Balogun should be playing right centre back to help Tav.
Saturday might be a gamble but it's definitely something that should be considered if Tav is here next year. Has been suggested many times on here over the years to move Tav forward and been thrown out as crazy but he is probably one of the best finishers at the club and has an instinct to be in the right place when near the goal. He doesn't have the pace he once had to be bombing up from deep and is smart enough to be able to adapt to being a bit further forward.
Why?
Because if we let their 3 dominate again we won't win the game.
Why are you so convinced that Sterling is the answer to that?
Haha mental isn’t it. Some folk think they’re playing fifa
Physicality, energy, closing down, ball-winning. Does all of that better than Lundstram or Diomande. Even then there's no guarantees because their 3 are very good players, but if its Lundstram and Diomande on their own again they'll pass rings round them.
Put Sterling in for him and push Tav further forward?
When? And how many games did we try it for before sacking it off?
Fair comments. I feel like those attributes could be just as effective out on the right as well because I'm pretty sure celtic will try and get the ball out wide to expose the full backs as much as possible especially Tav as he's known for his struggles in this fixture.
I think tav needs to come onto the game from deep mate , a lot of midfielders game is ball into feet with their back to goal , listen if it means keeping him away from right back I’m all for it
But I’d probs go with Sterling and a natural wide player in front of him
Sterling was our best midfielder in the December game. His blocks and interceptions helped us dominate the midfield. Our attackers didn't do their jobs that day, but our midfield was in the game for a change
When Sterling played alongside Lundstram earlier in the year I felt we looked at our strongest. Nothing was getting past him. He was winning every tackle and his distribution was really good.
He'll probably play left back
Diomande played further forward against Motherwell and he did nothing, was totally lost.
Not many, but it was sacked off for a reason.
A couple of months ago it would be an easy decision with Mcauseland, but he hasn’t been the same player since that tadger nearly broke him in two, he is clearly still hampered by it.
I’m not really disagreeing, but it does appear to preclude Sterling playing there.
To be fair leaving tav to defend against maeda again is suicide. He roasts him constantly.
To be fair,we have yet to beat them this season with the current set up,so it may be an idea worth trying.
Oh no I know that. I'd have that experiment in mind for next season. Can't be averse to adjusting players positions though especially as they get older. If Tavs strength is going fwd and his weakness is a lack of pace exposing him defensively then it's absolutely worth considering a shift in role for Tav to keep him involved for another year or 2.
Fair comments. For me though the best performance I've seen this season (granted I've not seen every game) was the 5-0 Hearts with Tav and Sterling covering that right flank and Dio ran the midfield that day. Granted we had great balance then with the left side of Cortes and Ridvan. Since those 2 have been out of the side its been a nightmare for the boss to strike the right balance with what's left in the squad.
That's not really how I remember the December OF in fairness don't remember us dominating midfield at any point. And the last one whatever the plan was was thrown into turmoil after 20 seconds so they're tough games to really gauge.
Experiment ?
Do any of you actually know that Sterling is. RB ? If not that’s mental
Not experimenting has returned two wins in thirteen games
What evidence is there that this will solve a perceived problem?
Since when has tav played further forward?
Energy, physicality, box-box, speed and ability to drive us forwards.
Has he really demonstrated all of those things on a consistent basis though? Has he shown the intelligence needed for those attributes to be an asset for us in midfield? Are all of those things not just as useful out on the right? (With the exception of box to box of course, that would be up and down the right side either slotting in for Tav to go fwd or overlapping Tav to create an overload on that wing).
There's absolutely no chance that this is going to happen.
