Shadota
Near, VAR, wherever you are...
On multiple occasions over the past 10 months, there has been intense debate on this forum over the tactics employed by Wilder and his staff. Specifically, the apparent acceptance of winning games only 1-0. Scoring a solitary goal, before spending the rest of the game primarily focused on not conceding to our opponents. Whilst I recognise the the aim of a game of football is to emerge the victor, and this tactical approach did just that on a number of occasions, it has ultimately cost us promotion. The decision to not try and play games as the dominant force, and instead to be passive and try to steal a goal, has caused some of our most significant games this season to end in defeat - the two biggest examples of this being the home fixture with Leeds, and of course the final vs Sunderland. In both games we have assumed the initiative, gotten ourselves deservedly into a lead, and then failed to extend it. We have then gone on to allow these 2 opponents to dictate the flow of the game, attempting to repel their attempts to gain parity, and we have been unsuccessful in this endeavour on both occasions.
With that said, I absolutely do not want to see us play this way next season. And this is regardless of whether Wilder remains in charge, or we find someone else - we simply cannot, with the talent at our disposal, be so meek as to allow opponents the luxury of probing for openings like we did in the 2 games I mention above. To that end, I'm curious - how do you change things?
Given the available squad, and the luxury of the transfer window, how do you set up to blast our way to promotion next season?
I personally would not divert far from the way we were set up at the start of the season, but I would drastically change the mentality.
I like the idea of a 4-3-3. I also like "inverted" wingers. We just did not exploit them in the best way this season.
To that end, I'd firstly go back in for Jonjoe Kenny. The lad clearly wanted to come in January, it just wasn't meant to be at the time. He has the 2nd best return for assists by a defender in the German 2nd tier this season (Only bettered by a left back, which we don't need). Featured in all bar 2 league games this season (32 of 34), so fitness should not be an issue. Having someone of his quality getting forward as a wide option, allows the winger in front the freedom of choice, in whether they try to beat the full back to the byline, hold and wait for the overlap, or cut inside with the ball.
I'd look at Kwame Poku from Peterborough as a RW option. He was in blistering form at the start of the season - 10 goals and 5 assists in 18 league games, 16 of which he played a RW role. He was admittedly struck down by a hamstring injury for a while, but he performed well once again when he had recovered - 2 goals, 3 assists in 10 league appearances. He's a reasonable height for a winger at 5' 10", and has international experience too - 1 appearance so far for the Ghanaian national team.
For the LW, and assuming that Hamer will depart this summer, my ideal choice would be Tom Fellows from West Brom. Top assister in the Champ with 14 (tied with Josh Murphy at Pompey), but I suspect he will be on the radar at Premier League level. So instead, I'd be in for Louie Barry from Villa. He picked up a knee injury with Hull, but reports from them suggested he was on course to be fit around the end of the season. This article quotes the then Hull boss as saying that Barry had a chance to be fit for the last 2 or 3 games of the season. That proved not to be the case, but it seems like he shouldn't be far from full recovery based on the above.
With Barry and Poku cutting in from the wings, and Burrows and Kenny pushing forward from full back to provide the width, I'd then play with a 3 in midfield, each dedicated to a different role.
Firstly, a defensive lynchpin. For now, this would be Vini Souza. Having him focus solely on being a screen in front of the centre backs, means he should avoid getting caught out of position if we are countered on. A few times this season, as the midfield has pushed forward, he has had to be the one to make a lung-busting run back to make a challenge. Having him sit deeper, and focusing on winning the ball, should relieve him of some of this physical stress.
Next is a metronome; a man to dictate the pace of our play, to keep the ball moving and to unsettle opposing defences. Assuming he is fit, I'd put Arblaster in this role. He is very comfortable on the ball, and would be free to roam and offer himself up as a free man to keep the ball moving, ensuring that we do not allow rival defences to get comfortable.
And third, is a penetrator. The one with licence to break forward and support the front line. A player akin to how Josh Brownhill has performed for Burnley this season is exactly what I would want for this position - technically adept, smart in possession, and with that inherent knowledge of where to position himself to get that chance at goal. O'Hare might be the best option we have available (again assuming that Hamer does leave this summer), however I feel like he can be wasteful in possession. When he has time to control the ball and consider his options, he tends to either attempt an unnecessary flick that gives the ball away, or he runs with the ball to a dead end. One that I would like to see us go for is Leo Walta. Plays for Sirius in the Swedish top tier currently. They are about 1/3 through their season currently, and he is sitting at 5 goals from 11 games. I've been unable to locate any passing stats for him (my go to places don't hold these figures for Swedish football), but I'm impressed by him overall.
As for the defence, it is impossible to argue at this point that continuing with Robinson starting at CB is untenable. I'd be looking into getting Rob Holding back - he oozed class whenever he played, and would be a vital source of experience in what is a relatively young side otherwise.
As far as a partner to him is concerned, we obviously have Jimmy Dunne and Harry Darling as options, but I also like the look of Nelson Abbey. Contracted to Olympiacos, but has been out on loan this season, firstly to Swansea where he only played in an EFL cup tie, and then to Rio Ave in the Portuguese top division. He's a left-footed defender, capable of playing at CB or LB if required. Rio Ave finished 11th in the Portuguese league, and had an admittedly poor defence, however they did reasonably well with Abbey in the side - 9 goals conceded in 8 games, with 1 clean sheet. Half those games he played centrally, and half were at full back. In comparison, in their 26 other league games not featuring Abbey, they conceded 46 goals. He's also one to have come out of Reading, who are doing great things with youngsters right now, amidst all the absurdities they've been dealing with off the pitch - this past season they had 11 players aged 21 or less make at least 10 appearances.
Lastly, a backup for Ty up front. I'm not convinced that Cannon will become anything more than he currently is (though I'll be happy if I'm proven wrong), and playing someone of Moore's physique just encourages the defence to thump it away aimlessly (we did exactly this a huge amount when we had McBurnie). While I think Oné has potential, I'd find him a loan, and bring in someone with more experience at a similar level. There are multiple possibilities we could look at here. The most obvious one for me is Richard Kone at Wycombe. He's been played often as a sole striker by Wycombe this season, at the head of a 4-2-3-1 mostly, and has bagged a hatful. He's reasonably strong, quick, able to carry the ball forward, and seems able to create his own shooting opportunities, which make him a great asset to have on a counter attack. Now that Wycombe are confirmed to be in League One for another season, I imagine there will be a few clubs interested in him, though he'll cost a few bob.
From there, you likely have a few squad places up for grabs which we might be able to fill with a few strong free agents. I wouldn't say no to a stronger backup keeper than Adam Davies too, but that wouldn't be a priority for me.
So my ideal setup would be:
GK: Cooper (A. Davies)
DF: Kenny, Holding, Abbey, Burrows (Seriki, Anel, Darling, McCallum)
DM: Vini (TBC - would especially like Hamza to come back though)
MF: Arblaster, Walta (T. Davies, Peck, O'Hare)
RW: Poku (Brooks)
LW: Fellows/Barry (Brewster (if re-signed)/Jeff)
ST: Campbell (Kone)
There's probably room for improvement in there, and I haven't given full consideration to backups, especially for the DM and LW positions, but that would be my ideal set up next year.
With that said, I absolutely do not want to see us play this way next season. And this is regardless of whether Wilder remains in charge, or we find someone else - we simply cannot, with the talent at our disposal, be so meek as to allow opponents the luxury of probing for openings like we did in the 2 games I mention above. To that end, I'm curious - how do you change things?
Given the available squad, and the luxury of the transfer window, how do you set up to blast our way to promotion next season?
I personally would not divert far from the way we were set up at the start of the season, but I would drastically change the mentality.
I like the idea of a 4-3-3. I also like "inverted" wingers. We just did not exploit them in the best way this season.
To that end, I'd firstly go back in for Jonjoe Kenny. The lad clearly wanted to come in January, it just wasn't meant to be at the time. He has the 2nd best return for assists by a defender in the German 2nd tier this season (Only bettered by a left back, which we don't need). Featured in all bar 2 league games this season (32 of 34), so fitness should not be an issue. Having someone of his quality getting forward as a wide option, allows the winger in front the freedom of choice, in whether they try to beat the full back to the byline, hold and wait for the overlap, or cut inside with the ball.
I'd look at Kwame Poku from Peterborough as a RW option. He was in blistering form at the start of the season - 10 goals and 5 assists in 18 league games, 16 of which he played a RW role. He was admittedly struck down by a hamstring injury for a while, but he performed well once again when he had recovered - 2 goals, 3 assists in 10 league appearances. He's a reasonable height for a winger at 5' 10", and has international experience too - 1 appearance so far for the Ghanaian national team.
For the LW, and assuming that Hamer will depart this summer, my ideal choice would be Tom Fellows from West Brom. Top assister in the Champ with 14 (tied with Josh Murphy at Pompey), but I suspect he will be on the radar at Premier League level. So instead, I'd be in for Louie Barry from Villa. He picked up a knee injury with Hull, but reports from them suggested he was on course to be fit around the end of the season. This article quotes the then Hull boss as saying that Barry had a chance to be fit for the last 2 or 3 games of the season. That proved not to be the case, but it seems like he shouldn't be far from full recovery based on the above.
With Barry and Poku cutting in from the wings, and Burrows and Kenny pushing forward from full back to provide the width, I'd then play with a 3 in midfield, each dedicated to a different role.
Firstly, a defensive lynchpin. For now, this would be Vini Souza. Having him focus solely on being a screen in front of the centre backs, means he should avoid getting caught out of position if we are countered on. A few times this season, as the midfield has pushed forward, he has had to be the one to make a lung-busting run back to make a challenge. Having him sit deeper, and focusing on winning the ball, should relieve him of some of this physical stress.
Next is a metronome; a man to dictate the pace of our play, to keep the ball moving and to unsettle opposing defences. Assuming he is fit, I'd put Arblaster in this role. He is very comfortable on the ball, and would be free to roam and offer himself up as a free man to keep the ball moving, ensuring that we do not allow rival defences to get comfortable.
And third, is a penetrator. The one with licence to break forward and support the front line. A player akin to how Josh Brownhill has performed for Burnley this season is exactly what I would want for this position - technically adept, smart in possession, and with that inherent knowledge of where to position himself to get that chance at goal. O'Hare might be the best option we have available (again assuming that Hamer does leave this summer), however I feel like he can be wasteful in possession. When he has time to control the ball and consider his options, he tends to either attempt an unnecessary flick that gives the ball away, or he runs with the ball to a dead end. One that I would like to see us go for is Leo Walta. Plays for Sirius in the Swedish top tier currently. They are about 1/3 through their season currently, and he is sitting at 5 goals from 11 games. I've been unable to locate any passing stats for him (my go to places don't hold these figures for Swedish football), but I'm impressed by him overall.
As for the defence, it is impossible to argue at this point that continuing with Robinson starting at CB is untenable. I'd be looking into getting Rob Holding back - he oozed class whenever he played, and would be a vital source of experience in what is a relatively young side otherwise.
As far as a partner to him is concerned, we obviously have Jimmy Dunne and Harry Darling as options, but I also like the look of Nelson Abbey. Contracted to Olympiacos, but has been out on loan this season, firstly to Swansea where he only played in an EFL cup tie, and then to Rio Ave in the Portuguese top division. He's a left-footed defender, capable of playing at CB or LB if required. Rio Ave finished 11th in the Portuguese league, and had an admittedly poor defence, however they did reasonably well with Abbey in the side - 9 goals conceded in 8 games, with 1 clean sheet. Half those games he played centrally, and half were at full back. In comparison, in their 26 other league games not featuring Abbey, they conceded 46 goals. He's also one to have come out of Reading, who are doing great things with youngsters right now, amidst all the absurdities they've been dealing with off the pitch - this past season they had 11 players aged 21 or less make at least 10 appearances.
Lastly, a backup for Ty up front. I'm not convinced that Cannon will become anything more than he currently is (though I'll be happy if I'm proven wrong), and playing someone of Moore's physique just encourages the defence to thump it away aimlessly (we did exactly this a huge amount when we had McBurnie). While I think Oné has potential, I'd find him a loan, and bring in someone with more experience at a similar level. There are multiple possibilities we could look at here. The most obvious one for me is Richard Kone at Wycombe. He's been played often as a sole striker by Wycombe this season, at the head of a 4-2-3-1 mostly, and has bagged a hatful. He's reasonably strong, quick, able to carry the ball forward, and seems able to create his own shooting opportunities, which make him a great asset to have on a counter attack. Now that Wycombe are confirmed to be in League One for another season, I imagine there will be a few clubs interested in him, though he'll cost a few bob.
From there, you likely have a few squad places up for grabs which we might be able to fill with a few strong free agents. I wouldn't say no to a stronger backup keeper than Adam Davies too, but that wouldn't be a priority for me.
So my ideal setup would be:
GK: Cooper (A. Davies)
DF: Kenny, Holding, Abbey, Burrows (Seriki, Anel, Darling, McCallum)
DM: Vini (TBC - would especially like Hamza to come back though)
MF: Arblaster, Walta (T. Davies, Peck, O'Hare)
RW: Poku (Brooks)
LW: Fellows/Barry (Brewster (if re-signed)/Jeff)
ST: Campbell (Kone)
There's probably room for improvement in there, and I haven't given full consideration to backups, especially for the DM and LW positions, but that would be my ideal set up next year.
