Strength in Depth?

The irony of Moyes’ comments was that they were centered around the role of Gravesen as a subsitute in the Bolton game, when we know too well sooner rather than later (when fit basically) he’ll be starting, leaving no attacking options on the bench.

...strength in depth indeed!

Something I failed to mention was the fact that we should perhaps try Baines on the left of midfield - and bring in Valente to play left or Stubbs and move Lescot back to full-back where, to me, he seems more capable. With Neville at right-back, Gravesen and Jags in the center and, god willing, Arteta wide right we should be much better equipped.

Steve, totally agree with on this. Was thinking of this the whole of last week, playing Baines and Valente on the same flank. Valente’s a seasoned pro and won’t let anyone down, and Baines looks terrific attacking as well as defending.

Neville looks far better on the right with his runs and crosses and positional sense compared to Hibbert. And the centre of the park would go to Cahill or Gravesen with Carsley or Jags.

At the moment we are too uncreative and even with Yak we can’t score any goals.

Vincent, I think we are in desperate need for Stubbsy at the back. Valente is a seasoned pro and good back up but he takes about 5 games to get back into rythm something we dont need. What you see is what you get with Stubbs. He is slow but he is strong, good in the air, reads the game well and is a natural organiser and leader.

Lescott is as good at left back as he is at centre half in my opinion. No one gets past him and he gives us a decent outlet with his pace going forward as he showed last season. Baines used to be a winger and is naturally atacking so it wouldnt be a problem pushing him to left midfield. He would also give us a natural left footer aswell as some natural width on the forgotten left hand side.

On the right handside my pick would be Neville and Arteta. Neville is undroppable in Moyes’s eyes so putting him at right back keeps everyone happy. He’s out the way of our midfield and he is on the pitch so that keeps Moyes happy. For me he is our best right back. We kept 14/15 clean sheets last season with him at the back and he also contributed 5 assists which proves my point. Arteta is obviously everyone pick.

In the middle for now its Jagielka and Gravesen. At the moment I wont mention Cahill as he is injured for a while. Both Jagielka and Gravesen would compliment eachother. Jagielka needs a ball player alongside him and Gravesen needs a ball winner alongside him. Jagielka offers the pace, energy and tackling ability that Carsley and Neville just dont. Gravesen could be key as he is our only player who can retain possession and pick out a through ball. With Gravesen dictating it also gives Arteta more of a chance of getting the ball faster in better positions.

Upfront my choice would be Yakubu and Johnson. Yakubu has already been critised which I sort of agree with and dont. His workrate defo needs improving but he is a talented player. The problem is we are treating him like a target man something he is far from. He is strong, quick, holds the ball up well and plays with his back to goal. If he given the ball in the right areas he will put the ball the back of the net something he has proved he can do with Pompy, Boro and Maccabi Haifa. Johnson would be my pick to partner Yak. Hopefully his game will improve with service from Arteta and Gravesen. Gravesen passing in the 04/05 season made Marcus Bent look like a world beater so I sure it would improve the much more talented Johnson’s game.

Thats my views anyway. If Moyes listens we might go somewhere or he could pick a better combination we will never know.

as ive said on another post playing 3,5,2 would be a way to give us more stability AND creativity until we get cahill and vaughn back.
gk
howard/wessels
defense
yobo, stubbs and lescott
midfield
baines left, neville right, jagielka sitting hopefully behind arteta and graveson.
up front
johnsonand either yakubu or anichebe.
this would also leave the likes of pienaar, mcfadden and osman who could come on and do a shift when needed.
COYB

Joe, that sounds like a good formation, would like to see Moyes play that against Sheffield Wednesday, providing everyone is fit. That might work against most teams in the premiership too, 5 in midfield would make it hard for teams to play through us. However it would probably leave us exposed against the better teams with more attacking flair.

Tom, i can agree with you on that one about flair teams mate. The good thing is the only team that is playing with real flair at the moment is Arsenal

Playing Valente and Baines on the left side is an interesting prospect indeed. Primarily because they share the same weakness: failure to track back quickly enough after losing possession.

Now, if the two could make overlapping runs, this problem could be eliminated.

But it takes a lot of practice to do properly and I doubt Moyes encourages it. If we just throw the two on the left in the hope that something good comes out of it, we’ll be let down.

I think there are some valid comments here, but I wouldn’t entertain a recall for Stubbs just yet... despite the recent defensive frailties. Play Neville at fullback and let him dictate to the defence and keep them in check.

Stubbs offers a great deal of experience and is positionally solid but he is very slow, too slow... the defence generally sits back far to much to accommodate him because the game always has to be played in front of him...

Stubbs will come to the fore against the likes of Chelsea and the RS where we can expect to come under significant pressure, but in games where we need to pressurise the opponents we need desperately to compress the play into the opposition’s half and get the ball out to the wingers (with fullbacks pushing on and supporting).... this approach will produce less aimless long balls... and hopefully more potent delivery into the danger areas.