The Barkley/Naismith conundrum

[strummer]

The diamond gets my vote, it also solves our problem of not having any decent wide players with Mirallas injured.

Howard
Coleman Jagielka ?????? Baines
Barry
McCarthy Besic
Barkley
Naismith Lukaku​

I don't mind the diamond shape while mirallas is injured but I wouldn't want 3 out and out defensive midfielders in it
Id find room for gibson or osman in that system

 

[Arteta2391]

Naismith the ultimate impact sub

 

[Scotty1983]

Feel sorry for Barks, hope the weight of expectation doesn't weigh him down.

To answer the op, there is plenty football to be played and both will feature heavily. Both offer different options and my only hope is we can hang onto both players in January.

 

[Kiwi]

Both are good players. But they are fundamentally different players.
Naismith has been playing as a second striker for us, while Ross plays as an attacking mid.
While Naismith has been scoring goals for us, the overall balance of the attack is better when Ross plays as he creates plenty of space for others when he runs at the defence with the ball, not to mention we control the midfield better too. With the games we have there'll no doubt be plenty of oppos for both, but Ross>Naismith.

 

[Garrick]

Especially with our current winger situation, I got one thing to say here:

 

[tim cahill]

The answer is obviously to play 2 up front. I certainly wouldn't want to drop Naismith and play Rom on his own up front right now.

 

[pablo315]

On current form you drop Lukaku if we're honest. Could do him the world of good

 

[Christiffa25]

It's a great problem to have. Isn't that what you want? Squad players coming in and playing superbly? Course it is, and naismith has done brilliantly. He ain't No Ross Barkley tho!!

 

[davek]

We're at the foot of the table playing rubbish. Does anyone really think Martinez is going to forsake the system he had last year that worked just to accommodate Naismith with 2 up front?

No chance. It'll be 4231 with Lukaku up front and Barkley in acm.

 

[streeky]

Of course, when Ross Barkley comes back and is fully fit, he goes straight back into the team. No brainer. So what happens to our current top scorer then?

He's in the goalscoring form of his career at the moment and you can't really take him out of the side for me. So how do we accommodate both of them?

Could we see 3-5-2 experimented with? We know Martinez likes that formation. I'm sure the defensive vulnerability involved with it will irk some people, and not surprisingly with how our defence has performed this season with four of them.

Howard
Stones Jagielka Alcaraz
Coleman --------------------------- Baines
McCarthy Barry
Barkley
Lukaku Naismith
​

Just an example there.

Can we accommodate the both of them with the 4-2-3-1 we use now, or maybe a 4-3-3? This would see one of Naismith or Lukaku pushed out wide which is wasting one of them in my opinion.

Thoughts?

simple play naisey and barkley and drop Lukaku

 

[KevMirallas]

Not really a conundrum for me. Naismith is scoring some goals, but he doesn't come close to offering what Barkley does. Naisy proved last season he is just as useful coming off the bench, and when Barkley is 100%, that should be his job.

 

[Jacob]

Feel sorry for Barks, hope the weight of expectation doesn't weigh him down.

To answer the op, there is plenty football to be played and both will feature heavily. Both offer different options and my only hope is we can hang onto both players in January.

Ross wont be fazed....I expect him to come back as he did after the double leg break. Hes had plenty weight of expectation on his young shoulders before now. I think Naismiths level headed enough to know the score when Ross returns to full fitness - hes shown what he can do not only with his goals but also his workrate generally and he'll still be an important player for us but not at Barkley's expense.

 

[Jags]

Howard
Coleman Jagielka Alcaraz Baines
Barry
McCarthy Barkley
Naismith
Lukaku Eto'o

Is what I'd play after the international break, with Mirallas ready to cover up top, when he's back fit. Besic covers Barry, Gibbo covers McCarthy and Barkley, and Stones slots in for Alcaraz when he's fit. Kone impact sub up top....​

 

[L4Everton]

We're at the foot of the table playing rubbish.

Yep. Disagree.

 

[jackyboy]

Howard
Coleman Jagielka Alcaraz Baines
Barry
McCarthy Barkley
Naismith
Lukaku Eto'o

Is what I'd play after the international break, with Mirallas ready to cover up top, when he's back fit. Besic covers Barry, Gibbo covers McCarthy and Barkley, and Stones slots in for Alcaraz when he's fit. Kone impact sub up top....​

Think the narrow diamond appears very popular for the short term definitely. Could also keep Eto'o as an impact player and play Pienaar behind Lukaku and Naisy.