I've been really impressed with the way that Nuno has settled in at wolves and one of the marked differences from recent past managers is the way he has embedded his style of play so quickly and apparently got the whole squad on board. within 12 games we've got a settled system and are also pretty clear as to who Nuno sees as his first choice matchday squad.
another change in our current set up to previous seasons is the strength on the bench, with players that can genuinely challenge their starting team mates and who the fans feel can make a positive difference when they come on.
with the 343 system we have competition in most areas:
in goal, Norris has looked very good in the league cup games and I feel comfortable that he'd not let us down if he had to replace ruddy
in defence, DB and coady have been a revelation, Miranda is settling and has great quality on the ball, and altho I haven't seen big willy play yet reports were very positive. so 3 from 4 without affecting our overall strength
in CM we have neves, saiss and n'diaye to cover two places and all three have had a big impact in games this year
wide RM is one of the few places where I don't think we have a player right now who can step in and do the job Doherty does. doc's been fantastic this season and if marshall is his next replacement I think there's a considerable gap there.
wide LM, the 18 yr old vinagre has already shown he can slot in and ably deputise for douglas
and up top we have cav, costa, jota, bonatini (and eno not far behind) all competing for the front three places. costa will be benefitting from 45-60 minutes to recover his fitness and cav ran himself to exhaustion yesterday which was great to see. bonatini is for me an excellent striker as well as a good front man to support two men either side of him. and perhaps if yesterday's game showed us one thing it is that we still need competition for that position as we clearly looked more effective when bona came on.
nice that there are plenty of others below this group who are also more than capable of coming in for a few games if needed. they've shown that confidence in beating Southampton already this year. I think with the squad we have we'll do well this year...but if Nuno can keep his key 15 or 16 players fit for the great majority of games I think we have a side that can win the title.
competition
posted on 16/10/17
I think they would love to play gem and its a call Nuno will have to make. I guess he will see what players are carrying knocks at the time and decide that week. And with 7,000 Wolves fans going to the game I am sure they will want to put on a show.
Tricky one because promotion is by far the biggest priority.
posted on 16/10/17
Yeah, of course he has to concentrate on the league and he will surely not be travelling to the Etihad in the belief that Wolves can win. On the other hand, as you say he will want to put on a show and certainly won't want a thorough thrashing.
It's going to be interesting to see how he approaches it.
posted on 16/10/17
I'd go:
Norris
Batth
Boly (if fit)
Bennett
N'Diaye
Saiss
Marshall
Vinagre
Costa
Bonatini
Enobakhare
Costa and Bonatini can come off when required (ie when we're 3 up ), as can Saiss (when we're 4 up).
Give Price and Ronan a run out from the bench and bring on Coady if we're only protecting a slender 2 goal lead
#jobsagoodun
posted on 16/10/17
Gem, we have to go into every game believing that we can win it. Yes, Man City will be putting out a strong side, but so should we, as we're not that far off a Wembley appearance.
I'm sure Nuno will play quite a few regulars, but to play so many players who have very little playing time as DJ has suggested, would be surrendering the game before a ball is kicked. He surprised many of us with his last cup side selection and I'm sure he'll do the same this time by keeping a strong back 3.
posted on 16/10/17
Normally I would agree with putting out a weakened team but the magnitude of this game is such that I think we should go for it and put out as strongest
posted on 16/10/17
Completely agree Wolfgang and I'm sure there are many players in our squad that will love to pit their skills against the mighty City and who knows...we've caused a few upsets before.
Be positive Nuno a go for it.
posted on 16/10/17
Just popped over to the wet bum board to see what they are saying about their stunning prem team. Was surprised to find that no-one has posted an article since August. Seems they are pretty disillusioned over there. Unsurprisingly they seem to have stopped coming on here trying to irritate us now that we are top of the champo with every chance of joining them in the prem next season. As their moronic fan JH would say "Mind the gap".
posted on 16/10/17
Everyone knows what they will get from Pulis. Enough points to stay up and very little by way of entertainment
posted on 16/10/17
comment by GeminMallorca (U18318)
posted 4 hours, 29 minutes ago
Just popped over to the wet bum board to see what they are saying about their stunning prem team. Was surprised to find that no-one has posted an article since August. Seems they are pretty disillusioned over there. Unsurprisingly they seem to have stopped coming on here trying to irritate us now that we are top of the champo with every chance of joining them in the prem next season. As their moronic fan JH would say "Mind the gap".
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe I should start linking them into our Match threads so that can enjoy the euphoria?
posted on 16/10/17
comment by Sir Halfy ...50%Chinese50%Portuguese (U11570)
posted 53 seconds ago
comment by GeminMallorca (U18318)
posted 4 hours, 29 minutes ago
Just popped over to the wet bum board to see what they are saying about their stunning prem team. Was surprised to find that no-one has posted an article since August. Seems they are pretty disillusioned over there. Unsurprisingly they seem to have stopped coming on here trying to irritate us now that we are top of the champo with every chance of joining them in the prem next season. As their moronic fan JH would say "Mind the gap".
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe I should start linking them into our Match threads so that can enjoy the euphoria?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Excellent idea Halfy, go for it!!