Friday, 20 November 2009
Geovanni for the bench?
As we return to Premier League action this weekend with West Ham United's visit to the KC, only one real team selection issue seems to be on everyone's mind.
Will there be room for both Geovanni and Jimmy Bullard in the Hull City team?
The simple answer has to be yes, but it would also be neither a surprise nor a great injustice if Phil Brown opts to maintain the attacking line-up that began the victory against Stoke City, and therefore the superskilled Brazilian ends up on the bench.
This would be roaringly harsh on Geovanni, who missed the Stoke game through a suspension meticulously timed with Bullard's long-awaited full debut for the Tigers. We lost one sparkling imp of creativity but gained another.
And this is where the dilemma grasps the manager. Bullard can do all of Geovanni's visionary stuff and more. It's hard to separate the two of them as mercurial talents, so maybe the prospect of two of them - especially in what is essentially an early-season relegation six-pointer - starting the game seems a little far-fetched.
However, although Geovanni's last game was in an unusually deep position, he is best suited to being further forward than Bullard, playing as a schemer and roamer behind a main centre forward. If Brown were to maintain Geovanni's licence to do as he pleases but try to keep the Brazilian further forward, there should be a place for him.
Bullard's inclusion is a no-brainer. Yet because of this, Geovanni's role is somehow threatened. And yet you could look back to January, when Bullard signed on the dotted line, and simply lick your lips at the prospect of the two of them playing together. Such a likelihood seems a little more unsure now.
Aside from the compatibility of the two, the question would also arise as to which of Craig Fagan and Jozy Altidore would need to make way, especially as both played their best games of the season and, by definition in Altidore's case, his best game for the club so far. To drop either, even when informed that it's to accommodate City's finest performer of the season so far, would be a riotous injustice. Fagan's relationship with his manager is already strained, whereas Altidore's continued need to come to terms with the English game and build his confidence can only be achieved through selection from the start. We can rule out Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink - seven minutes on the park doesn't earn him the right to replace either striker, even though he did score the winning goal against Stoke during that brief time on show.
Brown probably has to make one change, as Seyi Olofinjana returned from duty with Nigeria with a tight hamstring. It could herald a remarkable return for George Boateng, who was turning down a loan to a Championship club a mere three weeks ago, or the prospect of Dean Marney's energy, industry, heart and total paucity of end product accompanying Bullard down the middle.
Of the gutted Irish trio, two aren't in the starting XI right now anyway, and although other Premier League managers claim they will assess their Irish squad members' "mental state" before deciding whether to pick their charges who performed in Paris, somehow it doesn't seem feasible that a character like Stephen Hunt will have allowed the upset that to affect his club focus. He'll play.
The big question is about Geovanni though. Keep him off the teamsheet and the best player in City's side through the season is suddenly in danger of being frozen out after just one match of absence. But reinstate him and the two performers most in danger of losing out find themselves wondering what on earth they have to do in order to play football for Hull City.
We're sure that Brown is somehow relishing the niceness of the problem, as it's not often so many form players are available at once. His man-management talents need to be right on the button to get through this one. It's all that Bullard bloke's fault - and thank goodness for that.