well enough. I can only tell you why I made the choices I did.

The most controversial of my choices is to exclude Cauley Woodrow from my team. Cauley played the No10 role at Newcastle. I have watched the short piece of film of the game over and over again, with particular emphasis on Cauley Woodrow's performance in the No10 role. For me, a No10 is key because after he receives the ball in space, his next pass can be defence splitting. It can be the pass that puts a player through on goal. Unfortunately, most of the time, Cauley simply laid the ball off sideways of backwards. He very rarely (once in the footage that I watched) tried to pass the ball forward. I honestly think that he is a very good striker, but I do not think that he is a very good footballer, and that is what you need at No10.

 

You on the other hand are always right!

 

I’ve got plenty of that for these youngsters . As long as the mistakes of last season are learned .

 

Agreed, no sudden breakthrough's, gradual improvement.

Another $64, 000 question. Do we replace the front 2 (or 3) with better goal scorers, keeping the press to the other 8 (or 7) outfield players, press - get the ball back then pass to the goal scorers? Which system is better? Which system allows us better goal scoring opportunities whilst limiting the opposing teams goal scoring opportunities? As you rightly suggest we'll never know without spending a great deal of money on decent goal scorers.

 

As you say, an interesting question that we would have to spend a great deal of money on to find the answer.

 

Tha needs to keep that at the forefront of yer mind while reading this message board.
You won’t go far wrong then kidda.

 

And in a thread calling someone else patronising and condescending the irony and sarcasm has gone right over the top of your head, hasn't it?

Also I'm not a kid

 

So, we just need £30M quid then problem solved. Probably...

 

It looks like we are going to have to change our choices for next season, whether we like it or not.

You will know from our discussion just how keen I am on Brown as part of the press. In fact, he was my first forward pick because of how hard he worked in support of the team. I think that it will be hard to find a replacement who can work as hard, or as effectively. Nevertheless, I accept that the club will have its reasons, and we move on. Brown was never ideal, as we agreed, because he did not convert a big enough percentage of his chances, but it is far easier to criticise than it is to find an adequate replacement. We can only hope for the best.

 

If JB does leave (looks nailed on) I'll be disappointed. Like you I think he's a "nearly ideal" fit for GS' tactics. If he was better at finishing we could dispense with the "nearly". However, if that were the case we'd probably be getting offers in excess of £20m for him from Barcelona or PSG or Brentford.

We'll miss him for all the reasons you state. However life moves on and its now all about finding a replacement, whether internal or external. As you say, far easier to criticise than it will be to find a replacement. Unfortunately having seen Victor play in the role last week, he's not the answer. In contrast George Miller may be a possibility, or Luke Thomas, or Frieser or etc etc ad infinitum.......we'll get to know soon enough come Saturday.

Football players get transferred. It's happened for years and it will continue to happen. Interestingly opinion on here seems split on JB and also on his value. Plus ca change.....

PS - no minority report for the Forest game? Interestingly, if you did see it, did you think that our tactics changed a bit? I though there were a lot more long diagonal balls played from the CBs; in particular from Mads. It made me wonder whether GS was trying to out guess the Forest Coach who would have expected us to play in our usual style. If that was the case, then I think it's a good thing as it shows that GS is prepared to mix it up; and that, of course, leads to another debate about whether we should be getting an old fashioned CF to enable best use of that tactic.

 

I didn't watch the Forest game. I was not convinced that either of the teams would be trying, and Struber's prematch comment about this being our last friendly did not help either. I tend not to watch the early rounds of the Carabao Cup, and past results indicate the reason.

As you say, we move on. I was a big fan of Brown's work rate, and it was that which made the press really work in my view. I was not a fan of his poor finishing, but it was a price that I was willing to pay for our improved defending. However, we are where we are, and Struber will no doubt solve the new riddle. We both pointed to the fact that we do not really have a No10 to pick out the passes to the front two, and I put our poor scoring rate down to that, as much as our poor finishing. With that in mind, I wondered whether Christie-Davies is penciled in for that role. His squad number (18) suggests he is a more serious contender for first team action that many anticipate.

 

I do like reading most of what you put, however, squad numbers have little relevance to team selection. They haven't done for many years now. Mowatt is the prime example, team captain- first name on teamsheet - Number 27. MS Bähre another - on his way - Number 10.

 

No, I may have got carried away. Just trying to see the positives.