Yes, that's how it looked to me too, a last minute adjustment to Stiepermann's late withdrawal. Given we won in the end, the Pukki/Hugill pairing can be considered a useful (IMO cautionary) experiment; if Brum had held out for the draw, on the other hand ....................... Re. Pukki playing in a front two, from what I've seen of recent Finland games, even when paired with a CF (e.g. Pohjanpalo) rather than an attacking midfielder (e.g. Jensen), Pukki plays furthest forward of the two. That's where he's at his best. Hugill though is very clear about where he feels he belongs, i.e. in that same advanced position
Carrying us over the line was only possible because we were already on the line, and Vrancic's contribution to our getting into that position was considerably less than several others. Whoscored's player statistics have Emi as our top player (at No.3 in the Championship), followed by Teemu at No.10. Next comes Marco S at No.40, followed by Onel (No.43) and Tom Trybull (No.74). Mario comes next at No.100. (353 players are listed).
On the other hand, if Cantwell had passed a couple of yards to an open Pukki in front of goal instead of trying to beat the keeper from an angle we probably would have won quite easily. There are rarely single simple answers in football. I would stick with Pukki against Wycombe to maximise our goal scoring ability at home whereas away to Brentford and Bristol City, I might we'll go back to Stieperman with Pukki up front.
WhoScored's player statistics are skewed by the number of sub appearances in the total. Mario has a far greater number of sub appearances than the other players mentioned, seriously reducing his player ratings compared to theirs. If you're going to quote statistics, you need to choose a level playing field.
That Pukki is not and never will be a No10. Godfrey was a young defender,who was still learning his trade,and was converted into a CB by DF. Is that clear enough for you
I don’t think he can be criticised for not playing Stiepermann, though. And frankly, I’m not sure I see much merit in criticising a manager for setting up incorrectly at the start of a match (within reason...), because it always depends partly on how the opposition set up. The key is indeed how the manager responds once the game kicks off, which is what Farke seems to my mind to have done. My substantive point, though, is that there becomes a point where it’s criticising for criticising’s sake. All managers get it wrong some of the time. We were told Farke cannot be praised for us being dominant but “unlucky”, because results are king. I agree with that, to a degree. But that means you cannot then turn around and criticise when he gets results I’m afraid.
There is no requirement for team to play a 'number 10'. Brum didn't. Often it's a choice between that and a 'second striker', which is a better description of Pukki's role against Birmingham. I'd say that DF wanted to enhance our scoring ability by playing two strikers without changing the formation. Had Cantwell passed to an unmarked Teemu instead of trying to beat the keeper it would have worked far better. Like others, I think Vrančić makes a great impact sub, but he doesn't have the same capability on counterattacks where Pukki is better suited. He also works hard defensively up the pitch, which both Hugill and Mario are less well suited to do.
