Desp Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 Perhaps his style of play is simply not suited to the current team and vice versa? Certainly a point I'd agree with. Marvin Johnson, in a fast counter-attacking side, would be incredible. However, we aren't that team, because we don't have the players to play it. Thinking back to his goal against Hearts at Fir Park this season, or the opening two goals at Fir Park against Rangers, that's Marvin Johnson at his best for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lukemfc1 Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 (edited) Brillant post regarding assists. Most startling is Marvin Johnson. Ainsworth shown to be more of an impactful players despite the lack of starts. Granted they have both been pish recently. Saturday is massive, must win. Our next 3 games are must win. If we win these it could effectively transfer things. Hoping for a decent crowd on Saturday and an early goal which would do us the world of good. Despite some protesting otherwise we have been shite in every game recently apart from the Dundee Utd win. McGhee may well say otherwise but we all know this team can do better. Ripley Laing McManus Hall Hammell Johnston Gomis Lasley Cadden McDonald Moult Again perfect by no means, could make an argument for a few being dropped. I'm just not convinced by the 3-5-2 Edited February 25, 2016 by Lukemfc1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villageman Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 Statistics and Damned statics (no criticism intended to anyone). In matches I have watched this season and that's most, the opposition have worked out at stopping Johnson by however means ie 2 or 3 players, not necessarily defenders, on him as soon as the ball gets close or the physical approach, a lot of it illegal, means that our attack options are very limited. In this situation there should opportunities for other players to benefit. Can be argued that MacDonald and Moult could/should benefit but likewise there is no support from our very limited midfield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt_oats Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 Statistics and Damned statics (no criticism intended to anyone). In matches I have watched this season and that's most, the opposition have worked out at stopping Johnson by however means ie 2 or 3 players, not necessarily defenders, on him as soon as the ball gets close or the physical approach, a lot of it illegal, means that our attack options are very limited. In this situation there should opportunities for other players to benefit. Can be argued that MacDonald and Moult could/should benefit but likewise there is no support from our very limited midfield. Absolutely. It'd be daft to treat the info I posted above as being some sort of absolute. The fact that the free kick that led to the opening goal against Dundee at Fir Park was a result of Johnson being halved over on the east stand touchline supports your point. If we had Opta stats I'd be interested to know where Johnson ranked in terms of 'most fouled'. As I said a couple of posts above it's pretty reductive and I'm not claiming that it's anything other than that. However it is quite interesting to see where our goals have been coming from. With regards the 3412 I think it's a question of how much McGhee wants to get McFadden involved. To me, from the outside looking in he's been using that system to allow Johnson, McFadden and 2 strikers to be on the park at the same time. Since the attempts to get 5 in midfield with one striker have been eye bleedingly awful. To go to a back 4 would mean one of Johnson or McFadden dropping out. You could, for example, go with a 4312 or 442 diamond however it'd be a bit narrow and Pearson, Lasley & Gomis in the centre of the park would be ageing though combative, in fact it'd be 7 30+ players in the XI. Ripley Law Hall McManus Hammell Gomis (or Cadden) Lasley Pearson McFadden Moult McDonald Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 Statistics and Damned statics (no criticism intended to anyone). In matches I have watched this season and that's most, the opposition have worked out at stopping Johnson by however means ie 2 or 3 players, not necessarily defenders, on him as soon as the ball gets close or the physical approach, a lot of it illegal, means that our attack options are very limited. In this situation there should opportunities for other players to benefit. Can be argued that MacDonald and Moult could/should benefit but likewise there is no support from our very limited midfield. Yes. The problem is that our central midfield and full backs cannot distribute the ball quickly or accurately enough to Johnson and the strikers. If they could do so then they'd catch the opposition unprepared and give Johnson, Moult and MacDonald that little bit of space and time that they need. Do that and the threesome's success rate would improve dramatically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelvinBragg Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 A point worth investigating Greg, but we should also take into account the strength of the opposition. The strength of the opposition can be taken into account but that begs the question why our "better" players weren't providing assists against such weaker opposition... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigWeegieDosser Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 McGhee stated at press con, "Adam says McDonald should be fit" In other words, he's not gonna start. Better tell Fletcher, he looks like he needs cheering up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 Play Lionel from now to the end of the season and he'll get 10+ goals and/or assists. McGhee needs to somehow find a place for him in the team and in general do a better job at rotating his creative players without unbalancing the team. I like Marvin but teams just double up on him as he is a sole threat. Been saying it since early Jan but playing him for 90mins every week is not doing him or the club any favours. Both Ainsworth and Thomas should have had more game time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superward Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 I quite like the look of your suggestion capt oats: Ripley Law Hall McManus Hammell Gomis (or Cadden) Lasley Pearson McFadden Moult McDonald Every team knows Johnson is our outlet at the moment. Wouldn't harm to rest him and I think McFadden did offer something in regards link up play the past 2 games. Probably go Cadden instead of Gomis and tell Lasley to sit. If Cadden and Pearo put in a hard running shift back to front and you have 1 of the top 2 dropping back at times while McFadden floats about then the formation might not be as narrow as feared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ya Bezzer! Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 I thought I'd post this in here seeing as it's the a bit more current. Following on from a general point Busta made re: Johnston and his role as a creative player in the team over in the St Johnstone match thread in a fit of boredom (and morbid curiosity) I had a look at how our goals have actually been "created". I don't keep a running spreadsheet of this sort of thing but on the off chance it's of interest to anyone here's the info for league and cup games: Stats just seem to confirm that our greatest asset at the moment is a front two of Moult and McDonald. The team we play should be set up to suit this front two. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fergi4 Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 I expect McGhee may tinker with the lineup ----------Ripley----------- Law----Hall----McManus----Hammell Ainsworth--Lasley--Gomis--Pearson -------McDonald---Moult---------- If McDonald is not able to play, I think it will be reshuffle from above to compensate the loss of McDonalds workrate and link-up: ----------Ripley----------- Law----Hall----McManus----Hammell Cadden--Lasley--Pearson--Johnson -------Fletcher---Moult---------- Regardless, Motherwell 2-0 win Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdalli10 Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 I expect McGhee may tinker with the lineup ----------Ripley----------- Law----Hall----McManus----Hammell Ainsworth--Lasley--Gomis--Pearson -------McDonald---Moult-- Regardless, Motherwell 2-0 win That's the team I'd pick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 I can see an argument for dropping Johnson, playing Pearson wide and starting Ainsworth on the right. That way we'd be well balanced and it would allow Hammell some cover which he badly needs. However the downside of that is that it would leave our central midfield dreadfully weak especially in an attacking sense. Gomis and Lasley might also be outnumbered and outfought. If Pearson played on the left side in the middle that would leave Hammell exposed and thats the last thing we need. Decisions decisions. Being a manager is not easy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelvinBragg Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 I'd go with Ripley Watt Hall McManus Hammell Cadden Lasley Pearson McFadden Moult McDonald With a diamond midfield with Lasley at the base and McFadden at the top. It won't happen but that's how I'd set up. Leaves options on the bench to change it. I expect to see 442 with a midfield of Cadden Lasley Pearson and Johnson... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desp Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 I'd be happy with the suggestion that we go with Ainsworth on the right, and Gomis, Lasley & Pearson in the middle (Pearson covering wide left when we don't have the ball). The back four, and front two (should McDonald be fit) pick themselves. Let's get behind the lads tomorrow, eh? No need to be all "happy clappy", but there's no benefit whatsoever of screaming abuse at players/management less than 10 minutes into the game, is there? If you're the type where you have to turn into a seething mess at the football on a Saturday, save it for the Partick players. In about this lot, three points are there for the taking. 3-0 Motherwell. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmcalpin Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 The amount of posts and opinions expressed about possible line ups virtually all focus on variations in the midfield and that tells us something. Our problems are lack of creativity there and weak defensive shield. I thought Gomis might be the answer but he's been a bit up and down since he came. Still settling in perhaps. Any Hearts fans I've spoken to rate him fairly highly. The conundrum seems to be striking the right balance - if we strengthen the attacking element we weaken the defensive element and vice versa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
couttsy Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 I expect McGhee may tinker with the lineup ----------Ripley----------- Law----Hall----McManus----Hammell Ainsworth--Lasley--Gomis--Pearson -------McDonald---Moult---------- That's the team I'd pick Thats the team I'd pick also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobey_Dosser Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 I'd go with that team too, although you could play either Ainsworth or Johnson on the right and make a change after an hour. Got a feeling Skippy will miss this. If so, chance for Faddy alongside Moult. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEWELL Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 AINSWORTH?.No way he, s been shit for weeks. As for the game although I believe Partick are far better than us we can nick a point. 2-2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fergi4 Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 AINSWORTH?.No way he, s been shit for weeks. As for the game although I believe Partick are far better than us we can nick a point. 2-2.2minutes on the park trying to defend a draw is his specialty; you are right, bin him. If we only played players who have have been good for weeks we wouldn't be able to field a 5-aside team! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texanwellfan Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 Playin on a decent park and we are shite at defending so I'd go with line up suggested earlier. For me I think Johnson is more suited to games where we are more likely to counter attack and I think Lionel is more likely to score than Johnson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoF Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 2minutes on the park trying to defend a draw is his specialty; you are right, bin him. If we only played players who have have been good for weeks we wouldn't be able to field a 5-aside team! Yep. Just been looking through line-ups since McGhee came in. Ainsworth had a run of 3 starts back in November and has only started twice since then. McGhee obviously not willing to persevere with him in the same way he does other players who are off form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underboyleheating Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 At least Celtic are currently beating Hamilton 1-0. However, they (Celtic) have just had a penalty saved by the Accies keeper. Edit: Accies have just equalised Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelvinBragg Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 At least Celtic are currently beating Hamilton 1-0. However, they (Celtic) have just had a penalty saved by the Accies keeper.Big mouth... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_P Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 Rarely fail to jinx it don't you UBH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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