Team vs QPR

keaton said:

I do want to see Lingard (pacy bloke who doesn't seem to want to run at people and did far less than Lopez on Saturday), Stephens (meh, done nothing so far apart from miss a few easy chances), Buckley, Kazenga (looked good a month or so ago, done nothing since then), March (looks good, does very little), Ince and Orlandi (performing much the same as Lopez but without the goals or the assists)

Click to expand...

The Complete Badger said:

Lingard - not been given the ball in space yet in two games, but his CV suggests he's very good.
Stephens - not done much I agree, but too early to write off and at least shows some signs of being able to get forward from midfield.
Kazenga - only played 53 minutes of Championship football in the last month so it's hardly surprising he hasn't done much in that time. Continues to be our most threatening player and most likely to open up a stubborn defence.
March - barely played, but has shown he can beat a man which is more than Lopez will ever do, and he gets stuck in too.
Orlandi - on a different planet to Lopez for me, and even if playing poorly is still the eye candy of the team. That alone is worth a place in our midfield at the moment.

If I see Forster-Caskey, Lopez and Andrews in the team tonight when most of the above are available it will be hard not to question Oscar.

Click to expand...

The Complete Badger said:

I forgot about that one. He should have done better, although he was a long way from goal so it wasn't simply a case of shifting it to one side and shooting.

All I'm saying on this point is that I'd rather see the guy from Man United who attracted a £5m bid in January, has a record of scoring goals, is young, has something to prove and has only actually played two games for us than the 31-year-old who has played 30 games this season, failed to contribute anything of value in around 27 of them and offers no pace, goal threat or even willingness to make a tackle.

Click to expand...

The Complete Badger said:

I fully agree with you that if we HAVE to play Lopez, I'd have him as the attacking one of the central three. With Orlandi out we don't have another obvious option there, and most importantly it prevents him wasting one of the wings and giving one full-back an easy night. I'm going to be really disappointed with anything other than Lingard on the left and Buckley on the right tonight.

To answer your question, I'd give March a start at the front of the central three. He was moved there during the Doncaster and Leeds games so it is obviously something that has crossed Oscar's mind before. He can beat a man and he has energy, plus he's not a total liability defensively. For a small guy he is quite strong and willing to get stuck in, so even on a bad night he'll still contribute more than Lopez.

I was okay with Lopez last season but, in my opinion, picking him just shows we are willing to accept players going through the motions and failing to deliver week after week. This isn't a bad run of form, it's a woeful season. What really annoys me is that he gets away with contributing absolutely bugger all every single week and is still picked for the next game, whereas someone like Kazenga (who has been vastly superior to Lopez all season in every department and has single-handedly turned matches in our favour) is in and out of the team and criticised by fans if he has just one off game. It makes no sense.

Click to expand...

B.W. said:

100% agree with this too. Picking out one (count them one) poor piece of play by JL, and suggesting that is a reason to hammer him

Click to expand...

Bozza said:

If you are not talking about me - please highlight where I've "hammered" Lingard. All I did was say that he did have the ball with a lot of space in front of him and an opportunity to really create something, but he didn't.

Click to expand...

B.W. said:

My point stands that using that one piece of play in an argument against JL and for playing SD1, who has been CONSISTENTLY awful game after game (with some notable exceptions, I'll admit) is just plain wrong.

Click to expand...

Bozza said:

Again - please highlight where I made any reference to playing SD or JL (or any other player for that matter). I didn't. Again, I was merely mentioning one passage of play that had slipped the attention of [MENTION=4417]The Complete Badger[/MENTION].

Click to expand...

B.W. said:

And I didn't mention you, did I?

Click to expand...

Bozza said:

I was the one who mentioned the "one piece of play" you were referring to.

Click to expand...

B.W. said:

Yes, in the middle of an argument about the relative merits of Jesse's and The Invisible Man's contributions to the cause.

Click to expand...

Bozza said:

So were you talking about me or not? You can't seem to make your mind up.

Click to expand...

BensGrandad said:

That would be tactical suicide much too attacking and leave us weak in defence.

Click to expand...

One Love said:

Don't agree.

That's how we set up against Palace to win 3-0 last season but with Lingard instead of an attacking midfielder.

Click to expand...