Roberto Martinez discussion

[daz4matty]

The only players out of position are playing there because we have limited wing options with Mirallas and Pienaar injured. McGeady can't play every game for 90min on top of his international duties and Atsu hasn't yet looked like he can cope with the physicality of the league. The academy winger Kennedy is out on loan as he didn't really shine in preseason.

Who would you prefer to play on the wing?

If he was going to rely on wingers he should have done his homework on atsu.
Pienaar has been fit but not picked.
I would play coleman an browning on the right mate it would give us some pace.
Playing eto'o in midfield or ross on the left wing baffles me,i just think he is struggling and does not know how to set up

 

[ArtetaMoney]

There is a difference between a long ball and a long pass, I think the latter can work, pumping the ball up the pitch aimlessly like Distin and Jags have been guilty of in the past puts pressure on the team in giving the ball away. Stones plays some lovely cross field passes which then gives us the chance to attack as we keep possession. When used right it's very dangerous, but we havent got the players capable to do it.

 

[riddick]

One thing that i will mention in the thread and not the Gareth Barry thread(because its starting to go OT on that one) is that I am surprised at how narrow Martinez has his teams set up. He has almost no wide players in the team. Granted, Pienaar is...injured and Mirallas is hurt, but he's not using Atsu almost at all. His teams have a lot of players that play almost the exact same position, albeit to different levels of success. At this point, Eto'o, Barkley, Naismith and to a lesser extent Osman play in that role just behind Lukaku and not one of them are even remotely useful out wide. Seeing Barkley in the middle yesterday showed how boss he is there, out wide is just a waste.

Im really hoping he does something in the January window but i doubt it would happen..

 

[LinekersLegs]

If he was going to rely on wingers he should have done his homework on atsu.
Pienaar has been fit but not picked.
I would play coleman an browning on the right mate it would give us some pace.
Playing eto'o in midfield or ross on the left wing baffles me,i just think he is struggling and does not know how to set up

Lots of players coming from other countries struggle to adapt when they first arrive, no-one has a crystal ball to tell which ones will adapt fast.

You are incorrect on Pienaar, he has only made the bench once this season when he didn't play which was against Lille. The plan was probably to play Osman in the slower game and have Pienaar against Sunderland but he got a knock in training between the two games. He seems to have a niggling groin/thigh injury, in all the games he has played he has had a lot of strapping on his leg.

You have just been complaining about playing people out of position but are now suggesting doing exactly that with either Coleman or Browning.

 

[meagher94]

If we're trying to accommodate players I don't understand why we stick with the 4-2-3-1. It's definitely our best formation when fully fit but with our most effective winger and Pienaar out I'd like to see us try a diamond. I know it's not as simple as just changing formation, it's a different system but surely we could've put work into it on the training ground.

Howard
Coleman Jagielka Distin Baines
McCarthy
Barkley ____ Besic
Naismith
Lukaku Eto'o​

Barkley and Besic can run around all day in the middle with McCarthy breaking everything up behind them.

Maybe a bit too late for this since Mirallas will be back soon but I feel like it has potential, we certainly have the personnel for it, Coleman and Baines giving us plenty of width.

 

[riddick]

If we're trying to accommodate players I don't understand why we stick with the 4-2-3-1. It's definitely our best formation when fully fit but with our most effective winger and Pienaar out I'd like to see us try a diamond. I know it's not as simple as just changing formation, it's a different system but surely we could've put work into it on the training ground.

Howard
Coleman Jagielka Distin Baines
McCarthy
Barkley ____ Besic
Naismith
Lukaku Eto'o​

Barkley and Besic can run around all day in the middle with McCarthy breaking everything up behind them.

Maybe a bit too late for this since Mirallas will be back soon but I feel like it has potential, we certainly have the personnel for it, Coleman and Baines giving us plenty of width.

isnt that incredibly narrow tho? And almost no cover for our fullbacks either who wouldnt be able to bomb up the flanks.

 

[LinekersLegs]

If we're trying to accommodate players I don't understand why we stick with the 4-2-3-1. It's definitely our best formation when fully fit but with our most effective winger and Pienaar out I'd like to see us try a diamond. I know it's not as simple as just changing formation, it's a different system but surely we could've put work into it on the training ground.

Howard
Coleman Jagielka Distin Baines
McCarthy
Barkley ____ Besic
Naismith
Lukaku Eto'o​

Barkley and Besic can run around all day in the middle with McCarthy breaking everything up behind them.

Maybe a bit too late for this since Mirallas will be back soon but I feel like it has potential, we certainly have the personnel for it, Coleman and Baines giving us plenty of width.

I'm also surprised we didn't try this with our relative abundance of midfielders and lack of wingers - means that most players are in more natural positions although would have Barkley on the left midfield and Besic on the right. Before his injury would have had Barry in the holding role and McCarthy replacing Besic.

Unlike a 433 it still allows the fullbacks to get forward although it probably wouldn't have worked when Hibbert was replacing Coleman.

 

[meagher94]

isnt that incredibly narrow tho? And almost no cover for our fullbacks either who wouldnt be able to bomb up the flanks.

Besic could drop back with McCarthy when either/both of the fullbacks bomb forward. I think it could work personally,we've got better personnel suited to it than most.

 

[daz4matty]

Lots of players coming from other countries struggle to adapt when they first arrive, no-one has a crystal ball to tell which ones will adapt fast.

You are incorrect on Pienaar, he has only made the bench once this season when he didn't play which was against Lille. The plan was probably to play Osman in the slower game and have Pienaar against Sunderland but he got a knock in training between the two games. He seems to have a niggling groin/thigh injury, in all the games he has played he has had a lot of strapping on his leg.

You have just been complaining about playing people out of position but are now suggesting doing exactly that with either Coleman or Browning.

I would rather have coleman and browning on the right than rom out there.
The atsu saga went on so long I thought he was going to be a real good player,with us being in Europe and needing bodies in the manager should have dodged him and taken someone else.

I thought pienaar was available more than that but maybe I am wrong on that.

 

[LinekersLegs]

I would rather have coleman and browning on the right than rom out there.
The atsu saga went on so long I thought he was going to be a real good player,with us being in Europe and needing bodies in the manager should have dodged him and taken someone else.

I thought pienaar was available more than that but maybe I am wrong on that.

Tbh think the plan was to get in Cleverley at the last minute who could provide cover on the wings if needed, bit like Osman does - or rather did as he can't really manage there now for more than 45 mins. That falling through and Mirallas getting a bad injury really put a spanner in the works. There were also rumours we were looking at Perisic as a long term Pienaar replacement but he broke his shoulder in preseason.

I still hold out hope for Atsu but have to admit it doesn't look the best of loans at the moment. At least we didn't spend 30m on him like Spurs did for Lamela, he only had 3 starts for them last year

 

[daz4matty]

Tbh think the plan was to get in Cleverley at the last minute who could provide cover on the wings if needed, bit like Osman does - or rather did as he can't really manage there now for more than 45 mins. That falling through and Mirallas getting a bad injury really put a spanner in the works. There were also rumours we were looking at Perisic as a long term Pienaar replacement but he broke his shoulder in preseason.

I still hold out hope for Atsu but have to admit it doesn't look the best of loans at the moment. At least we didn't spend 30m on him like Spurs did for Lamela, he only had 3 starts for them last year

Spurs are a joke with the money they have wasted a bit like the moaners across the park.

Cleverley was wanted but why not go for a winger to play out wide instead of playing someone else out of position.

I think atsu could be a good player but the loan does not benefit anybody.
I know hindsight is great an all that but moses would have been a good signing on loan.

 

[LinekersLegs]

Spurs are a joke with the money they have wasted a bit like the moaners across the park.

Cleverley was wanted but why not go for a winger to play out wide instead of playing someone else out of position.

I think atsu could be a good player but the loan does not benefit anybody.
I know hindsight is great an all that but moses would have been a good signing on loan.

Moses is an odd one - was great for Wigan, awful last season for Liverpool and now looking pretty good for Stoke.

Given Martinez brought him for Wigan and seemed to rate him highly it is strange he never loaned him given our good relations with Chelsea. Perhaps they were only looking for loan moves with an intent to buy and Martinez didn't think he was worth the money they were quoting and preferred to wait for say Perisic?

 

[daz4matty]

Moses is an odd one - was great for Wigan, awful last season for Liverpool and now looking pretty good for Stoke.

Given Martinez brought him for Wigan and seemed to rate him highly it is strange he never loaned him given our good relations with Chelsea. Perhaps they were only looking for loan moves with an intent to buy and Martinez didn't think he was worth the money they were quoting and preferred to wait for say Perisic?

Yeah maybe I just hope we have someone lined up for January.

 

[Titus Bramble]

If he was going to rely on wingers he should have done his homework on atsu.
Pienaar has been fit but not picked.
I would play coleman an browning on the right mate it would give us some pace.
Playing eto'o in midfield or ross on the left wing baffles me,i just think he is struggling and does not know how to set up

So your solution to stop playing players out of position is to play players out of position...

 

[Muggins]

Find it hilarious that anyone has the cheek to slate Martinez about "mistakes", when very few people on the internet even have their very first level coaching qualifications.

By all means they have a right to post their opinions, as long as they realise they are not qualified to say anything anyone should take note of.