The Mail Bag
Strength in depth
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Just a quick observation I wanted to make after hearing the news that Jo has joined up with our pre-season plans and that we may get him on loan for the whole of the coming season. Does anyone agree with me that we may now finally have some real strength in depth & attacking options at our disposal?
I mean we will have Yakubu, Saha, & Jo to fight it out for two starting berths, and then we will have Vaughan & Anichebe (and now Agard) to back up the three above. That's three quality strikers, who have (bar Jo) proven that they will score goals in the Premier League time and time again. Then we have three hungry young & talented forwards who will be pushing to impress at any opportunity.
We have height with Anichebe & Jo, pace in Vaughan & Saha, Yakubu is just an all round goalscorer with a real presence, and I can't comment on Agard as I've never seen him play. Although he is classed as a pacy striker.
I can't remember Moyes (or Walter Smith, Joe Royle, Mike Walker etc) ever having that much at their disposal. For once, we have real options that can change the dimensions of the way we play against different opposition and surely means we will have to go 4-4-2. It may also allow us to play different combinations in Europe, the Prem & cups to give us the best chance for the season.
I think if we can add two or three additions to bolster the midfield and cover the defence then I think we've got a great chance of beating our performance this season just gone. Others have said it before, but a pacy wideman and a creative force in the middle would be ideal.
Andrew Bentley, Posted 07/07/2009 at 06:49:03
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What may appear to be strength in depth is actually a very precarious situation: Yak, Anichebe Saha and Vaughan are either currently recovering from serious long term injuries or in the case of the latter two, constantly on the verge of suffering another one. Only Yak hits the net with regularity and I seriously doubt that any of these four will be in top condition come the Arsenal game (possibly with the exception of Vaughan).
As for Agard, I have watched him play on a number of occasions and would be suprised if he eventually makes the grade, Baxter is a better shout for a breakthrough next season.
That leaves Jo (when confirmed), who I actually like a lot. For a 21-year-old, yet to learn the language and in his first season in the Premier League, it's perhaps understandable if he did not hit the ground running at City. However, he clearly loved playing for Everton and was beaming from ear-to-ear whilst scoring 5 in 12. A decent enough return and strong evidence that Moyes can succeed where City failed with Jo.
Just a couple concerns: Jo often appears languid and this can grate especially when we are not winning, would he be strong enough to cope with a bit of abuse? In addition, he suffers from the little known ’Elano and Robinho Syndrome’ on away days, often appearing isolated and unwilling to chase. But he was improving and time is on his side (Moyes improved Yakubu a lot in this area).
The main worry here is that Jo is simply a sweetener in a deal for Lescott. Are City really so confident that they will finish above us next season that they are willing to strengthen our hand? Or are they still bewilldered that anyone is willing to take Jo off their hands? Forever a pessimist, I fear the former.
As for the 4-4-2 debate, I don’t think we can ever go back to playing that formation, nor do I think we should. Nobody plays 4-4-2 anymore, it just doesn’t work in the modern game. In fact, if you look at Aston Villa’s slump in form' it coincided with Carew regaining fitness and Heskey being signed. From that moment on O’Neill played 2 up front and they hardly won a match.
In the interest of balance I’d accept your assertion that Jo has time on his side — and does seem to have a bit of ball skill about him. However, hitting the target is not a skill a striker should have to acquire...
But I will try to reserve judgement for a little while longer. I’d be unhappy if we’d bought him... as it’s a loan deal, it makes minimal difference if he continues to ’grate’.
Plus, I like him, the languid style does not bother me as long as he scores or/and significantly contributes, I was merely attempting to point out that it is a common complaint, as it is with Yakubu and Fellaini.
With regards to playing 4-4-2... noooooooooooo!!! I’ve always thought we looked better 4-5-1 anyway, and we don’t have a centre midfielder strong enough to hold in a 4-4-2 anyway. Maybe if we get M'Bia or Cana, it could change, but even then, I’d still prefer 4-5-1 as I love Cahill playing behind the striker which is both effective and unique compared to other teams in the EPL.
Jo the first real signing... hopefully the first of many. COYB!
Surely it means we’ll abandon a formation in which we have a huge amount more success playing with?
As for the others, Anichebe could be used on the right, or sold, Vaughan needs to stay fit and get 10-15 games, Agard is still very young, and Saha — well, I wouldn’t mind if he stayed, or was used as a makeweight in another deal.
He’s slow, he lacks a good touch (despite that one nice finish... which, the more I think about it, looks like it was mostly accidental), he lacks drive, and worst of all for a striker, he can’t hit the ball properly.
He is a powder-puff striker. I’m not convinced that any amount of games or competition is going to change that.
As has been pointed out in numerous articles across the site, we have a wafer thin squad, and I can’t see how anyone can look upon this as a negative, unless they are so unrealistic they expect us to sign a better striker than Yakubu (names anyone?).
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1 Posted 07/07/2009 at 14:18:29
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Strength in Depth - No.
Saha and Vaughan cannot be relied upon to be fit. Victor seems to permanantly sulking and is far from proving he’s quality... and the Yak is coming back from a serious injury. As for Jo, I’m not impressed with a striker who repeatedly hits the corner flag from point-blank position. Quality is not a word I would use to describe him.
And I certainly don’t think there’ll be two starting places up front... we simply don’t have the creativity and quality in midfield to accomodate a 4-4-2.
Until we do that, there’s no point speculating. Because I doubt we add that necessary quality this summer.