People sleep on EMC. Class player, could probably get as good as Wright, although slightly different in time. Like Wright, he's also one of a small handful that i'd be happy to give a go in the Prem if we did somehow manage to go up.
I think this is the way. Saka hasn't been as brave this season as he was before the big injury last season. EMC on the right, with his current form and Wright on the left could provide us with the attacking ability to sort that GD out.
What a great week for Frank , Joe & Chris to have ?
With Hadji now near fitness, albeit , not quite match fit , Sheaf a little nearer & Ephron back , the options will have been worked on , as to the different permutations.
Oxford , just like ourselves, won’t have a clue as to what players might be included, but even as 60 minute subs , all of these , plus Paterson , Asante & Bassette , we won’t be going there for a draw !
CTID
With Hadji now near fitness, albeit , not quite match fit , Sheaf a little nearer & Ephron back , the options will have been worked on , as to the different permutations.
Oxford , just like ourselves, won’t have a clue as to what players might be included, but even as 60 minute subs , all of these , plus Paterson , Asante & Bassette , we won’t be going there for a draw !
CTID
Not something to worry about for a bit. EMC isn't match fit yet. Wright isn't even back yet. At the start it will be 70 to 80 minutes for EMC and Wright to finish the games. When EMC is up to speed we could do a bit of switching Simms with Wright.
Then will come the decisions. Play 2 up front with Wright to the left Simms to the right when attacking? Replace Simms with Wright? EMC on the left and Wright given the freedom left to middle? Swap Saka for Wright?
Hopefully Wright will be back in the next week or so. We have 4 games up to and including the Sunderland game. Then we have 2 weeks off. Plenty of time to work out a new system with Wright playing.
Then will come the decisions. Play 2 up front with Wright to the left Simms to the right when attacking? Replace Simms with Wright? EMC on the left and Wright given the freedom left to middle? Swap Saka for Wright?
Hopefully Wright will be back in the next week or so. We have 4 games up to and including the Sunderland game. Then we have 2 weeks off. Plenty of time to work out a new system with Wright playing.
First ppl scared return to 433 will mess us up now it's the return of Haji lol
Just having Wright on the bench will keep Simms, EMC, and even Sakamoto on their toes and ensure standards don't drop.
Once fit enough I expect him to be given 20 minutes here and there, then it's up to all the front players to fight for their places.
That's a nice position for Frank to be in, at last we've got quality replacements and plenty of cover available should he want to rest anyone.
Once fit enough I expect him to be given 20 minutes here and there, then it's up to all the front players to fight for their places.
That's a nice position for Frank to be in, at last we've got quality replacements and plenty of cover available should he want to rest anyone.
I knew you'd realise the left is the best place to be eventually
EMC, remember what people we're saying at the start of the season, "not worth the money"
Just goes to show some players need time to develop.
A lot of our fans are awful judges of a player tbh.
People forget the work Sakamoto does out of possession. Either by orders or not EMC rarely works back so you need the other winger to do that work, to get back into a 442 behind the ball out of possession.
Simms will likely be the one that misses out when he's full fit, EMC - Wright - Sakamoto
EMC does plenty of defensive work and a damn sight more effectively than Haji in my opinion.
Could we not fit them all in like this
4-4-2
Dovin
MVE Thomas Kitching Bidwell
Rudi Grimes Sheaf EMC
Simms Wright
Wrights been out for quite a while now, so I expect him to start on the bench for a few games as it will take him a few weeks to get up too speed .
I think it’s his total season, including time with Swansea.
I can see a lot of words on this thread, when just one will do:
NO
NO
Even when we play 4-4-2 Lampard likes to switch to a 4-3-3 when we are attacking and back to a 4-4-2 when under some pressure.
I think it’s a great selection headache for us to have. It really feels like this season we’ve got the strongest squad we’ve had for a long time.
My only reservation with having emc simms and wright on the field at same time is the defensive aspect of things. There were times on sat when Bidwell kept getting caught cause EMC wasn’t great at getting back and bidders couldn’t cover both the winger and right back.
The other side saka offered better cover for MVE and less came down that side. Add wright down there and I think you will get the same as EMC which potentially leaves us vulnerable on both the wings especially if MVE bombs on as he does.
You can counteract that by just sitting grimes and sheaf to cover but at the cost of some creativity possibly. Just something we’d have to be weary of and being more selective when certain players join the attack but hopefully we would be scoring plenty down the other end.
My only reservation with having emc simms and wright on the field at same time is the defensive aspect of things. There were times on sat when Bidwell kept getting caught cause EMC wasn’t great at getting back and bidders couldn’t cover both the winger and right back.
The other side saka offered better cover for MVE and less came down that side. Add wright down there and I think you will get the same as EMC which potentially leaves us vulnerable on both the wings especially if MVE bombs on as he does.
You can counteract that by just sitting grimes and sheaf to cover but at the cost of some creativity possibly. Just something we’d have to be weary of and being more selective when certain players join the attack but hopefully we would be scoring plenty down the other end.
Fully agree the best time to have a look is those 20 mins after substitutions. They could certainly try Wright on the right, but could swap EMC over as well and allow Wright on the left the options are there. What we need to remember at the moment is EMC cannot currently last 90 mins. He is building back up to the full 90 son would expect Wright for EMC for a couple of weeks.
As good as Haji Wright is, he is not the Messiah, and he has been out for 4 months.
I am expecting him to be introduced very slowly.
I am expecting him to be introduced very slowly.
There's no way he'll get more than about 20 minutes a game to start with. We have EMC that isn't up to speed yet so will most probably swap them over.
only a cov fan would start a discussion about whether having our record signing and best player back in the team would be a good thing or a bad thing 
This 'we're Coventry' thing seems to be getting to many. If we were sitting in 5th or 6th we would know we would most probably just be playing for 6th place now with a team coming from nowhere and winning 7 from 8.only a cov fan would start a discussion about whether having our record signing and best player back in the team would be a good thing or a bad thing
It's even good the way EMC and Wright have come back close together. We will be able to continue with the same tactics when swapping them as they get up to match fitness as they can play in the same position.
Wright is going to be a monster with the way we're playing high balls into the box. Why would anyone not want him back in the side?
Shouldn’t throw us off as long as Lampard doesn’t start changing (winning) things. It’s more depth and means we have two great options LW.
What is Sakamoto actually offering the team in attack? I came across which appears to support the view that he’s not that effectual.
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I support that Wright will probably have more of a part to play than simply a left wing option for Lampard. He'll be tried in other positions i'm sure of it and anyone who thinks we won't at least want to try getting EMC and Wright on the pitch at the same time is frankly stupid. I don't however support the growing thinking on the forum that Sakamoto has been useless this season. He's not hit the heights of last seasons purple patch but i think he's been decent enough since Lampard has taken over, more so when we're playing a 433, and i think he still offers something a bit different which is good.
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He keeps possession as well if not better than anyone else that plays across the front three. He helps us get up the pitch and stay there. Ideally you'd have someone in that position that offers a bit more but I don't think we're carrying him. He does a lot of good.
The narrative that EMC or Wright can’t play RW is irritating now. Wright had nearly played LW before coming here, it was made to work. EMC played a lot of football at RW too. Looking at the tactical roles, neither is used as a traditional winger and they both bomb into the box. Even Sakamoto has come close 3-4 times with headers at the back post and he’s our smallest player. Imagine putting Haji there instead?
I do like Sakamoto and he offers a lot in the defensive facets of the game and is a tricky dribbler. However, this view that the MVE-Sakamoto axis cannot be broken is silly imo.
Haji, Simms and EMC are our top 3 goal scorers, we’re not going to leave one of them on the bench unless it’s absolutely clear the combination doesn’t work. Which we won’t know until it’s been tried for a stretch of 5-10 games.
I was careful to say in attack. The best argument for playing him is his defensive actions and that there could be a risk that Wright and EMC would leave us too open. If we did play both, we’d probably defend in a 4-4-2 (which we do a lot) with Rudoni covering at RM, Haji and Simms up top for the counter.
He’s a winger, we want him taking players on and chipping in with goal contributions. There’s better players than him available to us and whilst there is still a role for him, I expect it’ll be as a role player.