Who will EH start vs the hammers???

NWCherries98 said:
Our only holding player can’t defend in any way, shape or form. He can’t tackle, be a forceful presence, win the ball back or...run. Andrew Surman is the opposite of an “engine”. But don’t worry, he can “spray the ball out wide” and “recycle possession”. You have to offer far more than that at this level to justify starting games.

Personally, I think Surman is much better further forward. He can play slide-rule passes, has an excellent footballing brain, and has an underrated shot on him. Sure, he’s lacking in other areas; he’s too one-footed to be a proper No10, but that’s why he’s not a top player. When he played further forward last season, he got 2 goals and 4(???) assists. He did far more than he did in the previous 2 seasons in a span of around 3 months. And this is where he always played at Saints/Norwich (obviously he was younger but the point still stands).

He doesn’t do nearly enough in a two-man midfield to be a holding player in this league imo. Maybe in a 3, but definitely not in a 2. I was hoping that’s why we brought Lerma in...
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Surman partners well with Lewis Cook, an example of this is when Cook was given a MOTM performance against Leicester last season. However, both of his goals came against two teams that like to hold back and be defensive (Brighton and Stoke) therefore he was more or less forced to go forward. But I agree with you, he's played as a defensive midfielder when he shouldn't be. I think he would excel as being in a 3 man midfield! Look at how well he played when we played Man City last year! He was alongside Arter and Gosling. If that could be Cook and Lerma, then I'm sure he'll have a great season, even better than last season.

The team I'd pick for West Ham (4-4-2):

Begovic

Francis --- Cook --- Ake --- Daniels
Smith --- Surman --- Cook --- Fraser
King --- Wilson

Subs: Boruc, Mings, Brooks, Gosling, Ibe, Defoe, Mousset
 
blandford_cherry said:
Someone mentioned on here that he’s never started a premier league game without Francis or Surman in the starting 11, how true it is I don’t know, but I’m assuming one or the other will play, most probably Surman.
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They both started every game in 15/16.

Francis only missed 4 starts in 16/17 and Surman started all those 4.

However there were two games last season where neither started out of the 7 Francis did not start. Arsenal and Watford away - Francis came on as a sub in the Arsenal game and Surman came on in the Watford game.

So one or the other has made an appearance in every one of our PL games. That Arsenal game was the only other game Francis has started on the bench - after he had missed two games with an injury.
 
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I would bring franno back as part of a 5 in defence so that Daniels and a Smith can counter attack. Happy to try to frustrate hammers. Cook for surman and brooks on bench for this game imho
 
A holding player doesn’t necessarily mean defensive player and is nearly always the opposite of an energetic player. It literally means they hold their position!

Surman’s role is to keep his position, making himself available for passes and yes, recycling possession. He’s obviously not being picked for his hard tackling and high energy pressing.

Lerma seems to have a lot more energy and tackling ability. He might eventually take Surman’s place in the XI, but the role he’ll play will be completely different
 
I like the 4-3-3. I get enough of the 4-2-3-1 with my Philadelphia Union

-------------Begovic-------------
Smith---S. Cook---Ake---Daniels
Brooks--------Gosling--------L. Cook
King--------Wilson--------Fraser

But cant wait to see
-------------Begovic-------------
Smith---S. Cook---Ake---Rico

Brooks--------Lerma--------L. Cook

King--------Wilson--------Fraser
 
YankCherry said:
I like the 4-3-3. I get enough of the 4-2-3-1 with my Philadelphia Union

-------------Begovic-------------
Smith---S. Cook---Ake---Daniels
Brooks--------Gosling--------L. Cook
King--------Wilson--------Fraser

But cant wait to see
-------------Begovic-------------
Smith---S. Cook---Ake---Rico

Brooks--------Lerma--------L. Cook

King--------Wilson--------Fraser
Click to expand...

Completely agree on the “can’t wait to see”
 
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NWCherries98 said:
Lewis Cook sits in front of the back 4 for the England U21s usually, and looks excellent there. He does look lacking in discipline for us though; maybe EH tells him to get forward and create?
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Or maybe last season he saw the endless sideways passing in certain games and thought “ feck this , let’s actually try and get forward through the centre “
 
I'm glad I don't have to pick the team! Injuries permitting, once everybody is back and available - Rico, Stan, too soon for Lerma I guess?
Won't we be spoilt for choice, seems a much stronger squad than last season.

My team would be
Begovic
Smith, S. Cook, Ake, Daniels
Surman (too soon for Brooks I think), Gosling, L. Cook
King, Wilson, Fraser
 
Tinpot Club said:
A holding player doesn’t necessarily mean defensive player and is nearly always the opposite of an energetic player. It literally means they hold their position!

Surman’s role is to keep his position, making himself available for passes and yes, recycling possession. He’s obviously not being picked for his hard tackling and high energy pressing.

Lerma seems to have a lot more energy and tackling ability. He might eventually take Surman’s place in the XI, but the role he’ll play will be completely different
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I get what Surman's role is, in principle; be the midfield metronome and keep play ticking along. But I can't think of a single player in this league who's only discernible role in the team is to, "make himself available" and pass the ball out wide. I'm sorry, but that is such a waste of a position in this league when half of the teams have players who can do that, and actually defend. Again, he had an invaluable role in the Championship when Arter did everything else, but this isn't the championship. Having him in a two man midfield just to make himself available is absurd.

I know I'm not the manager, thats just my opinion. The only reason our midfield didn't completely crumble against Cardiff is because Gosling played an absolute belter, which we know he can't do for a whole season, unfortunately.

I would hope Lerma has been signed to play a different role! Hopefully an energetic, tough tackling, physical presence in midfield. Everything that Surman isn't, essentially! I like Surman a lot, but I just feel he could be playing a different role for the team now.
 
This is a pivotal game that could shape our season. A win here would be a great confidence boost. After that we have 7 out of 8 games we should be competitive in and with some good results it might loosen up the players and crowds. Even though we were not in real trouble last season you could feel the tension in the players and crowds which manifested into the use of Sweet Caroline and clappers.
 
With all due respect to Eddie, we need both Lewis Cook and David Brooks playing to give us the creativity one needs to win premiership matches. Their age is immaterial when you consider they are both international players for their respective countries. Without them we will definitely struggle.
 
These are interesting games coming up, both West Ham and Everton have brought in new managers, spent a shed load of money on a lot of new players, sending fan expectations sky high. This can play into our hands if we can just defend competently, disrupt their flow, and wait for inevitable chances on the counter.

Much much better to play them both now than in 2-3 months time. We are fully capable of upsetting one or both of them with the amount of pace and fluidity we have on a good day. A couple of draws or better will cause meltdowns in their respective fanbase(s). "We've spent 100m, it's Bournemouth, why aren't we beating them" etc etc.

It's going to be interesting, we need Eddie on his metal, then anything is possible.
 
I suspect we'll see L Cook in for Surman and Francis in for Brooks pushing Smith further up. Remember... either one of Francis or Surman HAS to play. Them be the rules.
 
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