The Enigma

[Skippyjack]

My midfield three would be Fulton, Grimes, Smith

But Cooper will persist with Hourihane and that will be our undoing in the end. Bookmark.

 

[A4Jack]

Interesting to note that Lowe and Ayew have scored one goal from open play between them since he arrived.

 

[Swansea93]

Hourihane will be playing on the basis they know he may pop up with a wonder goal, free kick or assist, to me it’s not worth it because he offers nothing else in the game and we’re virtually playing with 10 men and I would go with the 3 the op stated.

 

[PSumbler]

Hourihane will be playing on the basis they know he may pop up with a wonder goal, free kick or assist, to me it’s not worth it because he offers nothing else in the game and we’re virtually playing with 10 men and I would go with the 3 the op stated.

So on the basis of what you said, why do we insist on playing Ayew? Or Lowe?

 

[Magic_Michu]

Our overall player has deteriorated dramatically since Hourihane has been added to the team.

 

[PSumbler]

Our overall player has deteriorated dramatically since Hourihane has been added to the team.

Is that directly because of him or because the overall aspect of the team is just not good enough? Is it because Ayew and Lowe are offering nothing up front or because we have decided that leaving Smith and Fulton on the bench is the right thing to do?

Everything is being landed at the feet of Hourihane but is it solely down to that?

 

[3swan]

Our overall player has deteriorated dramatically since Hourihane has been added to the team.

Is that directly because of him or because the overall aspect of the team is just not good enough? Is it because Ayew and Lowe are offering nothing up front or because we have decided that leaving Smith and Fulton on the bench is the right thing to do?

Everything is being landed at the feet of Hourihane but is it solely down to that?

Imo no it's not all down to him. The balance of the team is normally wrong. Imo this leads to us carrying maybe 3 players during the game. There have been enough posts saying basically much the same. Does SC have little belief in changing things or have very little trust in squad players. This poor run of performances has been the cards for a while. Question is, is it too late to turn it around with a number of players performing below the required level due to not using squad rotation.

 

[PSumbler]

Is that directly because of him or because the overall aspect of the team is just not good enough? Is it because Ayew and Lowe are offering nothing up front or because we have decided that leaving Smith and Fulton on the bench is the right thing to do?

Everything is being landed at the feet of Hourihane but is it solely down to that?

Imo no it's not all down to him. The balance of the team is normally wrong. Imo this leads to us carrying maybe 3 players during the game. There have been enough posts saying basically much the same. Does SC have little belief in changing things or have very little trust in squad players. This poor run of performances has been the cards for a while. Question is, is it too late to turn it around with a number of players performing below the required level due to not using squad rotation.

The simplistic part for me is he is playing in the wrong position. He needs to play the number 10 role because that is where we would see th ebest out of him (my belief when we signed him and nothing I have seen since changed him)

The problems come when we play Dhanda and Grimes with him then the balance (as you said) is wrong and CH is unfairly singled out for criticism when he has offered the same as his two midfield partners. Put Fulton or Smith in (or both) and drop Dhanda (much more than an enigma, simply not good enough) and the team will balance better

And we need to take pressure off the midfield by dropping one or both of our front two players for a game or two to get them fresh. Maybe that would see things dramatically change

 

[Dr. Winston]

You have to wonder how Villa managed to get promoted with such a "liability" in their team. Maybe they were a bit more flexible with regards team setup and selection than we are.

 

[3swan]

Imo no it's not all down to him. The balance of the team is normally wrong. Imo this leads to us carrying maybe 3 players during the game. There have been enough posts saying basically much the same. Does SC have little belief in changing things or have very little trust in squad players. This poor run of performances has been the cards for a while. Question is, is it too late to turn it around with a number of players performing below the required level due to not using squad rotation.

The simplistic part for me is he is playing in the wrong position. He needs to play the number 10 role because that is where we would see th ebest out of him (my belief when we signed him and nothing I have seen since changed him)

The problems come when we play Dhanda and Grimes with him then the balance (as you said) is wrong and CH is unfairly singled out for criticism when he has offered the same as his two midfield partners. Put Fulton or Smith in (or both) and drop Dhanda (much more than an enigma, simply not good enough) and the team will balance better

And we need to take pressure off the midfield by dropping one or both of our front two players for a game or two to get them fresh. Maybe that would see things dramatically change

Agree and as you have posted in another thread SC has a good record over his 80 games. I just get the impression he has hit a ceiling. Injuries haven't helped some loans leaving and the Southampton? forward unidentified signing on loan. Whether he has got to his permanent level or just a temporary blip only time will tell but games are coming thick and fast so not much time left this season

 

[Fireboy]

The simplistic part for me is he is playing in the wrong position. He needs to play the number 10 role because that is where we would see th ebest out of him (my belief when we signed him and nothing I have seen since changed him)

The problems come when we play Dhanda and Grimes with him then the balance (as you said) is wrong and CH is unfairly singled out for criticism when he has offered the same as his two midfield partners. Put Fulton or Smith in (or both) and drop Dhanda (much more than an enigma, simply not good enough) and the team will balance better

And we need to take pressure off the midfield by dropping one or both of our front two players for a game or two to get them fresh. Maybe that would see things dramatically change

Agree and as you have posted in another thread SC has a good record over his 80 games. I just get the impression he has hit a ceiling. Injuries haven't helped some loans leaving and the Southampton? forward unidentified signing on loan. Whether he has got to his permanent level or just a temporary blip only time will tell but games are coming thick and fast so not much time left this season

Surely cooper will have to rotate the whole team with us having 2 games a week for the next six weeks.

 

[thefranchise]

Agree and as you have posted in another thread SC has a good record over his 80 games. I just get the impression he has hit a ceiling. Injuries haven't helped some loans leaving and the Southampton? forward unidentified signing on loan. Whether he has got to his permanent level or just a temporary blip only time will tell but games are coming thick and fast so not much time left this season

Surely cooper will have to rotate the whole team with us having 2 games a week for the next six weeks.

We have had that most of the season though and he really hasn't done it.

 

[Dr. Winston]

Surely cooper will have to rotate the whole team with us having 2 games a week for the next six weeks.

We've just played five league games in 23 days and selected largely the same team in all of them.

 

[thefranchise]

I think a stronger middle 3 and maybe a rest for Ayew or Lowe would help.

Dhanda is full of life in the first 30 minutes but he fades quickly and doesn't really do a lot. He's done nothing for me to start over Smith or Fulton.

 

[MrSwerve]

Hang on, wasn’t Hourihane the ‘last piece of the jigsaw’ in his first couple of weeks here?