saintant

If they play 4231 we need to match up or go 433 or 442 because continuing with 5 at the back will leave our 3 midfielders completely outnumbered. I hope Will is as smart as I think he is.

I guess we might see him on the bench on Sunday but more likely he'll be left out of the squad this week.

A big defeat is always a completely bad thing.

This guy looks very good. Wonder if there is anything in this.

Wouldn't mind a team something like this. WS will likely opt for a back 5 though.

I take your point but, from what I've seen in the first two games, we need more numbers in midfield. If it's not rectified I think Ipswich will dominate us on Sunday and it'll be tough to get anything from the match.

Probably headed for Fawley refinery.

A lot of these modern day approaches to penalties are ridiculous. Tiss and Lambo had the right idea, pick your spot, put your foot through the ball and no keeper saves it.

Where should we play him?

Lineker was what I would call a poacher - in the right place at the right time. Archer always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time 🙂 Maybe I'm missing something but he's generally been a massive disappointment for us.

Tend to agree. He just seems to disappear and you forget he's playing half the time. The frustrating thing is that he has the tools to be a decent player but it rarely seems to happen when he is selected. I keep expecting him to suddenly burst into life and show what he can do but I'm starting to think it's time to move him on.

This is how I see it.

If we continue with a back 5 surely it will be only 2 in midfield? I don't like it but that seems to be what we've done so far this season.

If people are going to be calling Tamesaint, 'Thamesaint' it's going to be an even longer season!

If that's the most we have to worry about it's going to be a brilliant season 🙂

Oh it was very clear on TV that we were being overrun in midfield. I'm hoping Will Still saw it too because that midfield will struggle against Ipswich without an extra body.

Yeah, good finish that. Wondering why he can't get in our first team squad 🙂

14th of August 2023. Not sure what point you're making but I was replying to someone who suggested we might sell Dibling too late to give us time to bring in a replacement.

That would be a very stupid thing to do but then again, this is SR we're talking about.

Because we're playing 5 at the back which leaves a midfield of only 2 players who have too much work and get overrun. We saw this last night even against opposition as poor as Northampton. Downes, Fernandes and Charles would potentially be an excellent midfield 3 if we had them all playing there at the same time. When it's two from three they struggle to cope and therefore look poor. We need to switch formation to 4231 or similar to get more bodies in midfield where most of the action takes place. Playing a 5 at the back means you are reliant on a centre half (Edwards has tried) moving forward at times to help the midfield or the two wingbacks. For me it's a very difficult system to master and we are not very good at it.

In a nutshell. He's currently far too eager and his feet are well ahead of his brain. Needs to realise he has more time than he thinks, time his runs much better and he'll arrive at the right point rather than a split second too early. On the plus side he is getting into position and making good runs - he just needs to calm down and the goals will come. The one he scored in the preseason friendly was very good but it was one where he ran onto the ball and finished instinctively so he needs to work on the bread and butter tap ins from close range. He's young and hopefully, with the right coaching, will learn quickly and develop.

As another alternative maybe try to get in Fellows rather than Rudoni and play him and Spertsyan either side of Fernandes. Think this would offer more goal threat.

This is my hope especially if we sign Rudoni and Spertsyan. The only way we'll slot in all our midfield players is to play 4231 with a line up something like; Baz New RB Stephens Quarshie Manning Downes Charles Fernandes Rudoni Spertsyan Stewart Use Robinson and Fraser as impact players off the bench to run at tiring defenders. We'd need the 3 advanced midfielders to weigh in with their fair share of goals. There are obviously possible better configurations but, having seen how light we are in midfield playing 5 at the back, I think 4231 is the way to go.

We won tonight but not sure Will covered himself in glory with the starting formation and the refusal to change when it clearly wasn't working. Surrendering midfield to Northampton is not a good look.

Sesay won't be involved much if we get the two in so that leaves five assuming Fernandes doesn't go. That's good midfield options which we'll need over a long season.