Last season's spell without Benteke we still had the likes of Cabaye and RLC and some variation. This season not.

Townsend has been abysmal, our midfield has no thrust or creativity without the above, Townsend and Wilf cut in at every opportunity and PVA and Wan Bissaka couldn't cross a road let alone get the ball past the first defender. Sorloth has the touch of a rapist and Ayew is the slowest supposed winger playing centre forward I've ever seen.

And we have no aerial threat without Benteke. We look a nothing, wishy washy load of rubbish who passes the ball too much.

At least there may be a threat in the box with Benteke that will open opportunities up even if he cant score them.

Difference is this season we don't have the midfield players to back it up.

Edited by Rachid Rachid Rachid (12 Oct 2018 11.22pm)

I completely disagree. When we have Benteke or any other target man/traditional striker in the team, I think we play some absolute nonsense at times. Just gung ho, lump it football. It can be the answer sometimes, but it’s not sustainable and often leads to just being a case of hit and hope for the best.

The Andros & Wilf partnership was very dynamic. Their pace meant they could press from the front and run in behind & all over the place, it caused defenders a whole lot more problems than lumping it to a big man and preying on the second ball. And because they were traditional wingers, it left the option later in games to bring a big man on at the expense of a midfielder and give the opposition something else to deal with. For me, the target man works well as a plan b. But when we wanna take a game to an opponent from the off, it can often be pretty toothless.

The system also forced us to play. Which we’ve proven time and time again. If we actually are interested in doing it, we can. It was often high intensity and intricate. It let Wilf be completely freed of the shackles of defensive responsibility too and whilst sometimes he could get a bit isolated, he was more often in the right positions in key moments. Meaning he scored and assisted more. It was the epitome of building the team around him.

As for your point on personnel, last year the midfield we used most often in that system was -

Mccarthur - Cabaye - Luka - RLC

Cabaye is a big miss, granted. But we can easily field Kouyate in that position as a holding midfielder alongside Luka. Mccarthur can stay where he is. And the hole left by RLC can be taken up by Meyer. They are different players, yes. But both of their key attributes suit that of a creative & attacking midfielder. I’ve seen Meyer play at his best, and we genuinely have one of the best young creative midfielders in Europe on our hands if we use him properly.

Often times you’d see RLC shift centrally and just behind the front 2 in attacks, linking up with them and getting involved. Meyer would have the license to do the exact same thing. As I said previously, he’s not gonna be the powerhouse RLC was - but he can certainly dribble and his technical play and link up with other players in the team will more than make up for what he lacks physically. That’s kinda the point with players of his ilk.

I guess the issue we have now is the opposition we’ve got coming up is hardly the type we’ll be taking games to from the off. But still, I’d find it very odd if we weren’t to revert to this system at some point this season, given the fact it worked so well for us as times last season - and it was one pretty much entirely of Roy’s making.

Edited by Mstrobez (13 Oct 2018 8.35am)

We're the Arthur over ere!

I didn’t see much lump it football last season. Neither have I
seen anything to suggest thus far that Kouyate can come close to filling Cabaye’s boots or that Meyer can beat a player the way RLC can.

At the moment stop Zaha stop us. Benteke at least carries an aerial threat physical presence. Don’t get me wrong I’m not a fan but the alternatives are rubbish and the midfield is way off the quality of last season.

How many minutes did Sorloth get this season? 83 mins

Surprised that you guys don't see the flaw in this logic. Meanwhile, Ayew gets sucked off, starting every game.

Replace Ayew with “ee-aw”, you mean?

Palace since 19 August 1972. Palace 1 (Tony Taylor) Liverpool 1 (Emlyn Hughes)