ESR as a 'false 9'? The other day, the Times had an article saying that two of the

[Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult]

top 3 teams are playing without a proper centre forward. And this is why they're at/near the top of the table.

Don't get me wrong - Laca's played well in the last 2 games. But he's basically been playing as a false 9/9.5/no.10, dropping deep into MF as opposed to hanging on the shoulder of the last defender.

In his first half season, before we signed Auba, He had the likes of Ozil, Alexis, Iwobi, Welbeck etc, and only Alexis scored regularly.

Now he has Gabby, Ode, Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe. So he has more to work with when he drops deep.

Laca is probably going to leave on a free at the end of the season. And I'd like all four named above to be starters.

I know the obvious call would be Gabby central with Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe out wide. But I think Gabby's better on the left wing. He'll often be on the last shoulder meaning that if ESR drops deep, he's got that attacking outlet.

ESR's got a great shot on him as the goals this season are proving.

Obviously we'll need a new striker and to sort out MF. {AMN has one game, wins MotM, and hasn't played since. If we've frozen out Pépé, we should at least try AMN in place of Partey or Xhaka.}

ESR's got 6 in 15 in the league. 0.4 goals a game. While Laca - excluding this season with only 2 in 12 - has season totals between 0.33 and 0.44.

ESR doesn't take penalties, scores as much as Laca and offers us all that additional creativity.

I think we should consider it. Give it a go in one game and see what happens.

[Luis Anaconda]

top 3 teams are playing without a proper centre forward. And this is why they're at/near the top of the table.

Don't get me wrong - Laca's played well in the last 2 games. But he's basically been playing as a false 9/9.5/no.10, dropping deep into MF as opposed to hanging on the shoulder of the last defender.

In his first half season, before we signed Auba, He had the likes of Ozil, Alexis, Iwobi, Welbeck etc, and only Alexis scored regularly.

Now he has Gabby, Ode, Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe. So he has more to work with when he drops deep.

Laca is probably going to leave on a free at the end of the season. And I'd like all four named above to be starters.

I know the obvious call would be Gabby central with Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe out wide. But I think Gabby's better on the left wing. He'll often be on the last shoulder meaning that if ESR drops deep, he's got that attacking outlet.

ESR's got a great shot on him as the goals this season are proving.

Obviously we'll need a new striker and to sort out MF. {AMN has one game, wins MotM, and hasn't played since. If we've frozen out Pépé, we should at least try AMN in place of Partey or Xhaka.}

ESR's got 6 in 15 in the league. 0.4 goals a game. While Laca - excluding this season with only 2 in 12 - has season totals between 0.33 and 0.44.

ESR doesn't take penalties, scores as much as Laca and offers us all that additional creativity.

I think we should consider it. Give it a go in one game and see what happens.

Absolutely not. Not a fan of the false 9 *******s anyway and think it is a lazy assumption to say that Liverpool's system with Firmino/Jota is anything like City's system, while Chelsea have spent 80/90 million on a real no 9.

I don't think ESR can play there for us because we simply don't control games well enough to get away with it. Would definitely go for Martinelli there above him but we definitely need to strengthen there

[redgunamo]

What about that young African fellow?

Absolutely not. Not a fan of the false 9 *******s anyway and think it is a lazy assumption to say that Liverpool's system with Firmino/Jota is anything like City's system, while Chelsea have spent 80/90 million on a real no 9.

I don't think ESR can play there for us because we simply don't control games well enough to get away with it. Would definitely go for Martinelli there above him but we definitely need to strengthen there

[Luis Anaconda]

What about that young African fellow?

He'll do for the moment - just needs to get his timing right

[Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult]

Absolutely not. Not a fan of the false 9 *******s anyway and think it is a lazy assumption to say that Liverpool's system with Firmino/Jota is anything like City's system, while Chelsea have spent 80/90 million on a real no 9.

I don't think ESR can play there for us because we simply don't control games well enough to get away with it. Would definitely go for Martinelli there above him but we definitely need to strengthen there

Cheers. That's why I asked. I read the article but not having watched any games or even highlights of other teams, I had no idea how true it was about their false 9s.

Though I would say we've looked better with Laka dropping deep with the wingers pushing further forward. That's why I was trying to find a way to keep Gabby out wide. We can, with ESR {or Odin} at 10, but it means the other in on the bench which is a waste considering they've both scored more league goals than Laca.

Good point about no controlling the games enough.

[Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult]

What about that young African fellow?

Which young African fellow?

[Luis Anaconda]

Cheers. That's why I asked. I read the article but not having watched any games or even highlights of other teams, I had no idea how true it was about their false 9s.

Though I would say we've looked better with Laka dropping deep with the wingers pushing further forward. That's why I was trying to find a way to keep Gabby out wide. We can, with ESR {or Odin} at 10, but it means the other in on the bench which is a waste considering they've both scored more league goals than Laca.

Good point about no controlling the games enough.

Absolutely agree on Laca - he is good for the role as we play at the moment. Lovely pass for the first goal on Wednesday.

[Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult]

Absolutely agree on Laca - he is good for the role as we play at the moment. Lovely pass for the first goal on Wednesday.

Yup. That's why I want to keep Gabby out wide. I remember when Bould did a press conf. when Arsène was ill, and he said Laca was a pwoppa footballer who could play no.10. And it's true. That's why MA recently tried Laca at 10 with Auba at 9.

So I like having Laca as the lone CF but with Saka and Gabby ahead of him wide and ESR to get forward as well.

But it means there's no role for Odin. That's why I was thinking of trying Odin at 10 and ESR as false 9, cos Laca will be off for a free in the summer.