The cup that cheers.. E.F.L Away to Wrexham Tues Feb 11th 7-30.

[TANGODANCER]

Sitting eight points above us in the League, will the Welsh warblers go strong on us in the cup, or can we maintain a winning attitude against the high-flyers. Any cup game can bring out shocks, and giant killers are more abundant than daffodils are in Wales. What has Mr Schumacher got in store for this one and how important will he rate it against the league ? We'll soon know, but meanwhile speculation costs naught..so speculate away..



[color=#BF0000]Note the 7-30 kick-off, fifteen minutes earlier than normal[/color].

[dave the minion]

It'll be rest.. We'll shit 'em

[DJBlu]

Free hit. We'll end up winning as it'll add another unwanted game to the schedule....

[GhostoftheBok]

Free hit. We'll end up winning as it'll add another unwanted game to the schedule....

This team needs to win football games. If it means extra games, fine. It means Schumacher can keep every player involved and have everyone buying in until the end of the season.

[TonyDomingos]

Free hit. We'll end up winning as it'll add another unwanted game to the schedule....

This team needs to win football games. If it means extra games, fine. It means Schumacher can keep every player involved and have everyone buying in until the end of the season.

Except Schumacher isn't our manager according to this (posted this afternoon):

https://www.thewrexhaminsider.com/news/ ... ange-that/

[The_Gun]

My guess is Schuey starts all the lads who were on the bench yesterday, bar SSA.

So something like:

Baxter

Jones Toal Johnston Murphy

Matete Thomason

Tutu Lolos Schön

Vic

[Harry Genshaw]

I imagine they'll be taking this really seriously. Netflix viewers will be happy with any Wembley trip. Expecting nowt but the Schuey factor gives us an outside chance.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

My guess is Schuey starts all the lads who were on the bench yesterday, bar SSA.

So something like:

Baxter

Jones Toal Johnston Murphy

Matete Thomason

Tutu Lolos Schön

Vic

Afraid not - Ilesy saying injuries and ineligibility might take us dwn to 15 fit seniors.
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... s-wrexham/
• Schon suspended (two yellows in this comp)
• Morley ineligible (played for Wycombe)
• Murphy ineligible (played for Newcastle U21s)
• We presumably won't rush back Santos, Forino, Collins or Etete
• Carlos Mendes Gomes is "injured"
• Although not mentioned by Iles or Schumacher, it'd possibly also be a risk to start Osei-Tutu again

So, pick from these 15 and add three kids:
GK: Baxter, Southwood
DEF: JDC, Jones, Toal, Forrester, Johnston
MID: Sheehan, Matete, Thomason, Randall, (Osei-Tutu)
ATT: Lolos, McAtee, Adeboyejo

[The_Gun]

Huh, that’s a bit of a shitter then. Not many full back or winger options available if we’re going to play that same formation again.

[Tails07]

Is a bit of a pain, especially with the manager describing the squad as "too big" around deadline day, recently jetsoned Williams would have filled the gap.

Can't see any natural fit if we go with wingers, Adeboyejo (who allegedy has played there before coming to us) /Lolos on the right side probably playing more narrow I guess.

[TANGODANCER]

Just a word for Vic, ever there, always gives the best he has and deserves far more credit than he gets. Front man is very often a thankless task, not the glamorous No 9 of yester-year and Vic does it without fuss. A true Wanderer.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Can't see any natural fit if we go with wingers, Adeboyejo (who allegedy has played there before coming to us) /Lolos on the right side probably playing more narrow I guess.

Yeah it rather depends whether you see them as wingers per se or "hybrid 10s", playing narrower. Schumacher often used two of those at Plymouth, although TBF more often with wingbacks (presumably to add width) than with a flat back four.

You can make XIs with either formation, but the questions are
(1) which works best
(2) which works best against Wrexham
(3) whether we're playing our "best" or doing some resting/rotating (cheers in advance BWFCi, we know you'd rest them all). Personally, I'd rest JOT to the bench rather than giving him a three-game week.

4-2-3-1:
Baxter
JDC, Toal, Forrester, Johnston
Matete, Thomason
Lolos, Randall, McAtee
Adeboyejo
Subs: Southwood, Jones, Sheehan, Osei-Tutu + kids.
You may prefer to give Jones some minutes, or keep Sheehan at the wheel, but you get the picture.

3-1-4-2:
Baxter
Toal, Forrester, Johnston
Sheehan
Jones, Matete, Thomason, JDC
McAtee, Adeboyejo
Subs: Southwood, Randall, Osei-Tutu, Lolos + kids
- again, you might start Lolos or Randall 'off' Vic and put McAtee, who ran for 104 minutes v Crawley, on the bench; remember too he nearly joined Wrexham so it'd be nice to send him out warming up in front of their fans. But again, you get the picture.

3-4-2-1:
Baxter
Toal, Forrester, Johnston
Jones, Matete, Thomason, JDC
Lolos, Randall
Adeboyejo
Subs: Southwood, Sheehan, Osei-Tutu, McAtee + kids
Looking at it, I suspect this may be the best fit with what we know of Schumacher, barring the slight clang of JDC on the left. It's two reasonably 'solid' wingbacks, it's his two hybrids 10 behind the closest thing we have to a beefy striker, and it's two 'busy' central midfielders.

Who knows, though? We'll find out tomorrow...

[BWFC_Insane]

Last team there I think is most likely.

EDIT: Nope. Randall is also cup tied. So last team but McAtee in for Joel.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Last team there I think is most likely.

EDIT: Nope. Randall is also cup tied. So last team but McAtee in for Joel.

Cheers BWFCi. So assuming nobody's rushed back from injury that's 14 senior bodies, of which two are keepers.

[The_Gun]

B team ahoy!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

B team ahoy!

21 senior outfielders on the EFL list so we could draft in Matheson - however, I'm not sure he'd need to be added to the EFL list for (weirdly) the EFL trophy, if you see what I mean.

SSA should be at least on the bench.

[TANGODANCER]

Beware giant killers. Twas in the F.A.Cup granted, but remember Leatherhead, Sutton United, Yeovil etc ? Every body claims cup games are unimportant, but nobody likes to lose them..Do the best we can and beware. COME ON YOU WHITES..

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Given spending power and league position, not entirely sure what constitutes a giantkilling here...

[TANGODANCER]

Given spending power and league position, not entirely sure what constitutes a giantkilling here...

You might say that Crawley 3-1 up was heading that way at one point...but that was last year..

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Schumacher: “I don’t know if he [JOT] can start against Wrexham and I haven’t been here for a three-game week, so the medical team will tell me what Jordi’s capable of doing. But I know what his strengths are - he's explosive, he's dynamic, he's the quickest player recorded in the squad probably, and probably right up there in the league too.

"I love players like that, it's exciting, I love speed in the teams I've ever coached, so again he can be someone who can play a huge part in it and he should come away from that game with real confidence.

"The challenge will be to recover properly, get his food and his water and everything right into his body, so he is ready to go again. Whether we pick him on Tuesday or not I don't know, I'll take advice off the medical team about that, but certainly he's one that we can be excited about.”

Worth noting Schuey also said post-match that he is "desperate" to get to Wembley, to make up for what happened last time.