Anthony Stokes

Forgot about that one, even at that though, he should have passed it to Stokes, who had made the run into wide open space.

 

Aye, he probably should have.

 

Stokes played well in Europe, he was only criticised because he was to do a job that he couldn't - play up front alone and lead the line.

In terms of holding up the ball, keeping possession, bringing others into play and that he was good. He is good enough to play that role in Europe for us as he supports the attack well, is quick footed on the ball, can spread the ball to the wings and works hard to defend and attack.

GK
RB CB CB LB
CM CM
RM Stokes LM
ST

If people want him to play up front then he's not capable of that but we had to do it as he was the best we had at the time. Teams wouldnt play Totti, Bergkamp, Del Piero or whoever up front leading the line as its not their style.
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Its not that he doesnt try or hes not a good footballer i just dont think hes good enough i like stokesy but tbh hes a good SPFL player but thats it imo

 

In a front two he's a more than decent SPFL player, on his own he's a bit lost. Would still rather keep Stokes than Pukki.

He's a kinda Irish baldy Samaras, can do some lovely stuff and can be completely gash.

 

Baldy irish chubby sammy like i said i like the guy but tbh just looks bored sometimes having said that he scored a hattrick the last game i was at few weeks back

Over pukki atm definitly but tbh says alot for our previous signings of forwards lately that stoksey is the stand out (apart from griffiths)

Id have watt replace him in honesty the guy showed the potential to do wat stokes does and more (but this isnt the watt thread so ill leave it at that)

 

Stokes was excellent with Hooper though, started well with Griffiths too. Reckon they'd be fine in the Europa League not so sure about the CL though. Time will tell.

 

I've said before that Stokes this season was our only player in the forward positions to retain his ability on the ball in the Champions League and I stand by it, I have no worries about him playing next year, as long as he isn't the lone forward. A role I don't believe he can effectively play, at least not with a lot of support to fill the gaps that he leaves (a la Commons in the SPFL this year)

I think next year you'll see him on the tip of a diamond in the Champions League.

 

By Diamond i assume you mean 2 up top? Absolute suicide in Europe.

 

No, one up top. If it was this seasons team, minus Sammy, something like this:

Forster

Lustig Ambrose Van Dijk Izzy

Mulgrew

Brown Johansen Commons

Stokes

Griffiths​

 

Id prefer

Forster

Lustig Ambrose Van Dijk Izzy

Mulgrew

Matthews Brown Johansen

Stokes

Ibrahimovic

The role Stokes playing being the one Miku played against Barca and Commons has played a few times and Brown played a few times for Strachan where they are to support the striker but are basically midfielders.
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That formatting in Europe may suit Stokes but we would be far too open, no protection for full backs , disaster.

 

RM and LM provides cover.

 

Ufff, do you not like Izzy and Lustig or something? :smiley-laughing002:

Crazy thing is, I think our fullbacks are actually good enough to pull this off. I'd actually like to see us try this formation (at least at home).

 

Let's be honest, nobody here knows whether Stokes is good enough at CL level in his natural position , because he's never had that chance. The guy deserves his chance, his performances at domestic level have earned him that. If he proves to be good enough, happy days; if not, then we know not to play him in the CL anymore and can just save him for the league.

 

Commons, Mulgrew and Brown could all offer cover if we do it cleverly enough. Lennon has said himself that a lot of the time in Europe he's happy to let the full backs go one on one. If it's doubled up its down to one of our men playing LCM or RCM to cover. Mulgrew to cover as well or to cover for a centre back going over to help.

We'd have enough men in the middle to stop them playing and for us to be able to keep the ball in there.

 

That's fair.

 

I agree. * of a shift getting up and down for them both (as they'll basically be our main source of width). Izzy's a machine and if Lustig starts flagging, we can bring Matthews on for the last 20 minutes. It's quite an exciting formation IMO. Well, apart from Griffiths up top.

 

Sorry to quote you twice, but I wanted to add that one of the advantages of Mulgrew in that position (and I know we both agree that he's excellent there) is, exactly as you say, to slot back in when Ambrose or Van Dijk go forward. I really want to see much more of this. Will somebody please, please work with Ambrose on his shooting. We all know what Van Dijk can do, if we can get an end product at the end of Ambrose's crazy-* runs, I'm convinced we'll have such a potent weapon. Even at CL level.

 

Surely it can't be a black or white option . Some people may think he has played well and others will think he has been hopeless . I would think it is likely he will perform fairly well and we will be debating is there a better option .