The primary reason for our relegation last year was a lack of goals.
The strikers (Edmondson, Rose) received a lot of criticism, but the fact
is we simply didn't create enough chances for them. Most of the fanbase
accepted that Brady's hands were tied due to Curle's poor recruitment and looked
forward to what he could do when he brought his own squad in.
In the summer, Brady promised 'bums-off-seats' football. He said we'd
go with two up front and play a more expansive attacking game.
Well, we are now 10 games into the season and by my count we have scored a grand total of 3 league goals from open play (the other 6 being exclusively from corners, free kicks and long-throw ins). We have just failed to register a single shot on target against Sutton United at home.
Up until now our defensive competence has enabled us to grind out results and has papered over the cracks of the creative void at the heart of the team. However, with Guthrie out today and the normally imperious defence severely rattled by a physical Sutton side, the complete lack of attacking threat at the other end was all too evident.
So why has this creative void persisted over two seasons under Brady? IMO, it's far too simplistic to blame the strikers as individuals - it's much deeper and more tactically systemic than that. If they were missing bags of chances then I would be the first to criticise them, but the service simply isn't there. Harry Smith has gone from being a goal-shy no hoper with us to emerging as the 6-goal L2 top scorer at Orient, who have hit 18 goals this year, double our haul: clearly a bit of decent service has done wonders for his confidence.
For me, we're not creating chances because we are too cautious, too predictable and too static. We play a tired old 4-4-2 with Hoskins shoehorned in as a winger who works hard but creates little in terms of crosses or assists. None of the first choice central midfielders have the capacity to drive forward with the ball and commit men and again, none of them have any assists as yet. No one goes 'between the lines'. The only sign of any kind of spark or combination play is the partnership between Koiki and Pinnock on the left, but the lack of any corresponding threat on the right makes us lopsided.
As many have said, it all smacks of Calderwood circa 2003, but without the league-crushing budgetary advantage which eventually led to our promotion.
I'm really tired of this safety first bulls***. It's got the stage where I'd rather see Brady play Pollock in centre mid and lose 4-3 than watch us play another game of sterile chanceless nothingball.
I've said many times that if Brady is really serious about delivering 'bums of seat football' and developing us beyond a mid table basement side then he has to seriously consider ditching 4-4-2 and going with something less predictable. 4-3-3 is out because our forwards don't have the pace or guile to play wide; 3 at the back should probably be resisted because the back 4 have been excellent as a unit. IMO as I've said many times, 4-2-3-1 is the formation which best suits our admittedly limited squad. Our strikers are contributing very little at the moment and it's time to sacrifice one to bring in another creative midfielder:
Roberts
MacGowan Guthrie Horsfall Koiki
McWilliams Sowerby/Lewis
Pinnock Pollock Connolly/Hoskins
Etete
I find it hard to believe that this side would do worse than the shower of **** we saw today. What has Brady got to lose? It's not as if we're going to end up creating fewer chances is it?
Great post Bungle. A bit of realism and considering you're usually so positive, this speaks volumes.
