IKKE SÃ… MYE OM TAKTIKK, MEN MER OM HVA STALLEN STÃ…R FOR:
Fragility
With Byram missing we lost one of our best attacking outlets and one of our most reliable defensive-covering midfielders. This left us short on two fronts. When Steve Morison was substituted due to injury it felt very much like a foregone conclusion that the game was lost.
Edgar Cani was brought on, either through “Cellintivention†or his physical attributes, because he’s not shown enough in anything I’ve seen or read to suggest he should be starting above other players. Granted, he’s probably the closest player stylistically to Steve Morison, but if you need a hammer and your only hammer is broken, you should really pick the next best tool for the job, rather than the thing that looks most like a hammer.
Cani was ineffectual at best. With almost weary resign Redfearn put Antenucci and Doukara on the pitch, leaving most pondering exactly what Billy Sharp is doing wrong. Both were ineffectual as Leeds lost their shape and failed to impose themselves on the game.
Our fragility comes in worrying absence of depth. Not that we don’t have the numbers, we just don’t have the quality in numbers. When Byram (one of our best) is broken, the disparity in ability between him and Sloth is too large to comfortably hurdle. Same with Morison. We’ve identified that only 4-2-3-1 works for us and Steve is the only striker who suits that role, when he was injured Cani seemed very much a “why not†substitution.
It’s the same point I made when we sold Stephen Warnock – Charlie has done very well, but if his form dips or he gets injured, then what? Berardi? We have options in some positions, but others we’re woefully short.
Self inflicted fragility
Not one to needlessly criticise a head-coach who I believe to be doing a good job, I think we set ourselves up to fail sometimes. In a formation that accommodates one striker, why do we need four on the bench? We know that converting to 4-4-2 doesn’t suit the players we have, so why accommodate it in substitutions?
We have Adryan, Walters, Dawson and Montenegro who could all be worth a “go†in the attacking midfield role. We know that Sloth isn’t going to defend as much (or as well) as Byram, so surely Adryan is worth inclusion on the bench? Hell, at least the Wonderhorse has a trick or two up his sleeve, something that could create a chance.
Same goes for Dawson, a player who we know Redfearn rates highly based on his usage in the development squad… It just doesn’t make sense to me. We play a formation that has 5 midfielders and 1 striker, yet have a bench consisting 4 strikers, 1 goalkeeper and 2 defenders – no midfielders at all. Surely it would make sense to include Dawson or Adryan into the squad to afford us more options other than “put strikers on the pitchâ€.
Strikers who don’t fit the current system, which they necessitate us moving back into a system we’ve proven endlessly to not work. I rate Neil and I’m sure there are many compelling reasons for this current setup, but from this external perspective it just doesn’t add up.
Billy Sharp deserves more of a chance than Edgar Cani, for me. Cani needs to prove he can work in this system by playing with the development squad. Doukara, too, needs to add something to his game in order to be near the match-day squad. Antenucci is worth including I think, but he too needs to work harder. It just feels like we’re making ourselves more fragile than we actually are.
Not that we’re not fragile, we are. Very much so. I believe the spine of this squad is perfect for our push next season but we need options. We also need to use the options we do have when the time requires it; lamenting our lack of midfielders purely because we’ve opted to select 4 fowards for the bench is mental. But then perhaps Dawson, Adryan and co are having wild drug-parties behind the scenes.