on September 23, 2023, 9:28 pm, in reply to "I'm looking forward to seeing Harrison, who I think might resolve our midfield problems"
Previous Message
It's clear Dyche wants a 4-5-1 and McNeil is the perfect wide player given that he works hard defensively but also creative in the final third.
He doesn't think Danjuma is positionally good enough out of possession
So he prefers Garner, but what we gain in delivery and defensive contributions you lack in goal threat and it means no other option that Gana-Onana behind Doucoure.
It looks like Harrison might be a similar profile to McNeil, and if so that really helps the 4-5-1.
It also means you can play Garner centrally, which is his best position. Question is who you drop and for me it's simple:
- Gueye gets turned over at least once a game and just doesn't have the control to screen the back 4
- Onana is meant to play there and that's where he'll end up, so even if he's still raw let's back him and go for it. He likes to receive the ball, can move it forwards, and although he's got a tendency to let opponents run past him playing more deeply might mitigate that.
Keep Gueye as a good option off the bench depending on the match situation, given he's wonderful at winning possession and recycling the ball.
I think Danjuma is an issue, because he's not a right midfielder. Supposedly he can play across a front 3 but we don't play a front 3 and he's not a target man. Personally I think that against weaker opposition at home I'd like to see more of a 4-3-3 and see how he does with that, or a 4-5-1 instead of Doucoure when we don't need to do so much out of possession. That said, Maupay would have been much better suited to a Dyche 4-4-1-1.
Good news is our back 5 is clear now. Tarkowski and Pickford didn't have any miscommunications today, and you figure every match that Branthwaite and Tarkowski play together they'll improve as a pair. Mykolenko and Young are our 2 best full backs, but in some games let's see Patterson come on for 20 minutes or so like Coleman used to.
Pickford
Young - Tarks - Branthwaite - Myko
Harrison - Doucoure - Onana - Garner - McNeil
DCL
Patterson, Keane, Gueye, Dobbin, Danjuma, Beto
Not pretty, but hard working, well organised, won't give too much up defensively, strong at set pieces, physical, should be too strong against the sides we need to beat.
I also really like Beto working his arse off, roughing up defenders, bringing others into the game, and them make way for DCL to bring home the points.
We're only an injury to one of our CBs away from being very shaky, but last season we played Brentford at home with:
Pickford
Coleman
Keane
Tarkowski
Godfrey
Iwobi
Doucouré
Gueye
Onana
McNeil
Gray
I'd say all 5 of those highlighted positions we're better.
Luton and Bournemouth home perfect chances to stabilise the season. Previous Message
Properly tracked back and influenced the game. His pass for Don’s goal was sublime
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