Robinson's flawed 4-2-3-1 obsession

It should be obvious now that the only time in his 7 season managerial career that Robinson had any success with this system was when he had the genius of Dele Ali at MKD. The rest of the time he has struggled and in one case, been relegated.

Thoughts from pre season and the Bristol Rovers & Exeter games are that we still don't have the right players to fit this system, and that when Josh Magennis is out of form he makes Carl Leaburn look like Diego Costa.

We need a fox-in-the-box striker, someone like Bradley Wright Phillips playing off Magennis or Clarke but in a 4-4-2, with the width and crosses supplied by Fosu and Holmes, Kashi protecting the Back 4 and Reeves supporting the attack.

At this level of football you need to get a system to fit the players you have got, Robinson is obsessed with trying to do it the other way around.

 

Gobinsons first 30 games as Charlton manager -

Won 8

Drawn 9

Lost 13

 

I thought Charlton were going to win the league with more than 101 points this season, just as proof that Karl Robinson is a better Charlton manager than Chris Powell was.

I'm sure I read that somewhere...

 

That was on ITTV after Reams' annual visit last week.

The reality is that Gobbo has until Sept to save his job - just like his 7 predecessors.

Changing to 4-4-2 would be a start

 

This is the 9th season Charlton have spent in the 3rd division since WW2.
There have been 7 permanent managers in charge while we were in the third tier.

Karl Robinson currently has the second lowest win percentage of all of those 7 managers.
The only manager with a lower win percentage was Russell Slade.

Theo Foley,
Andy Nelson,
Mike Bailey,
Phil Parkinson,
Chris Powell.

All have better records; even Foley, who never got Charlton anywhere near promotion back to the second tier.

 

I am not against playing 4-2-3-1 per se but if something isn't working in a game you need to change it. I think the team is too lightweight. When we come up against a big physical side like Plymouth, whose front three are all over six feet, we struggle. We needed to impose our game on Plymouth and after a bright start we weren't able to do that.

 

On the plus side @DickPlumb - I have seen a bit of both Djiksteel and Hackett-Fairchild, and have been very impressed with both. Hats off to Steve Avery yet again. Both are going to be good players, although probably not with us ...

 

"We sat deep and allowed Charlton to have the ball in areas where we didn't feel they would hurt us", according to the Plymouth manager. Seems our tactics have been sussed out and neutralised after only one game!

 

I dn't have a big hatred of this formation if KR can make it work, but I remember at least one MKD fan telling us he isn't so much in love with it as edded to it, which makes him (and by extensión us) very very predictable. The only doubt is whether the opposition have the ability to close down our obvious formation. We need a plan B and C, and the players to do that. Early days but now is the time to address issues, and I'm not convinced KR knows he is walking down a cul de sac.

 

The 1 up top needs to be relied upon to score when the 3 behind are creating space/chances. Big Mag isn't that player.

 

The early Vetokele would be ideal. I'd love to know the full story behind Igor's disillusionment and decline at Charlton.

 

One grievance he aired was being unhappy about how they managed his injury. That's the kind of pressure that comes from having a small squad unfortunately.

I'm hesitant somewhat to be too harsh on Mag for his finishing on Saturday as he's clearly not 100%.

 

The formation suits Holmes, Clarke & Fosu. With Marshall & Reeves to come back, the "3" behind Magennis is our strongest position by far so it makes sense to play to their strengths. However, the formation relies on goals from midfield which I don't think we'll have enough of.

 

When you've only got one striker in the squad you can't play 4-4-2

 

Out of necessity, how about a 4-4-2 v Bury on Saturday?

My team would be:

Phillips [Amos out, he is sh1te]

Djiksteel [Solly rested, more out of form than my punting]
Konsa [can do a job at FB]
Bauer
Pearce

Aribo [new legs in the middle, F-C is sh1te]
Kashi
Fosu
Da Silva [pace on the wing]

Dodoo [awful player, but needs must]
Magennis

 

............or 3-5-2

Phillips;
Bauer, Pearce, Sarr;
Solly, Konsa, Kashi, Aribo, DaSilva;
Dodoo, Magennis?

Sarr had a good pre-season, and that would give us 3 big men at the back to compensate for the lack of height elsewhere. Solly had a blinder last saturday against Southend, so I reckon he's good for 1 game a week.

 

What has Clarke done to get dropped?

 

You could play him up front alongside Mag.

I can't see how Robinson's preferred formation works on Saturday without Holmes.

 

I forgot about him. It's an age thing.

 

I think that Robinson will play the same formation with Ahearne- Grant or Dodoo replacing Holmes. This video shows how deluded he is.

https://www.cafc.co.uk/valley-pass/video-player?widgets[stream-amg][content_id]=0_0dk2kjd1