Ashley Westwood - Sold to Burnley

[Dave]

Westwood is taking a lot of flack right now but I think he just about guarantees 6/7 out of ten performances each week

I don't think that he came anywhere near a 6/7 out of 10 on Saturday. And why the coaching staff have him taking corners when Gil and Grealish are on the pitch I cannot fathom.

[Phil from the upper holte]

Westwood is taking a lot of flack right now but I think he just about guarantees 6/7 out of ten performances each week

I don't think that he came anywhere near a 6/7 out of 10 on Saturday. And why the coaching staff have him taking corners when Gil and Grealish are on the pitch I cannot fathom.

Set pieces are total dog shite

[tomd2103]

Gana and Sanchez can be the anchors with the Traores and Grealishs of this world providing the sparks

Agree.  Gana and Sanchez with Grealish in front of them would be the way I would be looking to go.

I think you need a third body in there.  Less attacking but we need to be harder to beat.  Currently I'd go:

---Gana----Sanchez-----Westwood/Vertout---
---Adama---Gabby----Grelish------

Westwood is taking a lot of flack right now but I think he just about guarantees 6/7 out of ten performances each week, whereas Sanchez/Vertout and Gana sometimes absolutely stink the place out.  Hopefully as they become more settled the need to rely on Westwood will reduce but I think he has a consistency - albeit average - which will help the transition.

I'm sorry, but I don't like the look of that midfield at all.  There's three players there doing exactly the same role. 

[oldhill_avfc]

Westwood is nowhere near as bad as some make out.

But, ....

Gana and Sanchez look better options in a two man midfield.

Westwood is never going to be an attacking midfielder in front of the defensive pair.

Personally, I think we ought to be looking at 3 central defenders with Westwood as the right wing back (Hutton and Bacuna aren't good enough footballers for me).

[Risso]

Westwood as a wing back? Don't they have to be able to tackle and put a cross in?

edit: to continue, a decent wing back either has to be a reliable full back who can go forward a bit, eg Alan Wright, or somebody good going forward, who can tackle a bit, eg Gary Charles.  Westwood doesn't have any of this attributes at all, his strength such as it is, is to give and go, and keep the ball moving in midfield.  He can't defend, beat a man or put a decent cross in, so would be utterly hopeless as a wing back in my opinion.  If we were going down that route, I think Bacuna would be the best option from a bad lot.

[oldhill_avfc]

Westwood as a wing back? Don't they have to be able to tackle and put a cross in?

edit: to continue, a decent wing back either has to be a reliable full back who can go forward a bit, eg Alan Wright, or somebody good going forward, who can tackle a bit, eg Gary Charles.  Westwood doesn't have any of this attributes at all, his strength such as it is, is to give and go, and keep the ball moving in midfield.  He can't defend, beat a man or put a decent cross in, so would be utterly hopeless as a wing back in my opinion.  If we were going down that route, I think Bacuna would be the best option from a bad lot.

I think Bacuna is unreliable - a mixture of the sublime and ridiculous.

For me its the 'give and go' ability that made me think Westwood might be an option.  It's all about partnerships and triangles - for example Gill and Hutton never got anything going on Saturday - either Hutton went on his own or Gill cut inside.  Similarly nobody supported Grealish. 

[Chris Jameson]

I don't think Westwood is anywhere near as bad as many make out on here but bloody hell on Saturday I couldn't for the life of me understand why he took every sodding corner and free kick until Bacuna came on. Every single corner is the same.

[Lobsterboy]

Westwood struggles in a two man midfield but alongside two of Gana, Sanchez or Veretout would absolutely fine

It doesn't help that we currently have Grealish and Gil (plus two strikers) in the starting XI meaning the midfield can get overrun as neither of those two are renowned for their back tracking and defensive work. If we are going to persist with a two man central midfield it has to be Gana and Sanchez

Westwood should lay off the corners and free kicks though - they're in the main bloody awful

[KRS]

So basically Westwood isn't good enough whilst Gueye is out injured but we dont have any better options in midfield whilst Veretout is still not match fit? I would agree that Westwood can't be relied upon in a 2 man midfield so TS needs to find a way to accommodate someone else whilst maintaining some resemblance of an attacking threat.

Would a midfield 3 of Sanchez, Westwood and Veretout be adequate in their current form and fitness? Personally I'd switch to 4321 with Grealish and Gil/Sinclair behind whoever we play upfront...the alternative would be 442 with Bacuna on the right ahead of Hutton, but our attacking options would be stifled to say the least.

[oldhill_avfc]

So basically Westwood isn't good enough whilst Gueye is out injured but we dont have any better options in midfield whilst Veretout is still not match fit? I would agree that Westwood can't be relied upon in a 2 man midfield so TS needs to find a way to accommodate someone else whilst maintaining some resemblance of an attacking threat.

Would a midfield 3 of Sanchez, Westwood and Veretout be adequate in their current form and fitness? Personally I'd switch to 4321 with Grealish and Gil/Sinclair behind whoever we play upfront...the alternative would be 442 with Bacuna on the right ahead of Hutton, but our attacking options would be stifled to say the least.

Nice summary of the options and the dilemmas/

(1) is that Vertout hasn't exactly done much to warrant a start
(2) means possibly dropping Sinclair who's been the main goal scorer thus far
(3) not only Bacuna/Hutton axis underwhelming, the left side doesn't look much better - Grealish and Amavi? - looks very weak defensively and didn't link up that well on Saturday in terms of an attacking threat either.

The more I think of the options then 3-5-2 or 3-4-2-1 seems a better fit to who's fit (and good enough)

[Lastfootstamper]

The season kicked off bloody weeks ago. Getting on for the same length of time as pre-season since. Why aren't our players fit enough yet? Is it just us, or are other clubs in this state too?

[eamonn]

Gary Gardner will replace him in the team by the end of the season.

[brontebilly]

So basically Westwood isn't good enough whilst Gueye is out injured but we dont have any better options in midfield whilst Veretout is still not match fit? I would agree that Westwood can't be relied upon in a 2 man midfield so TS needs to find a way to accommodate someone else whilst maintaining some resemblance of an attacking threat.

Would a midfield 3 of Sanchez, Westwood and Veretout be adequate in their current form and fitness? Personally I'd switch to 4321 with Grealish and Gil/Sinclair behind whoever we play upfront...the alternative would be 442 with Bacuna on the right ahead of Hutton, but our attacking options would be stifled to say the least.

To be fair to Westwood, Sherwood arsed him around a bit playing him out of position against the likes of Palace.

Thought he played well v Sunderland, a woeful Sunderland it must be said, but without Gueye he struggles and we struggle.

Veretout looked like a man just out of bed when he came on not someone bursting to get into the team, with Gueye out we suddenly look very light in the middle unless we consider bringing Richardson into a midfield three

Was far from the only one who abdicated responsibility against West Brom - Sinclair and Grealish hid again, Amavi jumped out of a tackle costing us the goal while Gil only wanted the ball in areas that didnt hurt the Baggies. Our keeper and two centre halves were anything but solid. As for Gabby

Westwood seems to get it worse than most of the others for some reason, I like him despite his limitations but his friends in the British media are doing him no favours imo linking him to international call ups

[Chris Jameson]

Gary Gardner will replace him in the team by the end of the season.

I'm not sure Gary Gardner exists, he could be our Shorty Krantz.

[Dave]

Gary Gardner will replace him in the team by the end of the season.

I'm not sure Gary Gardner exists, he could be our Shorty Krantz.

Chris, you know full well that you shouldn't take the name of the great Shorty Krantz lightly.