Learning from history

[Fjortoft's Aeroplane]

Brayford is 5'8" tall - (same height as Alcock and one inch taller than Scougall). Too short to be a CH - especially in this division.

I've never thought of him as a shorty, must be the beard?

 

[super_pig]

It will take time to build on the above just got to be patient SP

i've been patient for quite a while and it is now running thin as i suspect it is for many people. the reasons we are here are bloody obvious. we sell our best players at the drop of a hat and replace them with crocked mediocre shite.. we need a centre half and a box to box midfielder .. NOW. we have been saying this for over a year.
we are like a bloody retirement home for crocked players and midgets. we need to get ruthless

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Brayford is 5'8" tall - (same height as Alcock and one inch taller than Scougall). Too short to be a CH - especially in this division.

Oh No. He's started the not tall enough/not good enough debate.

Can I be the first to invoke the midget Cannavaro, who was by all accounts 3'7.

 

[Lane Ender]

i've been patient for quite a while and it is now running thin as i suspect it is for many people. the reasons we are here are bloody obvious. we sell our best players at the drop of a hat and replace them with crocked mediocre shite.. we need a centre half and a box to box midfielder .. NOW. we have been saying this for over a year.
we are like a bloody retirement home for crocked players and midgets. we need to get ruthless

You're right but we can only discuss it can't change it.
One match at a time for me.

 

[Revolution]

Oh No. He's started the not tall enough/not good enough debate.

Can I be the first to invoke the midget Cannavaro, who was by all accounts 3'7.

View attachment 14221

And how is Cannavaro's height relevant to the fact that the likes of Reed and Scougall are regularly out muscled by league one midfielders.

Lack of height and strength is a problem in our squad.

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

That's a central midfield made up of 3 players who can't run though isn't it? Think it highlights Bergen's point well.

EDIT: I only saw his debut when he was really poor but at the moment, I'm struggling to see how Hammond addresses any of the problems we have. Was it more obvious v Millwall?

Take your point about relative lack of mobility, but with the players available right now I do think it's our best formation/best personnel.

No.1 priority for me signings-wise is an energetic, mobile & influential central middy to fit into that midfield three. Could Hammond yet prove to be that man? Haven't seen him enough yet to know, but I fear not. Both Basham & Scougall have been tried there, but just aren't anything like influential enough.

Beyond January, I'd be looking at a three of Baxter (for creativity), Hammond or Coutts (for experience/know-how) & AN Other (for bite, energy & drive). I've always been keen on Morsy, but there must be other young players out there that fit the bill (even if it means loaning a suitable prem or champ player, like Millwall seem to have done with George Saville).

 

[Bergen Blade]

Brayford is 5'8" tall - (same height as Alcock and one inch taller than Scougall). Too short to be a CH - especially in this division.

I don't think his "official height" is right. I think he's 5'10 or 5'11. Basham is listed everywhere as 5'11, but is around 6'3.

 

[Sothall_Blade]

I've mentioned before that I think fans are too harsh on individuals. You don't have to spend long on this forum before you find abuse, ridicule and contempt for our players. But every player in the squad actually has a history of doing well - at least for spells - at this level and many at higher levels as well. I don't accept that it is possible for a player to keep the likes of Kane, Adebayor, Mane, Long and Austin in check, while a little later being absolutely useless against third tier strikers. For me it's about putting them together in a manner that makes effective use of their good qualities and minimises the importance of their weak qualities. It's about balance and complementary attributes.

Too often it seems we are just trying to squeeze 11 decent players into a formation. Due to the nature of players we've got it's easy to forget something, something about our balance that's not quite right and means we don't get enough rhythm to the way we play. Or something that makes the opposition punish areas, weaknesses which we've ignored.

In my opinion, the most exciting thing about us at the moment is the attacking potential of Done, Sharp and Adams. There should be a lot of goals and entertainment with such an attacking trio, so for me it's about trying to make effective use of their abilities - pace, movement, aggression, skill, finishing. They should be given roles that asks them to do what they're good at. Our playing style should put them in these situations and the rest of the team should be composed in such a manner that we make it happen often. This is what we could be about, what we could do a little better than the rest.

How do we do that?

As cooperblade said I have concerns regarding the current popular solution, i.e. Hammond, Coutts and Baxter in a 4-2-3-1 formation. All have good attributes, it may work in some games and it would be interesting to see it tried. However I think the lack of running - attacking and defensive movement - would see us struggle.

Defensively I think they'd struggle to track runs, catch up with runners, close down players, make tackles and win the ball in good areas. If I'd been an opposition manager I'd tell my players to constantly try to find space in front of the defence, as any partnership of Hammond, Coutts and Baxter would hate chasing after players across the pitch there. To compensate the wide men would have had to get deeper to help out tracking runs, thus reducing their attacking impact. I think we've seen lately how limited Done can be when his position has been too deep. Same with Adams.

On the ball there would be neat, accurate passing, a lot of possession, but we'd lack forward movement from midfield, leading to poor tempo and the forwards too often receiving the ball with their back to goal, rather than running on to balls. This was the case vs Millwall and for most of the Fleetwood game.

Again, these are just my current feelings, hopefully the players will prove me wrong if the mentioned midfield is tried!

I think that's a good summary of the midfield problem but what would be your solution?
The bottom line is that Hammond and Coutts need to be ordered to do the required chasing and tracking runners.
Playing those two "more defensive types" together in front of a stronger back four (including Basham and Edgar) should free up Baxter and the wide players to concentrate on attacking, creating and scoring.
Both Hammond and Coutts should benefit from improved fitness if they are given a run of games and it has to be worth a try, as you say.

One alternative would be to use Freeman as a more energetic box-to-box midfielder with Flynn (then later Brayford) at right back.
He has most of the attributes required to play there (fitness, energy, strength, tackling) and he's played in midfield before with some success.
Longer term, of course we need to sign better and stronger players but I still don't think we're making the best use of those we currently have.

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

All interesting reading.

The variety of opinions and options here shows the kind of judgements Adkins is having to make each week.

UTMB

 

[Independent]

And how is Cannavaro's height relevant to the fact that the likes of Reed and Scougall are regularly out muscled by league one midfielders.

Lack of height and strength is a problem in our squad.

Reed is 18 and is still filling out, I've seen every game except Gillingham and cant remember Reed getting "outmuscled" in either the games he has started, or the games he has come on in this season. What evidence do you have to support your statement? What he needs is a run of games in the team and then to be judged on that. Scougall is 23 so I'm not sure he can fill out more than he already is, he is susceptible to injuries too which doesn't help his cause. Coutts and Hammond may be taller, but I've yet to see them impose their physicality on league one midfielders. Change the record. Reed Basham and Baxter has worked well on several occasions as a midfield three, don't understand the reluctance of NA to use this system

 

[Revolution]

Reed is 18 and is still filling out, I've seen every game except Gillingham and cant remember Reed getting "outmuscled" in either the games he has started, or the games he has come on in this season. What evidence do you have to support your statement? What he needs is a run of games in the team and then to be judged on that. Scougall is 23 so I'm not sure he can fill out more than he already is, he is susceptible to injuries too which doesn't help his cause. Coutts and Hammond may be taller, but I've yet to see them impose their physicality on league one midfielders. Change the record. Reed Basham and Baxter has worked well on several occasions as a midfield three, don't understand the reluctance of NA to use this system

Evidence for Reed? Last seasons games and Gillingham.

I have said before that Reed may well full out and become a more useful player, like Dane Whitehouse did. Time is on his side. At the moment, though, he is not imposing himself enough to start for me.

Scougall is always getting knocked off the ball, and has a poor first touch.

And you're right, Coutts and Hammond don't do it either. As I said, it's a big problem.

We have a central midfield filled with very one dimensional players. Very few of them do more than one thing well, and only Baxter scores goals.

 

[Independent]

Evidence for Reed? Last seasons games and Gillingham.

I have said before that Reed may well full out and become a more useful player, like Dane Whitehouse did. Time is on his side. At the moment, though, he is not imposing himself enough to start for me.

Scougall is always getting knocked off the ball, and has a poor first touch.

And you're right, Coutts and Hammond don't do it either. As I said, it's a big problem.

We have a central midfield filled with very one dimensional players. Very few of them do more than one thing well, and only Baxter scores goals.

you clearly have not watched him THIS season, your evidence is outdated my friend. Baxter scores goals mainly from the penalty spot his work ethic leaves a lot to be desired. The same can be said for the "raw talent" that is Che Adams. Scores goals but his all round game is poor, yet he and Baxter are given chances week in week out, Reed is not. He is not a goal scorer but has assists to his name whilst doing the harrying chasing defensive role.There is no i in team as they say, yet we clearly have a couple who play for themselves not the team

 

[Cyprus Blade]

He is not a goal scorer but has assists to his name whilst doing the harrying chasing defensive role.

On the club website he has one assist this season (no goals, one shot) in 11 matches. Cannot remember how many he had last season but it was as few as Doyle - no more than 3. Kieran Wallace has more this season. If Harris is back at no 3 when he gets fit I would have a think about Wallace (6'1" ) for the DMF role - decent engine. Reed is not ready to be a core player yet.

 

[Revolution]

you clearly have not watched him THIS season, your evidence is outdated my friend. Baxter scores goals mainly from the penalty spot his work ethic leaves a lot to be desired. The same can be said for the "raw talent" that is Che Adams. Scores goals but his all round game is poor, yet he and Baxter are given chances week in week out, Reed is not. He is not a goal scorer but has assists to his name whilst doing the harrying chasing defensive role.There is no i in team as they say, yet we clearly have a couple who play for themselves not the team

Reed has hardly started this season. He may have had a good game against Swindon, and got his only assist of course. He was shocking at Gillingham.

Reed has assists to his name in the sense that he has at least 2 in 2 seasons that I can recall. He has played 28 games and never scored. Baxter scored more goals from open play on Saturday than Reed has scored in his entire career.

There is little end product from Reed at present. I am optimistic he will improve, but at the moment he is merely one of a bunch of limited midfielders.

And Che Adams has his flaws but his goals have won us a lot of points this season.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Central midfield is a conundrum. We have


Basham

Coutts

Baxter

Hammond

Reed

Scougall

K Wallace

J Wallace

Cuvelier


Who can all play there. I’ll not include the last 2 as they’re crocks but all have something to offer the midfield but none are complete central midfielders.

Only Basham and Scougall have the mobility to get box to box but Basham is technically limited and Scougall might blow away on a windy day.


Only Baxter provides genuine goal threat but severely lacks mobility and tacking ability for the defensive side of the job.


Coutts is a tidy footballer but is so slow and not great in the tackle.


Hammond is a steady DM but offers little going forward and again is not the quickest.


Reed is a tidy footballer but is tiny and doesn’t offer enough in the final third.


K Wallace is needed at left back and has struggled to impose himself in CM in the past.


It’s difficult to say what the best combination is, whether we’re better with a 2 or a 3, whether Bashsam should play there or at the back etc. It seems the best combination changes from game to game because the players are so inconsistent.

 

[BushBlade]

Central midfield is a conundrum. We have


Basham

Coutts

Baxter

Hammond

Reed

Scougall

K Wallace

J Wallace

Cuvelier


Who can all play there. I’ll not include the last 2 as they’re crocks but all have something to offer the midfield but none are complete central midfielders.

Only Basham and Scougall have the mobility to get box to box but Basham is technically limited and Scougall might blow away on a windy day.


Only Baxter provides genuine goal threat but severely lacks mobility and tacking ability for the defensive side of the job.


Coutts is a tidy footballer but is so slow and not great in the tackle.


Hammond is a steady DM but offers little going forward and again is not the quickest.


Reed is a tidy footballer but is tiny and doesn’t offer enough in the final third.


K Wallace is needed at left back and has struggled to impose himself in CM in the past.


It’s difficult to say what the best combination is, whether we’re better with a 2 or a 3, whether Bashsam should play there or at the back etc. It seems the best combination changes from game to game because the players are so inconsistent.

Is it just inconsistency or is it partly to do with the differences in our opponents? One of the fundamentals is to win your personal battles and we all know from our own experiences that sometimes you come up against someone who's just better than you on the day. Or to put it simply, some of our players look good against shit opposition but not so good against better opposition?

 

[William Henry Foulkes]

Is it just inconsistency or is it partly to do with the differences in our opponents? One of the fundamentals is to win your personal battles and we all know from our own experiences that sometimes you come up against someone who's just better than you on the day. Or to put it simply, some of our players look good against shit opposition but not so good against better opposition?

One thing that seems clear is as a team we struggle more when the opposition are physical or even violent, and the referee is weak.

I thought the Bury and Oldham games were very similar.

That does not mean we cannot cope with this type of opposition (and ref) as we were in the ascendancy against Oldham and had plenty of chances against Bury.

But, for now, those are the games we find the hardest I reckon.

 

[Dalelane01]

One th ing we do learn from history.start getting a good team together. Then quickly sold

 

[BushBlade]

One thing that seems clear is as a team we struggle more when the opposition are physical or even violent, and the referee is weak.

I thought the Bury and Oldham games were very similar.

That does not mean we cannot cope with this type of opposition (and ref) as we were in the ascendancy against Oldham and had plenty of chances against Bury.

But, for now, those are the games we find the hardest I reckon.

It's been said before but we need an enforcer. Someone who'll go steaming into opposition players if they're throwing their weight around and make it clear that if they continue they'll be going home in a Yorkshire ambulance.
And whenever one of our players is fouled we should have two or three players shouting at the ref whilst the enforcer is facing up the fouler and giving him the eyes.

 

[1danewhitehouse]

Is it just inconsistency or is it partly to do with the differences in our opponents? One of the fundamentals is to win your personal battles and we all know from our own experiences that sometimes you come up against someone who's just better than you on the day. Or to put it simply, some of our players look good against shit opposition but not so good against better opposition?

I think there’s probably some truth in that Bush but not as simple as good and shit opposition. Our midfielders seem to have very obvious strengths coupled with some horrendous weaknesses. For example, sometimes, Scougall will look good and go past players as if they weren’t there (the good run in 2014). Other times, he barely gets the ball under control before being tossed aside and disregarded. I think he tends to do better against better sides who are coming onto us and allow us to counter.


Baxter on the other hand looks better against poor sides that park the bus as he’s given time to play and doesn’t tend to have any runners to track. If a team comes at us with runners from midfield , he can never keep with his man.


Both of those 2 amongst others lose the physical battles too often.


I suppose it’s a balancing act of trying to find the right combination of attributes for the right game. I often don’t have a clue what would work best because I don’t tend to know much about the opposition but I suppose the management will have a lot more info in that regard.

 

[Barney Rubble]

Although I often called Doyle worse than a dog, I reckon Woodward Fan was right when he said we're missing him this season. Nobody on that list (bar possibly the missing in action James Wallace) can do the things he was good at and I fear we'll continue to get turned over from time to time against bully boy opponents.

In mu opinion a midfield 3 perming Doyle with 1 of Hammond / Coutts / Basham / even possibly Reed with 1 of Baxter / Scougall would have helped us accrue more points than we have managed so far.

 

[Bergen Blade]

I think that's a good summary of the midfield problem but what would be your solution?
The bottom line is that Hammond and Coutts need to be ordered to do the required chasing and tracking runners.
Playing those two "more defensive types" together in front of a stronger back four (including Basham and Edgar) should free up Baxter and the wide players to concentrate on attacking, creating and scoring.
Both Hammond and Coutts should benefit from improved fitness if they are given a run of games and it has to be worth a try, as you say.

One alternative would be to use Freeman as a more energetic box-to-box midfielder with Flynn (then later Brayford) at right back.
He has most of the attributes required to play there (fitness, energy, strength, tackling) and he's played in midfield before with some success.
Longer term, of course we need to sign better and stronger players but I still don't think we're making the best use of those we currently have.

Compared to the two previous 4-4-2 line ups we don't have midfielders (wide men included) who are at all similar, and any combination of the current options leaves various weaknesses.

So for me, we should be looking to Clough's 4-3-3 (4-1-4-1) side for inspiration. The Done-Sharp-Adams combination has so much potential, but they all need to be given attacking roles, and we need a highly mobile midfield that can win the midfield battle, get up and down and across, chase and track back, but also make us play and give us off the ball movement. I'd go for one holding playmaker and two hard working box to box midfielders.

Holding role:

Compared to Clough's side we have far better playmakers than Michael Doyle was. It would be interesting to see the effect that has on our attacking play, someone to come deep for the ball and spray it around with so much pace and movement. I'd be willing to sacrifice some defensive ability, in the hope that the other two central midfielder's work rate will compensate.

• Jose Baxter
• Paul Coutts
• Louis Reed
• James Wallace
• Connor Dimaio

Box to box roles (two players):

Stamina, work rate, ability to get into the box, ability to track back, aggression, tenacity, tackling are absolute requirements. From one of the two I'd want height/strength, on the ball running and creativity.

• Chris Basham
• Stefan Scougall
• James Wallace
• Louis Reed
• Kieron Freeman
• John Brayford
• Kieran Wallace
• Florent Cuvelier

So although Coutts, Baxter and Hammond are central midfielders I wouldn't consider them for box to box roles. I'd rather look elsewhere within the squad for players with the right type of attributes. There are certain combinations I'd avoid, like Scougall and Reed, as together they'd be light weight, and we need to keep in mind the need to cope at defensive set pieces, and also be a threat from attacking set pieces ourselves.

I'd be aiming to play something like this:



Comparing this to Nigel Clough's 2014 team:

Defence

4 of the back 5 remain. I acknowledge both full backs' injuries may have set them back a bit, Collins has slowed down a bit more and Edgar is not as good as Maguire. We're weaker.


Midfield

Scougall 2015 back in the same role in a team with similar balance should hopefully mean he'd get back to his 2014 form. Baxter for Doyle makes us better offensively and weaker defensively. This is balanced by the opposite effects from Basham replacing Coady. Similar.

Forwards

Adams may not yet be up to the class of Murphy, but his potential is better and he's already equaled Murphy's total goal contribution (7) from 2013/14. Sharp should get more goals than Baxter (10), as should Done compared to Flynn (7). We're stronger.


But the main thing for me is that the balance in the above team is good, and overall quite similar to spring 2014. The fact that it looks a bit better offensively and not as good defensively may not be a bad tweak.

 

[Lane Ender]

That midfield would see us plummet down the league.
Baxter is more of an attacking threat failed in a holding/ defensive role
Coutts or Hammond more effective than Basham.
Scougall has got to go.

 

[cooperblade]

Compared to the two previous 4-4-2 line ups we don't have midfielders (wide men included) who are at all similar, and any combination of the current options leaves various weaknesses.

So for me, we should be looking to Clough's 4-3-3 (4-1-4-1) side for inspiration. The Done-Sharp-Adams combination has so much potential, but they all need to be given attacking roles, and we need a highly mobile midfield that can win the midfield battle, get up and down and across, chase and track back, but also make us play and give us off the ball movement. I'd go for one holding playmaker and two hard working box to box midfielders.

Holding role:

Compared to Clough's side we have far better playmakers than Michael Doyle was. It would be interesting to see the effect that has on our attacking play, someone to come deep for the ball and spray it around with so much pace and movement. I'd be willing to sacrifice some defensive ability, in the hope that the other two central midfielder's work rate will compensate.

• Jose Baxter
• Paul Coutts
• Louis Reed
• James Wallace
• Connor Dimaio

Box to box roles (two players):

Stamina, work rate, ability to get into the box, ability to track back, aggression, tenacity, tackling are absolute requirements. From one of the two I'd want height/strength, on the ball running and creativity.

• Chris Basham
• Stefan Scougall
• James Wallace
• Louis Reed
• Kieron Freeman
• John Brayford
• Kieran Wallace
• Florent Cuvelier

So although Coutts, Baxter and Hammond are central midfielders I wouldn't consider them for box to box roles. I'd rather look elsewhere within the squad for players with the right type of attributes. There are certain combinations I'd avoid, like Scougall and Reed, as together they'd be light weight, and we need to keep in mind the need to cope at defensive set pieces, and also be a threat from attacking set pieces ourselves.

I'd be aiming to play something like this:

View attachment 14243

Comparing this to Nigel Clough's 2014 team:

Defence

4 of the back 5 remain. I acknowledge both full backs' injuries may have set them back a bit, Collins has slowed down a bit more and Edgar is not as good as Maguire. We're weaker.


Midfield

Scougall 2015 back in the same role in a team with similar balance should hopefully mean he'd get back to his 2014 form. Baxter for Doyle makes us better offensively and weaker defensively. This is balanced by the opposite effects from Basham replacing Coady. Similar.

Forwards

Adams may not yet be up to the class of Murphy, but his potential is better and he's already equaled Murphy's total goal contribution (7) from 2013/14. Sharp should get more goals than Baxter (10), as should Done compared to Flynn (7). We're stronger.


But the main thing for me is that the balance in the above team is good, and overall quite similar to spring 2014. The fact that it looks a bit better offensively and not as good defensively may not be a bad tweak.

Agree with that but unfortunately I don't think Adkins will leave Hammond out and we therefore lose either creativity or mobility.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Need mobility at centre mid and centre half.

Surely the OP highlights you don't need mobility at centre-half – you just need solid partnerships. While successful in those seasons, I don't think anyone would suggest that Morgs, Short, Maguire & Collins were especially mobile at any point.

 

[Rodley]

Surely the OP highlights you don't need mobility at centre-half – you just need solid partnerships. While successful in those seasons, I don't think anyone would suggest that Morgs, Short, Maguire & Collins were especially mobile at any point.

Need some mobility at CH otherwise the defensive line drops deeper and deeper.

 

[blade too long]

the best eleven we can put out has yet to play , injury has robbed us of 4 of our best players , and players coming back need time to get match fit , Done for instance still is recovering and isnt firinf on all cylinders, 2 players still needed of good quality would see over this hump the only problem being the availability of players of a decent enough quality

 

[Revolution]

Compared to the two previous 4-4-2 line ups we don't have midfielders (wide men included) who are at all similar, and any combination of the current options leaves various weaknesses.

So for me, we should be looking to Clough's 4-3-3 (4-1-4-1) side for inspiration. The Done-Sharp-Adams combination has so much potential, but they all need to be given attacking roles, and we need a highly mobile midfield that can win the midfield battle, get up and down and across, chase and track back, but also make us play and give us off the ball movement. I'd go for one holding playmaker and two hard working box to box midfielders.

Holding role:

Compared to Clough's side we have far better playmakers than Michael Doyle was. It would be interesting to see the effect that has on our attacking play, someone to come deep for the ball and spray it around with so much pace and movement. I'd be willing to sacrifice some defensive ability, in the hope that the other two central midfielder's work rate will compensate.

• Jose Baxter
• Paul Coutts
• Louis Reed
• James Wallace
• Connor Dimaio

Box to box roles (two players):

Stamina, work rate, ability to get into the box, ability to track back, aggression, tenacity, tackling are absolute requirements. From one of the two I'd want height/strength, on the ball running and creativity.

• Chris Basham
• Stefan Scougall
• James Wallace
• Louis Reed
• Kieron Freeman
• John Brayford
• Kieran Wallace
• Florent Cuvelier

So although Coutts, Baxter and Hammond are central midfielders I wouldn't consider them for box to box roles. I'd rather look elsewhere within the squad for players with the right type of attributes. There are certain combinations I'd avoid, like Scougall and Reed, as together they'd be light weight, and we need to keep in mind the need to cope at defensive set pieces, and also be a threat from attacking set pieces ourselves.

I'd be aiming to play something like this:

View attachment 14243

Comparing this to Nigel Clough's 2014 team:

Defence

4 of the back 5 remain. I acknowledge both full backs' injuries may have set them back a bit, Collins has slowed down a bit more and Edgar is not as good as Maguire. We're weaker.


Midfield

Scougall 2015 back in the same role in a team with similar balance should hopefully mean he'd get back to his 2014 form. Baxter for Doyle makes us better offensively and weaker defensively. This is balanced by the opposite effects from Basham replacing Coady. Similar.

Forwards

Adams may not yet be up to the class of Murphy, but his potential is better and he's already equaled Murphy's total goal contribution (7) from 2013/14. Sharp should get more goals than Baxter (10), as should Done compared to Flynn (7). We're stronger.


But the main thing for me is that the balance in the above team is good, and overall quite similar to spring 2014. The fact that it looks a bit better offensively and not as good defensively may not be a bad tweak.

3 comments:

1. There is no width in that team whatsoever.

2. Your faith in Scougall knows no bounds. He hasn't had 2 good games in a row for 18 months. He brings next to nothing to the table. I would rather have Reed in the side and that's saying something. That midfield is weaker than the 2014 version.

3. That set up only worked so well with a rock hard defence. We do not have that. We'd not win many games 1-0 this time around.

The problem is beyond our control - lack of semi decent midfielders that do more than one thing, and lack of a really good centre back.

 

[Bergen Blade]

3 comments:.

Always appreciate your input, Revolution .

1. There is no width in that team whatsoever..

Full backs are the main source for width. Harris and Brayford in form are good athletes and can take part in attacks and supply decent crosses. There's not much aerial strength, which is bad news for a player type like JCR, and that's one of the reasons he'd be on the bench.

2. Your faith in Scougall knows no bounds. He hasn't had 2 good games in a row for 18 months. He brings next to nothing to the table. I would rather have Reed in the side and that's saying something. That midfield is weaker than the 2014 version..

I agree that he was disappointing overall last season. Most of the team was though. Scougall had a number of injuries and never found real form in a team that struggled. I'd also hoped he'd do well in the right midfield role (4-4-2) that he was tried in at the start of the season, but he was again inconsistent. There are some players that will only do well in a certain role and in a well balanced team. We didn't have that last season, and Adkins is still searching for the right formula this season. It was only in 2014 that he did brilliantly though. Why are you so opposed to see him being tried in the same role in the same formation with a similarly balanced side?

3. That set up only worked so well with a rock hard defence. We do not have that. We'd not win many games 1-0 this time around.

The problem is beyond our control - lack of semi decent midfielders that do more than one thing, and lack of a really good centre back.

I've admitted that the defence is poorer, but keep in mind that 4 of the back 5 which you describe as "rock hard" remain. I think you've made a valid point in the past regarding lack of goalscorers in the team. Why aren't you applauding the selection of Adams (7 in 14), Sharp (7 in 16) and Done (3 in 6), all in their favoured roles and backed up by a mobile and hard working midfield? Maybe there could be more 2-1s than 1-0s?

In the above post I have agreed that our midfielders aren't "complete" players, and that's why they have to be given roles that enable their good qualities to show, and the team collectively has to compensate for their weaknesses. That's the way to achieve the right balance, similar to the sides in the OP.

 

[BushBlade]

Bergen Blade did Done play on the right of a three when we brought him from Rochdale? I thought he was playing as a central striker?