Igor the Interim

[ricky2tricky4city]

I don't think Romero and Palhinha are back until the weekend anyway. Weds is a chance for VDV to redeem himself alongside Danso. I'd be bold and stick Spence and Souza as the full-backs and leave the Gray / Sarr combo together but only if they're not in the red zone. We need them for Forest more.

Danso needs Wednesday off.

 

[Muttley]

I'd go same as yesterday against Forest, except Romero in for Dragusin. Udogie will be great to have to bring off the bench.

I'm really not sure what I'd do against Athletico. Go for glory and go full strength. Or just play the U21s + van de Ven.

Vic
Spence, Danso, VDV, Souza
Gray, Sarr
Simons
Muani, Solanke, Tel

If Gray or Sarr are in the red zone then we might need Gallagher in the middle.

No point going out on a whimper. An early goal for us would be interesting.

 

[Muttley]

Danso needs Wednesday off.

Yeah, you're probably right but I'd love to have his throws in the mix. AM won't be ready for that.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

The thing is our home games are going to be completely different to the Anfield game. Creatively we are going to struggle with Gray and Sarr in the middle with the onus on us to attack, it's different to sitting back and counter attacking.

At home we are going to have to find a way to play Simons, without him our attack will once again look all too predictable IMO....

Its a good point. Yesterday ended up not too disimilar to a game vs City. Open...end to end...with periods of being camped in outside our box.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

Both our good performances this season then - Dortmund and yesterday were the particular ones i had in mind. But i thought there was another impressive Grat-Bergvall DP show as well, but i can't place it

Burnley at home.

 

[braineclipse]

The thing is our home games are going to be completely different to the Anfield game. Creatively we are going to struggle with Gray and Sarr in the middle with the onus on us to attack, it's different to sitting back and counter attacking.

At home we are going to have to find a way to play Simons, without him our attack will once again look all too predictable IMO....

I think you make a good point. But also Simons has been very hit and miss. Think two strikers, going more direct and focusing on crosses/ball progression wide and using Simons more as a sub is a decent option.

While I personally wouldn't fault Simons on effort or caring he seems to struggle badly for form/confidence and finding a way to play well in these difficult circumstances. I'd trust the players who have shown themselves capable of playing well in these circumstances first, use others from the bench if needed.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Burnley at home.

That was it - thanks

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

I think you make a good point. But also Simons has been very hit and miss. Think two strikers, going more direct and focusing on crosses/ball progression wide and using Simons more as a sub is a decent option.

While I personally wouldn't fault Simons on effort or caring he seems to struggle badly for form/confidence and finding a way to play well in these difficult circumstances. I'd trust the players who have shown themselves capable of playing well in these circumstances first, use others from the bench if needed.

I think an obvious advantage of Richie and Solanke as a two, is they'll always be a physical nuisance for the opposition defence at bare minimum. It'll never feel we've got no-one up there, it's got a double chance of sticking if we go long.
They can split donkey work. Both good targets for crosses.

And just perhaps they'll start developing a partnership

Muani and Simons are both good sub options, both are tricky and Muani pacy. Good for a tired or softened opponent OR for us to switch it up if things aren't going our way.

 

[harr1984]

I think you make a good point. But also Simons has been very hit and miss. Think two strikers, going more direct and focusing on crosses/ball progression wide and using Simons more as a sub is a decent option.

While I personally wouldn't fault Simons on effort or caring he seems to struggle badly for form/confidence and finding a way to play well in these difficult circumstances. I'd trust the players who have shown themselves capable of playing well in these circumstances first, use others from the bench if needed.

Simons hasn't been consistent, I have my own opinions why that is. But regardless, I'd hazard a fair guess based on past experience that at home against Forest with Gray/Sarr combination it will be a turgid display (through no fault of either player).

It was mostly long balls and running which we could make effective because Liverpool leave space. It's not going to be anything like that this weekend, and for his faults will likely need Simons to create (I do think he will be on the bench though)....

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

What was most interesting and impressive about Tudor is that he did something yesterday which is out of keeping with how he’s usually gotten to success in his other firefighting roles.

It seems like for him, the ‘keep it simple’ was to get teams already used to playing a 3 at the back to have a more rigid approach with the ball as a way to earn some quick wins. But with Spurs, he’s found that putting us into a 3 at the back just added to more confusion.

I would also say, he’s taken a lot of flack for his ‘cold’ style but A we don’t know what he’s like behind the scenes and B maybe it took a little while for the message to sink in. He’s quite philosophical, and in his own way has gotten across that the players should fight and block out the noise. Maybe it just took a few weeks to start sinking in.

Will be very interesting what he does with Forest. Part of me thinks that Danso and Radu worked well yesterday because we wanted to defend the box more, and they are better box defenders that Romero and VDV, who get caught out by being too aggressive. But against Forest we need to take the game to them. I would say as long as the players are comfortable with the overall system, and there isn’t going to be horrible break downs in communication, we can play Romero back in and potentially VDV at left back.

We also played yesterday like a cup final and kept running, kept trying to break forward, so perhaps credit the fitness there.

Overall though, here’s hoping it’s the turning point. Probably the best performance in the league since Brentford at home. It’s been so long to have something to hold on to, to feel proud about.