Had this team in my head for some time and have been waiting for Will Still to wake up and smell the coffee. To me it seems clear and a lot of my mates agree. So i've done a poll to see what percentage of fans on here agree. 4-2-3-1 (currently injured) McCarthy *(Jelert), Edwards, Wood, Welington/Manning Charles, Jander Armstrong/Fellows, Azaz, Scienza Archer (Stewart) *Move Edwards to RB and replace with THB until Jelert recovers.
Manning over Welington. Right back is a bit up for grabs because Roerslev will get another crack at some point. Jander generally has been ok, but his two horrendous misses and last nights brain fart make me want to try Downes again. Armstrong and Scienza are guarenteed first XI for me. Archer is the best striker available, but he is also absolutely terrible at the moment and living on an 18 month purple patch 3 years ago, before he joined Saints. Agree with dropping THB and just going Edwards and Wood for now. I prefer Robinson to Azaz and Fellows honestly, but not sure if he can do the number 10 role. Hell we have Aribo not even getting a look in and I saw far more from him in our last Championship season than I have seen from Fellows or Azaz in their brief glimpses so far.
Fellows has to play in my opinion as he is simply a better option for the right-sided attacking role than Armstrong. Granted, he hasn't shown much yet but that's understandable when the manager keeps starting him on the bench...!! What that means for Armstrong though I'm not sure.....
Playing a somewhat old school 4-4-2 would be a simple way to get them both in. As I see it, getting two of Armstrong, Fellows and Azaz in the starting line-up should always be possible (and desired) when they're available, regardless of which two that might be. The problem is getting all three of them in.
I voted yea but in reality it’s the 4231 over the back 3/5 I’m voting for. GK and DF I’m not that fussed which players McCarthy / Bazunu Jelert/Edwards/Stephens 2 x Wood / Edwards / Stephens / THB / Quarshie Wellington / Manning CM any 2 of Charles / Jander / Downes Front 4 I would go RW Fellows CAM - Azaz LW - Scienza ST - Armstrong I don’t like AA at ST but it’s the situation we’ve got I’d want Fellows holding the width on the right. The RB holds back and “invert”. Scienza to cut inside more and the LB offer width by overlapping,
I honestly wouldn’t bother starting archer or downs. They may come good but aren’t up to the championship atm. I would play a youth striker or an extra attacking midfielder. McCarthy Jelert Edwards wood manning Jander Charles Fellows scienza Azaz Armstrong Nobody up top, they can take turns running forward.
I know it's been noted that formations etc are pointless until something else changes but it's the only thing we on the outside can really discuss. I'm mostly baffled that we bought in a group of players that seem to fit a certain system well and then we don't play them and some of them are known to be quality for this league. So, injuries accounted for I'm going with: McCarthy Edwards, Wood, THB, Wellington Jander Charles Fellows Azaz Scienza Armstrong We all know McCarthy has a blunder in him but he seems a bit more solid than bazunu (though I was / am in the camp that bazunu can get better and McCarthy can't) A back four gives an immediate extra body forward - I know a 5 or a 3 plus WB's can be attacking but I just don't like the mentality of half the team being "defence". Plus putting the likes of Fraser / Fellows in any form of WB position is a no go for me. I have Wellington over Manning as he's more likely to actually try to defend a cross even if he's a bit raw. I've moved Edwards to RB only due to injuries but if we can get an earlier model THB in the side that's not so bad and has some experience in beside Wellington to help him over those errors he will have. Jander and Charles is a given and whilst Jander seems determined to miss any chance he gets he's not someone who we should be relying on scoring. Otherwise him and charles can just keep doing what they seem to do all game. Downes is just a step down on either so I'd not start him When we thread balls through we score and this is what we bought Azaz for so lets actually play him. Fellows wide on the right, scienza cutting in from the left. I'd say archer up front but armstrong is actually scoring so whilst he's usually ineffective in the centre perhaps with the three behind him putting the ball in the right places he should score (provided it's not a limp one at the keeper)
Yeah agreed on all this. Armstrong is a horrid 9, so I have no problem with him being fluid and interchanging with Scienza and Azaz a bit (maybe Fellows too, but that doesn't feel quite right). But he's also the best we have in that position right now, and shouldn't be dropped as he's scoring.
In the warm fuzzy place in my mind where that all works I see armstrong just floating around making space for himself - just need the others to work out how to get a through ball that he can get on to. One issue we do have is once you swap any of the front 6 for someone off the bench we lose something so we really need to have games shut down in the first hour
Yep, we gotta start winning & 3/5 at back just isn’t working for our offensive play. Got to be 442 or 4312 or whatever but WS has gotta ditch 5
Fitting the 4 into the 3 behind the striker has a few different options. From right to left. 1. Adarma, Azaz, Scienza 2. Fellows, Azaz, Scienza 3. Adarma, Scienza, Fellows 4. Fellows, Scienza, Adarma 5. This would be an interesting one I think.. Adarma, Fellows, Scienza I think that Fellows direct running through the middle could cause the oppo defence some problems.
Without a 'target' man upfront, crossing is fairly pointless for us unless those crosses are low into the 6 yard box (either curled low to a runner or cut back from the byline). We should stop with the floated efforts in. From what I've seen so far, both Scienza and Fellows have the ability to make it to the byline and Fellows has a decent cross on him. They have to play. I would put Armstrong in the middle IF the above tactics are used. He knows where the goal is. As someone else pointed out, Armstrong can also ghost around the front line, he doesn't always need to be central. He's pretty good at beating offside traps (think the goal against Brizzle and the one in the Playoff final as examples) and also puts a heck of a pressing shift in. That means we need someone with the right pass. Azaz should be able to do that and we know that Charles and perhaps Jander have it in their lockers too. It can be a very risky pass if intercepted and so I would have a back 4 that doesn't require the FBs to be overly attack-minded. Now I've finished another essay, my team (4-2-3-1) would be ... McCarthy Jelert, Stephens, Wood, Welington Jander, Charles Fellows, Azaz, Scienza Armstrong I've gone for Stephens because I think we need someone with experience in the back line. Brizzle showed that without it, they can lose their heads too easily.
Given who we have available right now I like a lot of this, especially the interaction between the full backs and wingers, but I really don't think Archer or Armstrong suit the central striker position in our current system and Downs obviously doesn't appear to be up to it at the moment so how about trying something like this? Azaz has played up front before and he's fairly big and strong so more likely to get his head on crosses. You tell Fellows to stay wide on the right and give Armstrong a slightly freer role. I assume Azaz may instinctively want to drop deep relatively often. When he does that you have Scienza cutting in from the left and Armstrong running past Azaz. McCarthy Edwards, Wood, THB, Wellington Jander Charles Fellows Armstrong Scienza Azaz
My worry with this is yes, Azaz is relatively tall (in comparison to our mini strikers), but he is anything but physical. Che was knee high to a grasshopper too, but he was a burly ****er.
If we had Che Adams available then I'd play Che Adams, but we don't. I also wouldn't expect Azaz to play a Che Adams role. But Archer, Downs and Armstrong have all been totally ineffective. Why not try someone who at least has physical attributes that Archer and Armstrong don't? Azaz would be far more likely to get his head on a cross than either of them and far more likely to actually control a ball into him than Downs.
I get the philosophy behind it, and don't wholly disagree, it was more an observation that Che is 5ft 9, so it's not always just about height, as Che is exactly the type of striker we could do with.
I'd rather try and get Azaz playing in his natural position. Would genuinely prefer Aribo if we're putting a midfielder up top.
