The Strikeforce - Who would you start upfront?

[RoyallyFcuked]

So the question is, who would you, or rather, who will Brian start upfront? Surely im not the only one with this question on my mind?!

We have a number of interesting options to chose from and we can only hope things work out well for us whichever Brian chooses. We now have Pogrebnyak in addition to Roberts, Le Fondre, Hunt and Church. First off, IMO neither Church nor Hunt is Premier League quality. I don’t think neither would score enough goals. Church needs a season on loan in the Champonship, possibly League One where he gets a good run of games and hopefully he can show what he can do. Hunt works hard but whether he has the quality is another matter. Hasnt ever been an out and out goalscorer and never will be.

On the other hand I think Le Fondre is an excellent finisher, he has got that real goalscoring instinct. Might even go as far as to say that were he in a top 4 team, he could get 20+ goals a season given the service he would get. Roberts we know has the experience, but he isn’t getting any younger and his best days are behind him. I still think his contribution will be important and I think he will chip in with a few goals. I am not entirely convinced about Pogrebnyak but I dont know enough about him. He started very well at Fulham then faded.

The question is whether ALF should start games. He was used as an impact substitute in the latter half of last season after Roberts arrival, which obviously worked well, but he has been a bit unlucky because we went on a superb run with Roberts and Hunt starting upfront, but you cant blame Brian for not changing a winning team. I just hope Brian doesn’t think his only impact can be from the bench. Given the right strike partner, he will flourish in the Premier League. You can argue that Le Fondre wasn’t very effective when he was starting games earlier in the season, but you have to remember that in all of those games either Church or Hunt was his strike partner, which didn’t work so well. When he has come on and played with Roberts, things have looked promising. So from what I know at the moment, Pogrebnyak has a more similar style of play to Roberts, so either one could be the target man to play with ALF. So assuming we play a 4-4-2 formation and bearing in mind we have brought the Russian in for his quality, then I would personally go for – Le Fondre – Pogrebnyak, but I think it is more likely to be – Roberts – Pogrebnyak. Not sure how well that would work though, style of play too similar? Also, IMO to start the season with – Hunt – Roberts upfront would be very disappointing and to me would mean not only a lack of goals but also a lack of class.

[JoeyJoeJoeJnrShabadoo]

Roberts is suspended for the first 2 games

[SpaghettiHoop]

Brian will start Pog & Hunt Le Fondre off the bench. Don't upset the team dynamic. The team against Stoke won't be too different from the one that finished last season.

[plroyals]

would still like us to sign another forward, but with current options i would go for ALF and Pog. I think ALF can score at any level and in my opinion could even be our top scorer this season.

[RoyallyFcuked]

Roberts is suspended for the first 2 games

Why did I forget about that...

Yeah it was a bit harsh on Roberts and hopefully this will mean ALF starts with Pog, but it will almost definetly be Noel Hunt. Yeah the team has done well when he starts games, but how much of that is actually down to Hunt himself is another question.

And I dont just mean for the first game of season, I mean who is our best strike partnership overall in your opinion?

[Royals-lad14]

i reckon brian will go for hunt and the pog simply coz he probably feels hunt deserves a chance in the prem and it would be unfair to drop him however with them 2 upfront there is no real pace in attack hunt is good in the air and running pog is good at holding up the ball and linking up with players, the pog and le fondre is a better partnership as alf will be looking to feed of the pog's link up play and we are far more likely to score goals in the team with le fondre playing, however hunt isnt really an impact sub...... hard life eyy brian

[Ian Royal]

Obviously Pog. By the looks of the friendlies I've paid attention to ALF with him. Although it could easily be him or Hunt. ALF has move quality about him than Hunt, but he's also less hard working off the ball and can go completely missing. I think ALF really needed to play all last season, or have another half season at least at Chump level before he's really ready for the PL.

Not sure where Roberts fits in after his suspension. He's not a great PL goalscorer and he's getting on. Pog seems to provide an equivalent role rather than complimentary one from the little I've seen and read. Bring Roberts on for Pog to see out games maybe? Hunt'll make a decent second choice and bench striker to come on against tired legs and work his socks off, picking up the odd goal here and there at a decent rate.

Church must surely be a little down the pecking order as the Mr mediocre jack of all trades master of none type of striker.

[Ian Royal]

Brian will start Pog & Hunt Le Fondre off the bench. Don't upset the team dynamic. The team against Stoke won't be too different from the one that finished last season.

It's likely to be quite a bit different. It could even be totally different:

Fed, Gunter, Gorkss, Pearce, Harte, Guthrie, Ledge, McAnuff, Kebe, Pog, Hunt
is still three changes and it could easily be:
Fed, Gunter, Gorkss, Mariappa, Shorey, Guthrie, Ledge, McAnuff, McCleary, Pog, ALF
which would be only four of the starting players from the end of last season.

[JordCot]

It seems as though throughout the pre season friendlies Brian has tried to give the POG - ALF partnership as many minutes as possible and whether he has been pleased with what he has seen I don't know as I haven't seen any games since wimbledon. That being said I feel like we will start with POG - Hunt because although we have been here before we are somewhat stepping into the unknown especially for lots of the players. They don't know what sort of intensity or speed the game is going to be played at and there is a chance that some could drift out of the game. Although Hunt lacks some of ALF's quality in terms of scoring and technique I'd say he is much less likely to let a game pass him by even if he is only throwing himself about for 70mins. Although I hope we scored in the first half and go on to win the game Its probably not a bad bet to say that our first goal will come as a result of a second half substitute either scoring or playing some part in the build up. That might be ALF

[Irvinchangeyaname]

I think the obvious reaction is to say that Hunt isn't Premiership quality. Whilst undoubtedly right (was he even Championship quality?) to my mind he's exactly the sort of player we need up front. He will unsettle and unnerve Premier League defenders and will create and score goals for us.

On paper a Pog /Le Fondre forward line looks the obvious choice. In terms of effectiveness, I'd stick with Hunt.

[JS28ZoD]

Pog and Hunt / (Roberts when he's available)

This would give opposition defenders the most trouble defending against due to the power and pace this combo would have.

[loyalroyal4life]

whoever starts today will do so next week barring injury. Think it will be Pog and Alf

[Friday's Legacy]

Pogrebnyak and Le Fondre

[windermere_royal]

well they are sure doing their chances a whole lot of good in the pre-season friendlies, apart from the rout against Wimbledon no-one as managed to hit the target yet. HT 0-0

EDIT 1-0 POG

[Friday's Legacy]

2-0

Pog, Le Fondre.

[Ian Royal]

They've been getting chances though haven't they... ALF has missed a couple and Pog's hit the woodwork at least once. And they've looked pretty tidy in general.

[maffff]

Church and Roberts with Alfie off the bench. Replace Church with Roberts when he's back. Wouldn't say there's much between Church and Hunt.

By looks of the friendlies it's Alfie. And he's pony as a starter.

[Turns8]

The pairing will be dependant on the oppo....

I can see Pog and Alf being used if the oppo fullbacks are there to be 'rinsed' by the wingers as imho POG/ALF offer the best ratio of shots/goals and you also have the combo of strength and goal poaching...

Pog and Roberts I can see being used against teams with two solid centrebacks...war of attrition and all that...use the BIG men and have the likes of Hunt and Alf on the bench to run around for the last 20minutes and nick a goal.

All other combos...used dependant on availability....In the Premiership it's all about making sure you convert the few chances you get...the % game suddenly gets cranked up another notch...for me Hunt and Church don't convert enough...Roberts may not score loads of goals but he creates chances...ALF is a natural goalscorer and POG looks like given chances he is more likely to score than not...

The signing of Guthrie will hopefully suggest that we will play 2 upfront alot more than the 1 up top, 1 just behind we played last season...we just need to be a team which creates chances...

[Ian Royal]

Don't buy that, you don't get successful strikers by chopping and changing all the time. It's about building a partnership and regular matches together.

[LoyalRoyal22]

Pogrebnyak and Le Fondre

Agree with this. I think Le Fondre will be suited better to the Prem, and POG is a perfect partner for him