Gallowgate Toon

We bought him off the back of a very good season at Eibar, by many accounts, so he obviously has something. We've seen on countless occasions that it can take players some significant time to get used to the league.

He played as a 10 for Swansea on occasion. I'd sooner have him there and go back to one up top. Desperation

This is going to sound like 2013 all over again but what's it going to take to try 4-3-3? It's the only way I can see for us that balances us out enough to not be total shit at either end of the pitch. We absolutely can not handle having a 2-man midfield, and the defence needs more protection without Lascelles anyway. We're never going to be great going forward.

I can't believe the defending in the middle issue hasn't been rectified. We've been shit at it for weeks on end. We have to stop conceding goals, man.

No idea why he's not been packing our midfield for weeks. Ever since Burnley we've been atrociously open, largely playing 4-4-2. Why would you bother doing it against a very good counter-attacking side?

Why is our midfield consistently open every game? It's absolutely pathetic.

Bad news gets more clicks than good news, especially for snippet info.

He's set up a couple of decent chances, like. Mainly to Joselu His game would benefit with more players joining him up the pitch.

That's the sort of centre back he is - blocks, clearances, aerial battles, deep defending. It's not a backhanded compliment. Are we talking about the same defender here? He's an organiser, a leader, great in the air in both boxes. "Blocks, clearances and deep defending" is you trying to put him in a box. He's no Sergio Ramos but he mostly plays the ball on the ground. As we're in the Jamaal Lascelles thread, yes, I think we're talking about the same defender. Of course he can do other stuff, but that side of defending is his main game at the moment and really important. He's not a particularly great reader of the game, interceptor or tackler, IMO, not that he can't get better. He has obvious limitations on the ball which is absolutely fine for us, for both now and in the future, because he keeps it simple. I already mentioned he's a good organizer and leader. As if you're digging someone else out on football terminology, like. To my knowledge, stopper is a pretty old-fashioned term for a type of defender, my 63-year old Dad uses it Weren't you banging on about Matuidi being a 'shuttler' or some utter s**** last year?

That's the sort of centre back he is - blocks, clearances, aerial battles, deep defending. It's not a backhanded compliment.

It's important to have a proper stopper in this league, especially with how we play. We need someone willing to do the grunt work, organizing, and general cajoling to keep players going. I think Lejeuene has shown he has some very good defensive ability and can become that type of player for us, but he's having to adapt to a new style and tempo of defending. He's proven himself in Spain so I have no doubt he'll bed in here just fine, he absolutely needs someone to be the lead defender next to him though.

He shows some really intelligent movement along with some lovely skill, I think he could be a really decent player in a year. I think being on the left in our setup hampering him, though. I did read that he had some good games as a 10 last year...

Not having any lefties on the left has crippled us going forward. Lost count, before Aarons came on, of how many good crossing opportunities were passed up because the winger/full-back had no confidence to play it in. This is spot on, like. Murphy has had the beating of his man the last 2 games but because he's generally been quite deep when beating them and he's had little to aim for, it results in pretty pointless crosses. I think we should be switching wingers in-game a little depending on the situation.

If Rafa is best in a certain situation, it's being an underdog that can nick a surprise result. We'll probably lose but have a feeling we'll grab a point.

You can tell he has so much class - he made some great interceptions and tackles, and he still played some delicious passes despite not having his best game on the ball. He and Shelvey are our best 2, but I'd rather we try a 3 there.

West Brom also shit themselves, mind. Much easier to step up and play good stuff when that happens.

Well, at least the streak has ended. Need to take as much confidence as we can from that.

Come on!

Right. Let's fucking show some desire. Make changes now while we have the momentum.

Christ. Can't believe this is getting worse.

No fucking pissing about with subs this time, man. Make proactive changes.

God, we're so bad. Late goals every fucking time.

Happy we're back to a more solid shape, can't fucking believe Joselu is starting though.

Flaw in this plan of course is that not a single player in our squad is a good option playing just off Gayle. Diame I'm not usually one for advocating chucking players into random positions but I actually do think Merino would be good foil as a #10 for Gayle. Not that that's totally random, considering where he plays for the u21s. Strong & smart enough on the ball and always looking for early passes, his pressing could be very handy up top too. But his work in midfield is so good that it's hard to not keep him there when we're so easily exposed at the back. Shelvey in a highly-specific gameplan could work there but, you're right, not many options. I think 4-3-3 suits us the most, tbh. Not that it's suddenly going to turn us into a great side or anything, I just think it gives us the best balance.

Would love to see this, if Lascelles is fit: Elliott Yedlin Lascelles Lejeune Mbemba Hayden Shelvey Merino Murphy Gayle Ritchie