Interesting to see peoples' different takes. I don't think we can play two out and out strikers together unless the opposition is also playing 442 and we match them up. Otherwise we would get overrun. I don't think Wiles and Sadlier are naturals out wide. Neither have real pace. I think with the comfort of having MacDonald and Barlaser in central midfield, we can afford to go with out and out wingers. It is such a shame that Ogbene is out. In his absence I would stick with Miller, who has shown promise in flashes and also Josefzoon who may improve with games. I think you could make a case for any of the strikers. The tricky one for me is who to play as a more advanced midfielder. Wiles did well in that role at Birmingham. Sadlier may be worth a go. Lindsay I see more as a holding midfielder if either Barlaser or MacDonald are out of form or unavailable for any reason. The other candidate is Crooks. In many ways he is the obvious one and I think would be Warne's first choice there all things being equal. He has the size to hold the ball up and he also has a good goalscoring record with goals from that position important if we accept that our main strikers arent going to be prolific. But then he hasn't shown up particularly well so far. You pay your money and you make your choice.
Agree with most of last two posts but.Glenn. the defence cannot be settled when Wood(an accident waiting to happen) is still being played. Is Thompson out of favour or simply not good enough ? Would love to see Hirst bang in a winner on Wednesday but he needs to be showing more to get in the side.
Splinter - Thompson's a mystery. I was really impressed with him last season, both as CB and right back cover. I think he was due to go out on loan due to our wealth of CBs (how quickly that's changed) but have heard nothing of him recently. I'm not as negative about Wood - I think he's been absolutely fine in the last two games. I do take a deep inward breadth each time he gets the ball but he's proved me wrong every time.
Interesting to see peoples' different takes. I don't think we can play two out and out strikers together unless the opposition is also playing 442 and we match them up. Otherwise we would get overrun. I don't think Wiles and Sadlier are naturals out wide. Neither have real pace. I think with the comfort of having MacDonald and Barlaser in central midfield, we can afford to go with out and out wingers. It is such a shame that Ogbene is out. In his absence I would stick with Miller, who has shown promise in flashes and also Josefzoon who may improve with games. I think you could make a case for any of the strikers. The tricky one for me is who to play as a more advanced midfielder. Wiles did well in that role at Birmingham. Sadlier may be worth a go. Lindsay I see more as a holding midfielder if either Barlaser or MacDonald are out of form or unavailable for any reason. The other candidate is Crooks. In many ways he is the obvious one and I think would be Warne's first choice there all things being equal. He has the size to hold the ball up and he also has a good goalscoring record with goals from that position important if we accept that our main strikers arent going to be prolific. But then he hasn't shown up particularly well so far. You pay your money and you make your choice.
You're probably correct about Crooks Smiler. I can't recall a game last season when Wiles and Barlaser played well together - they're too similar and tendered to get in each other's way. Crooks does have that ability to score the odd goal and he's always going to be an aerial threat from set pieces. I can see the team for Wednesday shaping up!
I'm not necessarily saying Crooks should play. I'm saying that if Warne is looking for a midfielder who can join a lone striker, I imagine that he hoped Crooks would be that man. It worked well in plenty of games last season and Crooks has a good goalscoring record. So far this season it hasnt quite worked and he seems to not quite be on his games for whatever reason, hence it is a position that for me us still very much up for grabs. Gwru, you have said before that we have to play 451 in this division. You seem now to be advocating two up front, a right footed left winger (which you have always been dead were against) and three central midfielders. It doesnt look very well balanced to me. (Write your own punchline).
After Saturday's poor showing you can come up with any fancy system you want. We just were not good enough who takes the blame a far as I am concerned it rests on the managers shoulders.
smiler cause Sadlier prefers to play on the left. Hirst can't play him on his own up front. 3 in midfield so we don't get outnumbered there. Harding in place of Wood. Olosunde at Right back. Time to see what Johansson can do in goal.
Freddie is the only one that tries to get a shot away, Smith anticipation is just not there, the one that came off his knee was because he was 4 yards behind, a good striker would have anticipated the cross when the ball went wide and attacked the front post, if the game was played in slow motion he might get into position on time. I do agree about vassell complete waste of time at this level, he struggled in league 1.
Agree that Ladapo can get the occasional shot off but to be blunt that is all he does. He is what I call a”nearly man”. He nearly closed the defender down, he nearly won a tackle, he nearly controls the ball, and above all nearly looked to give a pass. I am unhappy in stating my opinion because I do not like picking on individual players but he cannot be played up front on his own. Seventeen goals last season suggests I am talking rubbish.
I would play Vassell not because I feel is ideal for the job but out of desperation. We need to do something different.
