Carroll, Nolan, Shola, Lovenkrands, Ranger, Xisco

[NG32]

Phuck Nolan off and Play Afra behind Carroll, put Jonas back on the wing.

[Fugazi]

Watch out for T27's next thread - "James Perch isn't very good".

[Doug]

Phuck Nolan off and Play Afra behind Carroll, put Jonas back on the wing.

Which would leave us sitting in 2nd place in the Premier league if this had been done for our last two home games.

 

[Newcastle Fan]

I got an idea, why not just play two up front ffs!!!

[matta]

I got an idea, why not just play two up front ffs!!!

 

 

Atleast at home when we gotta attack more i would prefer 2 strikers.

[merlin]

Nowhere near a good enough strikeforce for the Premier League.

 

We dominated this game in stretches and Stoke took comfort in the fact that we don't have enough options for putting the ball into the back of the net.

 

If we struggle this season the leading reason will be the failure of the club to purchase one half decent striker this summer. Carroll on his own was never going to be enough.

 

Totally agree - even Carroll is being wasted because he is being asked to take all the responsibility for goals/leading the line on his own. Its bad enough for an experienced CF to play a lone role, but for a 21 year old its soul-destroying. Always remember KK as a player saying he didn't mind taking the stick because he was at the end of his career and Beardsley/Waddle were just beginning theirs and he wanted to take the pressure off them.....

[TRon]

A lot of teams play very effectively with one striker, so if we assume that will be a target man then I would say Carroll is more or less fulfilling that role although his hold up play isn't as good as Ranger. With one striker it becomes vital for the midfielders to run beyond him into goalscoring positions, which clearly we are failing to do. Rather than sub Ben Arfa, Hughton needs to make it clear to the likes of Routledge, Barton and Nolan if they aren't getting in the box they will be benched.

[Dave]

I wonder what Hughton's got against Lovenkrands. I know he's not the greatest striker - and probably not Premier League standard on a regular basis - but he scored nearly as many as Nolan last year and it's strange that one is being given a chance up front and the other hardly any. He at least would give us a different option in that he's clearly pacier than Nolan and doesn't feel the need to drop back all the time.

[Guest BooBoo]

I'd give Best a go v Wigan even if it's just off the bench for the last half an hour. Seriously, they are one of the poorest sides in the league and who knows what a goal could do for his confidence.

[Skirge]

Carroll Ranger.. Nile will put in a shift and will pay the team game.

[Guest BooBoo]

Not sure about that Skirge. He's a last ten minutes player at this stage. I don't think he's ready to start games in the PL.

[TRon]

I wonder what Hughton's got against Lovenkrands. I know he's not the greatest striker - and probably not Premier League standard on a regular basis - but he scored nearly as many as Nolan last year and it's strange that one is being given a chance up front and the other hardly any. He at least would give us a different option in that he's clearly pacier than Nolan and doesn't feel the need to drop back all the time.

 

Maybe he thinks Nolan will give us more defensively than Lovenkrands, because that's all I can think off. As a striker, Lovenkrands pace would give the likes of HBA a an option for those killer passes in my view, plus he's far more likely to be able to chase Carroll's knock downs.

[Skirge]

Not sure about that Skirge. He's a last ten minutes player at this stage. I don't think he's ready to start games in the PL.

 

Non of them look ready I just think if he was given his chance and made to realise he has to grab it we would get a performance we would not see from the others.

I think no matter the league he is a handful for defenders to cope with, right now anyone we play only has to really worry about Carroll.

Our wide men will run at fullbacks but if their wingers drop back and help out we go nowhere. Lets play two men uptop and two who are mobile and physical, l hate the Nolan role when played by a slow player its like he is in no mans land.

 

 

[Luc]

Even without one of those six we should have won the game. They are shocking.

[Disco]

I wonder what Hughton's got against Lovenkrands. I know he's not the greatest striker - and probably not Premier League standard on a regular basis - but he scored nearly as many as Nolan last year and it's strange that one is being given a chance up front and the other hardly any. He at least would give us a different option in that he's clearly pacier than Nolan and doesn't feel the need to drop back all the time.

 

If he is training like he played at Chelsea I can see why he is not being given a chance.

[Nobody]

Lövenkrands is a rather shite finisher, but his movement is pretty good. He'll create space for Carroll much better than Nolan will, and is more likely to get on the end of Carrolls flick ons than Nolan, and is certainly a hell of a lot more likely to make runs for Ben Arfa and Barton to play him in behind the oppositions defence.

[Guest BlacknWhiteArmy]

I wonder what Hughton's got against Lovenkrands. I know he's not the greatest striker - and probably not Premier League standard on a regular basis - but he scored nearly as many as Nolan last year and it's strange that one is being given a chance up front and the other hardly any. He at least would give us a different option in that he's clearly pacier than Nolan and doesn't feel the need to drop back all the time.

 

I'd of brought on Loven instead of Shola- It was obvious pumping the ball into the box was not going to work against a team like Stoke, and going with two big strikers isn't the answer. He would have given them something different to think about, his movement is good and is still pretty quick.

[Guest neesy111]

I wonder what Hughton's got against Lovenkrands. I know he's not the greatest striker - and probably not Premier League standard on a regular basis - but he scored nearly as many as Nolan last year and it's strange that one is being given a chance up front and the other hardly any. He at least would give us a different option in that he's clearly pacier than Nolan and doesn't feel the need to drop back all the time.

 

If he is training like he played at Chelsea I can see why he is not being given a chance.

 

This, I watched him with the reserves and he was totally anonymous in that game as well.

[cubaricho]

Lövenkrands is a rather shite finisher, but his movement is pretty good. He'll create space for Carroll much better than Nolan will, and is more likely to get on the end of Carrolls flick ons than Nolan, and is certainly a hell of a lot more likely to make runs for Ben Arfa and Barton to play him in behind the oppositions defence.

 

I don't think he's a bad finisher but that aside, he's at least a better finisher than Nolan and will create more space/make better runs.

[Guest n4e]

Lövenkrands is a rather shite finisher, but his movement is pretty good. He'll create space for Carroll much better than Nolan will, and is more likely to get on the end of Carrolls flick ons than Nolan, and is certainly a hell of a lot more likely to make runs for Ben Arfa and Barton to play him in behind the oppositions defence.

 

I don't think he's a bad finisher but that aside, he's at least a better finisher than Nolan and will create more space/make better runs.

 

I'd fancy Nolan over Lovenkrands to finish a chance.

[TRon]

Lövenkrands is a rather shite finisher, but his movement is pretty good. He'll create space for Carroll much better than Nolan will, and is more likely to get on the end of Carrolls flick ons than Nolan, and is certainly a hell of a lot more likely to make runs for Ben Arfa and Barton to play him in behind the oppositions defence.

 

I don't think he's a bad finisher but that aside, he's at least a better finisher than Nolan and will create more space/make better runs.

 

I'd fancy Nolan over Lovenkrands to finish a chance.

 

So would I...but I'd fancy Loven 9/10 times to actually get on the end of one in open play.

[Guest andrew]

Yep.

[alexthegreat]

 

Carroll and Lovenkrands never clicked. We should have sold Loven in the summer. He's way down the pecking order.

 

In the 10 games they have started together in 2010 they have scored 15 goals between them, Lovenkrands scoring 10 of them. Dont think you can say they didnt click

[Guest]

 

Carroll and Lovenkrands never clicked. We should have sold Loven in the summer. He's way down the pecking order.

 

In the 10 games they have started together in 2010 they have scored 15 goals between them, Lovenkrands scoring 10 of them. Dont think you can say they didnt click

 

In that case you could say that 7 in 6 at a higher level between Carroll & Nolan makes them click.

[Ronaldo]

They don't link up well together. Folk talking about Lovenkrands getting on the end of flick-ons are projecting qualities that aren't there.