Both those teams would get relegated in my opinion. We need more players to survive. If I was Riga I would be looking to do the following with my first 11:
Henderson (although we could do with him saving more) Solly...Johnson....Bauer....THD Diarra New winger New winger JBG New big striker Watt
Cousins, Lookman & Vetokele would also get alot of game time and be rotated with the midfielders / strikers as required.
Two wingers, two strikers and JBG? That's even more attacking than the unbalanced teams KF was putting out.
All I am suggesting is that we play 442 (the most common formation in football) with players who are good enough going forward. Most 442 teams have two strikers, two wide men and one centre mid who can create. That why other teams have shots and score goals. Its not working with the current 433 set up where we have one stranded striker, wingers who cant beat championship full backs and a team that doesn't look like scoring from the min we kick off is it?
If we got some wingers in who brought some excitement / service to our game I even think big Mak might score once a month.
Harriot left wing - bags of pace. Lookman - right wing? I think he can play there. Solly & Fox overlapping wing backs as long as Harriot & Lookman do their defensive duties if they are overlapped. Watt & Mak up front with JBG in the hole/and to pick up any scraps from the edge of the box and a bit deeper. That leaves one midfielder/play breaker required - a decent ball winner - Diarra?
Big question mark over Harriot & Lookman being able to defend - maybe the two full backs would not need to overlap that often if CH & AL habitually running fast at full backs? Diarra drops in front of the two CD's when not in possession.
Pretty sure it would take those boys the entire 45 minutes to build up enough speed to overlap their winger.
Plus I'm afraid that line-up is almost Fraeye-esque in its lack of balance. They'd get torn apart. You've got two strikers there, neither of whom are hugely known for their tracking back. Then you've got a striker at right midfield who regardless of if he tries to track back will always be looking to go forward first, so his full back will be exposed. If you're then expecting the full backs to bomb forward all the time it'll be a ghost town defensively down that flank. If you want your full backs to overlap then you need to make sure that you've got the right balance to ensure cover is always available. For instance when Powell played 442 we always had two central midfielders who knew how to scrap as well as play, and one of the wide midfielders would usually be a re-purposed central midfielder, like Pritchard or Jackson. We almost never played with two out and out wingers as it left us susceptible to getting caught out and we weren't clinical enough to be able to offset that. Add to that you're playing Gudmundsson as part of a midfield two we'd get absolutely overrun through the middle as Johann isn't able to do the dirty work or hold himself in the right positions to control the middle. It would just be the opposition passing round Diarra and then cutting open our woeful defence.
Was just hypothesising in response to a suggestion of playing with two strikers and two wingers and how to get more out of Mak. I would unlikely play that set up for the reasons you suggest - only because we're not good enough a team at keeping the ball and not good enough a team at recovering the ball when we've lost possession.
I would expect to play with two strikers at home and the scenario I described was an offensive situation - any team, should when in possession and on the offensive, make the pitch as big as possible and any wide men would drop to midfield when not in possession to a 4-4-2 at home or possibly a 4-5-1 away and make the pitch as small as possible.
On the offensive you would only really ever commit 4 players forward when playing through the middle, making the pitch as wide as possible and looking to push the ball into the channels or down the flanks, keeping the opposition guessing as to which player was going to make the run onto the through ball or which players were going to link.
When playing down either of the flanks you would only really need to commit three players fully with an attacking midfielder sitting deeper behind the two front men for any spills coming out of the opposition box but deep enough to revert to a defensive role if the play breaks down.
One thing we have been desperately short of at The Valley is quick wide men who can skin defenders or push the ball beyond the defender and make the run. With big Mak up front it would be a blessing to have pace down the flanks.
The Yorkshire Evening Post report that Leeds had actually agreed to sign Watt in November, but Cardiff swooped in and took him to South Wales, only for a permanent deal to fall through.
As reported by Sky Sports, Cardiff have been placed under a transfer embargo, meaning their £1m move for Watt has fallen through, although they are able to extend his loan stay - leaving the door open for Leeds to finally try and bring him to Elland Road.
The Yorkshire Evening Post report that Leeds had actually agreed to sign Watt in November, but Cardiff swooped in and took him to South Wales, only for a permanent deal to fall through.
As reported by Sky Sports, Cardiff have been placed under a transfer embargo, meaning their £1m move for Watt has fallen through, although they are able to extend his loan stay - leaving the door open for Leeds to finally try and bring him to Elland Road.
That would be another nail in the coffin if we let him go.
Question; IF Watt is still with us come Saturday - and as far as I know he's been back training this week-what are the chances of him being in the squad?
Question; IF Watt is still with us come Saturday - and as far as I know he's been back training this week-what are the chances of him being in the squad?
Depends on what Riga wants to do (probably with RDs endorsement) having weighed up all the facts surrounding his departure on loan to Cardiff. Is Watt going to be up for it, will the player(s) he allegedly had a falling out with be prepared to forgive and forget? Riga's man management skills will be tested to the limit on this one. So many imponderables, your guess is as good as mine.
Question; IF Watt is still with us come Saturday - and as far as I know he's been back training this week-what are the chances of him being in the squad?
2/1 on. He'll only be sub though, and will come on when we are 2-0 down after an hour. We'll eventually lose 3-1. You heard it here first!
He should start. Best striker in the squad and based on reviews from cardiff he's in form and fully fit. We need the points so we need our best players on the pitch. Will be very pissed off if he's on the bench. Its not as if any of our other strikers have taken the opportunity to claim the shirt whilst he's been away.
Now we've missed out on Yann its even more important we keep, play and make the most of what could be one of our only hopes of staying up.
We are at home, confidence generally low, need to score goals, we should be playing watt who naturally sits a bit deep and a real picking number 10 right up in their face.
Oh, we don't have one unless Vaz Te morphs into someone who is prepared to run his arse off.
Jose Riga insists that a fully committed Tony Watt has a future at Charlton.
The 22-year-old striker returned to the Addicks earlier in the week following his loan spell at Cardiff.
Watt, who signed for Charlton last January, impressed Cardiff chiefs and was strongly linked with a permanent move before the Bluebirds were hit with a transfer embargo.
When asked whether the Scot will leave this month, new manager Riga said: “It is difficult to say but for me I repeat what I have said before, we know Tony.
“He of course has the abilities to be decisive.
“His football skills I have no doubt about, after that I cannot always master what are his intentions.
“If he’s fully committed with us then of course. He needs to be fully involved in what we need to do.”
Watt enjoyed a productive start to the season at the Valley but a dip in form ensured Charlton agreed on a loan deal.
The purpose was for the forward to gain some much-need match-time, but his future at the club remains unclear.
He was not trying too much before we packed him off to Cardiff, so I'm sure he is not going to make much of a contribution now.
We struggle with 11 players, it will be carnage with only 10!
A shame as I thought he was going to be a good player for us last season, it seems that he is a bit of a handful off the field which is more of a problem for Watt himself, not any clubs that he plays for in the future.
Riga is saying that Watt has talent but has off field issues or an attitude problem. He won't even be on the bench tomorrow and that will tell you everything you need to know.
If he's not sold this window then he'll be off on loan.
He was not trying too much before we packed him off to Cardiff, so I'm sure he is not going to make much of a contribution now.
We struggle with 11 players, it will be carnage with only 10!
A shame as I thought he was going to be a good player for us last season, it seems that he is a bit of a handful off the field which is more of a problem for Watt himself, not any clubs that he plays for in the future.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but the truth is Tony Watt wasn't having much impact on our season before he went on loan.
He has it in him, but personally think it is wishful thinking that he will come back and suddenly start doing the business for us again. I'm certainly not against him being given a chance to do so though. Should at least be on the bench tomorrow but probably won't be.
Riga is saying that Watt has talent but has off field issues or an attitude problem. He won't even be on the bench tomorrow and that will tell you everything you need to know.
If he's not sold this window then he'll be off on loan.
Played for us and Cardiff. Can he actually play for anyone else this season ?
Comments
I would unlikely play that set up for the reasons you suggest - only because we're not good enough a team at keeping the ball and not good enough a team at recovering the ball when we've lost possession.
I would expect to play with two strikers at home and the scenario I described was an offensive situation - any team, should when in possession and on the offensive, make the pitch as big as possible and any wide men would drop to midfield when not in possession to a 4-4-2 at home or possibly a 4-5-1 away and make the pitch as small as possible.
On the offensive you would only really ever commit 4 players forward when playing through the middle, making the pitch as wide as possible and looking to push the ball into the channels or down the flanks, keeping the opposition guessing as to which player was going to make the run onto the through ball or which players were going to link.
When playing down either of the flanks you would only really need to commit three players fully with an attacking midfielder sitting deeper behind the two front men for any spills coming out of the opposition box but deep enough to revert to a defensive role if the play breaks down.
One thing we have been desperately short of at The Valley is quick wide men who can skin defenders or push the ball beyond the defender and make the run.
With big Mak up front it would be a blessing to have pace down the flanks.
As reported by Sky Sports, Cardiff have been placed under a transfer embargo, meaning their £1m move for Watt has fallen through, although they are able to extend his loan stay - leaving the door open for Leeds to finally try and bring him to Elland Road.
Now we've missed out on Yann its even more important we keep, play and make the most of what could be one of our only hopes of staying up.
Oh, we don't have one unless Vaz Te morphs into someone who is prepared to run his arse off.
Jose Riga insists that a fully committed Tony Watt has a future at Charlton.
The 22-year-old striker returned to the Addicks earlier in the week following his loan spell at Cardiff.
Watt, who signed for Charlton last January, impressed Cardiff chiefs and was strongly linked with a permanent move before the Bluebirds were hit with a transfer embargo.
When asked whether the Scot will leave this month, new manager Riga said: “It is difficult to say but for me I repeat what I have said before, we know Tony.
“He of course has the abilities to be decisive.
“His football skills I have no doubt about, after that I cannot always master what are his intentions.
“If he’s fully committed with us then of course. He needs to be fully involved in what we need to do.”
Watt enjoyed a productive start to the season at the Valley but a dip in form ensured Charlton agreed on a loan deal.
The purpose was for the forward to gain some much-need match-time, but his future at the club remains unclear.
We struggle with 11 players, it will be carnage with only 10!
A shame as I thought he was going to be a good player for us last season, it seems that he is a bit of a handful off the field which is more of a problem for Watt himself, not any clubs that he plays for in the future.
If he's not sold this window then he'll be off on loan.
He has it in him, but personally think it is wishful thinking that he will come back and suddenly start doing the business for us again. I'm certainly not against him being given a chance to do so though. Should at least be on the bench tomorrow but probably won't be.
Being sent out on loan again