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Post by Topper Gas on Aug 21, 2024 20:06:00 GMT
So would I but we haven’t been playing with two 10s we’ve used Macca / Sinclair / Sotiriou alongside Promise with just one 10. MT said in one interview that he intends playing with two strikers this season, given most of his transfer funds were spent on Promise & Sortiriou it doesn't take a genius to work out who intends playing in those two positions when the later is match fit. It looks like LT is going to have to play as RWB with Senior his back up, I do wonder if Hunt has been told that and is now looking to find a new club rather than out injured, if not, you do wonder where he fits in as MT won't want both Senior & Hunt on the bench. |
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Post by bridgwatergas on Aug 21, 2024 20:31:52 GMT
Every time I go to predict the line up, I struggle to know where to play Luke. I personally think he’s wasted as a wing back, but it seems our preferred formation. Not sure he’s a number 10, or strong enough to play off Promise? I really like him as a player, gives his all, just thinking he might not have ever cemented his true position and might be one to be sacrificed if we usually play 3-5-2? UTG A frustrating player for me I don't think he has a natural position he can play several roles but doesn't excel in one. |
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socrates
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Post by socrates on Aug 21, 2024 20:34:31 GMT
Best on the right of a 433 or 4231 but has done ok as a wing back for us.
You’d think he’d make a decent 10 too but has never really done well when tried there for us although it hasn’t been tried many times.
Good to have utility players but I don’t think he’s as good as some make out.
Often raises the crowd and looks like he’s about to do a Bodin ( cut in from the right and go on an amazing run and score ) but how many times has he actually done that ?
He’s very wasteful to be fair and still has the look of a young promising rough diamond about him but he’s not that young anymore hopefully he will improve and suddenly start tearing it up but I think more than likely average league 1 will be his peak.
Hope he proves me wrong though.
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Post by badengas on Aug 21, 2024 21:31:51 GMT
Somewhere in a front six with Promise, Coldplay, Sot, Hutch and Shaw
Back four of BB, Taylor, Wilson and Senior
No midfield, let's av it !
I might have taken something that disagrees with my brandy.
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Post by igotgas on Aug 21, 2024 21:32:08 GMT
Are you for real? It’s been two bloody games!!! He may be 5th on chances created but he takes corners and there are 17 other players who could create 2 chances by half time on Saturday and overtake him!! 2nd for big chances yeah……but he’s on 2, the same as 7 others and just one ahead of 49 others!!! Joint 6th for xA? Yeah 0.6….at his current rate over the next 10 games he’s due one more assist than 9 others!!! 2 games is not where we judge quality or productivity. Granted last season his nos were relatively productive but they weren’t stand out. And when I say nos….actual goals and actual assists….not X this or X that. Yes, I'm for real. Before you interjected, I was originally responding to the poster who said he should be "benched" and "been poor this season and back end of last season" and "doesn’t deserve to start". Even if it's 2 games, the early numbers show that to be nonsense and the same for the "back end of last season" too where he created the assist for the only goal of the game vs Cambridge in a MOTM display and 2 assists vs Cheltenham in another MOTM display. LT was an important member of the squad last season with good nos and a no. of good performances and he will be this season, when judged over the long term. However he has been poor so far. That said, and I’ve said this before, the two games have been the most horrible games for ball players such as him, Hutchinson, possibly McCormick and even to a lesser degree Sinclair. The ball has been in the air more than is hasn’t and made it impossible for those players to have any real impact. Too many people have been too critical of those players over those two games while lourding the impact of a back three who have basically headed and booted anything that’s moved. But your argument just lost a little credibility when using stats such as the ones you used, after just two games….even if I agree with the sentiments of what you’re saying which is LT is one of our more gifted players. 👍 |
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pirate
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Post by pirate on Aug 21, 2024 23:21:16 GMT
Yes, I'm for real. Before you interjected, I was originally responding to the poster who said he should be "benched" and "been poor this season and back end of last season" and "doesn’t deserve to start". Even if it's 2 games, the early numbers show that to be nonsense and the same for the "back end of last season" too where he created the assist for the only goal of the game vs Cambridge in a MOTM display and 2 assists vs Cheltenham in another MOTM display. LT was an important member of the squad last season with good nos and a no. of good performances and he will be this season, when judged over the long term. However he has been poor so far. That said, and I’ve said this before, the two games have been the most horrible games for ball players such as him, Hutchinson, possibly McCormick and even to a lesser degree Sinclair. The ball has been in the air more than is hasn’t and made it impossible for those players to have any real impact. Too many people have been too critical of those players over those two games while lourding the impact of a back three who have basically headed and booted anything that’s moved. But your argument just lost a little credibility when using stats such as the ones you used, after just two games….even if I agree with the sentiments of what you’re saying which is LT is one of our more gifted players. 👍 The Rotherham game was basically the football equivalent of 'war of attrition' where it was difficult for any creative individuals to shine on either side like you intimated, and Northampton similar, but it was still Thomas that was the main instigator of any attacking threats we posed in the opening game and of course it was his excellent corner deliver that resulted in the winning goal.   |
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Post by willytopp84 on Aug 22, 2024 0:22:27 GMT
Id like him in the 10 behind Promise and Raul upfront sharing game time with Hutchison.
3-4-1-2 with Bilongo and Senor as wing backs.
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Post by pudseygas on Aug 22, 2024 7:28:32 GMT
Maybe if he converted more of his shots he'd be trusted to play further forward. I'd like to see him in a number 10 role for a few games though to see what he can do
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Post by peterhooper57 on Aug 22, 2024 7:30:23 GMT
Imo Luke Thomas starts when available and fit. if you judged players after to two games Hutchinson, Promise and Sotiriou would be BFH, need to give this new group 10 / 15 games before piling in.
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Post by igotgas on Aug 22, 2024 7:48:59 GMT
Imo Luke Thomas starts when available and fit. if you judged players after to two games Hutchinson, Promise and Sotiriou would be BFH, need to give this new group 10 / 15 games before piling in. Don’t you mean, Hutchinson, Promise, Soteriou, Ward, Lindsay, Garret, Sinclair, Thomas, Macca…..basically anyone who would prefer the ball at their feet rather than heading it or hoofing it out of desperation? |
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Post by igotgas on Aug 22, 2024 7:55:15 GMT
LT was an important member of the squad last season with good nos and a no. of good performances and he will be this season, when judged over the long term. However he has been poor so far. That said, and I’ve said this before, the two games have been the most horrible games for ball players such as him, Hutchinson, possibly McCormick and even to a lesser degree Sinclair. The ball has been in the air more than is hasn’t and made it impossible for those players to have any real impact. Too many people have been too critical of those players over those two games while lourding the impact of a back three who have basically headed and booted anything that’s moved. But your argument just lost a little credibility when using stats such as the ones you used, after just two games….even if I agree with the sentiments of what you’re saying which is LT is one of our more gifted players. 👍 The Rotherham game was basically the football equivalent of 'war of attrition' where it was difficult for any creative individuals to shine on either side like you intimated, and Northampton similar, but it was still Thomas that was the main instigator of any attacking threats we posed in the opening game and of course it was his excellent corner deliver that resulted in the winning goal. You seem to be trying to convince me of something I’m already convinced of, which is LT is talented and creative? But you’ve made two GIFs from one game and Luke Thomas has played 3 full lots of 90 mins…. As we seem to agree on, Northampton and Rotherham were most certainly not games that showcased the footballing ability of anyone. They were all out hoofball. But while I agree that v Northampton he was probably our most creative source (arguable due to how limited that was) in the Cardiff and Rotherham games he touched the ball less than any other player on the pitch who played 90 mins. That’s nowhere near enough, especially as the Cardiff game was a proper football match with lots of space. If you compared that to Hutchinsons performance v Spurs there’s only be one choice as the creative player. However as has been said I’d want to try to find a way of him being in the side where possible. That may mean two 10s or a 4231 formation. |
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Post by kampucheagas on Aug 22, 2024 8:17:55 GMT
So….
Most of the debate seems to back up my assertion that nobody really knows his best position!
Very few teams these days play with an out and out winger, hugging the touch line and whipping in crosses.
I think we all agree we’d like to see him running at defenders rather than tracking back in a wing back role, maybe he will feature more at home when the emphasis will be to be on the front foot.
UTG
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pirate
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Post by pirate on Aug 22, 2024 10:35:48 GMT
The Rotherham game was basically the football equivalent of 'war of attrition' where it was difficult for any creative individuals to shine on either side like you intimated, and Northampton similar, but it was still Thomas that was the main instigator of any attacking threats we posed in the opening game and of course it was his excellent corner deliver that resulted in the winning goal. You seem to be trying to convince me of something I’m already convinced of, which is LT is talented and creative? But you’ve made two GIFs from one game and Luke Thomas has played 3 full lots of 90 mins…. As we seem to agree on, Northampton and Rotherham were most certainly not games that showcased the footballing ability of anyone. They were all out hoofball. But while I agree that v Northampton he was probably our most creative source (arguable due to how limited that was) in the Cardiff and Rotherham games he touched the ball less than any other player on the pitch who played 90 mins. That’s nowhere near enough, especially as the Cardiff game was a proper football match with lots of space. If you compared that to Hutchinsons performance v Spurs there’s only be one choice as the creative player. However as has been said I’d want to try to find a way of him being in the side where possible. That may mean two 10s or a 4231 formation. "Cardiff and Rotherham games he touched the ball less than any other player on the pitch who played 90 mins". In a game of hoofball against Steve Evans, I wonder why that is!?!? Lol. He sacrificed himself against Cardiff in a limp team display, winning more ground duels than Jake Garrett from the same amount contested..and Garrett's supposed to be the more defensive minded midfielder. Cardiff was a walk in the park for them. Our negative central midfielders never got a grip of the game and were totally dominated by the Cardiff midfield, resulting in nearly 200 more accurate passes than us and Rovers having just 39% of the possession. Now you want to compare performances of players against Tottenham's kids in a nothing game. I'll leave you to it. 😆 |
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Post by igotgas on Aug 22, 2024 11:08:06 GMT
You seem to be trying to convince me of something I’m already convinced of, which is LT is talented and creative? But you’ve made two GIFs from one game and Luke Thomas has played 3 full lots of 90 mins…. As we seem to agree on, Northampton and Rotherham were most certainly not games that showcased the footballing ability of anyone. They were all out hoofball. But while I agree that v Northampton he was probably our most creative source (arguable due to how limited that was) in the Cardiff and Rotherham games he touched the ball less than any other player on the pitch who played 90 mins. That’s nowhere near enough, especially as the Cardiff game was a proper football match with lots of space. If you compared that to Hutchinsons performance v Spurs there’s only be one choice as the creative player. However as has been said I’d want to try to find a way of him being in the side where possible. That may mean two 10s or a 4231 formation. "Cardiff and Rotherham games he touched the ball less than any other player on the pitch who played 90 mins". In a game of hoofball against Steve Evans, I wonder why that is!?!? Lol. He sacrificed himself against Cardiff in a limp team display, winning more ground duels than Jake Garrett from the same amount contested..and Garrett's supposed to be the more defensive minded midfielder. Cardiff was a walk in the park for them. Our negative central midfielders never got a grip of the game and were totally dominated by the Cardiff midfield, resulting in nearly 200 more accurate passes than us and Rovers having just 39% of the possession. Now you want to compare performances of players against Tottenham's kids in a nothing game. I'll leave you to it. 😆 Again, you seem to be getting me confused with someone who’s suggesting they dont rate LT or wouldn’t select him. Maybe if you took the time to read instead of type you’d get the picture? Why are you comparing him to Garrett? Not to mention you have your stats wrong as Garret won 3 ground duels to Thomas 2. But if you want to compare him to Garrett in that particular game, Garrett had nearly double the amount of touches, played over 30% more successful passes than Thomas despite Cardiff dominating the ball, had more shots, lost possession less, made 3 times the amount of passes into the final third, made more blocks and was dribbled past less. Yet Thomas was making the sacrifices? I’ve already agreed that the Rotherham game wasn’t a spectacle and all ball players were handicapped by this. But Thomas still had less touches than any other player from BOTH teams that played 90 mins. In fact in a game of Hoofball he still only had 3 more touches and played 2 more passes than another ball player, Hutchinson who played 30 mins less! The game was the same for both of them. In respect of the Tottenham game and the comparison to Cardiff, I’d consider both games pretty meaningless but similar in as much as they were more a footballing contest and more open, which is why I drew the comparison. Yes Cardiff dominated the ball and played nearly 200 more passes but so did Spurs, having nearly 300 more passes and Rovers had just 34% possession!! But we still had more creativity, had more shots annd more chances and scored more goals…even without LT. Are you suggesting Cardiffs reserves were definitively stronger than Tottenhams reserves? I’ll repeat just once more for you…..I RATE LT and I’d do all I could to include him in the side, preferably alongside Hutchinson and one other attacking midfielder / wide player (possibly Ruel once fit). He’s creative and skillful BUT the minute you tried to use season stats for this season (2 games old) you opened yourself up to them being picked apart. I’ll say just once more….I would play LT. I’d play him on a front 4. In fact I’ll name my preferred front 4 for you….. Sotirou / Hutchinson / Thomas All playing behind Promise or Martin depending on opposition. 👍 |
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Post by bathtubpirate on Aug 22, 2024 11:19:15 GMT
I'm really keen to see Promise and Martin play together upfront.
That gives us a lot of options for number 10, Thomas included. A really nice problem to have given our injury issues last season.
UTG
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Post by joefrankie on Aug 22, 2024 12:01:03 GMT
I'm old fashioned. He's left footed, so play him on the left flank (and a right footed player on the right flank). That way we can get crosses in which give our strikers a chance, rather than curing straight to the keeper, or out of play.
Or at least try it in the second half, if play A isn't working.
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yattongas
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Post by yattongas on Aug 22, 2024 13:56:23 GMT
So…. Most of the debate seems to back up my assertion that nobody really knows his best position! Very few teams these days play with an out and out winger, hugging the touch line and whipping in crosses. I think we all agree we’d like to see him running at defenders rather than tracking back in a wing back role, maybe he will feature more at home when the emphasis will be to be on the front foot. UTG nails it , he’s best on the right . |
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Post by cheamgas on Aug 22, 2024 20:35:24 GMT
I am a big LT fan but have been really disappointed in his play last season and this. For a player of his ability he should be making more of an impact and scoring at least 12 goals a season.
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Post by Topper Gas on Aug 22, 2024 21:04:37 GMT
I am a big LT fan but have been really disappointed in his play last season and this. For a player of his ability he should be making more of an impact and scoring at least 12 goals a season. Last season, which was a generally poor one for the club, he scored 5 goals and had 7 assists, if you're disappointed by those stats, then I doubt much pleases you when watching Rovers play. |
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Post by nickchippenhamgas on Aug 23, 2024 7:06:12 GMT
Here’s a controversial idea and somewhat old fashioned , why don’t we play a right winger on the right wing and a right sided defender as a right full back?
Even more old fashioned is the old 4 4 2??
It all went to pot with formations when they bought out squad numbers and lost the 1 to 11 numbers for the starting 11, once again commercial sensibilities outweighing sporting traditions.
If we did the above in football the debate as to where to play Thomas disappears , he’s either good enough as a right winger, or not, unless he’s a Gary mabbutt type player who can play in a few positions, but would take the appropriate number shirt.
It’s all about opinions footballl, and there is mine.
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