A bit like Dijksteel and Reeco last term, a bit of a culture-shock seeing so many of the U-23 squad being elevated to First-team duty - Lapslie, Moloney, Blumberg, Yao- and Karlan with a new lease of life! Had a busy first half last night checking the team-sheet to ID players, specially with JFK in the 8 shirt!!
A bit like Dijksteel and Reeco last term, a bit of a culture-shock seeing so many of the U-23 squad being elevated to First-team duty - Lapslie, Moloney, Blumberg, Yao- and Karlan with a new lease of life! Had a busy first half last night checking the team-sheet to ID players, specially with JFK in the 8 shirt!!
Great to see Lapslie really make a mark this time - wasn't at all sure about him playing wide right that far up but he really made a difference. Looks stronger and showed a welcome extra gear. The young Parker observation was a good one (though sadly players of that quality don't come along often).
Love the way Maloney always looks to play forward even in tight situations, rather than play the safe predictable option. Shame to see Morgan hurt as he's been very positive in the friendlies. Mascoll did really well too in his short cameo; very confident.
Ajose improved and contributed under Bowyer last season but really only looks worth keeping because the tosser in charge won't enable us to replace him. So much posing and irritating strutting for so little genuine input. Magennis is never going to be prolific but at least put in a genuine shift last night.
Last word to Naby! Tremendous goal and as others have said, the interception that started his run showed superb anticipation. Very few third division centre backs are capable of a goal of that genuine quality.
A bit like Dijksteel and Reeco last term, a bit of a culture-shock seeing so many of the U-23 squad being elevated to First-team duty - Lapslie, Moloney, Blumberg, Yao- and Karlan with a new lease of life! Had a busy first half last night checking the team-sheet to ID players, specially with JFK in the 8 shirt!!
Stand outs for me tonight was prately and lapslie, prately looked like he was running the game first half and lapslie looked like he had a lot of quality on the ball.
I thought mascoll looked good too.
Ajose looked dire, I just don’t get what he brings to the table. Not particularly quick, doesn’t get into goalscoring positions and doesn’t aid the build up play.
He's absolute dogshit, strolls around with his cocky, look at me, walk, and does absolutely nothing!
If we need to get rid of anybody, he is top of the list by miles!
I think Sarr is a problem to be solved if you can. He is a decent defender, but one that always has a mistake in him, he is very comfortable on the ball and a physical presence. I like the idea of having height through set pieces and have wondered if he could be given a role - helping the central defenders, but also the central midfield. So a freeish role in front of a back three. Maybe in a 3-1-4-1-1 with two wing backs within the 4 and Fosu given a free role behind a big lump of a striker.
He's a bit like David Luiz at Chelsea. In a flat back four the tendency of Luiz to think he was a footballer exposed his penchant to overdo things but once Conte changed things to three CBs he looked a world beater and they ended up winning the League.
In a way, a 3/5 at the back could kind of work, it would certainly bring out more from Sarr. My only real problem would be the right side where Bauer wouldn’t exactly be comfortable in that right hand side/almost right back position when the team attacks. I’d like Solly in the team, but if we were to play a 3/5 at the back, it would have to be Marshall.
I like this formation! But no room for poor Joe Aribo ?Think he is better than JFC and less injury prone than others.
The fact that Aribo is less injury prone means he will get plenty of opportunities this season.
With no Fosu for Sunderland I can see us lining up as:
Phillips
Marshall Bauer Pearce Sarr Page
Aribo Forster Caskey Pratley (don’t be a prat Bowyer - he has played one 45 mins..... 60 mins v Norwich and no reason he can’t start a game and play for 75 mins)
Magennis Taylor
Can’t see Bowyer switching to a back 5/3 given we’ve used 4-4-2 all of pre-season.
I think Sarr is a problem to be solved if you can. He is a decent defender, but one that always has a mistake in him, he is very comfortable on the ball and a physical presence. I like the idea of having height through set pieces and have wondered if he could be given a role - helping the central defenders, but also the central midfield. So a freeish role in front of a back three. Maybe in a 3-1-4-1-1 with two wing backs within the 4 and Fosu given a free role behind a big lump of a striker.
He's a bit like David Luiz at Chelsea. In a flat back four the tendency of Luiz to think he was a footballer exposed his penchant to overdo things but once Conte changed things to three CBs he looked a world beater and they ended up winning the League.
In a way, a 3/5 at the back could kind of work, it would certainly bring out more from Sarr. My only real problem would be the right side where Bauer wouldn’t exactly be comfortable in that right hand side/almost right back position when the team attacks. I’d like Solly in the team, but if we were to play a 3/5 at the back, it would have to be Marshall.
I like this formation! But no room for poor Joe Aribo ?Think he is better than JFC and less injury prone than others.
The fact that Aribo is less injury prone means he will get plenty of opportunities this season.
With no Fosu for Sunderland I can see us lining up as:
Phillips
Marshall Bauer Pearce Sarr Page
Aribo Forster Caskey Pratley (don’t be a prat Bowyer - he has played one 45 mins..... 60 mins v Norwich and no reason he can’t start a game and play for 75 mins)
Magennis Taylor
Can’t see Bowyer switching to a back 5/3 given we’ve used 4-4-2 all of pre-season.
For a tough away game like this would he go 442 do you think?
Don't get posing, lazy comments towards Ajose personally.
I thought he put in a shift for a friendly. Dropped deep, made a lot of runs that didn't receive the pass or flick. Showed good effort and commitment tbh.
I think Sarr is a problem to be solved if you can. He is a decent defender, but one that always has a mistake in him, he is very comfortable on the ball and a physical presence. I like the idea of having height through set pieces and have wondered if he could be given a role - helping the central defenders, but also the central midfield. So a freeish role in front of a back three. Maybe in a 3-1-4-1-1 with two wing backs within the 4 and Fosu given a free role behind a big lump of a striker.
He's a bit like David Luiz at Chelsea. In a flat back four the tendency of Luiz to think he was a footballer exposed his penchant to overdo things but once Conte changed things to three CBs he looked a world beater and they ended up winning the League.
In a way, a 3/5 at the back could kind of work, it would certainly bring out more from Sarr. My only real problem would be the right side where Bauer wouldn’t exactly be comfortable in that right hand side/almost right back position when the team attacks. I’d like Solly in the team, but if we were to play a 3/5 at the back, it would have to be Marshall.
I like this formation! But no room for poor Joe Aribo ?Think he is better than JFC and less injury prone than others.
The fact that Aribo is less injury prone means he will get plenty of opportunities this season.
With no Fosu for Sunderland I can see us lining up as:
Phillips
Marshall Bauer Pearce Sarr Page
Aribo Forster Caskey Pratley (don’t be a prat Bowyer - he has played one 45 mins..... 60 mins v Norwich and no reason he can’t start a game and play for 75 mins)
Magennis Taylor
Can’t see Bowyer switching to a back 5/3 given we’ve used 4-4-2 all of pre-season.
For a tough away game like this would he go 442 do you think?
I think he probably will. He used a flat 4-4-2 or a 4-4-2 diamond last season. I think he’s willing to accept you won’t have as much possession but it gives you more of a threat and adds the option to go more direct.
A lot the possessoon we had last season was pointless and our build up too slow. It’s already clear he wants a more balanced style than Robinson.
I always felt Robinson’s focus on possession and 4-2-3-1 only made things harder for us. He was desperate to make it work, while if 4-4-2 doesn’t get results I expect Bowyer will try something else. We need to get the best from what we have, under Roland we’ve never had the budget to build a squad around just one system.
A bit like Dijksteel and Reeco last term, a bit of a culture-shock seeing so many of the U-23 squad being elevated to First-team duty - Lapslie, Moloney, Blumberg, Yao- and Karlan with a new lease of life! Had a busy first half last night checking the team-sheet to ID players, specially with JFK in the 8 shirt!!
Don't get posing, lazy comments towards Ajose personally.
I thought he put in a shift for a friendly. Dropped deep, made a lot of runs that didn't receive the pass or flick. Showed good effort and commitment tbh.
Whether he will score goals is another matter.
People see what they want to see.
He had an average game. Personally thought better than hit and hope Magennis, however Grant and Taylor would be front 2 for me on opening day... Maybe Ajose could fit into a front 3?
I think Sarr is a problem to be solved if you can. He is a decent defender, but one that always has a mistake in him, he is very comfortable on the ball and a physical presence. I like the idea of having height through set pieces and have wondered if he could be given a role - helping the central defenders, but also the central midfield. So a freeish role in front of a back three. Maybe in a 3-1-4-1-1 with two wing backs within the 4 and Fosu given a free role behind a big lump of a striker.
He's a bit like David Luiz at Chelsea. In a flat back four the tendency of Luiz to think he was a footballer exposed his penchant to overdo things but once Conte changed things to three CBs he looked a world beater and they ended up winning the League.
In a way, a 3/5 at the back could kind of work, it would certainly bring out more from Sarr. My only real problem would be the right side where Bauer wouldn’t exactly be comfortable in that right hand side/almost right back position when the team attacks. I’d like Solly in the team, but if we were to play a 3/5 at the back, it would have to be Marshall.
I like this formation! But no room for poor Joe Aribo ?Think he is better than JFC and less injury prone than others.
The fact that Aribo is less injury prone means he will get plenty of opportunities this season.
With no Fosu for Sunderland I can see us lining up as:
Phillips
Marshall Bauer Pearce Sarr Page
Aribo Forster Caskey Pratley (don’t be a prat Bowyer - he has played one 45 mins..... 60 mins v Norwich and no reason he can’t start a game and play for 75 mins)
Magennis Taylor
Can’t see Bowyer switching to a back 5/3 given we’ve used 4-4-2 all of pre-season.
For a tough away game like this would he go 442 do you think?
I think he probably will. He used a flat 4-4-2 or a 4-4-2 diamond last season. I think he’s willing to accept you won’t have as much possession but it gives you more of a threat and adds the option to go more direct.
A lot the possessoon we had last season was pointless and our build up too slow. It’s already clear he wants a more balanced style than Robinson.
I always felt Robinson’s focus on possession and 4-2-3-1 only made things harder for us. He was desperate to make it work, while if 4-4-2 doesn’t get results I expect Bowyer will try something else. We need to get the best from what we have, under Roland we’ve never had the budget to build a squad around just one system.
Under Robinson, we played too much in front of opponents without the necessary threat going past and through them. Incisive/riskier passes were shunned for the easy ones. Possession stats looked good but we didn't create enough chances.
Bearing in mind the team was full of kids, reserves and trialists, it was a pretty accomplished performance. There wasn’t really any bad performances and most players seem to get a mention on here for playing well/looking alright. For me, Ince, Ward, Maloney and Yao caught my eye. Of course we have a depleted squad but you wouldn’t really have thought so by last nites performance.
Bearing in mind the team was full of kids, reserves and trialists, it was a pretty accomplished performance. There wasn’t really any bad performances and most players seem to get a mention on here for playing well/looking alright. For me, Ince, Ward, Maloney and Yao caught my eye. Of course we have a depleted squad but you wouldn’t really have thought so by last nites performance.
Surprised. Seen Yao in U23 at full back and thought he was mediocre. Now seems to be CB material. All hail improvement.
Don't get posing, lazy comments towards Ajose personally.
I thought he put in a shift for a friendly. Dropped deep, made a lot of runs that didn't receive the pass or flick. Showed good effort and commitment tbh.
Whether he will score goals is another matter.
He 100% doesn't do what he is asked though mate, you can see the frustration on the bench
Don't get posing, lazy comments towards Ajose personally.
I thought he put in a shift for a friendly. Dropped deep, made a lot of runs that didn't receive the pass or flick. Showed good effort and commitment tbh.
Whether he will score goals is another matter.
He 100% doesn't do what he is asked though mate, you can see the frustration on the bench
Comments
Love the way Maloney always looks to play forward even in tight situations, rather than play the safe predictable option. Shame to see Morgan hurt as he's been very positive in the friendlies. Mascoll did really well too in his short cameo; very confident.
Ajose improved and contributed under Bowyer last season but really only looks worth keeping because the tosser in charge won't enable us to replace him. So much posing and irritating strutting for so little genuine input. Magennis is never going to be prolific but at least put in a genuine shift last night.
Last word to Naby! Tremendous goal and as others have said, the interception that started his run showed superb anticipation. Very few third division centre backs are capable of a goal of that genuine quality.
Bramble was found out though, as his defending wasn't good enough
Top post Alan.
I thought he put in a shift for a friendly. Dropped deep, made a lot of runs that didn't receive the pass or flick. Showed good effort and commitment tbh.
Whether he will score goals is another matter.
A lot the possessoon we had last season was pointless and our build up too slow. It’s already clear he wants a more balanced style than Robinson.
I always felt Robinson’s focus on possession and 4-2-3-1 only made things harder for us. He was desperate to make it work, while if 4-4-2 doesn’t get results I expect Bowyer will try something else. We need to get the best from what we have, under Roland we’ve never had the budget to build a squad around just one system.
He had an average game. Personally thought better than hit and hope Magennis, however Grant and Taylor would be front 2 for me on opening day... Maybe Ajose could fit into a front 3?