[zippyandbungle]

Not been majorly impressed with Racic either, couldn’t really see why some jumped to praise him so highly a few weeks back and thought it was premature. On the other hand in moments there looks like there is something there, so I do understand to a certain extent why he’s got some chances.

 This is may be  why he’s been highly rated in the past but ultimately been shipped out, there’s something, you just can get it regularly enough.

I don’t think there’s any agenda from Carlos though. I think it’s easily understandable why Frabotta, Cole, McNair, Diakite, Holgate and Styles haven’t had many minutes yet.

I think fabrotta ,Diakite and styles have all had positive impacts when they have come on?
I think Holgate and McNair have both shown throughout their career that at the very least,they could step in for a very static Bartley ?

[lewisant]

Was a generalisation and I get that it was most rather than all

I still think he can actually play,I just think he doesn’t look clear on his role or sharp enough for the league (yet) but it does feel like Corberan is determined to get him on the pitch ?
Meanwhile I think we understate how important mulumby is,have we lost when he starts ?

Massive point on Molumby. We look so much better when he starts. Which really leaves Racic to compete with Swift and Diangana for the 10 role but he’s very different to them both. Also adds to the strength in depth as some of these players just won’t be able to play.

[johnny Cash]

I think fabrotta ,Diakite and styles have all had positive impacts when they have come on?
I think Holgate and McNair have both shown throughout their career that at the very least,they could step in for a very static Bartley ?

Not sure. All my opinion of course but…

Frabotta - Heggam started really well. Ok, he’s maybe faded a but we were unbeaten in 6 until we started Diakite and Racic against Wednesday, who were awful together. Mowatt comes on, we are better and but for an awful lapse from a few players nearly took a point and perhaps could have gone on to win. So reverting in midfield made sense rather than adding Frabotta in, who played his part in being poor for the third goal when on the pitch. He was poor in the cup and hasn’t looked great generally to me. Losing to Boro 1-0 was always possible and we’ve keep a clean sheet against Millwall.


Style - Similar to Frabotta if we want to play him left back in terms of us winning, and the problem in the first loss being midfield two. At left mid he was behind a Grant people had been praising, and Mikey Johnston who was first understudy. In centre mid we are deeper still if he’s behind  Racic, Diakite, Swift, Mowatt and even Diangana based on subs so far. After the Wednesday loss, reverting always made more sense than mixing again with Styles CM.

Diakite. Won 5 of 6 and a couple of ok minutes holding a lead. First start, awful and dragged at halftime. No surprise he wasn’t starting after that or that he wasn’t the move when trying to get an equaliser or chase a winner vs Millwall.

McNair / Holgate. I’m no fan of Ajayi and Bartley pairing, but having won 5/6 I think CC was always unlikely to change. The first loss I think was blamed on CM so first move was to revert that, not mess with the defence. Boro are a good side so you don’t rip up and change after one loss to them either. We then did get a clean sheet vs Millwall at least.


I don’t agree with everything CC has done, but I understand why the changes haven’t been wholesale to date and why certain player minutes have gone the way they have




 

[zippyandbungle]

Not sure. All my opinion of course but…

Frabotta - Heggam started really well. Ok, he’s maybe faded a but we were unbeaten in 6 until we started Diakite and Racic against Wednesday, who were awful together. Mowatt comes on, we are better and but for an awful lapse from a few players nearly took a point and perhaps could have gone on to win. So reverting in midfield made sense rather than adding Frabotta in, who played his part in being poor for the third goal when on the pitch. He was poor in the cup and hasn’t looked great generally to me. Losing to Boro 1-0 was always possible and we’ve keep a clean sheet against Millwall.


Style - Similar to Frabotta if we want to play him left back in terms of us winning, and the problem in the first loss being midfield two. At left mid he was behind a Grant people had been praising, and Mikey Johnston who was first understudy. In centre mid we are deeper still if he’s behind  Racic, Diakite, Swift, Mowatt and even Diangana based on subs so far. After the Wednesday loss, reverting always made more sense than mixing again with Styles CM.

Diakite. Won 5 of 6 and a couple of ok minutes holding a lead. First start, awful and dragged at halftime. No surprise he wasn’t starting after that or that he wasn’t the move when trying to get an equaliser or chase a winner vs Millwall.

McNair / Holgate. I’m no fan of Ajayi and Bartley pairing, but having won 5/6 I think CC was always unlikely to change. The first loss I think was blamed on CM so first move was to revert that, not mess with the defence. Boro are a good side so you don’t rip up and change after one loss to them either. We then did get a clean sheet vs Millwall at least.


I don’t agree with everything CC has done, but I understand why the changes haven’t been wholesale to date and why certain player minutes have gone the way they have

You make very good arguments.
I’d suggest that maybe he has messed around too much with the midfield and not at all with the defence…and I agree that that would have been crazy after just one defeat…we haven’t looked solid in most games ,and certainly after both Sheff Weds and Boro in a week…I’d expect at least one rear guard change against Millwall …even if we retained same personnel and changed the formation?

[LiamTheBaggie]

You make very good arguments.
I’d suggest that maybe he has messed around too much with the midfield and not at all with the defence…and I agree that that would have been crazy after just one defeat…we haven’t looked solid in most games ,and certainly after both Sheff Weds and Boro in a week…I’d expect at least one rear guard change against Millwall …even if we retained same personnel and changed the formation?

Has he really messed around with the midfield?

The front three hasn’t changed - until Millwall.

The changes to the Mowatt/Molumby axis only occurred because one was injured and the other hadn’t been training so both changes were enforced. We’ve then reverted back to them both now they are available.

Aside from a mad spell at Hillsborough we’ve been reasonably solid in all of our games and it comes as no surprise to me that he’s retained the same personnel. Carragher made the point yesterday that you do not do rotation with your centre halves which really then leaves Heggem as the fall guy which would be harsh given he has been excellent this season.

[The Black Pearl]

Has he really messed around with the midfield?

The front three hasn’t changed - until Millwall.

The changes to the Mowatt/Molumby axis only occurred because one was injured and the other hadn’t been training so both changes were enforced. We’ve then reverted back to them both now they are available.

Aside from a mad spell at Hillsborough we’ve been reasonably solid in all of our games and it comes as no surprise to me that he’s retained the same personnel. Carragher made the point yesterday that you do not do rotation with your centre halves which really then leaves Heggem as the fall guy which would be harsh given he has been excellent this season.

Whilst I agree, Bartley is vulnerable in my opinion because of his lack of ability on the ball and his lack of pace.

[hardtobeat]

Whilst I agree, Bartley is vulnerable in my opinion because of his lack of ability on the ball and his lack of pace.

Problem i see is by leaving Bartley out we’d miss his physicality as I think Heggem whilst he’d be prettier on the ball would also be a too similar to Semi and be a reader && interceptor rather than a tackler and a challenger. Never forget Bart’s was quick enough to catch and deal with Gnonto late on in the game against Leeds !

[The Black Pearl]

Problem i see is by leaving Bartley out we’d miss his physicality as I think Heggem whilst he’d be prettier on the ball would also be a too similar to Semi and be a reader && interceptor rather than a tackler and a challenger. Never forget Bart’s was quick enough to catch and deal with Gnonto late on in the game against Leeds !

Yes, I do agree, but we need to solve the issue of the midfield sitting too deep so that we rarely attack with pace.

[NJS]

Yes, I do agree, but we need to solve the issue of the midfield sitting too deep so that we rarely attack with pace.

Do they have to sit deep because of the press and the passing ability of the backline - Bartley in particular?

[zippyandbungle]

Has he really messed around with the midfield?

The front three hasn’t changed - until Millwall.

The changes to the Mowatt/Molumby axis only occurred because one was injured and the other hadn’t been training so both changes were enforced. We’ve then reverted back to them both now they are available.

Aside from a mad spell at Hillsborough we’ve been reasonably solid in all of our games and it comes as no surprise to me that he’s retained the same personnel. Carragher made the point yesterday that you do not do rotation with your centre halves which really then leaves Heggem as the fall guy which would be harsh given he has been excellent this season.

Messed around might not be the correct term.
But I think that most see the obvious replacement  the  Molumby would be diakite or even styles, rather than Racic who looks a more natural completion for swift/Diangana .
He definitely “messes about” with the priority of subs for positions where from one week to the next you can almost guarantee the 11 but the subs/replacements seem like a lottery

In terms of the centre backs, they both have plus points but it’s almost weird that McNair/holgate have had no league minutes during a three game run yielding 1 point or that we haven’t tried a difference in formation…
Stubborn springs to mind.

[liverbaggie]

Trouble with the midfield coming so deep to collect the ball is if they lose control or are tackled it puts us in immediate danger of a shot on goal

[SmethDan]

Trouble with the midfield coming so deep to collect the ball is if they lose control or are tackled it puts us in immediate danger of a shot on goal

Very true. That and our transitions are laboured. It's fine keeping possession. I don't have a problem with keep ball but we need to do it with precision and at a higher tempo. We came very close to getting it right with the Maja opportunity but it was one of very few occasions where we looked capable of switching it up.

[HampshireBaggie]

I think he’ll come good.

[KN22]

I think he’ll come good.

When watching him, it is clear that he can play. I think that the frenetic pace of the championship has taken him by surprise. Can he get up to the levels needed to be successful in this league? I honestly do not yet know.

[Hull Baggie]

We may well up with a similar situation that we had with Krychowiak, an undoubtedly talented footballer just not suited to the English game.

[gazberg]

We may well up with a similar situation that we had with Krychowiak, an undoubtedly talented footballer just not suited to the English game.

Sadly, i think this will be the outcome, hopefully i am wrong.

[SmethDan]

Sadly, i think this will be the outcome, hopefully i am wrong.

Not exactly unheard of to be fair  .

[VANDERLEI]

I think what everyone is failing to appreciate is that sometimes it takes a period of time to adjust to a new team/league. I've seen enough to know he can be a big asset for us when he's settled into the team. He just seems to be trying too hard and forcing things at the moment.

[Hull Baggie]

I think what everyone is failing to appreciate is that sometimes it takes a period of time to adjust to a new team/league. I've seen enough to know he can be a big asset for us when he's settled into the team. He just seems to be trying too hard and forcing things at the moment.

I think by saying he needs to realise that he won't have as much time on the ball as he is used to is recognising that he is in an adjustment period. Which is what a lot of us have been saying.

[VANDERLEI]

I think by saying he needs to realise that he won't have as much time on the ball as he is used to is recognising that he is in an adjustment period. Which is what a lot of us have been saying.

I agree with that, however the knee jerk crowd who are writing him off after a few games, I don't agree with.

[Albionic]

Jury out for me, always want to see a player get a rdecent run of games before making any judgement

[graka]

A lot better today. Moved the ball quicker first half has did most of our team
Seemed sharper and also did more of the dirty work

[gazberg]

I thought he was better today, enough confirmation for me that him and Swift cannot play at same time unless absolutely essential.

[boinging_along]

Yeah, he seems to be getting up to speed.  I still worry that we don't have that creativity we need, we're much too functional and therefore predictable.

[SmethDan]

Might just be me but I can't help thinking he's a bit too casual at times. He did get some good tackles in and played some good passes but equally he surrendered possession very cheaply at times and left Mowatt with a lot of ground to cover on others. Needs to be doing more in my opinion for a player with his qualities.