With equal due respect, that was not the point. We may be trying to be a skillful passing team in League 1, which is where Brighton were last year and they got out of our league and are topping yours on the basis of that. Sometimes physicality isn't the be all and end all.
Good responses, guys. As much as it harms the footballing purity that we are trying to instil at The Valley, I still believe that we need a big man up front when the passing game is not working out. If the players feel the need to lump it upfield, they will at least need a target man to aim for. Therefore, as others have said, we should have persevered with the passing game, spreading the play out wide and hoping for a breakthrough via that means. It had to be a better plan than the long-balls which were gobbled up by the Wednesday defence. Also, the constant long-throws were source of great frustration. They need to go out of the window - at least against the man-mountainous defences.
I'm with Ponders, Benno isn't a target man and never will be. Too weak, can't head the ball to his team-mates and doesn't hold the ball up well enough.
There are times in a match where you need an outlet, or to just change something to edge your way back in and a proper target man could help to solve this problem. However there is a risk that your passing game could deteriorate rather quickly with that type of player in your team. I remember when Shaun Bartlett was playing for us and despite having a team that could knock the ball around pretty well, we suffered at times because the temptation was always to lump it up to Bartlett who would usually get on the end of it (though where the ball would go after he headed it was often just guesswork). I think a target man can work as long as the team are disciplined and use him when the time is right. Maybe the best thing for us is to have someone that we can bring on when the need dictates rather than someone who starts the game. If we are struggling with our passing game as we did in the second half against Wednesday, then bring them on and adjust the game plan slightly. Obviously we would need a player like that to come in first as we don't have one at the moment.
Top post, Exile. The undoubted need for a Plan B - but only when it is really needed. Preferably, we will play good football and beat most sides. But on Monday, we saw the need for something different. Plus, with a big target-man, all those long throws wouldn't have been wasted.
