Virgil as Striker ?

Given that Charlie is likely to be out for a while and that the others couldn't score in a brothel.

Would it not be worth a try to have Fonte and Yoshida at the back and Virgil up front ?

We are runners by out of options, at least until January so could do a lot worse !

Not holding my breath mind

It won't happen. Football managers are gutless and never think outside the box either. They're scared to do something like that.

----------VVD

Tadic----Davis--JWP

------Romeu-Hojbjerg

Bert-Yoshida-Fonte-Cedric

----------Forster

That's an option I guess to play to VVD's strengths. We should have been set up like this tonight with Austin ST and Van Dijk over Fonte. Can't see it happening though (the system or VVD striker) .

Fully expect the same negative system with Long up front. he might even play Redmond striker in front three with Tadic and Sims...hope not:..

Virgil made his own decision to become a striker tonight because he knew without Austin we didn't have one. He has a better footballing brain than Puel and Les Reed combined so he'll be off to another club next year and Les and Kat will already be counting the money they're going to get for him so at least they'll be happy.

I know we're in a rut but ****ing hell. VVD as a striker? Put down the crack pipe.

Is Charlie out for a while?

Moronic suggestion. Like something a very bad kids team would do. But exactly what happens when you elevate one special player above all others. Of course he's good but he can't do it on his own. Maybe he should run out on Sunday with his underpants over the top of his shorts?

I've not read the match thread but he looked seriously ****ed off after the game...

Given that Charlie is likely to be out for a while and that the others couldn't score in a brothel.

Would it not be worth a try to have Fonte and Yoshida at the back and Virgil up front ?

We are runners by out of options, at least until January so could do a lot worse !

Not holding my breath mind

Might as well be manager too. Couldnt do a worse job than Puel.

Lol people are saying this because sadly the most exciting we have looked in the last two games is when Virgil goes on a run forwards and almost always starts a decent attack. Other than that our attack has been pretty dire for those games even with Austin our holy savior on the pitch.

Moronic suggestion. Like something a very bad kids team would do. But exactly what happens when you elevate one special player above all others. Of course he's good but he can't do it on his own. Maybe he should run out on Sunday with his underpants over the top of his shorts?

 

I've not read the match thread but he looked seriously ****ed off after the game...

Nice, you try to think out of the box and you are classed as 'moronic' !

I could have just have slagged off the manager and most of the players (see the match thread!) but I preferred to offer a constructive alternative!

By all means disagree but remember that common courtesy costs nothing !

Vvd certainly wouldn't look out of place in midfield. I think he'd make a great box to box CM. We'd have to sign a top CB or 2, but something like this would play well IMO.

Fraser

Cedric Fonte Yoshida Bertrand

Vvd Rom

Dusan Bouffal Redmond

(New Striker)

I think it'd be a nightmare.

The only reason VVD looks immense when he charges forward sometimes, is because he's a defender. You don't expect him to do that, but where Romeu fills in for him quite fluidly if he charges forwards, he gets the option to do so.

I think he'd be blowing out of his arse after 60mins up front, and though he's the best player we have and very good attacking for a centre-back, I don't think he's as good up front as, I dunno....a striker.

If all else fails and you're 0-1 down with 5mins to go, by all means send him up there and play hoofball, but we just get little snippets of him there. We've no idea how he'd perform trying to get into/create space, his finishing when pressed etc. It's not like he went up there last night and Shlong went back to defend, it was just an extra attacking option at a time we needed it (and he got it spot on).

I think of VVD as my wife's Ford S-Max. It's a big people carrier with the 2.5T engine from a Focus ST. It's big, it's heavy, it's actually very, very good across a wide range of criteria and it costs a lot to run. And lots of other people want to buy it from us (I'm lying about that bit).

But, it's not a sports car. It might go OK, for an MPV (0-60mph in 7.5secs or so, 220bhp for all you car bores), but it's still not a 'fast' car. If I rocked up to a sprint at Goodwood in it, I'd get slaughtered by a Clio. It seems like it's fast when you're expecting it to be just a 7-seater MPV, but in the league of fast cars, it wouldn't work. If I was running a team of race cars in some sort of endurance event, and with 10mins to go all my sports cars were running out of fuel, I might send an S-Max out to do the best it can, but I wouldn't do that all the time, especially when it's so good at what it's employed to do, like ferry kids around or go to the shops. Or play in defence.

Ooops, the acid's wearing off. Bare with me, I'm off to the fridge....

Nice, you try to think out of the box and you are classed as 'moronic' !

I could have just have slagged off the manager and most of the players (see the match thread!) but I preferred to offer a constructive alternative!

By all means disagree but remember that common courtesy costs nothing !

Ignore people like him. He's clueless and rude. Van Dijk would be an amazing pure target man in 4231 as it is, but feel he has the ability to be more than just a hold up man. If we had Carroll or Vokes they wouldn't be a bad bet. Van Dijk is better in the air than both. Faster too and better on the ball on my view

Giroud for example is basically just a target man and he would get straight in our team, van Dijk would be much more of an aerial threat , just as good on the ball and faster. Pelle too... VVD better in air and bet he would hold up the ball better than Pelle

Crazy theory, the next thing you know someone will be suggesting we convert Redmond to a striker.

Some people have very short memories (or weren't around when we used to try this...)

The Bruise Brothers - Ruddock and Shearer - used from the bench when we were chasing games. ALWAYS WORKED.

Fonte used to play in midfield for Palace - we're CRYING OUT for some intelligent FORWARD play in midfield.

VVD would be awesome up front. Hellfire, we've nothing else up there, let's face it.

Why the hell not?

VVD has missed more sitters in the last couple of months than all the strikers put together. His goal last night was a fluke as well

I know we're in a rut but ****ing hell. VVD as a striker? Put down the crack pipe.

I agree, playing him as a striker doesn't make sense. Until there is a extreme urgent to score goals and its all or nothing tho, then he can be very useful and he's pretty good at it as well. First time i've ever seen him play a match he started as a right fullback and started as a striker in the second half causing all kinds of trouble.

But he's a better defender as a striker so playing him as a striker wont make sense but when your 1/2 goals down and only 10 minutes or so to go? Put him up front.

Yoshida went up top before Van Dijk did last night.

BTW, sign Sam Vokes?

I got slaughtered on here for saying that a few years ago.

Likewise, people on here also laughed when I suggested we sign a certain Rickie Lambert when we were in L1.

The new, new Henry?

VVD has just swapped agents he has signed for the same agent that koeman signed to this doesn't look good!

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Did anyone ever watch VVD at Celtic when they were behind and were pushing for goals?

PS... I do not think it a moronic idea.