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On the one hand, it seems obvious that Gutierrez should be starting for us if he is at all fit. He has only started one of our last four matches now, but played a full game for Argentina a week and a half ago, suggesting that he is okay to play; and I do think he is one of our best players. But it is difficult to know who we'd have left out for him today, after he missed the West Brom game through suspension - Duff scored in that game from the left wing, and he has three goals for us this season whereas Gutierrez has none; Ryan Taylor played on the right and had a decent game there, and his set pieces added another dimension to our play; Lovenkrands scored in his first start and looked lively up front. It would have been harsh to have left any of those three out - they were all essential to our last victory.
And in general Gutierrez is a very good player, but in a struggling team, where there isn't great movement in the attack, he has thus far lacked the spark that would turn his good work into something really useful. Duff is scoring more goals than him; Taylor offers set piece ability and can provide assists in this way; Gutierrez runs with the ball a lot but very rarely shoots on goal, and never from outside the area, whilst his crosses, or rather his pull-backs, certainly don't suit the rather static attackers and central midfielders we have.
He should be able to link better when Martins is back in the side - and I don't understand why Martins isn't playing today - his injury has certainly dragged out longer than expected or indicated. Otherwise, we could play Gutierrez in the centre of midfield, or we could move Ryan Taylor to the right back position, perhaps moving Steven Taylor into the centre of defence. Actually, I don't see why Gutierrez couldn't play in the centre of midfield for us.
And in general Gutierrez is a very good player, but in a struggling team, where there isn't great movement in the attack, he has thus far lacked the spark that would turn his good work into something really useful. Duff is scoring more goals than him; Taylor offers set piece ability and can provide assists in this way; Gutierrez runs with the ball a lot but very rarely shoots on goal, and never from outside the area, whilst his crosses, or rather his pull-backs, certainly don't suit the rather static attackers and central midfielders we have.
He should be able to link better when Martins is back in the side - and I don't understand why Martins isn't playing today - his injury has certainly dragged out longer than expected or indicated. Otherwise, we could play Gutierrez in the centre of midfield, or we could move Ryan Taylor to the right back position, perhaps moving Steven Taylor into the centre of defence. Actually, I don't see why Gutierrez couldn't play in the centre of midfield for us.
