robson7
Member
I've been pondering over what I would do to make the best of what we have.
I truly believe that Warnock fully intended to deploy a 4 rather than a 3/5 at the back this season. The fact that we have not 1 natural wing back left in the squad backs this theory up.
However in the AM/winger/no 10 department.......we have Olusanya, Hernandez, Whatmore, Jones, Tav, Payero, Crooks and that's before Browne and Ameobi who both may or may not be available by the year end.
I make that 7 potentially 9 players for those type of roles.
So, if we were to play a 4 2 31, we're more than stocked in those areas, likewise with a 4 3 3, we have wide options up top.
We look scarily thin in CDM areas and I worry about Siliki and Howson's ability to control this department in that blood and thunder area when the going get's tough against some of these teams in the championship.
You could argue that the energy of Tav, Crooks or possibly Payero could be used in a midfield 3 or on top of that, Mcnair is cover here so I don't think we are doomed in this area but may need to be flexible. A three of Howson Siliki and Tav/payero/crooks would be exciting but would need to learn to be more compact and pragmatic at times.
The differences between a 4 3 3 and a 4 2 3 1 can be very small at times in fact they should both become a 4 5 1 out of possession really to ensure we're not overran. This was evident in the Karanka days and I'd feel so much more confident with a screen of Leadbitter and Clayton in their pomp right now but we have what we have.
My overall worry is the noise created in terms off 'correcting an unbalanced squad' hasn't really been addressed - left siders/fullbacks/too many wingers/AM's/Perhaps another striker?
The thing is we're not trying to do this in an easy market/environment and with that considered, I think we did pretty well to navigate the summer window as well as we did.
Just a few thoughts that I was keen to share folks. I really hope NW can solve the puzzle and put a run together. For spells this season, we've shown we have some decent players and can produce some good stuff but we just need a bit more coherence and game management to be a force.
A bit early to be getting the calculators out, but I reckon we need 64 points from the remaining 38 games - dooable but a tall order.
I truly believe that Warnock fully intended to deploy a 4 rather than a 3/5 at the back this season. The fact that we have not 1 natural wing back left in the squad backs this theory up.
However in the AM/winger/no 10 department.......we have Olusanya, Hernandez, Whatmore, Jones, Tav, Payero, Crooks and that's before Browne and Ameobi who both may or may not be available by the year end.
I make that 7 potentially 9 players for those type of roles.
So, if we were to play a 4 2 31, we're more than stocked in those areas, likewise with a 4 3 3, we have wide options up top.
We look scarily thin in CDM areas and I worry about Siliki and Howson's ability to control this department in that blood and thunder area when the going get's tough against some of these teams in the championship.
You could argue that the energy of Tav, Crooks or possibly Payero could be used in a midfield 3 or on top of that, Mcnair is cover here so I don't think we are doomed in this area but may need to be flexible. A three of Howson Siliki and Tav/payero/crooks would be exciting but would need to learn to be more compact and pragmatic at times.
The differences between a 4 3 3 and a 4 2 3 1 can be very small at times in fact they should both become a 4 5 1 out of possession really to ensure we're not overran. This was evident in the Karanka days and I'd feel so much more confident with a screen of Leadbitter and Clayton in their pomp right now but we have what we have.
My overall worry is the noise created in terms off 'correcting an unbalanced squad' hasn't really been addressed - left siders/fullbacks/too many wingers/AM's/Perhaps another striker?
The thing is we're not trying to do this in an easy market/environment and with that considered, I think we did pretty well to navigate the summer window as well as we did.
Just a few thoughts that I was keen to share folks. I really hope NW can solve the puzzle and put a run together. For spells this season, we've shown we have some decent players and can produce some good stuff but we just need a bit more coherence and game management to be a force.
A bit early to be getting the calculators out, but I reckon we need 64 points from the remaining 38 games - dooable but a tall order.
Last edited: