fleckneymike Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 I can see the logic I just think it is totally wrong. I don't think Mahrez and Schlupp are the reasons we are losing matches. They are part of the reason we aren't winning matches though.
theessexfox Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 Not too fussed generally, personally when I was frustrated about his lack of starts was when Riyad was away, he'd played well against Villa and instead Vardy starts on the wing vs Stoke (?) and Tottenham. Same goes for Knockaert, surely they're more capable? They were big parts in one of our two home victories of the season and get left out for an out of form striker.
Swiss_tony Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 my opinion, mahrez is wasted on the wing. i think he is suited to the top of a diamond formation. that way he can float either side behind the striker which should be kram. then you can accommodate albrighton on the right schlupp on the left and cambi in the middle with james/hammond in front of a back four.
SpacedX Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 He reminds me of a Martin O'Neil wide player, limited but can deliver a good cross. Which is probably why he came through the Villa academy while Martin was there. Thing is, he's totally right footed so he either plays or Mahrez plays and Mahrez is better. Not true - as I've pointed out Mahrez can play on the left and is forced to do so by Algeria though it's supposedly not his preferential side and I think for that reason Pearson is reluctant to switch him to introduce Albrighton. Based upon his introduction against Villa and Man U away alone, Albrighton thoroughly deserves a place in the starting 11. And yes, there is a very strong case for Schlupp to replace Konch at LB.
SpacedX Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 I'd go with: Hamer Simpson - Huth - Upson/Wasyl - RdL Albrighton - Cambiasso - James - Schlupp Mahrez (free ish role in hole, linking up with striker) Kramaric Worth a punt. ...you'll be needing Wes then
NotTheMarketLeader Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 He's improved this half of the season but saying he's done well just highlights your lack of ambition for this team. Like Knockaert, Albrighton has had very few opportunities but when he has made appearances this calendar year he's looked impressive. He was MOTM against Villa then bizarrely dropped. He then came on against Man Utd, after a dreadful performance from us, and was by far our best player on the day, looking very dangerous and creating a goal with a great cross. Schlupp has played week in week out all season and despite flashes of very good play, he's largely been erratic and times downright amateurish. This. I don't doubt Mahrez is talented, should be in the side, and has a decent future. However, unless you people listen on the radio instead of watching games I can't understand how you can disagree with the fact that Albrighton has played well from few starts, is a very good crosser, and is precisely the type of player with whom Ulloa would thrive. Jeff is improving but very erratic, again if you watched games you would not argue with this. Mahrez has been unable to get enough of those type of balls into the stirkers because he rarely gets to the byline - he cuts inside on his left foot because he's being played on the wrong side - and can't get to the by line often. Where have virtually all of Ulloa's goals come from? Crosses. Why hasn't he scored more - we haven't used the wide players in their correct positions to get the ball into him often enough. We seem to prefer lobbing it up to him, when surrounded by three defenders with no one near him. Pearson has under used Albrighton, to our sides detriment without question.
Buzzell Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 my opinion, mahrez is wasted on the wing. i think he is suited to the top of a diamond formation. that way he can float either side behind the striker which should be kram. then you can accommodate albrighton on the right schlupp on the left and cambi in the middle with james/hammond in front of a back four. Agree. Would like to see us try something like this. Hamer RDL Was Huth Upson Schlupp James Cambiasso Mahrez Kramaric Ulloa
NotTheMarketLeader Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 my opinion, mahrez is wasted on the wing. i think he is suited to the top of a diamond formation. that way he can float either side behind the striker which should be kram. then you can accommodate albrighton on the right schlupp on the left and cambi in the middle with james/hammond in front of a back four. Good shout Tone. I have long argued the same could apply to Knockers. He's too slow for a winger, but his skill, creativity and trickery have never been used in the right place. Shame our manager hasn't got a modicum of sense about team strategy or tactics. That's not a recent phenomenon though - he never has had.
canadaukfox Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 ...you'll be needing Wes then Agree. Would like to see us try something like this. Hamer RDL Was Huth Upson Schlupp James Cambiasso Mahrez Kramaric Ulloa Agree. Except Hammond for Cambiasso.Pearson would NEVER pick it tho...no Wes.
filbertway Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 Always thought he's looked good on the ball and has the top level intelligence a few of our players seem to lack.
smudger63 Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 It's funny because my villa STH friend said at the start of the season he's not much good and didn't feature for them a lot in recent seasons. Full of effort but a lack of quality and pace. I'd say that's spot on from what I've seen so far. Agree he did ok but not as great as most suggested in my opinion. Committed loads of silly fouls too. Knockaert is the bigger mystery of the two. He must be gutted Watch the game again and just see how many of the clear cut chances he created! We could and should have scored six that day, and most of the assists were from Albrighton.
st albans fox Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 No way will we play Riyad infront of jeff defending what is traditionally the strongest attacking flank of the opposition.
fazzyfox Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 Spoke to a Villa fan in the summer (not by choice but he noticed my City shirt, just the shirt you understand not full kit), he was gutted at losing Albrighton, said he'd do well for us, nothing flash but puts chances on a plate for forwards (and the likes of King making runs into the box looking for crosses). Kept mentioning his crossing ability and popularity at Villa. Actually what he said was "Y'right, yo Lesta innit, you shtole Albriiighton, he good, he good, goodcross goodcross, oye loik im oye loik im, gotted gotted, but shix points from yay this sheason init." When I've seen him he's been putting good balls into the box and confident finishers should be able to benefit (Kevin Phillips would be salivating) but I do want Mahrez in the side too for those angled through balls along the ground which I feel Kramaric will read better than others have done. Like a lot of things this season the pieces of the puzzle seem to be present but the finished picture doesn't quite fit together as you'd hope.
DennisNedry Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 I'm happily see Jeff dropped for Albrighton or put to LB instead of Konchesky. Jeff had a mini-run of half a dozen games where he was mustard. Before that and since then he's been average at best and notably poor in other games.
Rob1742 Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 It's all because we are not doing well, so people will generally look at those that aren't playing as the answer. We play five in the middle, we lose and everyone said we would have played four. We play Kramaric and lose and people say he is a flop and we should have played Vardy. We play Vardy, we lose and people say he isn't good enough and should have played Ulloa. We play Cambiasso and James and we lose and people ask why we didn't play Drinkwater. Whatever we do, when we lose its easy to offer an alternative with the squad size that we have. Bottom line is, apart from a handful of players, the rest are not of the standard to take on Premiership clubs that are littered with multi million pound signings.
Swiss_tony Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 It's all because we are not doing well, so people will generally look at those that aren't playing as the answer. We play five in the middle, we lose and everyone said we would have played four. We play Kramaric and lose and people say he is a flop and we should have played Vardy. We play Vardy, we lose and people say he isn't good enough and should have played Ulloa. We play Cambiasso and James and we lose and people ask why we didn't play Drinkwater. Whatever we do, when we lose its easy to offer an alternative with the squad size that we have. Bottom line is, apart from a handful of players, the rest are not of the standard to take on Premiership clubs that are littered with multi million pound signings. Forgive me but isn't this the reason you have a squad. if joe gets injured or has a loss of form you bring in fred. to keep playing joe if he's poor is silly. there are certain players in the squad who appear to be undroppable, and some that can't get a sniff for no real reason.
jamesmilner Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 Maybe it is personal, after all. Maybe not between Albrighton and Pearson directly, but with a third party involved. Your guess is as good as mine - all I'm referring to is Albrighton's missus' tweet from a few days ago. ive heard its this that hasn't helped him too ! from a very good source too !
Buzzell Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 ive heard its this that hasn't helped him too ! from a very good source too ! Could imagine Pearson blowing his top about it.
cuddly ken Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 Is this the same player you were all Bigging up and describing him as a steal from Villa. Many saying they couldn't believe Villa never offered him a new deal. Seems that you all now know. Average at best, not helped that he has fallen foul of our clueless manager, yes the tactical genus that gave Albrighton a four year deal!
Dan Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 I'd go with: Hamer Simpson - Huth - Upson/Wasyl - RdL Albrighton - Cambiasso - James - Schlupp Mahrez (free ish role in hole, linking up with striker) Kramaric Worth a punt. I like that one a lot. Mahrez has got all the attributes to make an effective 'number 10'.
Dan Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 He's had a handful of very good games but also probably been below average or worse in 60% of his starts. The fact he's considered top 5 shows how bad we've been. It does. I thought "what?!" when I first read it but to be honest I had a think and struggled to actually think of five who stand out as performing better this season. Mahrez, Hamer, Cambiasso, Ulloa and James probably but it isn't significant, and in fairness to Schlupp he has contributed some pretty big goals for us.
Dan Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 I'm not using it as a stick to beat Riyad. I am simply stating that the entire first XI has been found repeatedly wanting, changing any one of the its constituent parts wont weaken us to a point where we'd lose points as we don't pick up points. Claiming we can't drop X or Y is patently ridiculous because we are bottom of the league, we cannot be any worse, we cannot drop any lower this season. Albrighton may well not be the solution, but one thing we do know for certain is that non of the first XI have been the solution either. So going by what you're saying, we drop the entire team? I'm not getting this.
fleckneymike Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 So going by what you're saying, we drop the entire team? I'm not getting this. What I am saying is that essentially no player is 'undroppable' in our current squad. Even our 'better' players, the 'five who've had a good season' as some describe them, haven't contributed enough to make them secure. The excuses given by some for not playing Albrighton just don't bare close scrutiny, our creative wide men have directly contributed to 5 points. Ben Hamer has actually directly contributed more points on account of his 3 clean sheets in 3 of our wins than ANY of the midfield, in fact in his seven games we've taken 10 from 21 points. If we play Albrighton and we lose we're no worse off because we always lose. We're in hail Mary territory now, we need to do something dramatic to escape the situation we're in, we can continue to persist with failing formulas or actually take a risk.
Dan Posted 18 February 2015 Posted 18 February 2015 What I am saying is that essentially no player is 'undroppable' in our current squad. Even our 'better' players, the 'five who've had a good season' as some describe them, haven't contributed enough to make them secure. The excuses given by some for not playing Albrighton just don't bare close scrutiny, our creative wide men have directly contributed to 5 points. Ben Hamer has actually directly contributed more points on account of his 3 clean sheets in 3 of our wins than ANY of the midfield, in fact in his seven games we've taken 10 from 21 points. If we play Albrighton and we lose we're no worse off because we always lose. We're in hail Mary territory now, we need to do something dramatic to escape the situation we're in, we can continue to persist with failing formulas or actually take a risk. Still don't particularly see it. I take your point about no player being undroppable (that should be the case for any club in the world as far as I'm concerned) but how do you know putting others in won't make us even worse? The 2-1 defeats could turn to 3-0 defeats for all we know. I'd like to see more of Albrighton, not at the expense of Mahrez who's assist stats for example are clearly misleading.
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