Based on a boring show yesterday

I can see swansea beating us next week, we failed to create chances, Maybe time for Campbell to be partnered with someone as lone striker role isnt working, Playing hoofball all game isnt working

Well the good news is that we are pretty strong defensively but clearly lacking in attack. 

I don't know about you guys but I would much rather be strong defensively than offensively.  Much more sensible for our first season in the PL, we can always work on scoring more in subsequent seasons.

Malky has prioritised correctly for me.

Rhys wrote:Well the good news is that we are pretty strong defensively but clearly lacking in attack. 

I don't know about you guys but I would much rather be strong defensively than offensively.  Much more sensible for our first season in the PL, we can always work on scoring more in subsequent seasons.

Malky has prioritised correctly for me.

^^

I'm glad our defence is strong, but we should be better going forward. I don't think that we lack the players, I just thing they're not working well enough.

hoof and hope to a lone striker is not working.

1. can we afford two strikers and further reduce an over-worked mid-field?

a midfield that does not appear to hold its own territory let alone advance

2. pack the midfield with six and do not play a striker?

well spain in recent years have played without a striker and it has hardly checked their progress. the advantage of that system is that goal scoring mid-fielders come into their own. the downside is that you have to have a quality mid-field to get away with it. could an additional mid-fielder reduce the work load?

davewebber65 wrote:hoof and hope to a lone striker is not working.

1. can we afford  two strikers and further reduce an over-worked mid-field?

a midfield that does not appear to hold its own territory let alone advance

2. pack the midfield with six and do not play a striker?

well spain in recent years have played without a striker and it has hardly checked their progress. the advantage of that system is that goal scoring mid-fielders come into their own. the downside is that you have to have a quality mid-field to get away with it. could an additional mid-fielder reduce the work load?

It's an interesting thought and one I'd certainly not dispel - especially when our two strikers have had about four shots on target all season between them!

I think Cornelius may have been earmarked pre season as the lone striker but even if he restarts training it's going to take a few weeks to get him up to speed - assuming he's up to the task which none of us know!
Is it time to give Maynard or even Joe Mason an outing? Would they be any more ineffective than the current striker(s)?

I think Maynard is a bit unlucky to have not had more game time this season.

Think I would like Mason get a run

I don't think Maynard is PL quality. Couldn't cut it at WHU and no other clubs came in for him, and only City at the last moment. Championship standard at best.

Okay, the Cornelius injury might be seen as unfortunate, but it has really left us thin on striking options......

The lone striker isn't working as the midfield can't get forward to support.

Back to the drawing board in a big way, I feel.

Mason is a good shout, but really needs someone alongside......Cornelius maybe....

I think lone striker is still the best possibility, because if you ignore the lack of posession and attack, it's made us a highly successful defensive unit. That, as boring as it sounds, is the key to survival this season. If we add more teeth in attack, we'll be laughing. Going to 2 up front takes a man out of defence , and that could be fatal.

What does need to change is how it is arranged. I don't think Mutch and Kim should play side by side in centre midfield is what I took from yesterday. They both fight for the same spot and they get in each other's way. I'd rather see them rotated and if the future is Gunnarrson losing out then Whitts should take the centre role. That allows left wing to be taken by a true winger - Noone. We would then have to add a new right winger in the summer but in the meantime I'd use Campbell with Odemwingie up front/Cornelius. With that set up we have more pace which will transform into more support for our striker, without sacrificing our defence.

The reality is this current formation has never worked for us under malky - he swapped to the current formation with about eight games of last season left to go I believe (maybe ten, can't quite remember). I just had a look back at the form table and of the last eight we won twice and drew six.

If you take that form into this season, over the last 17 games we have drawn nine times and lost and won four times.

Not exactly inspiring - we played much, much better in a 4-4-2 formation. If it's still good enough for old Roy and the English national team, it's still good enough for us!

It would be a bonus if Cornelius was fit as I think we all know he is our target man upfront for the formation mentioned earlier.
Hope he comes back fit soon with his shooting boots on and saves our season as it is going to be a long one and I think we need a bit more belief and confidence in front of goal when we do get a chance.
Negative I know but shutting the Swans out for a draw is our best option, we are playing it tight to give us the best chance of staying up.

Problem is with our form in the last games of the season last year is that we're famous for being a team that chokes in the final sprint. It therefore makes it highly difficult to distinguish between whether it was the formation's fault or the player's confidence.

I, personally, think it was the latter.

Assuming we did move to 4-4-2, what would you guys recommend lineup wise? Even though I'm against it, my thoughts would be Mutch and Medel centre midfield, Whitts on the left wing and Kim moving out to the right. Odemwingie and Campbell/ Maynard up front.