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View Full Version : Do Hibs have an XI that can batter other teams?



TheFamous1875
21-04-2015, 10:04 AM
Do Hibs have a 'hard to beat' XI in our squad?


Been a lot of talk re Hibs' bottle, the lack of physicality and pace in the squad, so I was just wondering what out most rigid XI would be? Who would collectively defend the hardest, get stuck in, stretch the opposition's defence and grind out victories?


I think what is evident is that having this more direct approach could've (if we're capable of making it a success) won us points that we've lost from being profligate up top and negligent at the back.


We've shown that we can play a nice, tippy-tappy passing game, but can we grind out a result when we need it? The 2-0 at Ibrox was a good example of a dogged performance from Hibs, coupled with three individual moments of brilliance from Allan, Fyvie and Stevenson.


So, are we capable of grinding out a result? The immediate thought process for me is that we shouldn't have to be grinding out results against championship teams, but the results project the opposite reality.


Passing teams to death doesn't always work: it seems a bit of gumption and power is what's needed to beat teams who park the bus.


Here's an example of what I mean:


Oxley.


Forster. Hanlon. Fontaine. Stevenson.


Boyle. Robertson. SA/FF. Craig/McG. Djedje.


El-Alagui.




Forster and Boyle worked well together at the derby. Boyle has pace and an engine, so I think we'd be more solid with those two marshalling the right-flank as a pair.


Djedje and Stevenson is calculated guesswork: Stevenson we know is dogged and can get up and down the pitch, but Djedje is still somewhat an anomaly. Should Djedje be able to provide pace and positional responsibility like. Lyle did in the derby, then I see no reason why the couldn't work well together on the left flank.


The middle of the park is where there's trouble. Robertson (if fit) is always first pick as he's been our solid unit all season. I think in order for this system to work, you do need a creative player in there, so that would be either Allan or Fyvie who would pull the strings for us, bringing the wingers into play and linking up with Farid. You could argue that all three of Allan, Fyvie and McGeouch can work together in a midfield three as they did in the derby. Craig does get stuck in and break up play, but when played deep offers nothing in creativity, almost always opting to pass the ball backwards or sideways. It is definitely worth considering Craig in the midfield on his day, though.


McGeouch's energy could be of use as he's capable of playing box-to-box but ultimately it would be down to what Stubbs sees as the most effective pairings (if he were to hypothetically look for an XI that was hard to break down)


Farid (if fit) explains himself. Can hold the ball up, can finish, can bring others into play. He'd be the ideal forward to work alongside wingers bursting up to assist him.




Is this approach feasible for our squad? Would we be able to implement it in the next coming weeks? I doubt it, but I wish we did have this in our locker at times this season.

Golden Bear
21-04-2015, 10:16 AM
In short - "NO."

We have a reasonable team and we have had the odd exception this season, but in the main the team is not set up to "batter" the opposition. We simply don't create enough clear cut chances over the 90 mins and personally I think that is where the problem is rather than the inability to make the most of the chances that we do create.