Kucherenko
Stephenson Esselink Keresztes Ferry
       Camara              Sevelj
                    Sibbald

Sapsford     Moller        Fatah

Naamo if Stephenson isn't fit and Strain still unavailable.

Richards
Cleall-Harding
Iovu
Naamo/Strain
Eskesen
Trapanovski
Dolcek
Stirton
Academy

Last edited by Arabdownsouth (26/10/2025 9:11 pm)

Arabdownsouth wrote:

Kucherenko
Stephenson Esselink Keresztes Ferry
       Camara              Sevelj
                    Sibbald

Sapsford     Moller        Fatah

Naamo if Stephenson isn't fit and Strain still unavailable.

Richards
Cleall-Harding
Iovu
Naamo/Strain
Eskesen
Trapanovski
Dolcek
Stirton
Academy

 
Think I’d go for that too however, there back line is made of odonnell mcginn ect, could be temped to go for dolcek sapsford fatah for the speed and flair against that lot with moller coming off the bench.

United Arab Emarite wrote:

Knowing nothing about football I don't pick starting XIs, I just want our best players to be picked in their best positions by Middle-Sized Jim.

But what I did want to ask is have you noticed our December schedule up to Xmas?
5 games in 17 days with 4 of them on home turf!
Unbelievable!
 

Yeah a busy period, Motherwell could be moved to January if they reach the cup final.

Mr X wrote:

Would like to see us start with a back 4 and think Sevelj should be dropped.
Kuch
Strain Bert KK Ferry
Stephenson Camara Sibbald
Fattah Moller Sapsford

 
Can't argue with that. I'm undecided and probably will be until 7.45 on Wednesday.

Arabdownsouth wrote:

Mr X wrote:

Would like to see us start with a back 4 and think Sevelj should be dropped.
Kuch
Strain Bert KK Ferry
Stephenson Camara Sibbald
Fattah Moller Sapsford

 
I can agree with that so long as strain and Stephenson are both fit

Absolutely, we have a good enough squad that if someone isn’t 100% fit there’s no need to risk them 

Luca doesn't have a broken nose.

So, i'd expect him to be fine for Wednesday.

Arabdownsouth wrote:

Tek wrote:

Luca doesn't have a broken nose.

So, i'd expect him to be fine for Wednesday.

 
Yeah he's a tough little fucker, he'll be there I'm sure.

Edit to add, having read the article in the record about Luca my respect for the lad grows even higher. This will be his last season with us I'm sure but I absolutely want this lad to succeed at the highest level he can. Great wee player with a tremendous attitude, exactly the kind of player I want to see wearing our badge 👍

Good to hear
 

I’d expect us to press Motherwell tonight, they’ll play from the back and come at us so we need to match that.

3-5-2 isn’t working for us so i think we’ll be back to 3-4-3.

Kucherenko

Iovu
Bert
Kerestzes

Luca
Pan Cam
Sibbald
Ferry

Fatah
Sapsford
Trapa

LS Arab wrote:

RogerTheAlien wrote:

I’d expect us to press Motherwell tonight, they’ll play from the back and come at us so we need to match that.

3-5-2 isn’t working for us so i think we’ll be back to 3-4-3.

Kucherenko

Iovu
Bert
Kerestzes

Luca
Pan Cam
Sibbald
Ferry

Fatah
Sapsford
Trapa

100% agree that this is likely 3-4-3 as we need to press them high up

Agree also it should be Pan and Sibbaldo in the engine room

Up front I think Moller is good at pressing so could be Trapa Moller and Zac up front to press them hard
 

 
343 means there's only 2 conventional midfielders whereas 433 gives you a 3, meaning less chance of being over matched in the centre of the park.
And 433 is harder to get in behind.
Not a fan of 343 as you can see 😀

Last edited by redford_must_score (Yesterday 5:03 pm)

Another first half shambles 
This really annoys me because very few of us would start that side down there.

Subs at HT please. Now.

FT 2-0

Goodwin has sold the shirt tonight with that first half selection and tactics.
Unacceptable. Totally unacceptable.
A different chairman and he's getting a blast in his ear tonight. Maybe that's part of the problem.
We just can't keep giving teams a head start.

Last edited by redford_must_score (Yesterday 9:53 pm)

Tek will no doubt provide a more in depth player review but meantime a few random thoughts.

Keeper - not inspiring confidence when CB's don't know if he's coming out or staying.
Ferry - a definite drop in form recently, probably caused by the jitters across the other defenders.
Esselink - drawn into the channels far too easily, shocking at times.
Esselink/Keresztes- for big men they show a real lack of aggression at times. You have to bully strikers and make them feel they're losing the battle.
Sevelj - terrible distribution lately, every touch is a foul coming, but that could apply to several of our players.
Eskeson - a terrible error from Goodwin to start him tonight.

Not our first defeat this season, but the first time we have been comprehensively outplayed.

An absolutely appalling display. One shot on target all night and Motherwell passed us off the park all night and looked fitter, stronger and faster.

Goodwin has to take his fair share of the blame for that tonight. The wrong starting XI selected tonight and the wrong formation.

Yet another game where we worryingly don't turn up at all in the first 45 minutes. This is starting to become unacceptable. You can't just expect to turn up for one half of football and expect to get anywhere as a club.

My player ratings on a bitterly disappointing night -

Kucherencko 6 - Didn't do anything particularly wrong tonight. Couldn't do anything about either goal. Some poor distribution however.

Ferry 5 - Garbage tbqh. A great block on the line to spare a Motherwell goal but was all over the place at other points. Beaten easily on the wing for their 1st and his corners, free kicks and even throw in's were very poor all night long. He is playing nowhere near his ability at the moment.

Esselink 6 - Poor night from Bert.

Keresztes - 6 - His poorest game in a United shirt. Very slack pressing down for their 2nd goal. He is a big strong boy, he has to be braver there.

Stephenson 6 - Thought he was quite poor tonight. Should have absolutely buried our only good chance of the night. Was outmuscled a few times in 50/50's. Possibly his worst game for us.

Sevelj 6 - His poor form this season continues. Sat far too deep for my liking (i know he would have been asked to do this btw). Nowhere near as effective for the team as he was last season when he was a Warrior most weeks.

Sibbald 6 - Stupidly sacrificed at half time as he was sitting on a yellow card. Given his recent form this was far too reactionary and should have been kept on for awhile longer as he has grown into the last two games massively in the 2nd half and been influential. Unless of course he got an injury.

Eskesen 4 - The Danish Jordan Tilson. I am baffled as to why Goodwin started him or what he seemingly see's in him. Offers nothing. An empty shirt.

Fatah 6 - Was anonymous all night and then out of nowhere came alive around the hour mark. Subbed off two minutes later. Daft timing. I would have given him another five minutes to see if he continued to grow into the game.

Sapsford 6 - Poor for the 4th or 5th game running. 

Moller 5 - I'm just not having him, sorry. Works hard etc etc, but that's 8 appearances for United now and hasn't looked close to even scoring. I can't shake off the feeling that he's the new VDS.

Subs -

Camara 6 - Bizarre that our best player starts on the bench. Made the midfield better instantly, though he can play better also.

Naamo 6 - Another one who i'm just not having. Not a particularly good defender/Right Back and not a forward /winger. What is he and what exactly does he bring to the team? Also why was he deemed a priority signing?

Trapanovski 6 - Knew after 5 minutes it was gonna be a game where nothing comes off for him. He needs to believe in himself a bit more at times. One ball played over the top, he is beating the 'Well player for pace and instead of continuing forward and running in on goal he cuts back, tries to cut back in and beat the player on the inside and runs into him giving Motherwell possession back. Just believe in yourself and trust your pace.

Dolcek 5 - Anonymous, bar one time he was put in and took too long to shoot because he wouldn't use his weaker right foot. He was offside anyway. Five long weeks since his last goal vs Aberdeen or indeed since he done anything of note in a United shirt.

Starting to become concerned that he's this seasons David Babunski i.e. a player who started brilliantly, looked too good for us technically and talent wise, but then seemingly became a player that Goodwin decided he 'can't trust' and subsequently fizzles out over the course of the season.

Jim Goodwin 5 - Poor starting XI, poor formation and poor subs at the wrong times. Also why have a Striker on the bench who's actually scored this season (Stirton) and never utilise him even when we are 2-0 down? Why not throw caution to the wind and go 442 and put him up beside Sapsford and try something different. Anything. Rather than try the same failing tactics all night and expect it to come good.