Sheffield Utd (H) Sat 30 Sept 3pm (not on TV)
No matter what the result they will blame Tevez
The Blunts finished 2nd in the Championship by playing fairly “old school” football; aggressive in defence then hoofing the ball up for wingbacks to chase or to a big, strong centre forward with a smaller, nippier striker playing off him. Heckcingbootom has stuck with the plan but it would appear that what worked in the Championship isn't doing quite so well in the Premier League.
The problems started before the season even began when “smaller, nippier” Senegal international Iliman Ndiaye joined Marseille for £20m. Neither of the strikers brought in to replace Ndiaye - 20yo Benie Troare (Swedish club BK Hacken £3.9m) and 21yo Cameron Archer (Villa £18m) - seem to have settled in partnership with “big, strong” Ollie McBurnie,
Troare started the first three games but failed to score and was dropped to the bench. Archer looked promising in his first start, scoring and hitting the woodwork against Everton but he has now gone two games without managing to have a single shot on goal.
If things weren't bad enough McBurnie missed the Newcastle game after getting a second yellow for dissent in the 14th minute of time added on against Spurs
Another big loss was Norwegian CM Sander Berge who joined Burnley for £12m, £10m less than they paid Genk in 2020 but with a year left on his contract he refused to sign an extension.
They signed two Brazilians, Gustavo Hamer from Coventry for £15m and Vini Souza from Belgian side Lommel Urd for £10m. Both seem to have settled in and Hamer is currently top scorer with two,
Both goals came from set pieces, both shots from around the left, just inside or just outside of the penalty area. Need to keep an eye on him at corners, free kicks, long throws, etc.
They set up in a 3-5-2 with the wing backs pushing up although currently both last season's first choice wing backs, George Baldock on the right and Max Lowe on the left – are on the injured list. 23yo Jayden Bogle and 20yo Leicester City loanee Luke Thomas have been deputising in their absence. Bogle scored against City after replacing Baldock in the second half.
After last weeks nightmare against Newcastle you have to wonder if first choice GK Wes Foderington might be suffering a touch of PTSD, before last weekend he'd already conceded 9 goals in 5 games so backup Adam Christie could offer an alternative
Foderington???
Ahmedhodzic Egan Robinson
Bogle Hamer Norwood Souza Thomas
Archer McBurnie
And naturally I'm working...
The Blunts finished 2nd in the Championship by playing fairly “old school” football; aggressive in defence then hoofing the ball up for wingbacks to chase or to a big, strong centre forward with a smaller, nippier striker playing off him. Heckcingbootom has stuck with the plan but it would appear that what worked in the Championship isn't doing quite so well in the Premier League.
The problems started before the season even began when “smaller, nippier” Senegal international Iliman Ndiaye joined Marseille for £20m. Neither of the strikers brought in to replace Ndiaye - 20yo Benie Troare (Swedish club BK Hacken £3.9m) and 21yo Cameron Archer (Villa £18m) - seem to have settled in partnership with “big, strong” Ollie McBurnie,
Troare started the first three games but failed to score and was dropped to the bench. Archer looked promising in his first start, scoring and hitting the woodwork against Everton but he has now gone two games without managing to have a single shot on goal.
If things weren't bad enough McBurnie missed the Newcastle game after getting a second yellow for dissent in the 14th minute of time added on against Spurs
Another big loss was Norwegian CM Sander Berge who joined Burnley for £12m, £10m less than they paid Genk in 2020 but with a year left on his contract he refused to sign an extension.
They signed two Brazilians, Gustavo Hamer from Coventry for £15m and Vini Souza from Belgian side Lommel Urd for £10m. Both seem to have settled in and Hamer is currently top scorer with two,
Both goals came from set pieces, both shots from around the left, just inside or just outside of the penalty area. Need to keep an eye on him at corners, free kicks, long throws, etc.
They set up in a 3-5-2 with the wing backs pushing up although currently both last season's first choice wing backs, George Baldock on the right and Max Lowe on the left – are on the injured list. 23yo Jayden Bogle and 20yo Leicester City loanee Luke Thomas have been deputising in their absence. Bogle scored against City after replacing Baldock in the second half.
After last weeks nightmare against Newcastle you have to wonder if first choice GK Wes Foderington might be suffering a touch of PTSD, before last weekend he'd already conceded 9 goals in 5 games so backup Adam Christie could offer an alternative
Foderington???
Ahmedhodzic Egan Robinson
Bogle Hamer Norwood Souza Thomas
Archer McBurnie
And naturally I'm working...
Comments
"Sheffield United's last win at the London Stadium came in 2005 when they two clubs met in the Championship."
I know that journalistic standards are dropping everywhere, but please, the London Stadium wasn't even a twinkle in Seb Coe's eye at the time of that match, as we weren't awarded the Olympics for another 6 months.
Aguerd has made too many mistakes though he must be due a good game, but needs to be dropped. If Moyes is felling adventurous (Moyes, adventurous??) I would suggest this team:
Areola
Coufal - Zouma - Mavropanos - Emerson
Paqueta - Alvarez
Bowen - Kudus -Benrahma
Antonio
I absolutely don’t understand the logic of leaving JWP out.
I would like to see: Areola; Coufal Mavropanos Zouma Emerson; Ward-Prowse Alvarez; Bowen Kudus Paqueta; Antonio
Coufal - Zouma - Ogbonna - Emerson
Ward-Prowse - Alvarez
Bowen - Kudus - Paqueta
Antonio
Record signing (£23.5m) CF Rhian Brewster is expected to be on the bench after 11 months out with a hamstring injury that required surgery.
Gustavo Hamer has recovered from the thigh problem that forced him off after 66 mins against Newcastle
33yo CM John Fleck has recovered from a broken leg he suffered in early August. Seems he broke a leg in late August last year. If I were him I'd give August next year a miss
1) The latter played against Lincoln so the former will be more fresh
2) Could Mavropanos play on the left? We’d be playing him slightly out of position
3) This is probably the most important one… I think our next match in the Europa League will be a little tougher than this match against Sheff United. Since I think Mavropanos could be the better player, I’d prefer to see him play against Freiburg and Aguerd play against the slightly easier (but by no means easy) Sheffield United.
“Mo’s ready, I’ve got no doubt about that, I think he was ready when he came, he wasn’t needing games he wasn’t needing training, he’d done all that. He’s ready and when we see the right opportunities and moments we’ll use him.
“I see him playing several different positions but he’s probably another midfield player for us, another No10. We’ve got a lot of competition in that position at the moment and he can play off the sides. He’s played centre-forward as well.
“There’s little bits of all those we can use if we need to but probably where we see him most is around No10 or one of three midfield players.”
https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/west-ham-kudus-alvarez-moyes-heitinga-b1110374.html
Away at Luton we were:-
Areola
Coufal Zouma Aguerd Emerson
Alvarez Ward-Prowse
Bowen Paqueata Benrahma
Antonio
My guess is Moyes will start the same XI but with Kudus instead of Benrahma