Back 4
Tino;n3397125 said:
I have to disagree about the striker. That can wait until summer. We will have Maguire, Moult and Nmecha up top to compete for one spot - I doubt AN will play 4-4-2 often due to how bad it looked against Norwich. I would have said a right winger but with Bodin coming back around January we will have that area covered too. Moult isn't a starter but is very effective from the bench and at the moment I can't see how Maguire is going to replace Nmecha in the team he is playing that well. Another striker will just cause more problems.
I agree a right back is a must though. It's the one area of the pitch we lack serious competiton in and that needs sorting in January.
paddysr;n3397136 said:
The thing is you can't adjust to this level unless you are playing and I can't see any striker from any of the leagues below getting in front of Nmecha, Maguire and Moult. If we can sell/loan Moult then maybe but they won't be getting any starts in front of the other two.
I'd rather sign a striker with a view to bedding them in for next season, we also need another physical option if Nmecha gets injured.
We still lack a player who offers any aerial threat too.
If a target is available then there is no point waiting till the summer.
We still lack a player who offers any aerial threat too.
If a target is available then there is no point waiting till the summer.
Walton;n3397159 said:
He'll have to actually get into the Bury team first.
ernest;n3397180 said:
It's hard to come out with this claim, especially about it being "emphatic" when just a couple of months ago he decided to start the season with Rudd. I think Maxwell is the best option at the moment but in truth neither are really top 6 material and if the manager emphatically preferred either then we wouldn't have seen the chopping and changing of the last 6 months or so.
White123;n3397209 said:
Bodin said on the podcast recently he is aiming for the last month of the season. Any early return in January or February time seems unlikely going off that.
White123;n3397211 said:
People said this in the summer about a new striker not playing because of Maguire etc etc. and then he got injured and we were badly short. The situation looks better now with Nmecha hitting form and Maguire back fit, but we still lack a genuine target man option and if the right one is available in January we should still go for it.
White123;n3397211 said:
No that's a good point. Can't see Moult going anywhere. He is starting to prove a lot of people, myself included, wrong. Still don't think he is a strong starting option but if he can continue to find the net from the bench he could have a big role to play.
Tugg Speedman;n3397158 said:
I don’t think he’s being harsh on maxwell.
I think he’s just pointing out that many folk thought the answer to our defensive woes was to simply put Maxwell in goal. It was never going to be that easy.
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sedgwick__7;n3397214 said:
I agree we should but it's not a necessity as it was earlier in the season.
In terms of Bodin - I didn't realise he was out for that long. So considering he has now said that I defiantly think our two main signings in Jan should be a right back and a right winger. Letting Horgan go could be a mistake but it was Neil's decision and he obviously had his reasons for doing so.
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You can certainly tell which posters only make judgements based on game highlights.
After-all highlights only show goals against so our keepers and defenders must be poor.
After-all highlights only show goals against so our keepers and defenders must be poor.
Oldbutnotdone;n3397272 said:
Good point.
White123;n3397246 said:
Realistically though, he didn’t play Horgan before we signed Bodin and probably wouldn’t have played him after he got injured. He started Horgan twice last season and obviously didn’t view him as a genuine option in his system.
I still view the possible signing of another central striker (target man) and the continual usage of Maguire off the flanks are more likely than us signing another winger.
paddysr;n3397271 said:
Horgan says he was told by the manager in the summer he wouldn’t be playing instead of our other players - https://twitter.com/loiweekly/status/1035275969630617600?s=21
Alex Neal needs to decide his best back four and get them working as a unit over a period of games, I'm sure that if he includes Fisher in this 4 then his confidence will return and he will get back to the standard he set last year.
Brentford need to replace their back 4 as we scored 4 against them and so do Villa as we got 3 there....You can prove anything with stats. Sam J. let in 4 for West Brom so he needs dropping etc.etc. AN knows where he needs to strengthen his squad and will be working on recruitment in Jan. I think Woods was the replacement right back when the season started but haven’t heard lately how his injury is progressing. Fisher, Hunts, Davies and Earl for me. Storey is for some time in the future.
norky84;n3397178 said:
Strongly disagree. You are being extremely harsh. Maxwell has been top drawer since he came back into the team. Yes there are always better players out there for every position, but we have 2 decent keepers.
The mistake you are making is looking at our goalkeepers in isolation, without considering the defence as a whole unit and without considering the amount of changes made in the defensive third this season.
You've clearly made up your mind though, so it's a waste of my time trying to have a reasonable debate with you.
Tugg Speedman;n3397303 said:
Bang on .... most goalkeepers are only as good as the defence in front of them as a general rule and ours has been pretty wobbly for the majority of this season.
Think it's just a case of getting the back 4 settled again, we struggled all round at the start of the season as suspensions and injuries pretty meant the whole first 111 bar a couple of players was up in the air. We've got the front 6 sorted and stable and now just need to do the same with the back 4. I think Neil's decided that he's settling for Fisher, Davies and Hughes as 3 of the back four. We've got 3 decent centre backs each with a couple of drawbacks, one will step up find some form and make the shirt their own at some point and with an addition of a backup right back in January I think we'll be reet. It's a pity Clarke got injured after Wigan or I think he could've potentially formed a partnership with Davies. Anyone know when he's back?
Delaney;n3397333 said:
Not quite we've got seven players vying for the front six places - Pearson, Johnson, Browne, Robinson, Nmecha, Barkhuizen and as he gets back to full fitness Maguire. Once Maguire is fully fit then AN is going to have to make a hard choice at times - basically two from the last three of those players. Only injuries/suspensions are likely to get either of Gallagher and Ledson into the starting line-up for the moment with the same being the case for Barker who so far has been more or less a flop when starting but at times brilliant when coming on as a sub. The one other player who is pushing for consideration for a starting place is Moult.
At the back Fisher is more or less a certain starter simply because there is no-one else though as I recall AN did start Clarke at right-back when Fisher was available at least once so that could happen again. Davies, as you say, seems a near-automatic choice but again remember AN put him on the bench just a few weeks back. Davies is obviously a massive prospect though I don't think he is a better defender than, say, Storey - his distinctive capability is his coolness on the ball and ability to play it out of defence. Hughes seems pencilled in as well though frankly I cannot see what he brings that Earl would not other than maybe some extra years and a more combative appearance. In truth a back four with Clarke, Storey and Earl in it would be no less resilient than one with Huntington, Davies and Hughes - the only thing it would lack would be Davies' ball-playing ability. Frankly I wouldn't mind seeing a back four of Clarke, Storey, Davies and Earl.