Maynard's Selection Conundrum. Who Should be in His Starting 11?

[Robbie]

Stuart Maynard will certainly have a selection problem when all his players are fit & ready to be selected.

Some of the players have performed well & pick themselves. Players such as Bass, Macari, Platt, Bedeau, Tsaroulla, Jones & Crowley can be selected on merit.

But who joins them in the first 11?

Defensive Midfield & upfront could prove a selection headache for Stuart. For example, Palmer, Robertson, Edwards, Hinchy, Grant, Austin & Abbott will be fighting over the defensive midfield places.

Grant, Austin & Edwards have excelled in attacking midfield roles too.

Scott, McGoldrick, Jatta, & Brown will be fighting for a place upfront too

So, who gets your nod to start each game for Notts, out of all the players available. Maybe someone I haven't mentioned?

Who would be your preferred 11?

[Chris]

If we start off by talking about form and reliability, I think the whole squad at least with the outfield players have the ability to come in. At the moment, the only player who hasn't impressed me is Adam Chicksen.

I'm struggling to see where he fits in, but I desperately cling on to the fact he could be pushed to produce the form we had during our promotion winning season. That's been his only real good season, prior to that he looked destined to be released and this is how I feel things look right now for him.

David McGoldrick in his current form is making it difficult for him to be dropped, though I still believe we need to carefully manage his minutes. I don't deny he can be a good player, but he does burn out and underperform. We need to maintain his current form and fight, as keeping him on the bench is why he's done so well IMO when he has been started. Jatta, once he returns, might find himself on the bench.

The options for the starting 11 could be very different based on who we play, and we are lucky that everyone who has played so far looks just as good to start. Even those who have come on from the bench, minus my earlier exception.

It's a very good conundrum for Stuart Maynard to have.

[Robbie]

@Chris I think you may be right that Stuart may be looking to the whole squad when deciding the starting 11 for a particular game.

We also have to bear in mind that we haven't seen McDonald, Cundy, Ness or Gordon feature yet, nor have we seen the young guys, Sanderson & Reynolds.

It is going to be a big conundrum for Stuart to solve. I think that he must be relishing it too.

Last season it was so difficult for him, because the squad was so thin on the ground.

[Chris]

My line-up would be.

Bass
Macari, Platt, Bedeau

Wing-backs: Jodi Jones and Nick Tsaroulla.

George Abbott, Conor Grant, Dan Crowley

Scott, Jatta

--

Scott could be replaced with Curtis Edwards or Grant.

Likewise, Jatta could easily be dropped for David McGoldrick.

I like Scott behind the striker, playing in an attacking role and preferably less out wide. More, where the actions build near to the opposition's goal. I don't mind McGoldrick drifting further back, but I do think he plays best when shadowing the striker (unless he is the striker)

[Robbie]

My line up at home would be:-

Bass
Macari, Platt, Bedeau

Wing-backs: Jodi Jones & Nick Tsaroulla.

Abbott, Grant, Crowley

McGoldrick, Jatta

Subs, Palmer, Edwards, McDonald, Scott, Gordon, Stone & Brown.

Standby, Austin, Ness & Cundy 

Away Matches

Bass
Macari, Platt, Bedeau

Wing-backs: Jodi Jones & Nick Tsaroulla.

Abbott, Grant, Crowley, Edwards

McGoldrick

Subs, 

Stone, McDonald, Gordon, Hinchy Scott, Jatta & Palmer 

Standby, Austin, Ness, Brown & Cundy.

Away matches I would put an extra midfielder in the starting 11

[heraldmagpie]

I think there are several players who are essential when fit: Alex Bass, Jacob Bedeau, Matty Platt, Matt Palmer, Dan Crowley, and Jodi Jones. The rest can be rotated among the squad. It’s a good problem for the head coach to have. It took Stuart Maynard time to identify his strongest squad last season. I think he knows now and sees the benefits of certain players in specific games.

[menzinho]

I do wonder if we’ll see Jatta and McGoldrick paired at some point but we’ve played a rough 3-4-2-1 system for most of the season so far. I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but I do think it’s harder getting them both into the same team as it would require a change in formation.

I love the idea of McGoldrick and Crowley behind Jatta on paper, the level of quality would be fantastic on the ball. But Edwards/Austin give you that tireless running and press I don’t think either Crowley or McGoldrick can provide. I would say a team with Edwards/Austin provides more balance.

I think McDonald will be surprisingly solid but he's yet to play. Gordon has the unfortunate job of trying to displace Jodi. I actually like him playing on the right-hand side, but I’d still like to see him on the left as well, shame we can't clone him! That said Tsaroulla looks good and I think he'll be much more comfortable on the left. Abbott and Hinchy have started brightly for young players and we’ve got a lot of attacking quality to pick for limited spaces!

If fitness was no issue this would be my team… And this wasn’t easy!

Bass,

Macari, Platt, Bedeau,

Jones, Palmer, Robertson, Tsaroulla,

Crowley, Edwards

Jatta.

Honestly though, it's so close between McGoldrick and Jatta, it does feel a bit wrong to leave out a player who's scored 4 goals in 2 games!

[TheSkipper]

I don’t see the partnership of Scott Robertson and Matt Palmer being something we’ll see as concrete. I did think it would be at the start of the season, but I think George Abbott looks a better option for winning the ball back and tackling players. Robertson is good going forward but isn’t always careful when passing the ball. He can lose it at times too, so I think Abbott will come into the team more.

I do like Curtis Edwards. I think he’s very good in the advanced midfield role, but he’s okay further back. I do think he has done exceptionally better near the top end of our team.

As for the team, I think right now it could change and adapt. I’ll wait until we are further into the season.

[Robbie]

@TheSkipper

I agree about Edwards & Abbott. I think they could forge a good defensive midfield partnership especially away from home & against the stronger sides.

Their work rate, tenacity & skill on the ball, would prove invaluable in those matches.

[liampie]

once matt palmer is fit, i have no doubt he will be included more, him and abbott, crowley and edwards seem to be good options. it leaves scott and mcgoldrick to rotate with attacking spaces or advanced midfield. i think like @Robbie, we will start to see a difference between home and away selections. it would be hard to ignore grant for example, but it is a sign of the good options we have.

defence and goal writes itself, when jatta is available he should start.