[Albion] Potter's best team?

[The Optimist]

I'm surprised that Moder isn't on that list. He seems to start every game lately. Can't argue with the stats though.

And unfortunately we haven’t been winning games lately. (I’m not suggesting that that’s Moder’s fault).

 

[Farehamseagull]

100%. He’s our most intelligent and influential player by an absolute country mile when he’s on it.

Spot on. Lallana is strangely generally under rated on here, to me it's quite obvious he's a class apart from the the rest.

 

[Bold Seagull]

The trouble is, the players that would be considered 'certain starters' are out of form or injured. Bissouma, Veltman, Lamptey, Trossard, Webster, to point out just five.

We know Potter doesn't have a 'best team', he picks players based on the opposition. Trouble is, when those players don't turn up, it doesn't go well.

I think our game is largely based on outnumbering the opposition in key areas, and this is why we often build attacks to focus those overloads.

In the last 2 games, being forced to play 4 at the back has led us to have to go toe to toe, 1 on 1 with the opposition in midfield and we have come up short. McGinn and Ramsey out muscled MacAllister and Bissouma Saturday, as did Cork and Brownhill the week before. We are not a natural team to be drawn into an outright battle, and that is what both Burnley and Villa bought to the Amex. In both cases I felt losing the center of the park lost us the game because it gave the opposition's width a chance to pin Lamptey and Cucurella in our half.

Losing Webster to injury, Dunk to suspension with Duffy barely fit at the same time as selling Burn has been an unmitigated disaster - it couldn't have worked out any worse for the club. Without that confident solid back line, we just don't have the platform to control key aspects of the game.