The great Midfield dilemma

[Tommy2holes]

So hopefully we will be able to stick to what seems to be our best formation of 4 4 2.

We will more than likely have Ranger up alongside Akinola when fit.

My concern is how do we accommodate all of our midfielders?

We have:

Dieng
Mccormack
Taylor
Oyalinka
Egbri
ANG
Holmes
Ferguson
Mellis
Walsh
Hart
Fairchild

Assuming we play two wingers.

That leaves

McCormack
Mellis
Ferguson
Taylor
Oyalinka and dieng all trying to get a spot in midfield.

We now have an embarrassment of riches in that area.

Thankfully we are able to use 5 subs these days as we are going to need to.

 

[southendkid]

Is 4-4-2 our best formation? I thought we usually used a 4-3-3 (or a 4-2-3-1) when we played 4 at the back?

 

[Supershrimper]

Makes a nice change to have options on the bench that are just as strong as the options on the pitch. Great problem to have

 

[overseas shrimper]

Hopefully these players are hungry for a place and that fuels real competition. In recent seasons, I believe one (of many) of our problems has been a lack of competition and players coasting it unchallenged.

 

[dannypav]

Although it’s right to adapt when and where needed , I think MM will largely go with 4-2-3-1 which gives us more solidity in the middle - just my guess

 

[MisterStubbs]

It's makes for a nice change for us to have options. Compare the midfield options we last season.. heck even at the start of this and it's chalk and cheese. I think we'll most likely see a 4-3-3 from MM with a strong midfield 3 of Dieng, Ferguson and Olayinka (when fit) in my opinion being the best three with Holmes and RHF either side Akinola. That's a 6 that has to much quality not to win us football matches in my opinion.

 

[Westcliff DGS]

It's makes for a nice change for us to have options. Compare the midfield options we last season.. heck even at the start of this and it's chalk and cheese. I think we'll most likely see a 4-3-3 from MM with a strong midfield 3 of Dieng, Ferguson and Olayinka (when fit) in my opinion being the best three with Holmes and RHF either side Akinola. That's a 6 that has to much quality not to win us football matches in my opinion.

Agree with that. If we go 4231 then Ferguson and Dieng or K Taylor with RHC/ANG/Olyinka wide with Holmes in the 10 and Akinola up front

If playing Ranger then AKinola can play wide or 10 and we have more options wide as well. Interchangeable and harder to mark

 

[geoffmundo]

Shame we don't have the great FORWARDS dilemma.......

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

Have we played 2 wingers really?

For me ANG and Eggers have been our only true wingers and they haven't been fielded together have they?
Players like Hart and Fairchild been hybrid in the role, combined as forwards or full backs, for example. Holmes is in this category to.
And without a forward, or attacking midfielder getting into the box, on the end of any product, then what was the play about?
There are reasons our goals are so infrequent and part of that is the old square pegs for square holes saying, we have been playing to position fill not to strengths of the players.
And, now, with who we have in the entire squad, if we played 2 wingers, who might be in the box to meet a cross with head or foot? Emile, Nile, Brandon, maybe Kyle Taylor or Timmy Dieng.
That is why I think we will play 4 3 3 or likely 4 3 2 1.

 

[londonblue]

Makes a nice change to have options on the bench that are just as strong as the options on the pitch. Great problem to have

We have 2 games a week for the next 3 weeks. I think the really important thing is the ability to rotate should we need to.

 

[dannypav]

We have 2 games a week for the next 3 weeks. I think the really important thing is the ability to score

Edited for accuracy

 

[amsemp]

I reckon we’ll play 4-3-3. Ranger up front, Akinola LW and ANG RW. Then 3 central midfielders. That would be the most sensible formation to play to our strengths.

 

[Stan33]

I reckon we’ll play 4-3-3. Ranger up front, Akinola LW and ANG RW. Then 3 central midfielders. That would be the most sensible formation to play to our strengths.

Except MM says Ranger not ready for this weekend

 

[gpd]

It feels like we have accumulated a huge squad? If only's are unhelpful....but what if we had this squad from the beginning?

 

[Strykr]

442 or 451 as we are bloated in midfield. Mms a bit of a tinkerman so if he can design his plan B and C around adapting our plethora of midfielders it could work really well. If ranger and akinola click i see no reason not to play a traditional 4 4 2 with a rotating midfield depending on attacking or defending strategies.



Or it could be a mess of a midfield revolving door with nowone knowing what they are doing ?

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Demetriou not in that list either. That’s a ridiculously unbalanced squad, with only 3 centre backs and 1 forward.

 

[Bratislava Blue]

Demetriou not in that list either. That’s a ridiculously unbalanced squad, with only 3 centre backs and 1 forward.

Personally I am happy not to see JD on the list. We have more than enough competent midfielders ahead of him in the squad. His playing days are numbered. Back up for Elvis at best.

 

[Holy Joe]

In a 4231 I guess I see our midfield options like this....

Defensive midfield 2 from Macca, JD, Ferguson, Taylor, Dieng, Phillips(?)
Centre attacking Mid 1 from Dieng, Olayinka, Holmes, Ferguson (?), Mellis(?), Akinola
Wide players 2 from Holmes, ANG, Olayinka, Egbri, RHF, Walsh, Akinola


For me the strongest 5 are probably

Ferguson, Taylor
Olayinka, Holmes, Akinola

But I think that's tough on Dieng, ANG and possibly Macca. Haven't seen Mellis play.

It maybe, with squad rotation and the packed game schedule, you don't play the strongest 5
together, preferring to keep one or two of the strongest 'fresh' for the next game

Excluding injuries, I'm not sure we'll see Egbri or Phillips even make the bench for the rest of the season

 

[amsemp]

In a 4231 I guess I see our midfield options like this....

Defensive midfield 2 from Macca, JD, Ferguson, Taylor, Dieng, Phillips(?)
Centre attacking Mid 1 from Dieng, Olayinka, Holmes, Ferguson (?), Mellis(?), Akinola
Wide players 2 from Holmes, ANG, Olayinka, Egbri, RHF, Walsh, Akinola


For me the strongest 5 are probably

Ferguson, Taylor
Olayinka, Holmes, Akinola

But I think that's tough on Dieng, ANG and possibly Macca. Haven't seen Mellis play.

It maybe, with squad rotation and the packed game schedule, you don't play the strongest 5
together, preferring to keep one or two of the strongest 'fresh' for the next game

Excluding injuries, I'm not sure we'll see Egbri or Phillips even make the bench for the rest of the season

I reckon going forward, if everyone is fit, it’ll be something like:

Oxley
Elvis, White, Hobson, Clifford
Taylor, Dieng, Olayinka
ANG, Ranger, Akinola​

Think Macca and Holmes will be impact players from the bench and you can easily swap out any of those three in midfield for Ferguson, Macca, Mellis or Demetriou depending on fitness/form.

We actually appear to have incredible squad depth now with competition in positions all over the pitch:

GK: Oxley, Seaden

RB: Bwomono, Demetriou

CB: White, Hobson, Cordner, Halford, Kyprianou

LB: Clifford, Hart

CM: Dieng, Taylor, Olayinka, Ferguson, Macca, Mellis, Demetriou

RW/LW: Akinola, ANG, RHF, Egbri, Holmes, Hart

ST: Akinola, Ranger, Goodship, Acquah, Holmes

Then we’ve got the under 23’s to supplement:

C.Taylor, Howard, R.Taylor, MMN, Chandler, Klass, Phillips, O.Coker, Walsh, Rush, Kinali, K.Coker, Stewart

We’re now not relying on these lads like we once were. They can now integrate into the squad at a more steady rate, as they should.

All in all, hats off to MM, I think we’ve got a very strong and balanced squad right now.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Our midfield has been weak for the last two seasons, so good to see some strength and depth allowing for some rotation for our older players.