A good midfield dilemma

[Darnhill Claret]

Cullen's great strength is that he does not switch off. He has a great engine and constantly supports the man in possession when possible, at the same time he has a fantastic knack of constantly creating space, to make himself the obvious 'out ball'. This of course needs to be how everyone else plays, to increase our options, and for our men in front of the ball to make more attacking options, without straying offside too often, so timing of those runs being crucial. As we improve this area of play we also increase the defensive workload on our opponents and Scotty Parker becomes our version of Bielsa. Meanwhile, back at the training ground Hountondji continues to work on his touch.

[RVclaret]

I agree. Two CDM’s against lower quality opposition is not necessary.

It’s Cullen or Laurent in my opinion and you cannot drop Cullen.

Brownhill alongside him, who can support out of possession and get forward more in possession. Hannibal in the 10 who can also run the channels too.

When Ramsey comes back we’re a bit too stacked in those attacking roles.

Surely for a team that needs to score (and actually create) more (2 goals in our last 3) we should be starting our best goal scorers? That would suggest Flemming (24 at this level in the past 2 seasons) alongside Foster. Agree we look pretty strong in this area and I do like Hannibal a lot but I see Flemming as the first choice there moving forward.

[NewClaret]

Surely for a team that needs to score (and actually create) more (2 goals in our last 3) we should be starting our best goal scorers? That would suggest Flemming (24 at this level in the past 2 seasons) alongside Foster. Agree we look pretty strong in this area and I do like Hannibal a lot but I see Flemming as the first choice there moving forward.

It’s a good point and I agree after a start where I thought we looked lethal in front of goal (albeit with 2/3 players now sold for big money in those sides), I’d say we look pretty lacklustre in terms of clear chance creation and obviously goals.

I’ll get pelters for this but I wasn’t as impressed with Flemming as some on here, but in fairness it was his first game back and his work rate was outstanding.

I think our three best technical players are Cullen, Brownhill and Hannibal, and I doubt the latter is going to come here from Man U to sit on the bench.

Maybe the answer is one holding (Cullen) and two from Brownhill, Hannibal & Flemming in more advanced roles? Especially against the teams coming up where you’d expect us to dominate more.

Brownhill as things stand is our top scorer, I think, so I can’t see him dropped. Other advantage of Flemming is he can play up front and maybe Foster drops out now given his virus.

Probably a long way of saying I think maybe Flemming is going to be interchanged with the two more advanced midfielders and striker.

Maybe injuries will sort it all out. We have decent depth now but we’ll start to pick up knocks. When Ramsey is back I have no idea what our best team is.

Best players don’t necessarily make the best team though. Wouldn’t shock me if we see players like Laurent and Flemming feature way more than I’m expecting when everyone is fit. I don’t really care if we keep winning.

[lakesider]

I don’t think we should underestimate Hannibal’s role when confronted with fixtures such as this. For me, if it’s a highly emotionally charged fixture such as Leeds, Blackburn etc, he motivates that grit for the other players. When we have the opportunity to dominate the ball in a fixture then it’s Brownhill/Ramsay and Cullen. Otherwise Laurent and Hannibal to battle it out. Whatever, it’s a great position to be in.