Argyle v Chelsea U21 (all merged).

[Metal Green Mickey]

The heigth of Grant coming forward into central mid-field would be lost as a defensive asset, by putting Edwards back to RB in place of Riley, as so many on here wish to see. I certainly accept that loanee Grant needs to produce more.

Is this the same Josh Grant who looks vulnerable in the air on crosses. It wasn’t just Exeter he got exposed, we seen it at HP to. He is a liability lm afraid at set pieces and wouldn’t be that much of a loss in terms of defending crosses.

He is however very composed on the ball. He made a mistake at Exeter but in general has looked fine with the ball at his feet. I think CDM might be a better option for him currently.

 

[JannerinCardiff]

For me there was one big positive to come out of the match. This was Josh Grant who looked awesome as a CDM. We could play him there and put Joe Edwards at RWB (who I think is better than Riley in this position) and has already scored twice from there. This might sort out our obvious lopsided ness whilst not losing anything (or maybe even improving..) in the holding midfield position. Josh Grant reminded me of a young Vieira against Chelsea at times.

He played 25 minutes, against the u23 side he’s on loan from and therefore knows pretty well. I think you’re getting a bit carried away.

Yes he was on a short time but made a big impact. Clearly Lowe also thinks he can play the position given he gave him a go there. Having him on the pitch also gives us more aerial prowess for and against corners and FK’s, certainly more so than having Edwards at CDM.

Grant was at fault for three goals against Exeter, for the second goal he lost his man at a free-kick. He also lost headers in the Cheltenham and Scunthorpe games which led to goals.
I was surprised he lasted the full 90 minutes against Exeter and even more surprised he played in the joke game on Tuesday.
Why didn't our own youngster Mike Peck get a chance?

The CDM role is also about passing and keeping the team moving so I reckon Edwards (or Randell) is better than Grant at doing that. Baxter is the best passer in that position but he's injured.

What I saw from the Chelsea game is that Josh Grant played as a CDM and was marking Chelsea’s attacking central midfielders. Because of his height against smaller more technical attacking CM’s he won all of his aerial battles that I saw and has good skills with the ball at his feet and started a number of attacks. I just think given we’d all probably agree Riley is a RB and not a RWB that whilst Baxter is not available that putting Edwards at RWB and Josh Grant at CDM would improve our current first XI (that are fit)

Game of opinions - I’ve got mine. Obviously Lowe thinks Josh Grant can play CDM otherwise he wouldn’t have played him in that position.