The Killer Formation

Who would be a football manager? Well actually I wouldn't mind.

WARNING. THIS IS GOING TO BE A LONG ARTICLE, NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED.


We all can see that our problem has been turning chances into goals. OK Orient managed to get a goal from their 4 or 5 shots on target, but by then we should have had 2 or 3 ourselves.

Do we carry on the way we have and hope to "replicate" the first half of the season as Kenny says, or is it time to think outside the box?

For me the team largely picks itself with 2 or 3 exceptions.

The following players/positions are solid:

Goalkeeper: Ikeme
Right back: Doherty, Ebanks-Landell or Ricketts if necessary
Centre backs: It has to be Batth and Stearman, again with Ricketts as cover
Left back: Golbourne or Ricketts (I would choose the former)
Wide men: Any 2 from Sako, Henry and Jacobs
Centre midfield: McDonald and one other (see later)
Strikers: Griffiths and one other (see later)

Now I have come to the mind-renching conclusion that we could solve all of our problems simply by playing 12 men, but sadly we can't get away with that.

So how do we square the circle?


Various solutions are available;

4 4 1 1: Griffiths and 1 other up front, and someone joining McDonald in mid field. This is the tried and tested method, pretty much how we have played most often, but not against Orient. Much as I like Doyle him as the other forward simply is a luxury that hasn't really paid off. Neither, I would suggest, has Griffiths with any other striker in this formation. In midfield Price seems to have put up the best case for inclusion, but I will throw another option in the mix - Jacobs. Sounded to me as if he had a good game yesterday roughly in that position (I wasn't there, tell me if I'm wrong).


4 5 1: Against Orient we seemed to try something slightly different, with Jacobs slightly ahead of Price and McDonald. It sounded exciting but again leaves the isolated striker, in this case Cassidy, but Griffiths has repeatedly shown that he also can't operate as a loan front man. Again much as I like Doyle he rarely plays as a striker.


4 4 2: We haven't played a genuine 4 4 2 formation all that much in my opinion. Whenever Doyle has started he has played as the link behind the lone striker, more often than not Griffiths. This simply does not produce enough goals but, let's be honest, has seen us stay in the top 3 all season. I do fear that if we persist with this we might just miss out, hence we are now 3rd.


4 3 1 2: Could we afford to play only 3 in midfield with Doyle behind 2 strikers? Griffiths and one other (Cassidy seems to be in the driving seat at the moment) with Doyle behind. I would suggest that Jacobs could even be the other member of the front 2. Sadly, whoever are the striking pair having Doyle behind them, much as it sounds promising, would leave an already underweight centre midfield ineffective. Everyone can see that one of our strengths is in our wingers, Sako, Henry and Jacobs. Is it conceivable that we could play one of them up front with Griffiths and only play one wide man? Effectively we would have to drop one of our wingers and play another one of them as a striker. It might work, with 2 from Doherty, Ebanks-Landell and Golbourne as fullbacks.


3 4 1 2: Would it be crazy to suggest that, against some of the weaker sides, we could start with 3 defenders? It has been tried elsewhere. Can't see Kenny going for this, and to disrupt our best department seems far too risky.


4 4 1 2: No I haven't forgotten how to count. Has any football team ever started without a recognised goalkeeper? Ikeme has been arguably our best player but in quite a few games has had little to do. Let's hand the gloves to Stearman for a game or two. Yes, I admit, this formation was a joke, but I remember when I was a kid goalies always joined in the outfield action rushing back into the area to pick up the ball. Happy days.


So here is my out of the box team for the next game:

Ikeme

Ebanks-Landell
Batth
Stearman
Golbourne

Henry
Price
McDonald

Doyle

Jacobs
Griffiths


Pick the bones out of that !!!!