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Player            Pts Starts PPG
Dunne              6    2   3.00
Robinho            6    2   3.00
Ireland           12    5   2.40
Adebayor          15    7   2.14
Toure             17    8   2.13
Richards          14    7   2.00
Wright-Phillips   18    9   2.00
Given             19   10   1.90
Bridge            19   10   1.90
Barry             19   10   1.90
Bellamy           15    8   1.88
Petrov             5    3   1.67
Lescott           13    8   1.63
Tevez             13    8   1.63
Zabaleta           6    4   1.50
De Jong           10    7   1.43
Kompany            1    1   1.00
Santa Cruz         1    1   1.00

I will let you draw your own conclusions. Team obviously has 19 points, 10 games and 1.9PPG.

Care to explain to us thickos what it means? What do the points refer to?

How many points we have got in games where those players have started.

you started it slim, what are your conclusions?

Well after just 10 games - I would conclude that the table looks good for those who were involved right at the start of the season and less so the last 5- 6 games

Be interesting to see what it looks like again in January and end of the season - probably need to drop people like Dunnie off to avoid unnecessary confusion

Scatman wrote:you started it slim, what are your conclusions?

I think the big one for me is Stephen Ireland, outside of the top two who only played two games, he is our most effective player.

I'd sooner have Given in goal than Toure at centre back though

Bring back Dunne and all form an orderly cue outside Eastlands to apoligise to him?

Slim wrote:

Scatman wrote:you started it slim, what are your conclusions?

I think the big one for me is Stephen Ireland, outside of the top two who only played two games, he is our most effective player.

that's what i noticed too...it's actually the only interesting thing in the entire table, since the rest kind of cancels itself out. The bottom 9 or so are the crap team that's been shitting it on the pitch for the last month so no surprises there, and you take Robson and Dunnie out...and you get Ireland. Ade's been out a lot due to suspension and injury.

Why isn't Ireland playing more? Why is he less effective?

i know why...because Stevie told us. it's the formation and his role. He said on the OS about 3 weeks ago that this year he's been asked to take on a different role and play a less forward role than last season, and in a 4-4-2, which he claimed he "hasn't played in a while, but he's trying to get used to."

It's Hughes trying to figure out how to play 4 midfielders with the addition or Barry and NDJ's capability which is hindering our squad. It's at the expense of midfield creativity for sure.

I say bench Barry for a few matches, and let's see what Ireland and NDJ can do together in a 3-man midfield with SWP. SWPs form is suffering as a result of this change as well. Ade, Bellamy, and Tevez up front in the 3 man forward role. Same players, different roles. Clearly it's a case of 6 or two 3s to some, since our shape is hardly noticeable at times when we're fluid, but if it's something Stevie's making note of on an OS video then it is something real to him.

am i on the right track here or am i sniffing glue?

cheers

Nothing wrong there, I think Barry OR de Jong is the answer and moving back to our 4-3-3 is the right way to go.

I am almost scared of the thought Hughes intends to play a 4-4-2 with RSC and Adebayor up front, which may have worked at Blackburn due in large part to the delivery the strikers got from MGP and Bentley, Shaun and Robbie are not strongest pushed out wide and crossing for big lumber.

This is quite an interesting analysis but the sample is too small to be reliable, especially when players have started less than half the games.

I would like to think it helps to confirm what Ade and Toure bring to the starting line, but I can't get away with dissing the stats and then cherry picking from them can I?

So the winning combination is

-----------------Given

Richards---Toure---Lescott---Bridge

------SWP----Barry----Ireland

----Bellemy----Adebayor----Robinho

Has anyone let Mark know??

Although NDJ has had some great games I sort of realised the other day that we did alot better with just Ireland and Barry.
Barry covering the defence and Ireland going forward. maybe play de jong against the bigger teams or in certain away games.

IMO a 442 central midfield needs a DM and an AM.

If everyone is fit we should have,

AM, Ireland and Johnson (poss SWP as he can also play CAM) but we could possibly do with another Elano / Ireland type)
DM, Barry, NDJ and Kompany

But we shouldn't be playing 2 DM's or 2 AM's if we have to play 442.