Is the 'reserve' team better than the first team?

[winchester_royal]

After another excellent performance by the reserve team in a cup competition, i have found myself asking whether the cup team is better than the team which plays in the league

obviouslt there are exceptions, such as kits, shorey and hunty, but otherwise i think the reserve players are better

for excample IMO:

Fed is better than USA
DLC is as good as murts
BK is better than sonko (on current form)
Doobs is as good as INGI
Fae is better than harps (i know i will get crucified for that 1, nut it is my opinion)
Cisse is better than Gunnar
Lita/Long same as doyle

therefore my stating line up (with all players fit and available) would be:

Fed
Murts BK Ingi Shorey
Little Fae Cisse Hunt
Lita/Long/Doyle Kits

[shadesrwrf]

One swallow doesn't make a summer.

[Row Z Royal]

Fed is better than USA - Wrong
DLC is as good as murts - Wrong
BK is better than sonko (on current form) - I'm better than Sonko on curent form
Doobs is as good as INGI - Never in a million years
Fae is better than harps (i know i will get crucified for that 1, nut it is my opinion) - your opinion is wrong
Cisse is better than Gunnar - Disagree, but it's close
Lita/Long same as doyle - Never in a million years

Coppell's pretty much got it nailed on at the moment and I don't want to see wholesale changes on the back of one game.

[winchester_royal]

One swallow doesn't make a summer.

its not just this game

how about the two man utd games last year, and the win away at brum

lets not forget this was a draw at WHL against a FULL STRENGTH spurs team

[zac naloen]

I'd say our strength in depth is better than many assume.


It has been my opinion for a long while (mostly unspoken) that Bikey is one of the best defenders at the club.

It may well be the tactics employed (a lesson learnt from last week perhaps) that contributed to this result as much as the quality of the players playing.

[winchester_royal]

Fed is better than USA - Wrong
DLC is as good as murts - Wrong
BK is better than sonko (on current form) - I'm better than Sonko on curent form
Doobs is as good as INGI - Never in a million years
Fae is better than harps (i know i will get crucified for that 1, nut it is my opinion) - your opinion is wrong
Cisse is better than Gunnar - Disagree, but it's close
Lita/Long same as doyle - Never in a million years

Coppell's pretty much got it nailed on at the moment and I don't want to see wholesale changes on the back of one game.

Fed is better than USA on current form, he is a better shot stopper than marcus, and he doesnt drop crosses
Doobs might not be quite as good as ivar but it is defo close
Fae is a better passer than harps and has more quality, although his effort is not great
Cisse is fitter, stonger, and quicker than gunnar
the doyle point i retract

[Row Z Royal]

Fed is better than USA - Wrong
DLC is as good as murts - Wrong
BK is better than sonko (on current form) - I'm better than Sonko on curent form
Doobs is as good as INGI - Never in a million years
Fae is better than harps (i know i will get crucified for that 1, nut it is my opinion) - your opinion is wrong
Cisse is better than Gunnar - Disagree, but it's close
Lita/Long same as doyle - Never in a million years

Coppell's pretty much got it nailed on at the moment and I don't want to see wholesale changes on the back of one game.

Fed is better than USA on current form, he is a better shot stopper than marcus, and he doesnt drop crosses
Doobs might not be quite as good as ivar but it is defo close
Fae is a better passer than harps and has more quality, although his effort is not great
Cisse is fitter, stonger, and quicker than gunnar
the doyle point i retract

AFed isn't a better shot-stopper on current form. Marcus has made some fantastic saves since Birmingham Away and I can't imagine Fedders being top of the Opta stats

[Scrappy]

This game has just shown there is a greater sense of competition than we perhaps imagined for first team places and that if there is an injury to one of our 1st Teamers then there is suitable cover.

[winchester_royal]

Fed is better than USA - Wrong
DLC is as good as murts - Wrong
BK is better than sonko (on current form) - I'm better than Sonko on curent form
Doobs is as good as INGI - Never in a million years
Fae is better than harps (i know i will get crucified for that 1, nut it is my opinion) - your opinion is wrong
Cisse is better than Gunnar - Disagree, but it's close
Lita/Long same as doyle - Never in a million years

Coppell's pretty much got it nailed on at the moment and I don't want to see wholesale changes on the back of one game.

Fed is better than USA on current form, he is a better shot stopper than marcus, and he doesnt drop crosses
Doobs might not be quite as good as ivar but it is defo close
Fae is a better passer than harps and has more quality, although his effort is not great
Cisse is fitter, stonger, and quicker than gunnar
the doyle point i retract

AFed isn't a better shot-stopper on current form. Marcus has made some fantastic saves since Birmingham Away and I can't imagine Fedders being top of the Opta stats

just watch motd tonight and apologise to me tomorrow

[Biscuit'04]

I think Colin Bailie should be starting on the left. And why is Dave Shipperly not getting a look in?

[rotherwick_royal]

If this does prove one thing is that if you give the players a chance they will rise to the occasion.

Conversely if players feel like they is no competition for their places they do not perform to the best of their abilities.

Sound familiar???

None of this means of course that any of the player today are as good as the 'first 11', but imo a number of the first teamers would certainly benefit from a little more competition. Over to Coppell.

[weybridgewanderer]

Fae is better than harps

were you there today? did Fae touch the ball?

[readingbedding]

Fae is better than harps

were you there today? did Fae touch the ball?

Of course he didn't go.

Fae was ok, nothing more nothing less, nowhere near challenging Harper for his spot.

[Royal Rother]

This game has just shown there is a greater sense of competition than we perhaps imagined for first team places and that if there is an injury to one of our 1st Teamers then there is suitable cover.

Some of us have always known that.

[Royalwaster]

Fae is better than harps

were you there today? did Fae touch the ball?

Of course he didn't go.

Fae was ok, nothing more nothing less, nowhere near challenging Harper for his spot.

I think one of Harper's top weaknesses which I think Fae could challenge at some point (not yet though) is his lack of incisive passing - he just doesn't do it. He hustles and bustles, runs a lot, passes square a lot - but how many times do you see him making effective passes behind the opp's defence?

[readingbedding]

Fae is better than harps

were you there today? did Fae touch the ball?

Of course he didn't go.

Fae was ok, nothing more nothing less, nowhere near challenging Harper for his spot.

I think one of Harper's top weaknesses which I think Fae could challenge at some point (not yet though) is his lack of incisive passing - he just doesn't do it. He hustles and bustles, runs a lot, passes square a lot - but how many times do you see him making effective passes behind the opp's defence?

So you're saying that Fae will be able to challenge Harper's place in the side at some point, because (in your view) he cannot play a through ball?

[hughsies no.1]

today really showed how much of a good player hunty is. i felt he carried our team. coppells tactics were also spot on today. although man marking eleven men was a bit extreme, at one point long was man marking and playing left back. Federici in my opinion is as good as hahnemann, pulled of 2 great one on one saves and distribution was spot on.

The main men today without a doubt were:
Hunt- so fast ad strong, wears his heart on his sleeve

Federici- should be number one

Convey- different class today, should have stayed on against pompey with cisse being replaced by hunt in the middle in my opinion

Dubberry- had berbatov in his back pocket, won everything in the air. gutted if he has done his knee ligaments, looked pretty serious and i reckon he is the best centre back we have

de la cruz- confident running with the ball, great passing and tackling, should replace murts next week

AND THERE IS NO WAY FAE IS BETTER THAN HARPER. NOT IN A MILLION YEARS. FAE LOOKED OUT OF DEPTH.

[Cookie]

de la cruz- confident running with the ball, great passing and tackling, should replace murts next week

AND THERE IS NO WAY FAE IS BETTER THAN HARPER. NOT IN A MILLION YEARS. FAE LOOKED OUT OF DEPTH.

Don't undrestimate Murty's role as a captain - you always see him supporting fellow team members during the game. Great header clearance etc.

But the amount of comments on here about Emerse Fae, that's a worry. Each time I've seen him he doesn't appear to have the get-stuck-in quality that most of our players have. He's never going to be a Steve Sidwell or a Roy Keane granted. But can he make up for it with the creative element in his game? Our managment & scouts knew the answers to these questions, I hope, before we signed him and I trust he will come good.

[readingbedding]

Yeah, as I've said before, I'm going to give him till next season until I make an opinion about him.

I get the feeling that Coppell will be patient with him.

Better/worse players than him have taken a season to get used to English league football.

[towserSL2crew]

De La Cruz has been ignored too often I feel and Ive always rated him , today he showed again he is a far better player than Murts ( sorry Murts fans ). Bikey starts games running round like Jones off Dads Army ( dont panic , dont panic ) but then settles very well and looks good pushing forward.Leroy did ok on his own a lot as Shane played wide a lot of the time.All in all a great battling game , hope Doobs is ok and again well done no.13 outsung those cockerny geezas.