Do we really know our best team?

[Surgeryman]

A lot of comment has been made about the size of our squad, the quality....etc but I find it very difficult to actually name what would be our strongest team when all are fully fit and playing well (apart from Ruddy).

I would have thought the first choice for (IMO) defence would have been

Russell Martin, Turner, Ryan Bennett and Olsen.

Midfield is more challenging but I assume Vadis was brought in for Fer and you would think Hoolahan and Redmond would start. One thing that is glaring is despite the size of the squad a naturally left sided winger/midfielder is missing, although you could play an inverted winger a la Hughton style. Wes gets put there but that is not ideal.

So defensive I would go with Tettey and then Vadis, Redmond, Howson and Hoolahan behind the striker.

I would have thought Hooper was the number one striker so my team at the start of the season would have been

Ruddy

R Martin, Turner, R Bennet, Olssen

Tettey Vadis

Howson Hoolahan Redmond ( inverted)

Hooper

I think Whittaker, Johnson, Cuellar, O Neil, Elliot Bennett, Garrido, Murphys,Bunn, Rudd ...etc were seen as squad players. Hooiveld and Miquel were brought in due to CB shortages. Grabban and Jerome are interesting and it could be seen that Grabban was one of Adams marque signings so possibly would have started instead of Hooper.

If all fully fit, what would your first team selection been at the start of the season?

 

[SussexYellow]

With the squad of players we have we may not have a best team as such. No issues with that and may even be a strength.

OTBC

 

[Yellow Fever]

I don't think that we have a 'best team' as such and that is a good thing. No squad players with everybody competing for a place and the opportunity to shape the team according to the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. 

 

[Din]

It's hard to know really what our best team is, because we don't really know what our best formation is. In the last 3 games we've taken 7 points whilst playing with the 4 centre midfielders, so you would be inclined to belief that this is our best formation. However playing this way means leaving out 2 of our best players in Hoolahan and Redmond. But if we play 4-2-3-1, and therefore cater for Redmond and Wes, we don't really have a proper left winger to play there, and it would also mean leaving out one Jerome or Hooper, who are 2 very talented players. Plus we don't really know who our best defenders are. It's a tricky one, however if I was forced to pick our best team on paper, I would probably go with.

Ruddy​

Martin Cuellar Turner Olsson​

Howson Tettey​

Redmond Hoolahan Johnson​

Jerome​

 ​

Really difficult leaving out Hooper, as I'm a big fan of his, but if I had to pick our best team right now, that's probably what I'll say.

When you consider that the likes of Lafferty, Odjidja, R.Bennett, Grabban, Garrido, Whittaker, O'Neil, E.Bennett, Murphy, Miquel, Bunn, and Hooiveld don't even get into that team, it shows the incredibly impressive strength in depth we have.