Hey guys. Haven't been on here for a while!! Hope all is good. Simple question....Can Wolfwinkel and Hooper play upfront together???
Yes and no. Yes I think they could work very well as a partnership up front they have nicely contrasting styles which should mean they can benefit each other. Ricky's tall good for crosses and has very good control when balls are fired into his feet. Hooper is strong and hard to get off the ball with a natural sense of where the goal is. The no however is the more important. When we play two upfront we sacrifice too much midfield play that we struggle to give the strikers an opportunity to score. So realistically the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 is our best hope and that only leaves space for one. With different players in the middle if the park (hopefully ones we will look to purchase in the summer) and a new formation maybe like Liverpool or Hull then it could well be different but currently it looks like it will be hard to find a way if doing that with our players.
I agree with Bath, they can work together, just not in a 4-4-2 with our current personnel. I'd like to see us try a 3-5-2, but when we rely so much on width for creativity, we might struggle if we cut out wingers.
Thats where the new players would have to come in, I think Olsson would be good in that sort of formation and i think elliot bennett (who I desperately want to retrain a bit as a right wing back) could do a good job on the other side. Then with 3 players at the back it takes out some of the need for the DM which means we can play more creative players through the middle. I wouldn't use it as our primary formation but it would be really good to have up our sleeve.
I am happier with the way we are playing with plenty of midfield support with Fer, Redmond, Pilkington, Howson etc. coming through supporting the lone striker. The thought of RVW and Hooper playing together would make me feel a tad nervous Jeremy.
I don't think we can play a 4-4-2. Every time we do it looks terrible, not to say that they can't but I think in 4-4-1-1.
I think this is absolutely right. We can only play two up front by using a midfield diamond, or at east quite narrow. We would lose width and the ability to stretch teams, but it's the only way I think. The flat 4-4-2 with wingers hugging the touchline is dead because you just have no control in midfield.
What strike force!? We should have searched for another striker instead of bringing in Jonas G in the January transfer window.
We have perfectly good strikers, just a very poor manager, no consistency in our performances. We must be the most schizophrenic team in the league.
Thanks for the responses. Certainly on Hoopers performance today he is capable of providing as well as scoring. I just think it would be great to see Hooper and Wolf feeding off each other especially with Wolfs good movement with Wes creating things behind them. The fans would certainly get more behind Hughton if we were scoring goals even if it means leaking a few at the back. They do say attack is the best form of defence!! I dont really understand why some of you say we cant play two upfront, is that not what we are doing when Elmander plays?? How Elmander is still even stepping foot on the field is beyond me, he does neither create or score goals. I'd rather Becchio was taken off ice than seeing a clearly unfit, out of sorts, no one else wants him, only there for the pay check, Elmander ever play for Norwich again.
Wolf just looks totally isolated when he's up there on his own. Elmander is totally ineffective at setting up any sort of play. He's scored no goals and I can't even recall an assist. That generally limits us to crosses from Snoddy and Redmond. On a side note was good to see Howson back today!!
What is a schizophrenic team? ha It is clearly a mixture of things, tactics, poor play from the individuals, poor creativity from the rest of the team and injuries.
He assisted Hooper's wonder-volley earlier in the season at the very least, and scored in the cup versus Bury, although neither of those greatly help his cause.
