ucandomagic
Active Member
OK - For the first time tonight I didn’t feel completely devastated at the end of a defeat - not because we were OK but because we weren’t. We are not good enough to stay up - period. We got here dependent on ageing players like Norwood, McGoldrick, Basham and Sharp, but if we are not staying up they are not our future.
Ideal players are a combination of skill, physique, speed, intelligence and calm - but we can’t afford players like Henry, Aguero, Pogba or Kompany. So we have to build a Moneyball team of players with the ability to play in their position in the Premier League, but with their weaknesses covered by our system and by other players’ abilities.
In the Premier League, strikers are so quick and strong that central defenders have to be unbelievable to cope with them. Most central defenders are not quick and agile, so you need 1 or 2 sitting midfielders to protect them and stop uninterrupted runs at them. So to be solid, with less than special players, you need a system like 4-2-3-1. We have a potentially fine back 4 with Egan and JOC in the centre with several solid young players - Bogle, Osborn, Lowe, RND to play outside them. Stick a duet combination of aggression and class in front of them - say Slater and Berg and we have a solid base.
After that - I think Fleck can be the middle of a 3 with pace either side of him and finishing in front. Fleck’s strength of run with the ball can have the highest return in the centre of the final third. Apparently Brewster has pace and is a good finisher, but we have no evidence for that. Burke has pace and graft, McB has graft and aerial power. With what we have - it would have to be Burke to the left of Fleck with Brewster on his right and McB in front, but this is where experimenting with different ideas and players sometimes produces success from surprising combinations.
This isn’t meant to be a well thought-out plan, just something that could make the next 14 games seem interesting and forward-looking, rather than 3 months of going to the dentist twice a week and ending up losing all your teeth anyway.
I know we can’t recall loanees now - but we can temporarily use somebody like Lunny in an aggressive DM role to see if it works. He may even take to it. We can give the cup focus to the old guard and build for the future in the league - the opposite to the norm.
I spent years preaching anticipation and agility to business boards - our vaccine policy is a great demonstration of such an approach - as opposed to the approach of being unwilling or unable to see the need to change something which has worked for you in the past.
As we used to say - we just need ideas, so don’t come back with and why something won’t work - I won’t respond anyway - come back with what you think will work better and why - then we can have an interesting thread.
Ideal players are a combination of skill, physique, speed, intelligence and calm - but we can’t afford players like Henry, Aguero, Pogba or Kompany. So we have to build a Moneyball team of players with the ability to play in their position in the Premier League, but with their weaknesses covered by our system and by other players’ abilities.
In the Premier League, strikers are so quick and strong that central defenders have to be unbelievable to cope with them. Most central defenders are not quick and agile, so you need 1 or 2 sitting midfielders to protect them and stop uninterrupted runs at them. So to be solid, with less than special players, you need a system like 4-2-3-1. We have a potentially fine back 4 with Egan and JOC in the centre with several solid young players - Bogle, Osborn, Lowe, RND to play outside them. Stick a duet combination of aggression and class in front of them - say Slater and Berg and we have a solid base.
After that - I think Fleck can be the middle of a 3 with pace either side of him and finishing in front. Fleck’s strength of run with the ball can have the highest return in the centre of the final third. Apparently Brewster has pace and is a good finisher, but we have no evidence for that. Burke has pace and graft, McB has graft and aerial power. With what we have - it would have to be Burke to the left of Fleck with Brewster on his right and McB in front, but this is where experimenting with different ideas and players sometimes produces success from surprising combinations.
This isn’t meant to be a well thought-out plan, just something that could make the next 14 games seem interesting and forward-looking, rather than 3 months of going to the dentist twice a week and ending up losing all your teeth anyway.
I know we can’t recall loanees now - but we can temporarily use somebody like Lunny in an aggressive DM role to see if it works. He may even take to it. We can give the cup focus to the old guard and build for the future in the league - the opposite to the norm.
I spent years preaching anticipation and agility to business boards - our vaccine policy is a great demonstration of such an approach - as opposed to the approach of being unwilling or unable to see the need to change something which has worked for you in the past.
As we used to say - we just need ideas, so don’t come back with and why something won’t work - I won’t respond anyway - come back with what you think will work better and why - then we can have an interesting thread.
