Anyone know?

He's fit and back working with the first teamsquad

...from Vegas?

Already back with the 1st team.

Let's hope both he and JB are available for the next two matches. I'd rather get him back for the latter if the former is a risk...

The only player definitely out this week is JBG

Dean Marney has made a miraculous recovery then!

That's good is Heaton back as well?

I hope we play this midfield against Liverpool.

Hendrick. Barton. Defour. Brady

If JBG was fit I'd play him on the right and have a 5 man midfield like this


JBG. Hendrick Barton. Brady

Defour

Gray

I hope we play five across midfield again soon!

Giftonsnoidea wrote:
JBG. Hendrick Barton. Brady

Defour

Gray

Agree, that would be interesting to see, not as much onus on defour to defend, more onus to create which might play to his strengths.

Not going to see it on Sunday though as JBG still injured.

Cheers

I think the best performance I've seen this season was when we played at home against Watford.

Out fought and out thought their team completely with five in midfield.

Defour played a big part in that and Hendrick that day.

I was surprised that we didn't try Hendrick out wide (or as wide as our wide men go) when Defour filled in on the left.

He'd be more effective than Defour out wide and could still add his presence more centrally as required. Defour out wide was a waste.

Hendrick plays in a midfield 3 on the right for Ireland, I think he could do a job for us there on the right instead of Boyd.

Shame Barton looks like a long ban. We're short again in centre mid, not seen much from Westwood yet to reassure that he can replace either Barton, Marney or hendrick in there.

The only player to definately not feature this weekend is JBG.

Defour out wide was definitely a waste, but wasn't that pre Brady? I don't think SD will persist with him there tbh. If he plays it has to be more central. Also he's one of those who for me has constantly been awol at away games so I'm not sure Anfield is the right place to put him back in the starting XI. Bench if fit.

Agreed would like to see Defour as the number 10 behind Gray as he can thread balls through to him there.

Would also make our play much more on the floor.

Playing Defour on left didn't make any sense as he's not quick enough to be a winger in any system.

Teams have figured out our long ball tactics now.

Agree, as said previously he at his best in the engine room at CM

Can't see Dyche risking Defour at Liverpool with winnable games coming up. 6 more points should see us safe

Top Claret wrote:Can't see Dyche risking Defour at Liverpool with winnable games coming up. 6 more points should see us safe

Sunderland away is a much bigger game. If Defour is touch and go we should wait a week and get him back in at the Stadium of Light. That is turning into a Cup Final for us. Win it and we're safe IMO.

No need to rush him back if Barton is fit. But he has to play in the middle when he is back
No way we will play Brady and defour wide in the same team.

It might be a forced move if Barton is out. Unless we go with the tried and tested Arfield in central midfield (sarcasm).

Defour played behind Gray at Leicester and was poor (although so was everyone else).

FactualFrank wrote:It might be a forced move if Barton is out. Unless we go with the tried and tested Arfield in central midfield (sarcasm).

Boyd, Hendrick, Westwood, Brady

Brady has to be dropped surely?

Defour isn't going to play, he'll be 4th choice CM option. An absolute waste of talent

CFS wrote:Brady has to be dropped surely?

lol

He's only got 2 assists and a goal in the last three games.

Tall Paul wrote:lol

He's only got 2 assists and a goal in the last three games.

I'm aware of that but his performances have been average at best dropping him for a game will do him no harm.

CFS wrote:I'm aware of that but his performances have been average at best dropping him for a game will do him no harm.

Yes, he hasn't played that well overall, but when he can still deliver the goals and assists while not playing well he's worth a place in the team.

I'd also like to see new players given more than three and a bit games to settle in to the team before dropping them.

CFS wrote:I'm aware of that but his performances have been average at best dropping him for a game will do him no harm.

The only player that seems can put a ball on the money for us at the moment. Worth carrying ( it's not that bad ) at the moment IMO, as the other option is Arfield who let's face it isn't a patch on Brady in any department.

I cannot believe that in a midfield that currently has very little creativity, people actuslly want to take what very little creativity there is, out.

Baffled to say the least.

Dark Cloud wrote:Defour out wide was definitely a waste, but wasn't that pre Brady? I don't think SD will persist with him there tbh. If he plays it has to be more central. Also he's one of those who for me has constantly been awol at away games so I'm not sure Anfield is the right place to put him back in the starting XI. Bench if fit.

I don't think he's featured in that many away games to be "constantly awol."

MACCA wrote:The only player that seems can put a ball on the money for us at the moment. Worth carrying ( it's not that bad ) at the moment IMO, as the other option is Arfield who let's face it isn't a patch on Brady in any department.

I cannot believe that in a midfield that currently has very little creativity, people actuslly want to take what very little creativity there is, out.

Baffled to say the least.

I struggle with how people can put arfield down as if he's good for nothing. Id put defour personally out wide as he had good spells there.

As for no creativity in midfield? Have you not watched us for the last 4 years? Our midfield isn't set upto create which is why we play long from back to front.

CFS wrote:I struggle with how people can put arfield down as if he's good for nothing. Id put defour personally out wide as he had good spells there.

As for no creativity in midfield? Have you not watched us for the last 4 years? Our midfield isn't set upto create which is why we play long from back to front.

Yes i have watched us for the past 4 yeaes, so begs the question why you want the lad who has set up 2 and scored one in our last 3 games dropped?

Could be 2 points worse off and arguably in the thick of a relegation battle if it wasn't for Brady's input..

MACCA wrote:Yes i have watched us for the past 4 yeaes, so begs the question why you want the lad who has set up 2 and scored one in our last 3 games dropped?

Could be 2 points worse off and arguably in the thick of a relegation battle if it wasn't for Brady's input..

Could would should but were not in a relegation battle and weren't before Brady came so to make him our saviour all of a sudden is nonsense. I'm taking his performances into mind and as of yet he's been poor along with others however in his position we have room to mix it up.

I'm another who doesn't understand why it has become so popular to underestimate Arfield. He's in and out of the side these days, but I can't recall the last time he had a bad game for us, either starting or as a sub. He had a shaky spell in the early autumn but he's long since over that.

I think it is between Defour and him for the right wing berth this weekend. I think Brady will get another go out left, if only because Liverpool's ability at set plays demands a real set piece expert. With both him and Defour in the team, we'd have the luxury of a really good right and left footed set piece specialist.

Defour on the left didn't really seem to work, but I can understand the thinking and we were pretty effective overall at Arsenal so it certainly wasn't a disaster. I have no objection to right footers on the left, etc., but I think it works best if you have a touch more pace than Defour has to get away from a defender and play a bit higher up the pitch. On the right, it is easy to imagine Defour doing a sort of Beckham role for us, whipping balls in from relatively deep. It also gives him the facility to slide balls into Gray in the inside right channel, which is where Gray particularly likes to operate, so it would allow them to link up more as well.

I wouldn't risk him if he's not 100% - Arfield is a perfectly capable alternative - but either way I think that Boyd probably needs a break. He does a brilliant job for us but in recent weeks his attacking contribution has waned a bit and both Arfield and Defour ought to help us keep the ball better. James Milner will presumably be at left back for Liverpool and given he's right footed and not especially quick, i'd be reasonably comfortable sacrificing Boyd's extra athleticism.

Sean Dyche has said of Defour, "Steven has been training with us all week, but he’s not had a game in weeks now so we’ll wait and see on him. It’s hard to just throw him in, particularly at Anfield. We threw him in against Liverpool earlier in the season, but we were thin on the ground then and wouldn’t have wanted to put him straight in really. He found it tough going if you remember."

So he will be a sub at best. Flanagan unavailable to sit on the bench but Barnes is free to play after his suspension

No-one will convince me, whatever the formation, that Defour shouldn't be in the side if he's fit.


'Flanagan unavailable to sit on the bench'. Which is a shame, as it's the best place for him.

I can't believe that anyone thinks we will play both Brady and Defour wide. Only one will be wide. Defour will not start, as we have Hendricks, Barton and Westwood, if all fit. I would like to try Defour in the nr 10 role away, but this is a game too soon. I was really excited at signing Brady, but he has been poor overall so far. I assume he will get used to being fit soon.

Looks very much as though Defour won't be in the squad on Sunday - Dyche said: "Steven has been training with us all week, but he’s not had a game in weeks now so we’ll wait and see on him."

I see the bit about Defour not having played for a few weeks
But it seems that, given our lack of pace across the whole of midfield, Defour is way down the pecking order if we are only playing 4 across the middle (behind Hendrick Barton and Westwood, and Marney when fit)
Trying him out wide or as a No 10 has not really succeeded
Despite the fact that he has far more to offer in the pure skill of seeing a pass better than anyone else it would not surprise me to see him leave this summer - he doesn't run around enough for Dyche

Confirmed no Defour or JBG on Sunday.

Great

Funny tweet from CLARETY on Twitter,

If you rewind Dyche saying "Defour's hamstring's still a bit tight so he's out" you actually hear "Yeah, we sold him to China in February".

Injured again for this weekend. Hopefully it's simply a case of making sure they're ready for Sunderland

PWBFC wrote:Confirmed no Defour or JBG on Sunday.

No surprises. Let's hope he's at least on the bench for the Sunderland game.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Defour & Barton at CM in Sunderland - with Hendrick on the right or as third CM