Young's new central role

[Mr Diggles]

Houllier thinks he can be genuinely good there, but what does that mean for Ireland?

Houllier on Young

[VillaZogmariner]

---NRC---Petrov---Sidwell---
-------Young---Ireland--------
-----------Agbonlahor---------

[KRS]

Young has certainly shown lately that hes better at finishing than crossing. We know he can beat a player and goes down easily enough so may be he would be better in a more central attacking role. I know I'd rather see Ash going 1on1 with the keeper than Gabby and hes more likely to put chances away.

Gabby put in some decent crosses against Stoke, so may be a bit of role reversal for Ash and Gabby wouldnt be too bad. We will lose width and fight in midfield if he's going to accommodate and utilise both Ash and Ireland as attacking options in the middle.

I'm sure GH has some ideas up his sleeve...well, lets hope he does!

[N'Rexy]

GH was always impressed by very hard trainers at Liverpool, Fowler and other talents fell by the wayside as Ged didnt warm to them. I worry that SI's face mightnt fit in the GH world.

[Chris Smith]

The problem we have though is that is also Ireland's best position. That's going to be a challenge for the manager and coaching staff to work out a way of fitting them both in, on the evidence so far it doesn't work.

Villa sub's suggestion above lacks width for me.

[eastie]

Ive long been advocating playing with just one wide man , be that downing , ash or albrighton. If GED sees ash as a better striker than gabby then good luck to him , I think gabby needs a wake up call and this could be a good thing.

I would play petrov and reo coker in the middle with Ireland in a roaming midfield role and downing out wide , and go with heskey and ash up front against wolves- interesting whether carlos keeps dunne out.

[villasjf]

I dont think there is any need to rush Dunne back with the form he has shown this season and the weight he seems to have put on. I haven't seen anything to excite me about Ireland's play yet but its a new club, new settings etc and he has to find a new pad to chav up in the way only he could.

[supertom]

I'd personally have Ireland and Young swapping between central and wide, during the game. As and when really. Ireland has played wide before. He's not a byline and cross sort of player, but he'll drift into goalscoring positions. I think Irelands movement is that good he'll be able to find himself space whether he's coming at goals from right, left, or centre.

Plus Ash in a central role hasn't been an outright success so far. There've been times it hasn't worked (granted, we were playing with almost no cohesion tactically, which Ged may sort now) but the occasional move out wide to occupy their fullback could be sensible.

To be fair, as long as you have either Albrighton or Downing keeping up the width, you don't necessarily need two outright wingers. Not many teams play that way these days. They'll have a winger on one side, and a roamer on the other perhaps.

[JJ-AV]

Ireland and Robinho both had free roles with good success at Citeh. Just need to get Ash and Ireland working in tandem.

[TimTheVillain]

If you play Ireland and Young in the middle, creating just behind the strikers and play Downing on the left, you'll need to play 4-5-1

I guess with our current squad:

Friedel

Young
Collins
Dunne
Warnock

Ireland
Young
NRC
Petrov
Downing

Gabby

[taylorsworkrate]

GH was always impressed by very hard trainers at Liverpool, Fowler and other talents fell by the wayside as Ged didnt warm to them. I worry that SI's face mightnt fit in the GH world.

I think thats a bit of a misconception about Ireland.  He trains as hard, if not harder than anyone.  I remeber an article at the start of last season that was describing all the extra personal training he did away from Man City's training ground.

[Rancid custard]

-----Petrov-----
Young---Downing
----Ireland------

---NRC---Petrov---
Albrighton---Downing
-------Young---------

---------------NRC--------------
Albrighton---Ireland---Downing
--------------Young-------------

------------NRC----------------
Young-----Albrighton--Downing
-----------Ireland---------------

---------NRC----Petrov---------
Albrighton------------Young---
-----------Downing------------
(admit it, hid did alright here for Boro)

[Rip Van We Go Again]

The big problem is that we have 2 wingers (Albrighton and Downing), neither of whom deserve to be dropped, then Ireland who is an attacking midfielder.
If Ashley is going to play just behind the striker, there is no room for Ireland unless he can be converted into a holding midfielder and that is unlikely.

Still, nice to have some options.

[eastie]

                    Friedal

l young.   Cuellar.   Collins.      Warnock

                 Reo-coker.   Petrov.  Downing

                        Ireland

            A young.   Heskey


That's how I'd go about the wolves game , with ash and Ireland both have freedom to roam.

[Chris Smith]

The big problem is that we have 2 wingers (Albrighton and Downing), neither of whom deserve to be dropped, then Ireland who is an attacking midfielder.
If Ashley is going to play just behind the striker, there is no room for Ireland unless he can be converted into a holding midfielder and that is unlikely.

Still, nice to have some options.

Agreed, although I don't think it would hurt to give Albrighton a rest - this is all new to him so taking the pressure off for a week or two will do him no harm. Ireland as an impact player from the bench might be the best bet at the moment.