| Squad depth and your confidence in our bench 10:01 - Nov 15 with 1075 views | unbelievablue |
I was thinking about our squad depth. Overall I think we've been lucky in not losing (touch wood) any lynchpins for an extended period, but we all know that over the course of a season it is more likely than not. So a bit of a thought exercise...ranking our bench in terms of your confidence in them to step in with limited drop-off/impact.
1 is 'oh god no'
5 is 'just as good, full confidence'
Taylor - 4
Clarke - 3
Donacien - 2
Evans - 3
Ball - 3
Tuanzebe - ?
Humphreys - 2
Walton - 3
Harness - 3
Jackson - 2
Ladapo - 3
Scarlett - ?
Edmundson - 4
If I've missed anyone, please feel free to include. [Post edited 15 Nov 2023 13:03]
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| Squad depth and your confidence in our bench on 10:45 - Nov 15 with 977 views | LankHenners |
Naturally there's a bit of a difference between having to play a 'sub' for a 'starter' for one game and having to be without a key player for 6 or 7 games but just taking it at face value:
Taylor - 4, pushing a 5 maybe with a couple more performances like Saturday
Clarke - 3
Donacien - 2
Evans - 2 (not that it seems likely we'll see him in a Town shirt again)
Ball - 2
Tuanzebe - ?
Humphreys - 3
Walton - 4
Harness - 3
Jackson - 2
Ladapo - 3
Scarlett - ?
Edmundson - 3 (did you mean to put him rather than Harness twice?)
Suppose you could add in Aluko and Baggott but the former's days as a player for league matches seems to be over and, while I think he's handled himself very well whenever he's played, it would probably take a bit of an injury crisis to see the latter start in the league. FWIW, Aluko probably a 2, Baggott a 3.
Probably also a slightly different question about what the team itself loses if someone like Morsy is out, even if it's agreed Luongo and Taylor are good players individually. Think overall we're broadly in a position where the subs can come in and do a job in any given game but for medium-long term success this season I think we need to hope the bulk of the starters steers clear of injury and suspension. |  |
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| Squad depth and your confidence in our bench on 10:47 - Nov 15 with 966 views | DanTheMan |
| Squad depth and your confidence in our bench on 10:45 - Nov 15 by LankHenners |
Naturally there's a bit of a difference between having to play a 'sub' for a 'starter' for one game and having to be without a key player for 6 or 7 games but just taking it at face value:
Taylor - 4, pushing a 5 maybe with a couple more performances like Saturday
Clarke - 3
Donacien - 2
Evans - 2 (not that it seems likely we'll see him in a Town shirt again)
Ball - 2
Tuanzebe - ?
Humphreys - 3
Walton - 4
Harness - 3
Jackson - 2
Ladapo - 3
Scarlett - ?
Edmundson - 3 (did you mean to put him rather than Harness twice?)
Suppose you could add in Aluko and Baggott but the former's days as a player for league matches seems to be over and, while I think he's handled himself very well whenever he's played, it would probably take a bit of an injury crisis to see the latter start in the league. FWIW, Aluko probably a 2, Baggott a 3.
Probably also a slightly different question about what the team itself loses if someone like Morsy is out, even if it's agreed Luongo and Taylor are good players individually. Think overall we're broadly in a position where the subs can come in and do a job in any given game but for medium-long term success this season I think we need to hope the bulk of the starters steers clear of injury and suspension. |
On the Morsy front, I think he and Luongo are fairly interchangeable and can perform each other's roles.
Taylor as it stands seems much better suited to being the one who pushes up further, but not the deeper player. |  |
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| Squad depth and your confidence in our bench on 10:51 - Nov 15 with 957 views | SomethingBlue |
I'd bump Clarke up to a 4 – unfairly maligned by some but he's been brilliant and is as a minimum in Williams' bracket when we are on the front foot. People forget too that he's only 22 and has a lot of space to improve. |  |
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| Squad depth and your confidence in our bench on 10:53 - Nov 15 with 925 views | Mookamoo |
Baggott would be an interesting one. Yes, it would be good to see how he could step up, but I'm really hoping we don't have to find out and Tuanzebe is a superstar. |  | | |
| Harsh on your number 2s on 11:01 - Nov 15 with 894 views | Dyland |
And Walton. |  |
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| Squad depth and your confidence in our bench on 11:56 - Nov 15 with 769 views | NthQldITFC |
| Squad depth and your confidence in our bench on 10:47 - Nov 15 by DanTheMan |
On the Morsy front, I think he and Luongo are fairly interchangeable and can perform each other's roles.
Taylor as it stands seems much better suited to being the one who pushes up further, but not the deeper player. |
Couldn't agree more. Luongo can drop between the centre-backs and has the same spatial and game awareness as Morsy, but maybe not quite the same strength. But yes, very interchangeable which is great, because that position is probably the most important position for how we play.
figure before '/' is now
figure after '/' is potential
Taylor - 4/5+ (for the more advanced role)
Clarke - 4
Donacien - 2 (magnificent in the past, not sure if he can still do it at this level)
Evans - 2
Ball - 3 (great for the utility sub role)
Tuanzebe - 4/5+ (suspect he will push us on well above the current level if he stays fit)
Humphreys - 3/5 (not sure what his role is in current formations)
Walton - 4/5+ (was already improving on groundwork, and will be improving it while out of team)
Harness - 3
Jackson - 3 (specialist role)
Ladapo - 4 (not as versatile as Hirst, but causes defenders big physical problems)
Scarlett - 4/5+ (seen enough signs recently to think he can thrive in the Broadhead role)
Edmundson - 4
Baggott - 4/5+ (suspect he will push us on well above the current level full stop) |  |
| # WE ARE STEALING THE FUTURE FROM OUR CHILDREN --- WE MUST CHANGE COURSE # | | Poll: | It's driving me nuts |
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| Squad depth and your confidence in our bench on 12:07 - Nov 15 with 717 views | DanTheMan |
Following on from my comment...
Taylor - 4, as long as Morsy or Luongo are also fit alongside him. I don't think he'd work well with Ball.
Clarke - 3/4, he seems like a confidence player.
Donacien - 2, reached his limit. Defensively decent but for how we play he won't offer up enough going forward at this level.
Evans - 1, he's slow when he's not injured and that's not very often. He can ping a nice ball about but that's it.
Ball - 2, assuming he's going to be playing in the centre-mid. Fine for the last 10-15 minutes of a game for tiring legs but I don't think he's good enough to replace Morsy or Luongo.
Tuanzebe - 4, although this is on a limited number of appearances. Keep him fit and he could easily challenge Burgess or Wolf.
Humphreys - 2, not ready yet. Interesting to see where he develops seeing as he's been playing at wingback recently.
Walton - 4, he's good enough
Harness - 3/4, on his day he's great and it's just his first touch that lets him down a little. He's not Broadhead though.
Jackson - 2 / 3, depends on the opposition. On his day when he can get behind their lines with his pace, he's got the ability to put in some excellent crosses but he's not always very effective.
Ladapo - 3, is not as good at holding it up as Hirst is and can be fairly selfish as well, but a better scorer.
Scarlett - 3 / 4, he's coming good as long as he's not playing as our striker.
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Evans is a top priority to replace for me, along with backup for Hirst. Whilst Ladapo is OK, our system really suffers when Hirst isn't playing. | |
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| Squad depth and your confidence in our bench on 12:08 - Nov 15 with 706 views | Basuco |
I would put Dom Ball, Harry Clarke and Kayden Jackson up to 4, Jack Taylor up to 5, Marcus Harness 4.
Mainly because their performances off the bench have been very good, Jack Taylor has improved his all round game, starting or off the bench to the point when I would not be at all surprised to see him get a few more starts. I love the way Jackson and Ladapo close down space and pressure opposition players as part of game management at the end of games, not a skill they had when they joined Town, but are now very good at. |  | | |
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