West Brom (A) Pre Match

[Big Blue Maff]

24 minutes ago, Blueman1967 said:

Carranza for Ayew, Monga for Mavididi, bring Ayew on later to hold the ball up, if we are in front.

Well said , 100 agree, Monga runs at defenders and occasionally if he loses the ball he fights to get it back whereas mavadidi seems to hold on to the ball far to long and has dropped a level to how he was when we were last in this division, Monga is young and full of come and just wants to play, he’s exciting , defenders hate players like him running at em. Carranza from what we’ve seen ( which isn’t much ) looks decent, give him a run and hopefully the goals will come . 
 

onwards we go 🦊🦊

[Jobyfox]

Just now, Big Blue Maff said:

Well said , 100 agree, Monga runs at defenders and occasionally if he loses the ball he fights to get it back whereas mavadidi seems to hold on to the ball far to long and has dropped a level to how he was when we were last in this division, Monga is young and full of come and just wants to play, he’s exciting , defenders hate players like him running at em. Carranza from what we’ve seen ( which isn’t much ) looks decent, give him a run and hopefully the goals will come . 
 

onwards we go 🦊🦊

Oh… I remember those days well .. 

[Big Blue Maff]

34 minutes ago, Muzzy_no7 said:

BuT lUkE ThOmAs ShOuLd StArT

Don’t like vestergaard but I must admit I thought he played good yesterday considering. 

[Pliskin]

 

 

                             Stolarczyk 

 

Ricardo      Faes        Vestegaard   Thomas 

 

                 Winks              James 

 

Fatawu                  Ayew                 Mavididi 

 

                           Carranza 

 

 

 

“We’ll shit ‘em”.

[Big Blue Maff]

4 hours ago, LCFCJohn said:

In terms of what is realistic (I.e not going to be putting Nelson in my line up as he is clearly done here), this is what I’d go for other than keeping Mavididi at LW.

 

I think he looks shot of confidence but started to grow into the game. He was starting to take on his man and get more

involved. He then had the shocking miss which he rushed, looked like due to confidence, and was hooked. It feels like he needs to play back into form and if he does get a goal, that could ignite him. 
 

Also think Monga has been really effective coming on but not as much when he did start. I just feel it works as it in in that position at the moment and maybe if we are playing James and Winks in the middle and Carranza up top, it will benefit Mav as well.

 

But I get others will want to see that change made and understand it.

Let’s be honest mavadidi should of won it  for us yesterday , had it in a plate 

[ClaphamFox]

9 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

 

 

                             Stolarczyk 

 

Ricardo      Faes        Vestegaard   Thomas 

 

                 Winks              James 

 

Fatawu                  Ayew                 Mavididi 

 

                           Carranza 

 

 

 

“We’ll shit ‘em”.

This is the team.

[deep blue]

3 hours ago, Old Fox said:

Completely disagree VK is a car crash he has no composure at all and always looks like he is out of control whilst Luke is not an attacking threat in this formation (he has got forward more in the past) he is far more controlled and disciplined - personally wouldn’t want to see VK take his place !

Thomas gets a lot of stick for not getting forward.  I agree he doesn't these days.

 

But when we had Barnes on the wing the interplay between them was very effective and Thomas offered good attacking support.  I'm at a loss to understand why he stays much deeper these days.

[LCFCJohn]

1 hour ago, Big Blue Maff said:

Let’s be honest mavadidi should of won it  for us yesterday , had it in a plate 

He should have, I said as much. In terms of team selection for West Brom, I am just debating the merits of dropping him vs trying to play him back into form.

[Bert]

50 minutes ago, deep blue said:

Thomas gets a lot of stick for not getting forward.  I agree he doesn't these days.

 

But when we had Barnes on the wing the interplay between them was very effective and Thomas offered good attacking support.  I'm at a loss to understand why he stays much deeper these days.

It’s obviously instructions. 

[BKLFox]

Controversial i’d keep Soumare in with Winks & have JJ over Ayew with Carranza leading the line.

 

If I’m correct Coventry are not only leading scorers in the division they have also had the most shots on goal in the division and our midfield 3 covered our very slow CBs yesterday to restrict Coventry to just a few chances.

 

We might not rate him but Soumare must have done something to contribute in that & having Ayew as the 3rd midfielder leaves a hell of a lot of work for a 2 of Winks|JJ to do both in defending then getting the team up the pitch.

[Angus Scott]

16 hours ago, StanSP said:

Kristiansen should not be starting ahead of Thomas. 

Not sure why the latter gets such a rough ride, like today he was fine albeit nothing special (but as a LB in this system you don't need to be Roberto Carlos levels...). 

 

If anything Kristiansen is worse... 

Disagree. Thomas offers nothing going forward & doesn't help out his wingers at all. Victor offers much more in attack & this may help improve Mavadidi if he has a full back overlapping

[honeybradger]

21 minutes ago, Angus Scott said:

Disagree. Thomas offers nothing going forward & doesn't help out his wingers at all. Victor offers much more in attack & this may help improve Mavadidi if he has a full back overlapping

Viktor Kristiansen expected assists in the last year for us: 0.05 per 90

 

Luke Thomas expected assists in the last year for us: 0.12 per 90

 

Thomas is a far better passer than Kristiansen and offers more in attack and defense. Kristiansen is liquid dog muck.

 

Edit: apparently Luke Thomas's numbers no longer include his time in the premier league but it does show that he's creating for us in the championship.

Edited 21 September 2025 by honeybradger

[justfoxes]

15 hours ago, StanSP said:

Kristiansen should not be starting ahead of Thomas. 

Not sure why the latter gets such a rough ride, like today he was fine albeit nothing special (but as a LB in this system you don't need to be Roberto Carlos levels...). 

 

If anything Kristiansen is worse... 

Thought Thomas has a superb game and has really grown in his quality performances can’t see why people get on his back, he has more heart and fight than a few on that team !

[AKCJ]

Stolarcyzk

Ricardo Nelson Vestergaard Thomas

Soumare James

Fatawu Ayew Monga

Carranza

[whoareyaaa]

58 minutes ago, Angus Scott said:

Disagree. Thomas offers nothing going forward & doesn't help out his wingers at all. Victor offers much more in attack & this may help improve Mavadidi if he has a full back overlapping

It is worth a try, I am not a fan of Kristensen and have praised Luke up until yesterday I thought he had a poor game, our left side didn't offer much yesterday at all.. Vesterguard probably be fine with Kristensen and we haven't seen him play at this level yet.

[honeybradger]

All I want at this point is to at least see one of Nelson or Page on the bench.

 

It's been a bit gutting to see the divide that Cifuentes has created between the first team and the academy.

[Chelmofox]

17 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Stolarcyzk

Ricardo Nelson Vestergaard Thomas

Soumare James

Fatawu Ayew Monga

Carranza

Faes isn't getting dropped after the Cov game surely? 

[Chelmofox]

3 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

All I want at this point is to at least see one of Nelson or Page on the bench.

 

It's been a bit gutting to see the divide that Cifuentes has created between the first team and the academy.

Page has 2 starts under Marty!! He was rulled out due to injury.

[honeybradger]

27 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

Page has 2 starts under Marty!! He was rulled out due to injury.

He was available, just dropped from the bench for Cordova Reid. Cifuentes himself said so in his pre match conference.

 

I wouldnt put any weight into those 2 starts, now that we allegedly have him locked down with a new contract there is no longer a need to show him a pathway into the first team, he's not even making the bench with Ramsey out.

 

Nelson was also available btw.

Edited 21 September 2025 by honeybradger

[SuperMike]

2 hours ago, BKLFox said:

Controversial i’d keep Soumare in with Winks & have JJ over Ayew with Carranza leading the line.

 

If I’m correct Coventry are not only leading scorers in the division they have also had the most shots on goal in the division and our midfield 3 covered our very slow CBs yesterday to restrict Coventry to just a few chances.

 

We might not rate him but Soumare must have done something to contribute in that & having Ayew as the 3rd midfielder leaves a hell of a lot of work for a 2 of Winks|JJ to do both in defending then getting the team up the pitch.

Good points, but have to disagree on Soumaré. He was his usual self: half-arsed, totally ineffective, kills tempo and without doubt NOT worth the £90,000 a week he reportedly gets ( notice i didn't say earns). Absolute travesty of a player who drags down others and contributes NOTHING.

[moore_94]

22 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

He was available, just dropped from the bench for Cordova Reid. Cifuentes himself said so in his pre match conference.

 

I wouldnt put any weight into those 2 starts, now that we allegedly have him locked down with a new contract there is no longer a need to show him a pathway into the first team, he's not even making the bench with Ramsey out.

 

Nelson was also available btw.

A shame that it looks like the only way we will see Nelson this season is the FA Cup in January or a centre back getting injured - and this is before Souttar is back

 

Needs to go on loan again in January it looks like unfortunately

Edited 21 September 2025 by moore_94

[honeybradger]

7 minutes ago, moore_94 said:

A shame that it looks like the only way we will see Nelson this season is the FA Cup in January or a centre back getting injured - and this is before Souttar is back

 

Needs to go on loan again in January it looks like unfortunately

I think we should look to sell in January if it looks like Cifuentes will still be here to the end of the season. Cifuentes clearly doesnt rate him and Nelson will only have one year left at the end of this season.

 

It would be the best for both parties, allows Nelson to get a fresh start elsewhere where he can hopefully kick his career on and means we dont lose him on a free.

[LVFox]

5 hours ago, Jobyfox said:

Interesting.

 

Did you watch the game on Saturday and think that Hamza justified selection ahead of Ricky P?? 

Nope, I don’t think Ricky can do 3 in 10 days and therefore should be rested as he will have a greater impact against a team like Wrexham

[LCFCJohn]

16 minutes ago, honeybradger said:

I think we should look to sell in January if it looks like Cifuentes will still be here to the end of the season. Cifuentes clearly doesnt rate him and Nelson will only have one year left at the end of this season.

 

It would be the best for both parties, allows Nelson to get a fresh start elsewhere where he can hopefully kick his career on and means we dont lose him on a free.

Been saying the same. He clearly won’t be here beyond 2027. There’s no future between Leicester City and Ben Nelson so if we aren’t looking to just get what we can for him, we’ve learned nothing.

[StanSP]

2 hours ago, Angus Scott said:

Disagree. Thomas offers nothing going forward & doesn't help out his wingers at all. Victor offers much more in attack & this may help improve Mavadidi if he has a full back overlapping

Kristiansen doesn't offer that much in attack though, does he? 

 

And there's a reason why Thomas doesn't. He's the defensive full back while the right hand side goes up with Ricardo usually supporting Fatawu. 

 

You don't always need a full back overlapping just for the sake of it. 

 

Kristiansen may bust a gut to get up to the pitch but does he ever do much with it?