Who is saying that we don't need a defensive midfield player or that Neves shouldn't play? What a ridiculous extreme to take the argument to.

my point was we don't need TWO holding players plus a back 3 and wing backs, it makes us too deep and defensive, 1 DM 1 B2B
Neves and or Moutinho not both

most sides these days play one central striker, we waste bodies being entrenched so deep, when we have the options within the squad to be on the front foot more

comment by Tino Bambino (U2087)
posted 3 minutes ago
my point was we don't need TWO holding players plus a back 3 and wing backs, it makes us too deep and defensive, 1 DM 1 B2B
Neves and or Moutinho not both
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I agree with you, I wouldn’t play both although I wouldn’t describe Moutinho as a defensive midfield player. He has been excellent in the middle of the park the last two seasons but I don’t think he has the legs to be as mobile as he was

comment by Spangles (U17289)
posted 29 minutes ago
comment by bostonwolf (U17353)
posted 44 minutes ago
Said it before, we need a ball winning, driving forward midfield player.
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Like Dendoncker you mean?
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Yes when he's not injured, but he needs to play in the centre.

The problem is that Nuno is so defensively minded that when we do attack we are still looking to cover the defence, hence the ball gets played back all the time.

comment by Spangles (U17289)
posted 30 minutes ago
comment by Tino Bambino (U2087)
posted 3 minutes ago
my point was we don't need TWO holding players plus a back 3 and wing backs, it makes us too deep and defensive, 1 DM 1 B2B
Neves and or Moutinho not both
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I agree with you, I wouldn’t play both although I wouldn’t describe Moutinho as a defensive midfield player. He has been excellent in the middle of the park the last two seasons but I don’t think he has the legs to be as mobile as he was
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he's top quality, 5ft7 of football heaven, but he's so immobile these days that he does just sit, half time our midfield is soooo deep we have 5 CB's

we're amongst the sides with the fewest minutes inside the final 3rd, we're also amongst the sides with the most shots on goal. implies we don't control high enough up the pitch and end up relying on bits of individual magic to get a goal rather than scoring from a build up of sustained pressure or possession

Nuno is the manager who in the last two seasons has got us our best league position since 1980. And personally I have really enjoyed watching his teams play, and still do. I think our recent performances against Palace, Spurs, Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal have been really good. So I just don’t go along with the negative views. I think there are far more positives than negatives to talk about. I think we would need new players, not new formations, to adopt a different style

That's been our problem for a few years Tino. We are great at playing underdog counter attacking football, but we are not so great when the emphasis is on us to control the game. After two 7th place finishes, that emphasis is on us more and more and for us to move forwards it is the area we most need to improve.

If we don't improve in those areas then we have already hit our ceiling. I think Nuno has seen this and this is why he is looking at the new formations. The problem is that we are still missing that spark from the midfield in the central areas when we get into the final third, which allows us play in higher positions.

comment by Spangles (U17289)
posted 5 minutes ago
Nuno is the manager who in the last two seasons has got us our best league position since 1980. And personally I have really enjoyed watching his teams play, and still do. I think our recent performances against Palace, Spurs, Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal have been really good. So I just don’t go along with the negative views. I think there are far more positives than negatives to talk about. I think we would need new players, not new formations, to adopt a different style
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It's not negative to identify areas where we can improve going forward.

I think this year more than any I remember the Prem is so open we could easily finish lower half but be half a dozen points from europe - going into a season with one recognised striker and gambling a record fee on an unproven striker could really hurt us.

I know the injury to Raúl can't be helped of foretold but we've gotten off lightly for a few years now with injuries it was always gonna bite us one day - and the stubbornness of Nuno only wanting a small squad pack with players that can do several jobs is pure short-sighted

Raul is a massive loss, and having 6 first team players out at one time would hurt any club. We do need a better transfer window in the summer. Never really been convinced that losing Dalrymple and Thelwell and not replacing them was clever. We need some football knowledge in the set up for Nuno to work with

Little Jeff does a good job but he's doing the work of 3 people, plus one person with so much power can lead to a myopic viewpoint

comment by Spangles (U17289)
posted 8 minutes ago
Raul is a massive loss, and having 6 first team players out at one time would hurt any club. We do need a better transfer window in the summer. Never really been convinced that losing Dalrymple and Thelwell and not replacing them was clever. We need some football knowledge in the set up for Nuno to work with
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the times ive watched us play with my brother in law, even before this injury crisis and you'd look at the bench, seldom contains a match-winner, like for like options at best - and that makes us predictable, you could sit there and know who's likely to get the nod. we need a difference maker, Shabani looks like he's a magic player gets the ball and moves it forwards

I'm actually surprised Shabani hasn't really been in the matchday squad to be honest. Particularly with the move to a 4-2-3-1. It doesn't look like he will make it with us if he isnt getting a go now.

comment by Tamwolf (U17286)
posted 4 minutes ago
I'm actually surprised Shabani hasn't really been in the matchday squad to be honest. Particularly with the move to a 4-2-3-1. It doesn't look like he will make it with us if he isnt getting a go now.
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He looks like he'd make a very good #10

Adama............Fabio.........Neto
....................Cutrone..................

Has to be worth a shot, still leaves us short of a fresh option off the bench, which goes against what I'm championing but I stand by Silva not being a goal-poacher, so drop him deeper he can link the play we know this, and let Cutrone play 20 yards out where he scored a lot of goals at a young age for Milan and even drew comparisons with Pippo Inzaghi

I think he would based on his previous record and the little I have seen of him. You'd expect him to get more chances though at the age of 21, especially in an injury crisis where we are creating little; if Nuno was thinking the same.

He does look like he could be one of those who will move on to go and do well elsewhere; leaving us wondering 'what if'.

he's gotta be thinking he should have chosen Ajax over us

he's gonna be this generations Zeli Ismael

ismail even

Yeah I am surprised that Shabani isn't getting a sniff as well. Watched bits and pieces of a few of the youth games and despite Corbeanu getting the fans excited I have always felt Shabani seems the one understanding the game better. Corbeanu feels to me quite similar to what we have, gets the ball and tries to carry it 30-40 yards.

I think Shabani is probably suffering a little from Vitinha being around for a start, given the deal in place we have to start giving Vitinha a look.

I think a few years from now we are going to be asking ourselves how we let a few of the young guys go, probably Aït-Nouri and Shabani heading that list.

clears 6ft as well does Shabani, gives us some more physical presence, from the bits of him ive seen he'd get you off your seat