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Sunderland Build-up (EFL Cup)

SuperSAINT

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angelman

angelman

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Depends how close to fitness our defence is, but presuming that Cedric and either Bertrand or Targett are nearing fitness.....Can see a lot of players being rested what with 2 big games coming up.

 

McCarthy

Martina Yoshida Stephens McQueen

Reed JWP Hesketh

JRod Olomola Boufal

 

If Bertrand is fit, maybe he can start to get a bit of match practice.

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JRM

JRM

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Sunderland have a home game kicking off at lunchtime Saturday, so I would expect them to play a second string side on Wednesday evening. A superb opportunity for us to book a quarter final place with lots of juicy Premier League clashes knocking some good sides out of the competition

 

That seems to be the consensus among Sunderland fans, they won't be back in the north east until the early hours of Thursday morning and are due to play Arsenal 12.30 on Saturday. Bottom of the league without a win It's a game they could do without. I know we need to preserve energy for Chelsea and Inter Milan next week but this does represent a great opportunity to get to the 1/4 finals, then who knows with the luck of the draw.

I think McQueen will play, he's fit enough and it gives Bertrand more recovery time for Sunday. I'd definitely play Rodriguez and Boufal, both of whom need game time. If Stephens is comfortable at right back play him alongside Yoshida and Fonte. Will be a strange atmosphere with the entire Kingsland stand closed, hopefully being half term and cheap tickets sales will pick up and they'll open some more blocks. You would have thought of all the stands to close the Kingsland would not be the one being the most popular.

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Chewy

Chewy

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There seems to be a fairly strong consensus about the team. My only thoughts are that McQueen and martins could do with a rest but it very much depends on the fitness of targett, Bertrand and cedric. I'd go with Stephens at right back and yoshida at left back with gardos in the middle if we're going to need martins and McQueen next weekend.

 

The only other point is that we seem to be swapping hojbjerg and classic every other game. Like most I think hojbjerg is better so I'd rather he was the weekend player and classie the midweek one, so might use this game is the chance to swap the pattern. I'd like olomola to get some game time but would go for him from the bench, so depending on full back fitness I'd go with

 

McCarthy

Stephens gardos / yoshida vvd yoshida / McQueen

JWP reed classie

J Rod hesketh boufal

 

Subs not fussed but to include Olomola and sims.

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saintpat

saintpat

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McQueen looked out on his feet by the end of the game, he needs a rest or he could easily pick up an injury & that's the last thing we need with two other left backs struggling already. I wonder whether he may change to a back 3, given the lack of options.

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Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

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McQueen looked out on his feet by the end of the game, he needs a rest or he could easily pick up an injury & that's the last thing we need with two other left backs struggling already. I wonder whether he may change to a back 3, given the lack of options.

 

How does playing with a back three solve the problem of McQueen being tired, Targett & Bertrand recovering from injury? A back three system requires a left wingback and our most suited players to be a left wingback are Bertrand, Targett & McQueen.

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John Boy Saint

John Boy Saint

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I noticed that Puel seemed to put a lid on Martina and McQueen bombing forward during the second half yesterday, which made me wonder if with the full back positions being so thin at the moment he was trying to preserve their fitness with Sunderland, Chelsea, then Inter on the horizon.

 

With the talk about Stephens playing right back, I seem to recall something when Hojbjerg first joined us that playing right back was in his repertoire. I also noticed that when Hojbjerg and Martina are on the pitch when Cucu races forwards Pierre slides over to cover the right back slot. maybe that's an option too, which allows Maya to play as a steady left back and Stephens to slot into the middle.......... but then I seem to recall SD and JWP have deputised in the right back position too when circumstances have arisen during the game and a sticking plaster has needed to be applied. Eitherway it is a bit of a conundrum.

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SNSUN

SNSUN

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Sunderland fans seem to think our under -12s could beat them at the moment, so I'm comfortable with us playing a few youngsters for this game. I'd be happy seeing Stephens play right back, the position he played when we signed him, but what about Valery? Didn't he have a few promising games early season?

 

Also Boufal should definitely start this game. Give him some confidence.

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doddisalegend

doddisalegend

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Sunderland fans seem to think our under -12s could beat them at the moment, so I'm comfortable with us playing a few youngsters for this game. I'd be happy seeing Stephens play right back, the position he played when we signed him, but what about Valery? Didn't he have a few promising games early season?

 

Also Boufal should definitely start this game. Give him some confidence.

 

I think Puel said a couple of weeks back he wasn't quite ready for the first team yet.

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SuperSAINT

SuperSAINT

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Would like to see Hesketh get another go. He did really well against Palace the game then after a poor start in the Beer Hopel game he has just disappeared of the radar. Romeu should be rested as well Reed did well in the last cup game and he really needs games if he is going to develop.

 

Yeah, I see no reason why Claude won't look to make sweeping changes for this one again.

 

Similar midfield to the last cup tie, IMO. Perhaps Boufal at No.10 or further up.

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SuperSAINT

SuperSAINT

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Sunderland manager David Moyes will look to rest some of his senior players for Wednesday night’s EFL Cup tie with Southampton.

 

The Black Cats make the long trip to the south coast looking to build on their two previous wins in the competition, with a place in the last eight up for grabs.

 

And while Moyes is hoping to generate some momentum with another victory in the League Cup, he is also aware that he may need to rotate his squad slightly, with Arsenal next up at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

 

“If I can I’d like to not play some of my senior boys,” he said in his Press conference today.

 

“We’ve had a couple of good games in the cup, we want to win and go through.

 

“I think our performances have been improving slightly and we’re getting closer to winning. We will keep at it.

 

“We’re not daft but we think we’ve been close, like it was on Saturday. We need to be winning soon but our focus is now on the cup.

 

“Our stats our getting better. To a lot it won’t but noticeable but we’re looking at it closely and the players are positive.”

 

Moyes admitted Southampton are a side who have impressed him this season – not only on the pitch, but also in the way they have brought players through.

 

“We go to Southampton, who are playing very well, and we know it’ll be a tough task, but we’ve drawn there already this season,” he added.

 

“I’ve been impressed by Southampton, Outside the top three or four they’re the team people are talking about.

 

“Southampton must take a lot of credit for the way they’re bringing players through their academy, but they have also signed well.”

 

Source: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sunderland-afc-rest-any-players-12071371?

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Nordic Saint

Nordic Saint

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William Hill make us 10/1 4th favourites to win the cup although with most bookies we're the 5th favourites. Those odds will shorten if we beat Sunderland and get the luck of the draw and one of the Manchester teams ahead of us in the betting has to be knocked out. Although I'm not counting my chickens as I remember Sheffield United in 2014 and, of course, Sunderland in 2013.

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OttawaSaint

OttawaSaint

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No rest for the wicked. Onwards we go.

 

Doubt this will be the team, but I'd be tempted to make 8 changes.

 

--------------McCarthy-------------

Martina--Yoshida--Fonte--McQueen

----------------Reed-----------------

-----------JWP-----Højbjerg---------

------------- Hesketh--------------

--------Rodriguez---Boufal---------

 

That'll do nicely. Rest VVD, Romeu, Austin, Redmond and Davis for Chelsea and give Hesketh, Boufal, JRod, Yoshida and McCarthy more minutes to improve/gain sharpness/gain experience.

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trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted
a7b070a014699349a6875a38db9933ab.png

 

Some so called 'big clubs' will be exiting at this stage.

 

One win, a favourable draw and we are in the semis (played at Wembley?)

 

Edit: no, semis are 2 legged

 

We could have an 'interesting' season defining sequence of games at the end of February....

 

Sat/Sun 18th/19th February - FA Cup 5th Round

Thursday 23rd February - Europa League First Knock Out Round, Second Leg

Sunday 26th February - League Cup Final

 

Not that I'm counting chickens of course... :)

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eelpie

eelpie

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I think Mcqueen needs a rest to be honest, he was stretching out so much today, looked to have a bit of cramp.

 

Maybe Targett will be ok for this one.

 

A good point. Mcqueen has been doing well, but so many games in a short time is a lot to expect. He must be rested and be fit for Chelsea.

Who else do we have that cdajfu against Sunderland?

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VectisSaint

VectisSaint

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Hesketh, Reed, Isgrove, Olomola, Stephens not in U23s tonight - Will all probably be in squad on Wednesday. Gardos playing tonight though so won't be involved

Isgrove hasn't been involved in the u23s for a while. I think its unlikely he will be in the squad for Wednesday, suspect he is injured.

Gardos could be on the bench Wednesday, he will probably only play 45 tonight, if he comes through that I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the EFL squad.

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Globetrotter

Globetrotter

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Isgrove hasn't been involved in the u23s for a while. I think its unlikely he will be in the squad for Wednesday, suspect he is injured.

 

In which case noticeable that Sims isn't in u23 squad tonight either, him and Olomola on the bench for Weds maybe.

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

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The9

The9

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How does playing with a back three solve the problem of McQueen being tired, Targett & Bertrand recovering from injury? A back three system requires a left wingback and our most suited players to be a left wingback are Bertrand, Targett & McQueen.

 

A left wingback doesn't have to exist for a team to play a 3-5-2, we could just play a wide left sided midfield player (or to keep the front positions the same, use a 3-4-3). Davis could probably play there, he's versatile enough.

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Dusic

Dusic

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Good opportunity to rest a few key players like VVD, Fonte and Romeu. Would prefer we had a better 4th CB option to mote comfortably do this - that is definitely our weakness depth wise.

 

Draw could open up nicely if we win and get a bit of luck.

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sibster

sibster

Posted
Posted
Looks like there could be a stream for this - its being shown on Bein sports 12

 

It is definitely being shown on sportsmania so that means I will be able to watch it on the sofa with my daughter (She's only 8 months old but it is never too early to get them interested, especially as we live in a PO postcode!)

 

Let's hope that the players "Want it" enough as this is possible the best chance for a fair while of going all the weay in a competition.....

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Matthew Le God

Matthew Le God

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Isgrove hasn't been involved in the u23s for a while. I think its unlikely he will be in the squad for Wednesday, suspect he is injured.

 

Hard to tell for sure, but I think Isgrove is in picture 22 of today's training gallery...

 

https://southamptonfc.com/news/2016-10-25/image-gallery-southampton-sunderland-efl-cup-training

 

Shane Long wasn't mentioned by Puel as being unavailable, so perhaps he'll play some part.

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The9

The9

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I can't see us picking Fonte as at his age he'll struggle to play twice in a week, never mind three times, so given the missing players we'll go with some combination of Martina, Yoshida, Van Dijk, McQueen and Stephens - the flexibility of Martina, Yoshida and Stephens means we could also leave any of the others out and still field a back 4.

 

Wouldn't fancy us much with Yoshida/Stephens at CB (as well as Yoshida has done this season so far) and Martina and McQueen alongside them though, so I think the most recent starting first team back 4 with Yoshida in for Fonte is going to be the one we pick.

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New Forest Steve

New Forest Steve

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I can't see us picking Fonte as at his age he'll struggle to play twice in a week, never mind three times, so given the missing players we'll go with some combination of Martina, Yoshida, Van Dijk, McQueen and Stephens - the flexibility of Martina, Yoshida and Stephens means we could also leave any of the others out and still field a back 4.

 

Wouldn't fancy us much with Yoshida/Stephens at CB (as well as Yoshida has done this season so far) and Martina and McQueen alongside them though, so I think the most recent starting first team back 4 with Yoshida in for Fonte is going to be the one we pick.

 

Are you having a laugh .... it's Sunderland ffs. Yoshi and Stephens are both international defenders and more than capable of dealing with their impotent attack, whoever plays full backs. Don't forget they only scored against us last time because of Jose wrestling Defoe to the ground and giving away a needless penalty.

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Lets B Avenue

Lets B Avenue

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I can't see us picking Fonte as at his age he'll struggle to play twice in a week, never mind three times, so given the missing players we'll go with some combination of Martina, Yoshida, Van Dijk, McQueen and Stephens - the flexibility of Martina, Yoshida and Stephens means we could also leave any of the others out and still field a back 4.

 

Wouldn't fancy us much with Yoshida/Stephens at CB (as well as Yoshida has done this season so far) and Martina and McQueen alongside them though, so I think the most recent starting first team back 4 with Yoshida in for Fonte is going to be the one we pick.

 

Previous round v Palace saw Fonte and Yoshida, with VVD rested. Fonte played against Swansea before that and West Ham after.

 

I would expect that, with possibly Stephens at RB.

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david in sweden

david in sweden

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I just hope we can put the Sunderland " Cup hoodoo" to bed and get a decent win tonight.

 

Can't forget (or forgive) Pochettino and Cortese's apparent lack of interest in winning Cups....we went out to Sunderland twice in 2013/14 .....when we'd already won games and stood a good chance of progressing further in both competitions.

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SaintMark211

SaintMark211

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I'd like to see us rest a few key players, but still field a similar (ish) sort of team that has faired in the Europa League.

I'm a big fan of Josh Sims and would love to see him play some part.

I love that Puel is bringing Boufal back slowly; his policy is superb!

Giving him substitute appearances and chances to get 30 minutes in rather than throw him in at the deep end and give him 90 minutes with the risk of further injury!!

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