joey_big_nose

Oh yeah, totally forgot Buckley played right back. Did it okay in a few cameos in 20/21 I think? Could happen if we are short at RB.

Dont see how Dolan plays full back? Poor in air, lacks pace, and his defensive game is all about pressing and closing - not something you can do much at full back where holding good position is paramount.

Buckley will start for sure. Can see Moran starting as well to start integrating him into the team. And probs more 433 that 4231. Reckon it will be Wahlstadt Brittain Gamble. Wharton. Batty Buckley Tronstad. Garrett Markanday. Leonard. Moran

Ah yes youre right, Duff got games before we were relegated. More culpably I totally forgot about Jones. TBH hard to argue Wharton is as good as Jones was as by a year younger than Wharton he completely marked Drogba out of a game and was obviously going to play at the highest level.

What I really like about him is hes also pretty good at tackling and breaking up play. Made quite a few interceptions and got his foot in. While not as aware of danger as Travis hes probably as effective defensively as any midfielder weve had in a long time. I wouldnt be particularly worried if Travis was injured in playing Wharton and Buckley or Wharton and JRC together. Think we're at the point now where we can confidently say hes our best academy product since Duff. Whether hes going to be as good or better than Duff or Dunn is hard to say till he gets to the Premier League. On technical quality he looks a future england international to me, but looking at the frankly ridiculous size and athleticism of prem midfielders today I do wonder if he will be able to mix it with them. Reckon he will get a shot one way or another though.

For me Rhodes was an exception due to his absolutely sensational finishing ability and movement. Even with that plenty (including me) thought his poor all round game was a major issue. After Rhodes I think pretty much every decent striker we have had or I have seen at other clubs is either quick or strong or good enough in the air to worry defenders. If you cant physically compete its really really hard to succeed at #9. It may ultimately be that leonard is more of a #10 than a #9. But the kssue there is we have quite a few #10s already in the squad. I do however absolutely agree we need somone who can make those central runs, just that person also needs to be able to put a cb on his arse either through pace or strength.

BTW with Dolan - is it just me or has he bulked up a lot and while physically stronger seems to have lost a lot of the nimbleness that was his main asset?

Not sure myself. A couple of decent layoffs and nice movement but just doesnt have anything in his locker to worry a defender one on one. Im often wrong about players, hope I am here, but struggling to see how he becomes a goal threat. Maybe a fox in the box but dont think anyones been able to carry one of those since about 2005. To play CF you need to be able to lead the line and Leonard looks absolutely miles off that

Fabulous result, though in truth after quite an even first half Watford were well on top second half. A moment of Messi/Maradona/Ronaldinho magic from hedges and some brilliant defending got the result. Im very happy with our team except CF and wide left. Hopefully Sigurdsson is the real deal on the left. If we can just find that central striker....

It's pleasing to see Scott Wharton 21/22 model is back.

Hedges is the player for me who can have that sudden transformation in his career like BBD and Armstrong and turn into a top Championship player. Got all the ingredients, just rarely fits them together. Hopefully today is the start of doing it more regularly!

Decent gk, defensive, centre midfield performance, and hedges has done well on the right. Szmodics has been wasteful but looked effective. Leonard and Dolan offered very little. Wonder if Markanday and Gallagher may come on as there is a lot of space on the counter and their pace could be useful.

Bloxham and Gamble on bench. I dont really know much about them. What are their positions? Surprised given previous exposure it wasn't Gilsenan and Batty who are on the bench.

I also think we will go 352. Could be a bit different though with any of Ennis, Tronstad, Garrett, Brittain getting game time

This early in the game better to let them score

I hate an early red card more than anything in football. Makes the rest of the game miserable.

How did the red happen?

JDTs pattern is that he doesn't tend to like dropping players too quickly, and once youre in you get a few games. Markanday dropped today. Reckon if Leonard struggles today and Ennis does well coming on then next week they could swap over.

Its maybe a bit of a patronising cliché but every time I watch womens football (just the major international tournaments) Im blown away by how much it has improved. Goals today have been sublime. Loved the little reverse pass for our third.

Agree with this. Our goal should be to be the most attractive club to join in the country for young promising players. I would say we can't be far off that atm, given the amount of graduates getting into the team, and showing we treat unsuccessful graduates well is a big part of it too.

I mostly agree with this but I think that Travis cant do the central sitting play maker thing. He needs to be box to box. So if he plays JRC cant be in midfield imo as they will both want the same inside right channel. Options would be play Adam Wharton in the central role and Szmodics on the left (bring in Dolan LW) or bring in Buckley to play the play maker role as a straight swap for Travis (my preferred). I guess Tronstad could be used instead of Buckley but Im not sure from seeing him if hes the right guy to dictate the play. Could be but not seen enough yet to know. Wahlstedt Brittain Carter Hyam Pickering Rankin-Costello Buckley A. Wharton Hedges Ennis Smodzics

We're playing well at the moment, controlling possession, creating chances and scoring goals. So on the offensive side we are doing pretty well imo. The worry is we are conceding easily on the break. Hard to really make any sort of confident prediction. Could see any of a 2-0 win or 3-2 loss or a 2-2 all draw imo.

I was thinking more the inverse - Buckley sits deep in the role Wharton has had recently, while JRC and Wharton focus on getting forward and into the "half spaces". Wharton, Pickering and Szmodics combine down the left channel, while JRC, Brittain and Hedges do the same down the right. When weve got those triple combinations right it's incredibly hard for the opposition full back. When we get it right ots absolutely devastating like Leicester away in the cup last year. What makes JDT probably my favourite manager by miles since Hughes (and I am wondering if he could actually compete with Hughes and Souness if he sticks around for a few years) is that he throws so many bodies forward and prioritises overloading the opposition full back over good defensive shape. He likes taking risks which makes us, imo, a pretty good watch.

Based on what I've seen so far this season I would quite like us to line up like this... Think the combinations down the left and right will be great. Pears Brittain. Hyam. Carter. Pickering JRC. Buckley Wharton Hedges. Ennis. Szmodics

Early days to judge on Tronstad. My assumption is that he will be more aggressive and physical in the tackle. What I did like yesterday though is how stuck in Wharton gets. He isnt a creative focussed passenger in the midfield, he wins quite a few tackles. If we took Travis or Tronstad out of the midfield and played Wharton and JRC / Buckley I'm not sure we would actually lose that much in terms of robustness. Something I hope we give a shot to.