Saturday, November 13, 2010

Starting XI v Wolves

Johann Elmander and Matt Taylor have both been under the weather this week, yet have made it onto the team sheet.  I am not a big fan of this.

If a player is trying to recover from an ankle sprain or something like that, OK, a trainer can put him through a fitness test and say he is able to play.  But a stomach bug or cold just saps stamina.  Starting two players who will probably have to be subbed, especially as Taylor and Elmander both run miles, really handcuffs Owen Coyle's ability to change things around during the match.

Most important, we have ready-made replacements for both these players.  Martin Petrov is fit again and can easily slot back in on the left side.  Ivan Klasnic has scored a couple goals recently and can certainly come in for Elmander, although to be fair, he will probably have to be taken off as well.  The wild card in all this is Rodrigo Moreno.  I would have loved to have seen the electric young Spaniard playing up top alongside Kevin Davies.  Finally, someone with pace to run onto all the flicks from Davies winning headers.

At the very least, I would like to see Moreno come on at half time, no matter the score.

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