Football Season 2017/18

He’ll be at Wembley next week with Villa!

fatcat posted:

That's right.

Half the Enland strikers have probably only scored half a dozen goals this year, between them.

I'm in favour of playing players in form, rather than loyaly sticking with players that aren't.

Not sure which other strikers one would choose if Rashford and Welbeck were left out?

Ashley Barnes is in form at the moment.

fatcat posted:

Ashley Barnes is in form at the moment.

Has he been capped yet?

Wellbeck is debatable in the sense that one on one it’s hard to find a more panicky player but given half chances he will always create a problem that leads to a chance for him or someone else. We’re far enough down the line to say with absolute certainty that strikers of themselves will not take you far in a competition like a World Cup so having someone who is a nuisance is often better than having someone who is a nuisance in one situatujn.

Rashford is less debatable. He’s largely, as we saw yesterday, been played out of position by his club manager.  Southgate simply won’t do that. 

Fatcat - I’m a firm believer that “form” is so nebulous a concept as to be meaningless. Was Salah out of form when he didn’t score for 3 games? Harry Kane for the 1st month of every season. It’s really about no more than fitness; what’s going on in your life outside the game and whether all the pieces of the jigsaw which help you play well remain in place. Can guarantee that if Mane or Firmino were injured/suspended that Salah would score 50% less than he has been. 

A manager should pick the right jigsaw pieces and not the ones that look the right colour and shape but only in a certain light.

Mike Hughes posted:

Wellbeck is debatable in the sense that one on one it’s hard to find a more panicky player but given half chances he will always create a problem that leads to a chance for him or someone else. We’re far enough down the line to say with absolute certainty that strikers of themselves will not take you far in a competition like a World Cup so having someone who is a nuisance is often better than having someone who is a nuisance in one situatujn.

Rashford is less debatable. He’s largely, as we saw yesterday, been played out of position by his club manager.  Southgate simply won’t do that. 

Fatcat - I’m a firm believer that “form” is so nebulous a concept as to be meaningless. Was Salah out of form when he didn’t score for 3 games? Harry Kane for the 1st month of every season. It’s really about no more than fitness; what’s going on in your life outside the game and whether all the pieces of the jigsaw which help you play well remain in place. Can guarantee that if Mane or Firmino were injured/suspended that Salah would score 50% less than he has been. 

A manager should pick the right jigsaw pieces and not the ones that look the right colour and shape but only in a certain light.

Very much agree.... my only concern with the England squad was not picking Wiltshire, a creative midfielder can unlock a defence, not sure who in our midfield could be described as creative ...

wenger2015 posted:

Mike Hughes posted:

Wellbeck is debatable in the sense that one on one it’s hard to find a more panicky player but given half chances he will always create a problem that leads to a chance for him or someone else. We’re far enough down the line to say with absolute certainty that strikers of themselves will not take you far in a competition like a World Cup so having someone who is a nuisance is often better than having someone who is a nuisance in one situatujn.

Rashford is less debatable. He’s largely, as we saw yesterday, been played out of position by his club manager.  Southgate simply won’t do that. 

Fatcat - I’m a firm believer that “form” is so nebulous a concept as to be meaningless. Was Salah out of form when he didn’t score for 3 games? Harry Kane for the 1st month of every season. It’s really about no more than fitness; what’s going on in your life outside the game and whether all the pieces of the jigsaw which help you play well remain in place. Can guarantee that if Mane or Firmino were injured/suspended that Salah would score 50% less than he has been. 

A manager should pick the right jigsaw pieces and not the ones that look the right colour and shape but only in a certain light.

Very much agree.... my only concern with the England squad was not picking Wiltshire, a creative midfielder can unlock a defence, not sure who in our midfield could be described as creative ...

Alli.  Ok, he's got a short-fuse, which some savvy opposition will seek to exploit, but the lad can pick a killer pass as well as finish. 

Yes that’s true, I completely overlooked Alli, let’s hope he stays injury free throughput the tournament 

....and keeps his temper.

MDS posted:

....and keeps his temper.

Temperament  is always the problem with these creative players .... which is often where the inexperience is exploited by the opposition 

Mike Hughes posted:

Rashford is less debatable. He’s largely, as we saw yesterday, been played out of position by his club manager.  Southgate simply won’t do that. 

Fatcat - I’m a firm believer that “form” is so nebulous a concept as to be meaningless. Was Salah out of form when he didn’t score for 3 games? Harry Kane for the 1st month of every season. It’s really about no more than fitness; what’s going on in your life outside the game and whether all the pieces of the jigsaw which help you play well remain in place. Can guarantee that if Mane or Firmino were injured/suspended that Salah would score 50% less than he has been. 

A manager should pick the right jigsaw pieces and not the ones that look the right colour and shape but only in a certain light.

Southgate played Rashford in 8 of qualifying game, he managed just 1 goal. That was against teams that didn’t even qualify for the world cup.

Strikers, feed off confidence. An out of form striker will not be confident and will not score. On the other hand, an in form confident striker will.

We need a good old fashioned English centre forward, who’ll put himself about, in the six yard box when playing against teams that park the bus.

fatcat posted:

Mike Hughes posted:

Rashford is less debatable. He’s largely, as we saw yesterday, been played out of position by his club manager.  Southgate simply won’t do that. 

Fatcat - I’m a firm believer that “form” is so nebulous a concept as to be meaningless. Was Salah out of form when he didn’t score for 3 games? Harry Kane for the 1st month of every season. It’s really about no more than fitness; what’s going on in your life outside the game and whether all the pieces of the jigsaw which help you play well remain in place. Can guarantee that if Mane or Firmino were injured/suspended that Salah would score 50% less than he has been. 

A manager should pick the right jigsaw pieces and not the ones that look the right colour and shape but only in a certain light.

Southgate played Rashford in 8 of qualifying game, he managed just 1 goal. That was against teams that didn’t even qualify for the world cup.

Strikers, feed off confidence. An out of form striker will not be confident and will not score. On the other hand, an in form confident striker will.

We need a good old fashioned English centre forward, who’ll put himself about, in the six yard box when playing against teams that park the bus.

 

He hasn't got the size of an old-fashioned centre-forward but I think Vardy likes to put himself about.  International defences won't be used to his playing style but is needs the midfield behind him to exploit his style by putting the ball behind the defenders on either flank. Once the defence is turned, Vardy is a real handful. 

Shame Swansea haven’t been so good this season, Tammy Abraham looks the part, but hasn’t had a competitive team around him.

Pellegrini to manage at WHU according to BBC site.

6th most highly rated comment on the site says, "Why get an Audi RS8 if you are going to fill it with cheap supermarket petrol?"    Unkind but still a bit funny.

I thought Pellegrini did well at Man City and conducted himself with great dignity when speculation was swirling around his likely sacking.  He seemed a real gentleman. Not sure how he'll get on at WHU though. While he has the technical ability to do a good job, I wonder how he will handle the owners and Brady.  I think it needs a strong personality to deal with them e.g. Rafa.   

Nicely put Mike on Pellegrini could'nt agree more about your comments.It could go really well at West Ham for him but I have this niggling feeling that there could be some dark days ahead there in the future.Adored him at City as did the City faithful.The this charming man moniker the City fans bestowed on him was so,so warranted as all the press I saw him do he came across as a real gent.As you say does he have a stubborn determined side to his personality with regard to confrontation ?

I think he did really well at City too, Mike. I rather admire WHU for their statement of intent with his appointment.

It sort of has me wondering if it was ever the kind of thought that occurred to the board at my Saints. We'll never know.

I'm broadly happy with MP's appointment but as you say it depends on how the dildos and Brady behave. One hopeful sign is that Pellegrini did very well at Malaga and Villareal with very limited budgets.

We Hammers don't want much - a decent league position, a good cup run and some entertaining, attacking football. If MP delivers that, most will be happy. We're not expecting to finish Top Six or win the Champs League all of a sudden.

Pellegrini says: "I am excited about this project. My mentality is always to have a winning mentality.

"I think that West Ham had a difficult season last season and I hope that next season we are going to play football that will delight the fans. I always play attacking football and we must try to reach important targets in the season.

"I am sure that, with the players we have in this moment in the squad, and bringing maybe another four or five in, we are going to have a strong team."

I think in the last 2/3 years the goal posts have now, well and truly been moved.

Exciting, attacking football, the need to be entertained, seems to be the minimum expectation of most fans now.

And having paid good money to go and watch your team it’s perfectly understandable.

I hope Pellegrini does well, he seems a decent chap, he has experience of the premier league, seems a good fit for WHU.

Fingers crossed for the Hammers next season.

Great for Spurs with the re-signing of Poch. I'm a huge fan of his football.

I'd go as far as saying that when he arrived at my club (yea back) he single-handedly changed the Prem for the better with his high-pressing style. Unfortunately Daniel Levy noticed too.

C.

Christopher_M posted:

Great for Spurs with the re-signing of Poch. I'm a huge fan of his football.

I'd go as far as saying that when he arrived at my club (yea back) he single-handedly changed the Prem for the better with his high-pressing style. Unfortunately Daniel Levy noticed too.

C.

Yes, great news for all spurs fans

Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!

Another season in Division 2. Dividend for a first half of rank cowardice by Steve Bruce.

Kudos to Fulham, who've played football on a fraction of our budget. And to Cardiff who had even less budget (and played even less football) but played as a consistent team. Wolves can go and futter themselves.

Congratulations to Fulham......

Yes. Well done Fulham who only just missed out on second place and played some lovely attacking football. Their style looks suited to the PL. Villa will come gain, I'm sure.