Yeah lots of tired old phrases and clichés churned out by pundits.
Nice to hear on the interview that a relatively new and fresh saying is ingrained into Frank and the rest of the squad#PVO
Let’s hope either Ed turns a corner (not been convinced he’s athletic enough since day one), IB can convert Cal into a CM (unlikely IMO) or the radar are on the look out for another CM. If we could add one more and rotate JOB feels like we’d be on the right path… agree with a couple of comments so far that by accident or design the selection at the weekend has gone a long way to fixing the obvious problem. Palmer can’t be a 3 man midfield by himself (although he’s had a pretty good go) which seems to be the requirements when Ed Francis floats about in there and we’ve sacrificed a genuine CM to accommodate Cal / Ruben. IB needs to stick with this now and not be tempted by his best 11 individuals…
I doubt IB will stick to anything rigidly. As he's said many times, he'll pick the players and formation to give us the best chance of winning a particular game.
Personally, I always like to see a winning team given the chance to run it back. I think we've got real competition for places now. Let's hope the selected players fight to keep those shirts like their lives depend on it.
Using Vincent as a holding midfielder would be er innovative, like playing Elijah Sam at left back.
Proper selection problems for tomorrow night, which is great. Who’d have thought a fully fit Callum Roberts would be on the bench 2 months into the season?
Cal in central midfield would probably be a risk too far against some teams, but I wouldn’t be against seeing what happens with him for O’Brien in that 3-5-2 from Saturday. He did okay in that position (which he’s never played before) at the start of the season, and the back five gives us more solidity. Vincent for Francis in that system gives us a lot more legs and energy, and Rodrigues as the second striker likes to drop into midfield a lot anyway potentially meaning we’re not lacking the extra man in there when we have the ball.
You’d be sacrificing Palmer to be an out and out sitter, be I think that’s okay. He can control a game from that position.