Team Vs West Ham

[MilkyBarYid]

 

[ravo]

Bent in for Pav.

I would also take Zoko off in the 2nd half for Hudd (depending on how the game is going of course).

 

[DC_Boy]

yep bent for pav - would have been anyway but now it seems pav is injured I can't see there's much doubt about it

in fact depending on severity of pav's injury might have campbell as first striker sub

 

[chrissivad]

Gomes
Hutton Woodgate King BAE
Lennon Corluka Jenas Modric
Keane Bent/Pav

couldn't call between Bent or Pav so it would be who impressed more in training
​

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Gomes

Hutton Woodgate King BAE
Lennon Corluka Jenas Modric
Keane Bent/Pav​

couldn't call between Bent or Pav so it would be who impressed more in training​

Now that is not a bad idea at all. West Ham aren't exactly thugs so we could get away with the slightly less bitey more passy midfield, and Hutton could get more game time to either try and integrate him into the team, or start building up his value for a summer sale.

Another option is to put Dawson in defence and move King into midfield.

I think both are preferable to Zokora, but I think Zokora is what we're going to get.

I'd take Pav over Bent if fit.

 

[Phantom]

Gomes
Corluka King Woodgate BAE
Lennon Thudd JJ Luka
Keane Bent

Not sure on Pavs fitness wouldnt risk it if there are questions about it

 

[Wiener]

Gomes
Hutton Woodgate King BAE
Lennon Corluka Jenas Modric
Keane Bent/Pav

couldn't call between Bent or Pav so it would be who impressed more in training
​

Would love to see Corluka in CM. i doubt it will happen though and I expect Redknapp to go with:

Gomes
Corluka Woodgate King BAE
Lennon Zokora Jenas Modric
Keane Bent

Cudicini Dawson Hutton Huddlestone O'Hara Bentley Pavluychenko

as a pretty strong bench. That still leaves:

Bale Chimbonda Frazier-Campbell

and Defoe to come back soon.

We have a good squad now. Downing in the summer would give us an experienced quality (if somewhat expensive) left winger and better balance. Overall not too bad, and with some quality 17-19 year olds, to me, the future looks good.

 

[sasa_moto]

Gomes
Corluka Woodgate King BAE
Lennon Jenas Modric O'Hara
Keane Bent

 

[Adam]

PLEASE. NOT. JENAS. AND. ZOKORA.

We've suffered at the hands of that combination for far too long and ultimately, it doesnt really work. Get Huddlestone in there instead of Zokora, get Jenas to hold and Hudd to push on and we shoud create a fair few chances. West Ham arent exactly a team of grafters and with a distinct lack of pace throughout their spine they will be vulnerable to movement and slick passing.

Also, what has Corluka done wrong at right back to move him from there, and more importantly, what evidence is there to say that he could play in the middle of a 4-4-2??

 

[milkman]

Gomes
Corluka Woodgate King BAE
Lennon Jenas Modric O'Hara
Keane Bent

Thats what I would pick.

 

[chrissivad]

Also, what has Corluka done wrong at right back to move him from there, and more importantly, what evidence is there to say that he could play in the middle of a 4-4-2??

1- nothing, but with out Palacios i think we need someone to protect the back 4 and Zokora isn't an option for me. King or Curluka, both have cover to come in for them (Hutton and Dawson) but with Kings knee i feel Curluka would be the better option.

2- He has played there a few times for City

 

[nicdic]

He himself says it's his best position.

 

[Adam]

He himself says it's his best position.

In a 4? a 5 maybe, in fact yeah, i could just about understand that as his simple ball is decent and he has a good touch and understanding of the game, but id be very suprised if he sees himself as at his best in the middle of a 4-4-2. He just hasnt got the forward attributes to do it.

 

[sasa_moto]

He himself says it's his best position.

Well, not really. Just recently he said (again) that he is CB who learned how to play at RB. He can play as DM, because of obvious good footballing brain & skill, but I don't think he would be too comfortable there, and I wouldn't be either. Too risky.

 

[Coyboy]

Why are we messing up the midfield and then defence? Zokora, who is a very good player, for Palacios. No other changes needed. Our result was shit Saturday, our performance was excellent.

 

[There's always next year]

Give Huddlestone the opportunity. He may get a little more time in home games, which will allow him to pick his passes.

He is probably keen to impress as well.

 

[DC_Boy]

I doubt there'll be anytime at all for us in the mid if parker noble & kovacs play (at least for the first hour)

I was amazed how little west ham badgered us at their place - don't think they'll be that reticent this time round - expect a 'full-blooded' london derby - such a shame wp won't be there to enjoy it

he'd have got a certain yellow, but it would have been worth it

we're gonna need zoko or o'hara in there - I'd like both but we can't drop any of our other 3 mids -

4-4-2 seems to be our best formation so our mid is gonna have to work very hard to compete

our full backs may need to push on to even up the mid battle, I'd love hutton in there scrapping, but corluka deserves to start

it'll be interesting how the full backs are deployed

 

[Wiener]

Why are we messing up the midfield and then defence? Zokora, who is a very good player, for Palacios. No other changes needed. Our result was shit Saturday, our performance was excellent.

Zokora is very good player, but offers very little when we have possession. I think we need to take the game to West Ham. I think Corluka Jenas in CM would be solid defensively, yet also good in possession.

Having said all that, I expect Redknapp to share your reasoning and play Zokora and Jenas in midfield.

Apart from our finishing we did play well for 80 minutes against Blackburn. For the last 10 minutes we were not so good. Despite the referee making a dubious decision sending off Palacios (and failing to red card the Blackburn player who elbowed Palacios while nowhere near the ball), the team must blame itself for conceeding 2 goals against a very poor side.

 

[spurs4europe]

PLEASE. NOT. JENAS. AND. ZOKORA.

We've suffered at the hands of that combination for far too long and ultimately, it doesnt really work. Get Huddlestone in there instead of Zokora, get Jenas to hold and Hudd to push on and we shoud create a fair few chances. West Ham arent exactly a team of grafters and with a distinct lack of pace throughout their spine they will be vulnerable to movement and slick passing.

Also, what has Corluka done wrong at right back to move him from there, and more importantly, what evidence is there to say that he could play in the middle of a 4-4-2??

What, like in the Carling Cup Final against United?

I think that just like people have stereotype Jenas for never working hard and always being invisible, Zokora has also been stereotyped for simply being shit.

However I think it has been pretty clear this season that Zokora has finally adapted to the Premier League and was certainly one of the positives from the beginning of the season, especially when Jenas was out injured.

Zokora has taken a long time to adapt, but then again so had Palacios at Wigan. I wonder if people here would have said get rid of Palacios if it was us who had bought him straight from wherever he came from (a Honduran team?) and he didn't perform well immediately?

Jenas and Zokora does work, but it just requires different roles to what we have been used to in the past. Previously, Jenas was required to constantly bomb forward to help out in attack, but Zokora's inexperience in the PL and his inability to play an expansive passing game meant that Jenas couldn't do that job and so had to stick close to Zokora, and this left too many holes in our midfield and team.

However now, both Jenas and Zokora are simply tasked with breaking up play and bossing the midfield from deep, and laying it off to Modric and Lennon to do the damage. This places less pressure on Jenas and is something he is very good at (and he can even make the occasional run forward to). It can and does work, as we saw against United in the CC final, and I can you that we could do a lot worse than those two in the centre of our midfield

 

[Adam]

What, like in the Carling Cup Final against United?

I think that just like people have stereotype Jenas for never working hard and always being invisible, Zokora has also been stereotyped for simply being shit.

However I think it has been pretty clear this season that Zokora has finally adapted to the Premier League and was certainly one of the positives from the beginning of the season, especially when Jenas was out injured.

Zokora has taken a long time to adapt, but then again so had Palacios at Wigan. I wonder if people here would have said get rid of Palacios if it was us who had bought him straight from wherever he came from (a Honduran team?) and he didn't perform well immediately?

Jenas and Zokora does work, but it just requires different roles to what we have been used to in the past. Previously, Jenas was required to constantly bomb forward to help out in attack, but Zokora's inexperience in the PL and his inability to play an expansive passing game meant that Jenas couldn't do that job and so had to stick close to Zokora, and this left too many holes in our midfield and team.

However now, both Jenas and Zokora are simply tasked with breaking up play and bossing the midfield from deep, and laying it off to Modric and Lennon to do the damage. This places less pressure on Jenas and is something he is very good at (and he can even make the occasional run forward to). It can and does work, as we saw against United in the CC final, and I can you that we could do a lot worse than those two in the centre of our midfield

And therein lies the problem. You are spot on in saying that it has worked, and by all accounts it should work, however, the job of 'simply' breaking up play is unfortunately anything but, and in fact requires a player with an excellent reading of the game and footballing brain to achieve success in that role. If you think of the players that are successfully deployed in the 'breaking up play' role at the top sides, they are all excellent players:

Mascherano
Alonso
Carrick
Yaya Toure
Essien
Pirlo

and in the past:

Makelele
Redondo
Guardiola

I could go on, but im sure you get the picture. All of those players were or are in one way or another supremely good footballers with an excellent reading of the game. This is something that neither Jenas or Zokora has and is in what my opinion holds them back as a partnership. That they have put in outstanding performances together against the big boys less than five times in three years is indicative in my opinion of why they dont, and wouldnt work together regardless of the players around them, and is why Palacios has been so successful for us with his superior reading of the game and timing when pressing/allowing his opposite number to play the ball.