Minority Report v Luton (a)

Before my time that one pal!

 

I’m fully on board with your view of players out of position not being great for the team red rain.

I don’t agree that Woodrow is a bad footballer. He’s asked to play where he is because he has footballing ability that a centre forward doesn’t always have, and we haven’t got many players who can actually play. At the moment he’s ineffective (and probably a bit disinterested) but he isn’t a bad player in my eyes.

I also disagree that I’d have Jordan Williams at right wing back. Ludewig in my eyes is a much better player. I do agree we’d be better with three centre backs playing in the three centre back positions.

Brown shouldn’t be up front - but we’ve no option (other than sticking Halme up there), as he’s the only forward player who will make a credible challenge for a header.

I’m not a fan of Struber playing players out of position, but it is being done due to the imbalance and lack of quality in the squad. It isn’t just that it was set up to play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, it’s that we don’t have any real quality and have too many similar attributed players.

The squad is much worse than the one which finished second in league one, and with the inevitable deductions I think it will struggle to be a top competitor next season in league one (should it even be played, and assuming we are in it - which seems likely).

 

It might save us, but only on the basis your proposed 5-3-3 formation will consist of 12 players!

 

I know

 

I don’t really think now is the time to start changing formations in the middle of a relegation battle.

Brown is a natural striker, he was always played as a striker in the youth teams, he only ended up on the wing for us when Potts got sold & Hedges & Green weren’t up to replacing him.

Obviously he’s not scored many but he does do a lot of the dirty work & has a lot of assists. It’d be nice if he scored more but players like Macken & Gray who were effective for us at this level never scored many either. The big problem is the forwards are getting very little service which is why I’d like us to go back to Halme sitting in front of the back four with Mowatt taking the left sided midfield role & relying on him to be as creative as he was there before his position was changed.

 

Good points, all of them.

There is no ideal formation or tactics, and whatever we do will probably make no difference come the end of July, but I get frustrated seeing players struggle because they are outside their comfort zones and it would be great to see more of them happy in their work.

My analysis does point towards something different though. I do think with another year on its back, and playing at a lower level our current squad has enough quality to be promoted. I see latent quality in all of them, almost without exception, and any coach worth his salt should be able to bring that out of them and improve them as individuals. However, it would not surprise me if Struber wants to change them for players who are happier to play in his way and in his formations (3-4-1-2 and 4-diamond-2). I am not sure whether I want to watch football played this way, with no big man up front and with a press. If I am honest, even on good days, I do not like the way he plays.

 

You undoubtedly have a point about changing formations in the middle of a relegation battle. However, others are calling for Ritzmaier to be left out, and that is unlikely to happen either. The point is not that it is likely to happen. It is what I would like to see in an ideal world.