The curse or El Capitan | Vital Football

The curse or El Capitan

PWould

PWould

Vital 1st Team Regular
We really are in a bit of a pickle aren't we? The football gods are certainly not being kind to us at
the moment. Infact can we hope to keep our season on track or are we starting to hit the buffers.?
Let's start with the captain conundrum. The captains out, the vice captain is out and now the deputising captain ( from the last few minutes of the Plymouth game) is likely to be out) . A previous captain this season ie Harry is also out and the most obvious next candidate ie Walsh is also out. It is not just about being a captain,but we are starting to look threadbare in the leadership and seniority areas. Who can stand in as skipper? Well I suppose the options are Mcgrandles Jones or Hopper. Jones has not been first choice for weeks , I am not keen on an out and out striker as captain so step forward Conor. He is also the player in prime form. Where does he play though?
No Bridcutt to screen the defence and now no Jorge doing likewise. Maybe Conor is going to have to play a similar holding role. It is a big ask. One of a few tough calls App has to make. Another is, can we keep playing Hopper, Scully , Johnson and Rogers without weakening our midfield? It also leaves us with little plan b and few attacking options to come from the bench. That is one reason we lost the game on Saturday ,as Plymouth brought on quality in attacking areas late on.
Who will be the playmaker now Jorge is out? We have no- ready made alternatives. Can we dig deep for a few weeks, grind out a few wins and draws whilst the cavalry can at least partially return in the next month? ( Not Jorge though by the sound of it, I will be surprised if we see him before next season.)
The big App will have his work cut out playing such
a relatively weaker hand for a few weeks. What can he come up with tactically? Football seems to be a cruel place for imps fans at the moment. Even App is now suggesting a win tomorrow will be one of the best results of his career given the circumstances. Is he bluffing or just casting us as plucky underdogs. Fleetwood have won 1 in 14 and Grayson flatters to deceive. I think we may know more after these next two home games.
 
The Gods of Football have seen 82/83 and are visiting their vengeance on us in a different way this time.
 
i remember having 'water on the knee' when i played as a kid-under 15s. we only had 1 sub-you could use 3. so i was encouraged to play on for a couple of weeks after, even though i couldn't bend my leg. where's the 'can do' attitude gone?
 
It's unreal isn't it?
Although it does sound like by the middle of the month things will start to improve.
Fingers crossed!
 
It's not Jones natural game but he has the physique to sit, close down and challenge from the pivot, with also the ability to be a bit of a quarter back play maker.

I would rather see McGrandles play his normal game as he is one of our in form players and takes up so many key attacking, box positions in support of Hopper. Changing his role would be more disruption we can ill afford.

Or how about a double pivot with Edun and Jones. Bramall at full back to provide width with Scully giving him some typical hard working cover and permission to come in off the line when we are attacking to let Bramall over lap.

That would allow McGrandles to get up and down in the middle with Johnson pushed out wide right and keep Rogers as a very handy impact sub for one of the forwards against a tiring defence.
 
Wonder if Edun could step up, both as the midfield playmaker, and possibly captain🤔. Maybe the first but does he have what it takes to be captain or will it bring it out in him? I’m sure MA and the team are considering all options - don’t have much choice really do they.
 
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