Best Starting Eleven 2018/19 Season

[rigger]

12 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

 Tough one to call.

The back four seems settled until Williams and Rodwell get up to speed.

Reed is vying with Smallwood and Evans for the 2 defensive midfield roles with the possibility of Rodwell and Rothwell playing there too.

We now have a multitude of options for the '3' in behind the lone striker. It's worth repeating that Mogga sees Bennett as one of those '3' and Dack will be another so it's one from Rothwell, Brereton, AA & Palmer (& Conway & Samuel).

Up front it's one from Graham, Brereton & Armstrong (& Samuel & Nuttall).

A pretty remarkable turnaround in playing staff from where the club was at the beginning of last summer. Mowbray has done an incredible  job really. 

 

                               

And it has seemingly been a disappointing window.

[SBlue]

37 minutes ago, LeftWinger said:

 

Raya 22, Bell 24, Lenihan 24, Nyambe 20, Dack 24, Davenport 19, Travis 20, Armstrong 21, Brereton 19.

 

 

Christ I forget how young these two in particular are. Raya could have a 15 year career ahead of him! And Nyambe hasn't even really got going.

Amazing work by our academy and the management to be able to rely on these two.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Is it too soon for a Mowbray statue somewhere? What he has done with the squad and attitude of the players in 18 months has been absolutely incredible when you think about it

As for our best 11, apart from the defense,  I couldn't pick at this point. Too many options. 

[old darwen blue]

Nicked from left wingers earlier post

 

Raya 22, Bell 24, Lenihan 24, Nyambe 20, Dack 24, Davenport 19, Travis 20, Armstrong 21, Brereton 19

 

If we can keep that young group together for two or three seasons we will be a force to reckon with. 

[SBlue]

Rothwell only 23 too.

[roversfan99]

The experience within the team is also critical to our chances, in that we have older players who not only offer know how and leadership to an otherwise young team, but are key players in their own right.

Mulgrew is our best defender yet is often overlooked or underrated as people (understandably) praise Lenihan, who is also a good defender, but for me Mulgrew is better at this moment, and the perfect man to play alongside. Hopefully playing with Mulgrew will allow Lenihan to improve on the ball as he has been known to misplace dangerous passes, something Mulgrew rarely does. The 2 however are a good partnership.

Graham has been almost universally overlooked in peoples teams due to the exciting signings of Brereton and Armstrong. But for me theres no reason to suggest that Breretons record should indicate automatic selection over Graham, in the short term, whilst unlike Brereton according to Forest fans, Armstrong is just as capable from a wide position as we saw last season. Part of which was down to Graham vacating space for Armstrong to run in behind into.

In midfield, we have players in more attacking roles so its important that the experienced players like Evans and Bennett ensure that they provide the knowhow and the intelligence in there to give us a platform.

[Ossydave]

Simple answer is there isn't a best starting 11.

Certain positions are going to be rotated and the team moulded depending on who we're playing, barring injuries of course which will force Tony's hand.

What a fantastic position to be in as well........

[Bigdoggsteel]

9 minutes ago, old darwen blue said:

Nicked from left wingers earlier post

 

Raya 22, Bell 24, Lenihan 24, Nyambe 20, Dack 24, Davenport 19, Travis 20, Armstrong 21, Brereton 19

 

If we can keep that young group together for two or three seasons we will be a force to reckon with. 

                              Raya 22,

Nyambe 20, Wharton 20, Lenihan 24, Bell 24

                 Davenport 19, Travis 20,

     Rothwell  23 ,Dack 24, Armstrong 21

                          Brereton 19

Exciting. 

[old darwen blue]

Mowbrays babes! Doesn’t it look good?

[47er]

The rule of thumb is  2  players for every position plus about another 4 for good luck.

We've got well over that I'd imagine but that's not the same as 2 for every position.

Still need centre-back/winger/1 striker if Samuel is out for a long period.Could keep Nuttall I suppose but....

Then we have several players to get rid of.

Tick tock.

 

[47er]

1 hour ago, Lancaster Rover said:

Nobody has even mentioned Davenport, he is another who will add to our now embarrassment of riches in the middle of the park.

Yes, was going to post that. Bit harsh if he's left out for a loanee.

That's another problem with loanees by the way!

[Lancaster Rover]

Davenport is an interesting one, had a really good season by all accounts at Burton so is comfortable at this level so you have to think he is going to feature regularly. 

[islander200]

21 minutes ago, Lancaster Rover said:

Davenport is an interesting one, had a really good season by all accounts at Burton so is comfortable at this level so you have to think he is going to feature regularly. 

Maybe his injury is worse than expected hence Reed coming in 

Edited August 29, 2018 by islander200

[Lancaster Rover]

Could well be, hip flexor isn't it? Can be tricky injuries recovery wise and often take longer than expected. I'd be surprised if we see him before mid October now to be honest, there has been no talk of him 'out on the grass' so he must be at least a month away from being able to manage a game situation, few weeks with the U23's to get some contact under him and we're knocking on for early October. We play Bolton away first week in October and then there is an international break. I wouldn't be surprised if the Leeds game is the first we see him available for.

[Bigdoggsteel]

1 hour ago, 47er said:

Yes, was going to post that. Bit harsh if he's left out for a loanee.

That's another problem with loanees by the way!

Ya, competition for places is a real problem  

[Colt Seavers]

2 hours ago, old darwen blue said:

Mowbrays babes! Doesn’t it look good?

Tony's toddlers

[rigger]

Any 11 that win.

[Bigdoggsteel]

1 hour ago, Colt Seavers said:

Tony's toddlers

Sounds like a creche I would not be sending my kids to! 

[yeti-dog]

20 hours ago, Trinidad Rover said:

It seems all of our business is done for the window. That being the case what do people see as our best starting eleven?

My suggestion:

                          Raya

Nyambe  Mulgrew   Lenihan  Bell

                  Evans  Bennett

      Palmer     Dack   Armstrong

                    Brereton

 

Bench: Canadian, Rodwell, Reed, Rothwell, Graham, Davenport, Williams

 

Very tough to leave out Rothwell after his start but that front 4 is very very solid. I also think Rodwell will force his way into the side as the season goes on.

 

That team's not far off but Mowbray doesn't like to play 2 attacking wide men up top (he said so himself), one needs to do some donkey work too so I think the team will look slightly different (personally, like you, I'd like to see 2 attacking wide players I just don't think he'll go for it). Here's my take:

                   Raya

Nyambe, Lenihan, Mulgrew, Bell

              Reed, Evans

Bennett     Dack   Armstrong

                Bererton

Subs: Leutwiler, Williams (Rodwell if he gets fit), Smallwood, Rothwell,, Palmer, Graham & A.N.Other -still time for another loan to come in/or Davenport once fit.

Edited August 29, 2018 by yeti-dog

[davulsukur]

What a great problem to have.

Dack, Rothwell, Palmer, Armstrong,  Brereton all competing for 3 slots, with Armstrong & Brereton also pushing Graham for the Striker role.

An abundance of attacking riches, all now need to be on their toes or their place will be taken.

Back 4 picks itself and I’m interested to see how Reed gets on, I think he’ll take Smallwoods place sooner or later.

Its taken a long time this summer but Mowbray has assembled a young, exciting squad. I’d say 1 centre back in for cover and we are sorted.

Adding Chapman could very well be an insult to the rest of the league.

[dinglebasher]

TM’s first team selection, at Burton, drew 1-1:

Steele

Nyambe - Lenihan - Mulgrew - Williams

Conway - Guthrie - Lowe - Feeney

Graham - Emnes

Subs: Gallagher, Joao, Stokes, Tomlinson, Brown, Mahoney, Raya. 

Interesting that the defence is almost the same. Midfield now unrecognisable and filled with so much more quality. 

The other thing to enjoy is how much more TM is getting from the players he kept. Graham, Mulgrew, Lenihan have all improved under him. Even Conway, who gets stick but takes the pressure off the defence coming in towards the end of a tight game, does his job well.

Oh, and hands up who misses Conor Mahoney?

 

[old darwen blue]

Conor who?

 

 

 

I bet him and his dad are kicking themselves now. 

Edited August 30, 2018 by old darwen blue

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

Rather than the first 11, it's the bench where we should see the biggest improvement.  If we get Chapman (or someone equally as dynamic.  For now I would go with

                     Raya

Nyambe   Lenihan.  Mulgrew.  Bell

                    Evans  Rothwell

       Palmer         Dack       Bennett

                         Graham

Subs

Leutwiler

Williams

Reed

Smallwood

Armstrong

Brereton

*Chapman

That is a great matchday squad at this level.   Imagine defenders having to cope with that 11.  Then introduce the pace of Brereton, Armstrong and Chapman for the last 20 mins!

[OJRovers]

12 hours ago, dinglebasher said:

TM’s first team selection, at Burton, drew 1-1:

Steele

Nyambe - Lenihan - Mulgrew - Williams

Conway - Guthrie - Lowe - Feeney

Graham - Emnes

Subs: Gallagher, Joao, Stokes, Tomlinson, Brown, Mahoney, Raya. 

Interesting that the defence is almost the same. Midfield now unrecognisable and filled with so much more quality. 

The other thing to enjoy is how much more TM is getting from the players he kept. Graham, Mulgrew, Lenihan have all improved under him. Even Conway, who gets stick but takes the pressure off the defence coming in towards the end of a tight game, does his job well.

Oh, and hands up who misses Conor Mahoney?

 

No wonder we got relegated - look at that midfield. Awful.

Mowbray is a miracle worker no doubt. 

Also, he's not been afraid to bring through academy players - something that wasn't happening often enough beforehand. Don't think he gets enough credit for this.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 hours ago, OJRovers said:

No wonder we got relegated - look at that midfield. Awful.

Mowbray is a miracle worker no doubt. 

Also, he's not been afraid to bring through academy players - something that wasn't happening often enough beforehand. Don't think he gets enough credit for this.

 

And the goalkeeper, put Raya and Dack in that team and we would have stayed up I reckon.