It's clear that we have the one of the best first teams in the league. Given the strength of our attacking midfield, if we had a better CF than Torres, one who can stay in position and make use of the service he gets, such as a Falcao, RVP, Ba, or a Grant Holt, we'd have the strongest first team in England.
However, we are getting deeper into the season, and squad depth/the ability to rotate players will soon be critical. Both Manchester teams have a huge variety of options on the bench. In contrast, our squad seems to give RDM few selection conundrums, which is why we often see him relying on the same players.
We've got some proven depth in Moses and Bertrand, but some of our players lack experience (Piazon, Romeu), some are chronically injured (Marin), and some are way past their prime (Malouda). To exacerbate things, many of the players who would have been great coming off the bench have been sent on loan.
Do you think this lack of depth will soon start to present difficulties for our team? I assume we're not going to recall any of our loanees, so is there anything we can realistically do during the transfer window to resolve our lack of depth? Is there anyone in the reserves who is ready for the senior squad?
Do we lack depth?
posted on 2/11/12
Depends how you look at it. We have two players for every position
posted on 2/11/12
people judge oriol due to his mistake/it was cech who put him under pressure btw/
I made this point y'day...we need to be a bit clverer about distribution from the back...put it out wide not central where players have got to spin on the ball blind & under pressure...pointless
posted on 2/11/12
Unlike Mikel vs Liverpool, Romeu wanted the ball though, don't think he was aware of Giggs
posted on 2/11/12
We do lack depth especially considering the amount of games we have this season. In midfield i think were ok in the attacking 3 we have:
Mata
Hazard
Oscar
Moses
Marin
Piazon
Sturridge
But in defence and CF we lack the ability to rotate and still be confident of results.
At CB Luiz as played far too many games so far i think. Hes clearly not at his best and a rest would do him good. but we dont have the ability to drop him with Terry banned.
posted on 2/11/12
well.... We do actually
Ivan can play there & put Azpil in at RB
although Azpil has just played 120 minutes this week from nothing so may not be fit enough...Ivan is back from suspension though
posted on 2/11/12
Sheriff in my view that mistake by Romeu was 100% down to Cech. But even if others see it differently and blame Romeu, the fact is when you don't play regularly you usually lack confidence and that usually leads to mistakes.
I think the lad is a great prospect, but not sure if we will hold onto him as he is good enough to be playing regularly for less stronger PL clubs.
posted on 2/11/12
egg
agree entirely...like I say we have full backs for that sort of pass...just asking for trouble in central areas
I think Mikel had a word with Cech at the time...
posted on 2/11/12
I think we definitely lack depth and I´ve been saying so since the beginning of the season.
We made some great buys in the summer in Oscar and Hazard but we are sorely lacking in certain areas.
For a start only 2 recognised strikers in the entire squad is just not enough.
Also in centre midfield we are only two injuries and/or suspensions away from a crisis.
Lampard is currently injured and if anything happens to either Mikel or Ramires we´re in trouble as Romeu is still very much an unproven rookie.
Personally I would feel a lot better if we had KDB and Lukaku available for us although at the same time only if they are getting their fare share of football.
posted on 2/11/12
The only area we are struggling for cover is the central midfield pairing. Mikel and Ramires are both playing very well - but our replacements for either of these potions is very weak. Romeu is poor (or at least lacking in confidence), and Lampard just has no pace at all any more.
Still confused as to why we let both Essien and Meireles go at the same time - without bringing in any replacements for them. Fingers crossed we will get someone in January as cover. Apart from that, I think we will be fine.
posted on 2/11/12
Mikel and Ramires are both playing very well
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are they defending well though? I do not like seeing the opposition take so many shots at goal from the edge of our penalty area...........it should not be happening