LBG says: “Given Palace ( and probably Brighton) have realised that a ” dropping” Lacazette, IF GIVEN TIME to receive and turn, can feed our wide players into the space he has vacated. And having realised it, put a shadow tightly on him. Is it time to try a new “No 9″ in Lacas current position? I suggest yes, since there is no scope for any more serious mistakes from now on!
I believe, a newly bulked out and ” thoughtful”, Martinelli should be used there at the start on Saturday. Sure, he may get chopped ( and certainly wont be protected by the idiots in black), but could his improved toughness and in particular speed create the chances we need from the off at the Emirates? Discuss.”
NB: I wont be able to put a post up for the game this week-end so if anybody wants to, please do 🙂
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I tend to agree that a ball-holding striker might not be the best solution against such an ultra-defensive team like Brighton.
But to be honest, Martinelli played really bad in the central position this season. OK, it was a single game (79 minutes) against Chelsea 7 months and 27 rounds ago, and I don’t know what happened on the training ground, so it may work out just fine. However if we expand our research to the past season and other competitions Gabi did play CF against West Brom (60), Ivory coast (16) and Benfica (13), but no goal contribution whatsoever.
I would still prefer Martinelli on the left wing, and Nketiah up front. Gabi as the lone striker is the solution when you either want to keep him, Smith-Rowe and Odegaard on the same team (which did not really work out in the past) or/and you want to experiment with strikers different from Lacazette and Nketiah. And while Lacazette needs some rest to get his mojo and unpredictability back, I would rather give Eddie the chance, as his return is far superior to Martinelli.
I still believe we are better off with a system change if we are missing Tomy, Tierney and Partey…
Ramsdale – White, Holding, Gabs – Cedric, Lokonga (or El Neny), Xhaka, Tavares – Ode – Saka, Laca (or Martinelli)
And I also think that in this system we could even…get the most out of Pepe if we plays in the forward 2 line…
I do not mind Nketiah but I think Laca brings the team together better.
I would also prefer Lacazette against a better team as he can drop deep and support the midfield there. But he has less predatory instinct than Nketiah, therefore I think Eddie could thrive against Brighton. At least I hope we could utilize his poaching skills better than Lacazette’s ball holding ability. Which is indeed an important skill, but I don’t think we’ll be often counterattacking today…