A lot has been made about our need for a new striker so we play 4-4-2. however my worry is that every time we have reverted to 4 4 2 we have become very vunerable in midfield giving the opposition lots of space. Maybe we should adopt a similar formation as England did on Friday with two holding midfield players giving the other three full license to push forward to support kedwell so we can start creating more opportunities. Thoughts? We still need another good striker to give us options but that in itself wont solve our problems.
The weakness comes when Payne is taken off for an extra striker. Framps and Shaggy are excellent defenders but are vunerable to pace, with Payne sitting in front of them the threat is reduced. I agree the 4-4-2 seems problematic for us at the moment, partly due to the fact that the other forwards we have aren't good enough and it is like playing with 10 men sometimes, and I would prefer a 4-1-3-2 system with Payne protecting the back four
I've always admired the formation you mention. It's a similar one to the fantastic Chelsea title-winning side of a couple of years ago now. But the problem we have is width. For this formation to work, ideally you need two out and out wingers which we do not possess. Sure, Rooney can play on either wing quite comfortably, but without one on the opposite side, the play is very unbalanced. Maybe Whelpdale could fulfill the right wing role but it remains to be seen as to whether this formation would work if the aforementioned players are not available. Our problem with our midfield thus far seems to be a lack of discipline, chopping and changing the 5 players in there means no one is entirely sure of whether they are coming or going. The gaps in front of the back four towards the end of Saturday's game proved this.
agreed gaps in midfield a problem, especially when payne comes off. However we are still not creating enough either. lots for hess to sort out and earn his money! we need to keep defensive discipline but also make sure kedwell gets support. so maybe 4-1-3-2 is the best option when we get a decent second striker. In the meantime id like to see a 4-2-3-1 on Saturday with as suggested Rooney and Wheps on the wing, and Weston in the middle, all 3 pushing up to fully support kedwell
