Start sakala, bacuna and patterson thursday

Growler said:
Really dont understand fans who only ever want to focus on the league and don’t care about Europe. A fast track logic to be coming Shamrock Rovers or Flora Tallinn.
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There’s a difference between having that viewpoint this season vs normally though. Every other season I care about Europe whereas this season I care about nothing other than winning the £40m CL prize pool on offer. We win the league this year and the jovial ‘Here we go, 10 in a row’ chants have every chance of becoming reality.
 
LiviLoyal said:
There’s a difference between having that viewpoint this season vs normally though. Every other season I care about Europe whereas this season I care about nothing other than winning the £40m CL prize pool on offer. We win the league this year and the jovial ‘Here we go, 10 in a row’ chants have every chance of becoming reality.
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No there isn't.....
 
LiviLoyal said:
There’s a difference between having that viewpoint this season vs normally though. Every other season I care about Europe whereas this season I care about nothing other than winning the £40m CL prize pool on offer. We win the league this year and the jovial ‘Here we go, 10 in a row’ chants have every chance of becoming reality.
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Agree, but there is a portion of our fans who say it season after season.
 
Sakala to start Thursday, have a feeling he might be used in a similar role as to what Barker (GOAT) was previously used against likes of Porto to be used to catch them on the counter, especially away from home in europe.
 
usbear said:
No way will he start guys who have no experience playing in Gerrards European away game system

The front 3’s defensive qualities are what saw us through quite a few away games last season

It’ll mostly be tried and tested players imo
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Very true, I doubt there will be many changes, will miss Helander mind.
 
Jjbscotty said:
Our best team hasn’t clicked all season.
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If we still don't click and we have a cup final Vs the filth in December, who are we picking? Our best players who haven't clicked or squad players who haven't got any form either or grasped the opportunity to claim a starting shirt? Big games for big players, Thursday is a huge game for us to avoid defeat
 
cav said:
I'd play Sakala off the left beside Alfie and Patterson as Tav's been off form a bit.
Not sure if Bacuna is ready but if he is why not?

Very few of the players could complain right now if they don't keep the shirt.

McLaughlin, Lundstram, Balogun and Bassey are the only ones getting a pass from Saturday for me.
Fair to say for a club like ours that's falling short of the standards required.
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In my opinion it will the be strongest and tried and tested, and if we are lucky hitting them on the break.I have seen nothing from Sakala in any game, to think he would do anything against such opposition as Sparta Prague.Not the players fault.
If we come away with a point I will be delighted.

I also think Lyon will win all their games home and away.
So hopefully it will be between us and Sparta for second.
 
Odin1972 said:
No way. Wright, Hagi or Aribo. All three of your forward line will make identical runs as we see with Roofe and Morelos a combination that hasn’t worked since the Celtic game.
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In our formation sakala isn’t a main striker, he’s more suited to the outside positions. They wouldn’t be making the same runs either. Sakala would be running in behind and roofe would be running in behind as well. Morelos would drop deep like always.

Morelos and roofe has worked for a full season now, it’s not just suddenly stopped working. We always looked our best with Morelos, roofe and kent up front last season. We’re going through a sticky spell but that doesn’t mean that Morelos and roofe don’t work together.
 
SuperGers07 said:
I’d start Sakala regardless with Roofe or Morelos on bench. We need genuine pace

Not too sure on Bacuna as a starter yet.
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I'd like to see Sakala and Hagi in the same line up. Hagi is always looking to play runners in behind the defense and I think they could be predictive together.
 
Sakala was signed for games like Thursday. Away from home in European competition. I reckon he’ll start, not sure Bacuna or Patterson will though.
 
Growler said:
Really dont understand fans who only ever want to focus on the league and don’t care about Europe. A fast track logic to be coming Shamrock Rovers or Flora Tallinn.
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I never said I didn't care about europe nor did I mean we should play some sort of weakened team. My post was about playing faster more fresh players that may do better on the counter attack whilst at the same time giving key players that bit of rest for sunday.

Imo Patterson breaks faster and is more direct, Sakala will play on the shoulder, running into channels etc and is the perfect out ball. Bacuna I think in his small time I've saw him is direct, fast and can play a decent pass. All 3 more ideal for counter style football imo.
 
Neither Sakala or Bacuna are ready to start in such a big game. Sakala slightly more so but I'd still play 3 of Morelos, Roofe, Hagi and Aribo ahead of him if all are fit. Both Sakala and Bacuna should see some game time though. Think Tav still starts ahead of Patterson too, it's not a game to be dropping your skipper.
 
With Kent injured and Wright off form, I think Sakala has a chance of starting.

Although, with tin hat firmly in place, I'm not yet convinced he is good enough for the bigger games in Scotland never mind a tough away game in the European group stage.

Can't see Bacuna starting, not when he hasn't started a single game yet.

I'd be comfortable with either right back, they are both proven at this level.
 
LiviLoyal said:
There’s a difference between having that viewpoint this season vs normally though. Every other season I care about Europe whereas this season I care about nothing other than winning the £40m CL prize pool on offer. We win the league this year and the jovial ‘Here we go, 10 in a row’ chants have every chance of becoming reality.
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No there isn't. Nothing is guaranteed.
So the managers deliberately takes Europe less seriously this season and that money goes bye-bye.
Then what if we don't win the league?

People on here talk as though winning titles is just as simple as saying "Sunday is the most important match of the season which is also the most important season ever" and if the players just try really hard then we automatically get there.

A couple of injuries, suspensions or a really bad covid outbreak could crash our season.
Who knows what January or February will bring.

Thursday is the match in front of us. Hopefully the management and team are focusing on that.

Also, talking about 10 in a row. LOL. I suppose it's a good way to set up future moaning. "We could have been on for 10 in a row!"
 
RedWhiteBlue said:
No there isn't. Nothing is guaranteed.
So the managers deliberately takes Europe less seriously this season and that money goes bye-bye.
Then what if we don't win the league?

People on here talk as though winning titles is just as simple as saying "Sunday is the most important match of the season which is also the most important season ever" and if the players just try really hard then we automatically get there.

A couple of injuries, suspensions or a really bad covid outbreak could crash our season.
Who knows what January or February will bring.

Thursday is the match in front of us. Hopefully the management and team are focusing on that.

Also, talking about 10 in a row. LOL. I suppose it's a good way to set up future moaning. "We could have been on for 10 in a row!"
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Its as if people think every season is as simple as just picking one or the other.
 
Arkanoid said:
So... Don't play our best team? I'll need more convincing
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OK.

So if Gerrard doesn't play the strongest team on Thursday then we can moan about being beaten by the pub team of Prague and it's all Gerrards fault, why wasn't Morelos starting and why did we drop our captain!

If Gerrard picks the strongest team and we win then if we happen to drop points against Hibs then we can moan that he shouldn't be playing the strongest team in Prague when the league is more important than Europe.

This season is our chance to set up a run for 10 in a row, you see. So that's an opportunity to go mental at the lost possibility of 10 in a row whenever we don't win a title for the next decade.

Tinfoil hat on here but I'm starting to think that some of the more "out there" opinions on this forum are actually set-ups for future moaning.

Planting the seeds of future "I told you so's".

I tell you what, Castore have been bringing out too much stuff recently. It would be pretty shocking if they announce a 4th strip and if they do insist on a 4th kit it had better not be one of those retro kits.

"Gerrard shouldn't play a full strength team on Thursday because if we were to drop points on Sunday then I know what points I'll be making on FollowFollow Sunday night! I told you all what would happen!"
 
GovanFront4 said:
Its as if people think every season is as simple as just picking one or the other.
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For me, I would think that a good run in Europe brings confidence and togetherness to the squad.
This can then be taken into matches in Scotland.

Similarly bad defeats in Europe can have a negative impact on the squad.

Between 22 October and 3 December last season the tims spent Thursday nights being pummeled in Europe. Even the draw they got was the result of blowing a 2 goal lead. Anyone think this didn't affect them negatively.

A good win on Thursday would lift us. Definitely. Then a good win on Sunday follows.
 
RedWhiteBlue said:
For me, I would think that a good run in Europe brings confidence and togetherness to the squad.
This can then be taken into matches in Scotland.

Similarly bad defeats in Europe can have a negative impact on the squad.

Between 22 October and 3 December last season the tims spent Thursday nights being pummeled in Europe. Even the draw they got was the result of blowing a 2 goal lead. Anyone think this didn't affect them negatively.

A good win on Thursday would lift us. Definitely. Then a good win on Sunday follows.
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Exactly one generally follows the other. You can't just say to a squad of players Thursdays performance doesn't matter then expect them to pick it up on the Sunday. You need to breed confidence and form.
 
People have been fabricating reasons to revert back to the 'I wank dugs' attitude this season. Tav is crucial to our build up play. As is Borna, a player that I sincerely hope is fit and firing soon. Yet the way some people prattle on about it on here, you'd think they were both jobbers and people will flat out lie that there isn't a drop off in quality when either both, or one of them are out of the team. Neither Patterson or Bassey are better than Tavernier or Barisic and it's not really close. That doesn't mean I don't rate Patterson or Bassey, they are fantastic prospects and I hope both feature plenty this season.

Sakala is tailor-made for games away in Europe. As Wright has struggled in recent matches, I'd drop Roofe and play Sakala through the middle. Alfie can do the job of rag-dolling defenders and stretching the game.

Bacuna hasn't had a start in the SPFL yet, I don't know if he's fully match fit for Thursday. Wouldn't be dead against it but who we dropping from midfield in favour of him? Kamara or Aribo?

My biggest concern is the return of Davis, that disrupts Lundstram, who has been thriving in the Davis role recently. It would be incredibly daft of the coaching staff to try and shoe horn both of them into the same midfield again imo.
 
Shengus Malengus said:
If you want a full back to “cause problems on the break” then you’d need to be stark raving bonkers to favour Patterson over Tav.
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What are you kidding me Tav is slower than me on the break and certainly can't go past a man like Patterson can though I can't see him getting dropped no matter his form.
 
Valley Bluenose said:
Steven Gerrard will not be resting players from a vital Europa League match to 'save' them for a routine League match against Hibs mate. I'd say the opposite is more likely - there's more chance the names you mention will feature against Hibs than against Sparta. Though I'd not be disappointed to see Sakala start on Thursday for his pace on the counter.
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I'd like to see sakala morelos and roofe starting together. I think they could pull teams apart and with sakalas pace he could exploit any gaps that the others leave for him. Tav is pretty lucky to still be getting in ahead of patterson at the moment with the form he's been in and Bacuna could be able to unlock tight defences with trickery and passing. Would be better with that team for spfl games but the way things are going, it could easily end up being our best starting eleven.
 
rfc_chris_rfc said:
In our formation sakala isn’t a main striker, he’s more suited to the outside positions. They wouldn’t be making the same runs either. Sakala would be running in behind and roofe would be running in behind as well. Morelos would drop deep like always.

Morelos and roofe has worked for a full season now, it’s not just suddenly stopped working. We always looked our best with Morelos, roofe and kent up front last season. We’re going through a sticky spell but that doesn’t mean that Morelos and roofe don’t work together.
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This is revisionist. Roofe and Morelos don’t play well together the exception being the 4-1 Old Firm game. They’ve only started something like 10 games together. They are our best strike force on paper but it’s not working on the field as yet. This is clearly laid out in the heart and hand daily update, the flagship and the tactics show and is obvious to anyone watching. I don’t understand your take on this. As for Sakala yes he brings pace but does he bring a through ball or final pass? I think you’re dead wrong here but it’s all about opinions.
 
The only players dropping out should be the ones who aren't fit or injured. Strongest team every game. Anything else is showing Hibs (Hibs FFS) far too much respect. Sparta away is a great opportunity to get the points that could get us through the group stage which is essential for £££ and for increasing the split of TV revenue vs what timbo will get.
 
Odin1972 said:
This is revisionist. Roofe and Morelos don’t play well together the exception being the 4-1 Old Firm game. They’ve only started something like 10 games together. They are our best strike force on paper but it’s not working on the field as yet. This is clearly laid out in the heart and hand daily update, the flagship and the tactics show and is obvious to anyone watching. I don’t understand your take on this. As for Sakala yes he brings pace but does he bring a through ball or final pass? I think you’re dead wrong here but it’s all about opinions.
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Well we tend to score our most goals as a team when Morelos and roofe are in the team, that’s dating back to last season. When we play two strikers in the forward three positions we tend to score our most goals. I mean we don’t know if sakala has a through ball or final ball he’s barely played.
 
rfc_chris_rfc said:
Well we tend to score our most goals as a team when Morelos and roofe are in the team, that’s dating back to last season. When we play two strikers in the forward three positions we tend to score our most goals. I mean we don’t know if sakala has a through ball or final ball he’s barely played.
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Which games were these?

We scored 3 goals or more 15 times in the league and I think Roofe and Morelos only started together 10 times in the season?

I checked a few but not sure how many of the 15 we started with Morelos and Roofe.
 
Fergie90 said:
I agree with starting Sakala and Bacuna if fit but I wouldn't drop Tav on Thursday.

Teams will know how to stop us now, especially in europe.

We should give them a surprise and really hit them fast on the counter imo.
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Given his last time out V Dundee ?
 
No chance is our captain getting dropped, get real. I think we will see MF of Lundstram, Davis and Kamara and then it's Morelos up top with support from 2 of Aribo, Hagi, Roofe, Wright or Bacuna for me
 
I think Sakala will start, surprised he's not started since his goal versus Motherwell. Would like him to be given a bit more of a run now the squad is settling down a bit
 
RedWhiteBlue said:
Which games were these?

We scored 3 goals or more 15 times in the league and I think Roofe and Morelos only started together 10 times in the season?

I checked a few but not sure how many of the 15 we started with Morelos and Roofe.
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Aberdeen 4 nil at home last season x2, livi away 3 nil last season, old firm last season 4-1, Ross county away 4 nil, Antwerp away 4-3, standard liege at home. That’s games from last season we score quite a few with Morelos and roofe. We score more goals in our formation when we have two goal scorers in the forward line rather than one of Morelos/roofe and Kent and aribo/hagi.
 
Monty_greenock34 said:
Imo we need to go with freshness, pace and folk who can break fast but imo more importantly we can rest 3 key players for Sunday vs hibs.

Imo Sunday is massive with them also having a tough game.

The 3 mentioned have the ability to go cause problems on Thursday on the counter.
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Morelos will start
 
Growler said:
Madness. Morelos is the club’s top European goal scorer of all time, and any time we drop him, we don’t win. Bacuna has rarely kicked a ball for several months, and even then, hasn’t been impressive for over a year. Tavernier is our captain and essential for big away European games.

We need to win on Thursday. It isn’t the time to be messing with the line up.

If we lose on Sunday, we can still win the league. If we lose on Thursday, we could be out of the Europa. It’s a false economy to be putting your all into winning a domestic league, if that domestic league holds no standing or value. And you get standing and value by winning in Europe.
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A draw on Thursday wouldn't be a bad result
 
usbear said:
No way will he start guys who have no experience playing in Gerrards European away game system

The front 3’s defensive qualities are what saw us through quite a few away games last season

It’ll mostly be tried and tested players imo
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This
 
rfc_chris_rfc said:
Well we tend to score our most goals as a team when Morelos and roofe are in the team, that’s dating back to last season. When we play two strikers in the forward three positions we tend to score our most goals. I mean we don’t know if sakala has a through ball or final ball he’s barely played.
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You just made that up. Reality does not bear this out.
 
rfc_chris_rfc said:
Aberdeen 4 nil at home last season x2, livi away 3 nil last season, old firm last season 4-1, Ross county away 4 nil, Antwerp away 4-3, standard liege at home. That’s games from last season we score quite a few with Morelos and roofe. We score more goals in our formation when we have two goal scorers in the forward line rather than one of Morelos/roofe and Kent and aribo/hagi.
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It’s just cherry picking data. We scored eight with Defoe and Roofe in every game they started together. We scored 92 goals last season you’ve accounted for 23. Against Antwerp away we scored one with Roofe on the park and 3 without.
 
Odin1972 said:
It’s just cherry picking data. We scored eight with Defoe and Roofe in every game they started together. We scored 92 goals last season you’ve accounted for 23. Against Antwerp away we scored one with Roofe on the park and 3 without.
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Yeah we scored eight when we started two strikers in our team, that’s my main point we seem more of a threat when we have two strikers playing
 
I think sakala is a shoe in for Thursday with his pace but I’d be very suprised to see tav drop out
 
Monty_greenock34 said:
Imo we need to go with freshness, pace and folk who can break fast but imo more importantly we can rest 3 key players for Sunday vs hibs.

Imo Sunday is massive with them also having a tough game.

The 3 mentioned have the ability to go cause problems on Thursday on the counter.
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What are the lotto numbers chief B-D
 
Excited to see fashion and bacuna. Thought he would have went with hagi instead of bacuna but I have a really good feeling about bacuna becoming a brilliant player for us
 
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