Albion boss Roberto Di Matteo handed selection poser
Wednesday 29th September 2010, 11:29AM BST.
Roberto Di Matteo is facing a selection dilemma for Albion’s clash with Bolton on Saturday after Gabriel Tamas returned to full training.
The Romania international is back from a calf injury and is expected to be fit for the meeting with the Trotters at The Hawthorns.
And that will land head coach Di Matteo with a big decision at centre-back, where Pablo Ibanez deputised effectively in the 3-2 win at Arsenal.
“I said last week that I had absolutely no problems playing Pablo and I have a lot of confidence in him,” said Di Matteo.
“He is a fabulous professional and he has fitted in very nicely. That competition is only good for the club.
“For the foreigners it is a little bit more difficult to settle but he has been fine and the fact that he came in on July 1 helped him as well.
“The dilemma I have on Saturday is good.”
But Di Matteo suffered a new injury scare over full-back Joe Mattock last night when he limped off with a thigh injury after just 27 minutes of his comeback game following an ankle problem.
He was being assessed today after picking up a fresh injury in the 3-1 defeat to Manchester City reserves at The Hawthorns.
Di Matteo reported no new injury concerns in the wake of the victory at the Emirates Stadium but Roman Bednar (thigh) is yet to return to training and is a doubt for the Bolton fixture.
Marek Cech (foot) will be out for at least another fortnight while Ishmael Miller is yet to set a comeback date after his thigh problem.
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What a great problem to have – we have quality in depth all over the pitch now (although LB is a bit worrying with cech out).
I don’t know who RDM will choose – but I do know they will all be great players.
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I see over on the dark side Jelle has thrown a wobbly……..
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It’s usually said that you shouldn’t change a winning team,but RDM tends to pick whoever is suitable for each game,so I feel Tamas would be better suited to deal with Bolton’s physical presence.On a different note,I just saw the latest wolves story,Mick telling the fans ‘not to panic’.According to the E&S,he’s just watched a DVD of wolves-villa to see how he can STOP Heskey’s winning goal.Surely a bit late? Maybe the DVD was ‘Back To The Future’.Watch out for Mick speeding in a DeLorean!
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Personally I would say the man in possession of the shirt should stay in possession, until form, performances or injury dictate he should be dropped. If not what incentive is there for the players to train well and get a chance in the team if they are just dropped again as soon as their replacement is fit? Pablo has done well when called into the team so stick with him and make Tamas force his way back in. Isnt this a great dilemma to have though?
Come on you Baggies give us 3 more points on Saturday and take the pressure away for the game against Manure next week. Boing Boing!!
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HAPPY lets be honest the real reason the Jelly is wobbling is THE STRIPES ARE COMMING SOON BOING BOING
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Tough choice to make there, I think the only nailed on choice at the moment has to be St Peter !
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First half of the reserves match had a déja vu
feel to it. Man.City went in our half with intent just twice, got two penalties, (and I’m fairly sure Meite did both), so it was 0-2
yet we’d piled the shots in! Then we pulled a good un back, got a penalty and missed it! Would have been 2-2 and we were still running the show in the main. Sloppy marking from a corner, 1-3. I didn’t count the ratio of attempts or possession, but it served to remind me of what we did 2 years back. I left 5 mins early and I never do that.
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Di Matteo surely has to keep faith the Ibanez
who I thought had an excellent game against
Arsenal,maybe Pablo isnt as good on the ball
as Tamas but seems to be a better defender.
The only change I`d make is by bringing in
Graham Dorrans for James Morrison who I thought was very unluky to be left out after
barn storming performances against Blues and
Man City.
I`d also like Jeremy Peace not to hold anymore
reserve team matches at the Hawthorns due to
possible damage of the turf,Albion are a
passing team so we need the playing surface
to be 100% every time,4 games inside 2 weeks
at the Hawthorns is to much.
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If we had to cover for Nicky Shorey I play Jara at
left-back, Reid at right-back, Job done.
With the squad depth we Enjoy, My selection would be horses for courses. When the going gets heavier
players can recuperate keeping them near tip-top condition.
The word dropped is outdated when referring to players being changed for tactical purposes, as it means a player is not playing up to a given standard. Remembering it is now a squad game.
~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.
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CantelloRocket
That’s a good point you make about Bolton’s physical front two. Pablo was immense on Saturday but didn’t cope so well with Drogba on the opening day so it’ll be interesting to see if RDM goes horses for courses with Davies and Elmander.
Cyril
From what you see in the reserve games, what do you make of Mantom, Thorne, Downing, Hurst, Berahino, Elford-Alliyu etc? Can you see any of them making the grade in the next year or two?
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After last Saturday’s performance it is difficult to leave anyone out at the start of the game who played last week. I notice that Somen Tchoyi did not figure for the reserves last night and wonder if RDM is considering him playing instead of Jerome Thomas. Similarily he could play Fortune instead of Odemwingie against a very physical Bolton side. We may need to be as big and strong as they will be on Saturday and the last thing we need is JT OR PO to get injured. While this would mean altering a winning team the squad is now strong enough for RDM to tweak the team based on considerations other than form.
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Yes always the sign of a good set up, when the manager could name two teams that could go out and win the game.
MADMICK struggles to pick 1/2 a team.
BAGGIESBAGGIESBAGGIES
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Jth, I get what you are saying, and I wasnt trying to suggest that changes shouldnt be made due to tactical considerations. I was merely saying that I have witnessed on so many occasions players come in and play really well when required only to be dumped on the bench again for game after game when the injured/suspended player is available again, this must be very disheartening and frustrating for them. Look what happened to Cech when Robinson was still here.
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Oh and Warren to be fair who did cope well In the game against Chelsea? It would be unfair to say Pablo isnt capable of handling physical players based on his first performance for the club when so many others also struggled, especially when you consider that Drogba is one of the best forwards in the premier league.
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10.Warren. I’m sad to say mate that my days of watching the reserves were sadly curtailed when nephew Richard emigrated to Florida to marry, so I can’t help. Last night we dominated Man.City for 70% and the football was good, but the City goalkeeper ended up looking a world-beater. To be fair, the lad was brilliant. Cox had a good game, Mantom too but he hadn’t learned from Brunty’s penalty. Same place, style and result, saved.
City just sat back and had 21 players in their half for a lot of the time. Both their penalties were silly stuff by defenders I thought, but they were some distance away and I was much lower seated than normal. The coaching is the same style I would think as wings were much in evidence, good penetration, but often a shot could have been got away instead of an extra pass. In spite of that, we must have had at least 16 shots, maybe more. In all, we got mugged.
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Newbury
I completely agree with you, I wasn’t singling Pablo out for criticism. I’m thrilled we’ve signed him and hope he becomes a success, I thought he was outstanding on Saturday.
I suppose him being Spanish, you just wonder whether physical defending is something he’s experienced or accomplished in compared to a Swede and a Romanian. I was purely speculating. Am sure RDM will pick the right side regardless.
Cyril
Cheers for that. I’d love to see a few reserve games but living so far away it’s quite difficult. I sit next to a Boro fan at work, yesterday we were reeling off their youth players who’ve gone on to be a success elsewhere- Morrison and Brunt being two of them- whose growth was stunted by the need for immediate success and the purchasing of expensive imports e.g. Boksic and Mendieta.
It sounds like we’ve got an impressive crop, you just hope they get the chance to learn their trade, make their mistakes and become better players at the Albion in the next few years rather than them not get a chance, we flog them all for next to nothing and see them flourish elsewhere!!
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16 Warren- As you say,I’ve watched Spanish football quite a lot,and much of the time players like to pass and run.If there’s any slight physical contact,the man with the ball usually goes down.Pablo has spent his whole career in Spain,he’s only had a couple of English games,while Tamas is now used to our way of playing and enjoys the physical stuff.Facing the Arsenal strikers and facing Bolton’s front pair are like chalk and cheese.Up front,it’s important that we use pace,defenders like Robinson can’t deal with it,so Peter, plus at least one fast wide man, should give them plenty of problems.
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Just changing the subject,on the dark side,I mentioned earlier Mick’s article ‘not to panic’.If you want a laugh,it’s worth reading the posts.Most wolves fans have decided they want O’Neil as manager (like one of the top managers in the game is waiting for wolves to ring him? ha ha ha).Our friend laughing wolf said they should play an attacking 4-5-1 next game,then change the system to a stubborn 4-5-1 afterwards (you mean stay the same but think different???).’Who are Albion?’ said take out the players not up to the job,then bring in…….well,he then decided there’s no one in the squad that IS up to the job.Pure comedy gold.
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CR78
I think another thing to consider with this Bolton game is that if they play Elmander and Davies, which I believe they did last week, we’ll be pushed quite high up the pitch I would imagine (like Birmingham 2nd half) as we wouldn’t be particularly susceptible to a ball over the top as long as one or both of our centre-backs had the legs to snuff that out. I don’t know how quick Pablo is but I’m sure Tamas could cope with that.
Re: the dark side, it never ceases to amaze me how volatile they all are. People often cross swords on here, but most articles on their pages seem to end up in the most persecutory slanging matches…e.g.”[insert point here]…..you thick muppet!!!”
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There would be quite a few managers having sleepless nights knowing M.o’Neill was back in the market place with a ‘For Sale’ notice.
I happen to think MicMac should be given the time to do the job and it’s most unlikely M.o’N. would find the Wolves too desirable if they shift managers out too quickly. In spite of promises, they aren’t splashing too much cash either, so a new man would have to wave a wand over what he’s already got. Leicester have already sounded him out too according to reports.
Full house please for Saturday, get behind whoever is picked, be patient and noisy with it. It could be a thriller!
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