Raw Dykes Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 So, instead of getting in an extra striker as many expected in this window, we actually just loaned out 2 defenders. Is the squad big enough to cope with the last 15 games of the season? Goalkeepers Schmeichel, Schwarzer, Iversen, Hamer That's one good keeper, one ancient past-it veteran, one 18 year old unknown quantity and one decent backup who cannot kick to save his life. Not really concerning. Centre Halves Morgan, Huth, Wasilewski, Moore? Amartey can play here, so that makes 4 good (hopefully) options. Should be fine. Full Backs Fuchs, Simpson, Chilwell? Amartey can play here, so hopefully that's 3 or 4 good options, depending on whether Chilwell can be recalled from his loan. There's Schlupp, as well, but he's out for another month yet. Central Midfielders Kante, Drinkwater, King, Inler, Amartey, James? Can't see James returning this season, but Inler and King are decent backup. Hopefully Amartey is good enough to compete with DD and Kante for a 1st team place. Not a worry. Wide Midfielders Mahrez, Albrighton, Gray, Dyer, Schlupp? 3 good options. Dyer has been dreadful so far this season, but Schlupp will add another when fully fit. Amartey can apparently play wide right, and Kante has been used out wide, too. Should be alright. Strikers Vardy, Okazaki, Ulloa, Dodoo? This is the real concern. Only 2 good players, really. Ulloa needs to get back in form. If we get desperate, we might be forced to use Gray or Mahrez up front, which could work out okay. We'll need luck on our side in this area. Does anybody know whether the players we have loaned out can be recalled? I suspect they can't, but I'm not sure whether young players have to be registered as part of the 25-player squad in order to play.
jammie82uk Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 We are fairly certain that kramaric has a recall clause so I would imagine that the others have as well, if they have as long as they are registered in the 25 man squad due to be submitted shortly then they can play, we will find out who is in that 25 squad in the next couple of days as it will be made public by the FA
Russell sprout Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 The squad seems big when you put it like that :-)
Detroit Blues Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 The only concern is striker depth IMO. We play 2 strikers up front, and we have only 3 options. So if any one of the three gets hurt, we essentially have no backup. Each of the two remaining strikers have to play the full 90 minutes for the rest of the season... Of course we could put mahrez up top, or play 4-5-1, but that has not been very successful.
FireFox Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 I think that is 22 players, non U21. I counted Amartey as a non U21. Plus RDL and Krama if they have recall clauses, so 24, all good. (Tom Lawrence is considered an U21 too if he has a recall option)
wigstonboues Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 Well looking at how many possible positions amartey can play he's probably capable of striker and keeper back up aswell.
Koke Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 We did try Mahrez as a #10 and he was terrible. I don't wanna see that again, and hopefully we won't. Honestly hope we go for Hakim Ziyech in the summer whether we get CL or not. He is responsible for 83% of Twente's goals this season (goals and assists), and Twente are near the bottom of the table. He could be a perfect second striker. http://www.espnfc.com/blog/espn-fc-united-blog/68/post/2767732/hakim-ziyech-could-be-world-class-playmaker-at-bargain-price
lgfualol Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 I think we're more ****ed if Amartey gets a bad injury.
Raw Dykes Posted 2 February 2016 Author Posted 2 February 2016 We did try Mahrez as a #10 and he was terrible. I don't wanna see that again, and hopefully we won't. Honestly hope we go for Hakim Ziyech in the summer whether we get CL or not. He is responsible for 83% of Twente's goals this season (goals and assists), and Twente are near the bottom of the table. He could be a perfect second striker. http://www.espnfc.com/blog/espn-fc-united-blog/68/post/2767732/hakim-ziyech-could-be-world-class-playmaker-at-bargain-price I agree about Mahrez. Hopefully Gray can fill in there.
WesMorganGod Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 Its more than big enough, there is only 15 games left, its nothing. We won't probably use more than 16/17 players from now until the 38th game.
AKCJ Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 We don't need luck on our side regarding the strikers. We'd be desperately unlucky to have injuries or suspensions that would leave us with poor options. Spurs, Arsenal and Everton have all spent the season with only one real striker and, like us, are scoring plenty of goals.
Xen Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 The only concern is striker depth IMO. We play 2 strikers up front, and we have only 3 options. So if any one of the three gets hurt, we essentially have no backup. Each of the two remaining strikers have to play the full 90 minutes for the rest of the season... Of course we could put mahrez up top, or play 4-5-1, but that has not been very successful. It's just dawned on me after reading this how testing these next 3 games could be. Arsenal and Man City may well 'play rough' to cause our strikers problems, knowing that without the likes of Vardy available we'll be much less likely to be rivalling them for the title come May...
psychonaut Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 We don't need luck on our side regarding the strikers. We'd be desperately unlucky to have injuries or suspensions that would leave us with poor options. Spurs, Arsenal and Everton have all spent the season with only one real striker and, like us, are scoring plenty of goals. Thats because they play one up top and have built there team/squad around a completely different formation (4-2-3-1)
desertfox2 Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 Gray might not be too bad an option up top as a backup. From his appearances so far he doesn't seem to have any fear, has that young kind of naive attitude not overawed or too respectful (I actually mean that as a complement as it's a sign of a good young player) energetic so pretty sure he can press, some of the best strikers started out wide, can he finish??? Guess our management team must be checking that out.
Raw Dykes Posted 2 February 2016 Author Posted 2 February 2016 is Chilwell out on loan?? I'm not sure, but I think he'll be going back to Huddersfield for the rest of the season.
jammie82uk Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 is Chilwell out on loan?? Nope he must be here as he's on the bench
Benguin Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 The only concern is striker depth IMO. We play 2 strikers up front, and we have only 3 options. So if any one of the three gets hurt, we essentially have no backup. Each of the two remaining strikers have to play the full 90 minutes for the rest of the season... Of course we could put mahrez up top, or play 4-5-1, but that has not been very successful. Not that these words spawn any confidence whatsoever. Schlupps not far off returning and he can play up front!
The Doctor Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 We don't need luck on our side regarding the strikers. We'd be desperately unlucky to have injuries or suspensions that would leave us with poor options. Spurs, Arsenal and Everton have all spent the season with only one real striker and, like us, are scoring plenty of goals. We'd be desperately unlucky to have one injury or suspension They play one up top, we play two, three is enough for them since it gives them two backup options - it's not for us. Why do people keep making this argument when it's so obviously ridiculous?
AKCJ Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 Thats because they play one up top and have built there team/squad around a completely different formation (4-2-3-1) Surely they're more at risk then? One of their strikers get injured and they're ****ed.
The Doctor Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 Surely they're more at risk then? One of their strikers get injured and they're ****ed. They don't have one striker though - they play with one striker. Giroud gets injured and Arsenal still have Campbell and Walcott (and Welbeck if he's fit again), Kane gets injured, spurs have Son or Njie, Lukaku can be replaced by Kone or that new lad from Russia they signed yesterday (and before that Naismith), with one into the starting line up, one onto the bench. Say Vardy gets an injury, Ulloa comes into the starting lineup, who comes onto the bench?
AKCJ Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 They play one up top, we play two, three is enough for them since it gives them two backup options - it's not for us. Why do people keep making this argument when it's so obviously ridiculous? Eh? Spurs, Arsenal and (before yesterday) Everton all have one striker.
The Doctor Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 Eh? Spurs, Arsenal and (before yesterday) Everton all have one striker. No, they play one striker. They've got more in their squad.
AKCJ Posted 2 February 2016 Posted 2 February 2016 They don't have one striker though - they play with one striker. Giroud gets injured and Arsenal still have Campbell and Walcott (and Welbeck if he's fit again), Kane gets injured, spurs have Son or Njie, Lukaku can be replaced by Kone or that new lad from Russia they signed yesterday (and before that Naismith), with one into the starting line up, one onto the bench. Say Vardy gets an injury, Ulloa comes into the starting lineup, who comes onto the bench? You've not named strikers though. That is literally the point i'm making. Campbell and Walcott are wingers. Son plays either on the wing or behind the striker. He played the False 9 the other week (as Firminho will tonight). N'Jie is also a winger. Kone plays on the wing although he's comfortable up top (despite not playing there for a good few seasons now) If you want to name those as strikers then you have to name Mahrez as one for us.
Raw Dykes Posted 2 February 2016 Author Posted 2 February 2016 Eh? Spurs, Arsenal and (before yesterday) Everton all have one striker. They only use one striker, though. We use two, so we need twice as many. If you only use 1, you only need 1 or 2 spares. If you use 2, you want 2 or 3 reserves. We've only really got Vardy and Okazaki, and we're going to need them for every match. As soon as we get an injury or suspension, Ulloa has to play, and he's not having a good season. After that, we're down to bare bones. We're almost certainly going to have to put square pegs in round holes at some point.
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