Article from Sheffield Star & Dave Jones

[Wednesday_Jack]

Just read though the article from Dave Jones regarding the strikers and the fact he appears to be searching the market for some one who can score goals...we all know about fact that Madine could be off to Swindon very shortly but has Dave Jones taken a step back recently and realised that we have stikers who can score goals but are not suited to the 4-5-1 formation? Also we dont have the attacking 'flair' for a 4-5-1. IMO the 4-5-1 is a formation that allows us to scrape through games.

Now i am not saying that we have the potential at the club to create the best strike force in the division but i certainly feel that we would score a lot more goals with a 4-4-2. I am not sure who that partnership would be but i feel there has to be one in the club.

Rodri - has been knocked for what he has done but not sure why, he must have played a combined 190 minutes?? Unfair judgment IMO

COG - we all know his pro's and con's but i feel he his certainly worth playing as part of a two man strike force

Bothroyd - regardless of what the haters say he has got class and has goals in him. Not shown is true colours in my eyes

Madine - people forget its the first time he has played at this level and he is still young. Given time and played in the right system he wod score.

Maguire - your guess is as good as mine. Looked half decent at times in pre season then other times looked very average.

In my opinion the solution doesnt always fall with players who we havent, or who arnt playing at other clubs and i certainly feel its worth a settled run with a 4-4-2 to see how it goes. I think we would all be suprised

[Last_Great_Hope]

The main issue with playing 4-4-2:

We might create more chances, but the start of the season suggests that we would concede more goals.

For me, our current defence needs Semedo sitting in front of them to be solid, and if you are sacrificing a midfielder for that role then you need two midfielders in front of him playing more othordox midfield roles otherwise the midfield would get totally dominated.

People seem to be forgetting that we went to this formation because we were leaking goals.

[Herb]

I am a fan of Madine and believe he would come good over time but I see no negative in allowing him to regain some form at Swindon and come back firing on all cylinders.

Also, I believe he had a loan spell at Coventry in the championship in the past so has some experience in this league previously.

Right now we seem to have a few players going through the learning stage in this league at the same time which isn't ideal but they've each showed the potential to improve and grow so I'm sure we'll be fine.

[0114]

I don't see the problem in letting Madine go out on loan. When played this season he has looked more than out of his depth. And people claiming he deserves a run of games because he scored 20 last season? Well he should be getting in the team on past glories.

If he goes and we bring in a Chopra type player how can anyone complain? We've got rid of a L1 goal scorer and got a championship one.

[full fathom five]

The main issue with playing 4-4-2:

We might create more chances, but the start of the season suggests that we would concede more goals.

For me, our current defence needs Semedo sitting in front of them to be solid, and if you are sacrificing a midfielder for that role then you need two midfielders in front of him playing more othordox midfield roles otherwise the midfield would get totally dominated.

People seem to be forgetting that we went to this formation because we were leaking goals.

Dont forget that we were winning games playing 4,4,2 at the start of the season and have we really stopped leaking goals since the seitch to 4,5,1? One clean sheet would suggest not.

Ive no problem with 4,5,1 so long as you have more than one midfielder getting beyond the striker into the box/goal scoring areas. At present we have Bothroyd out wide usually playing a long diagonal ball up to O'Grady who then has to hold off two defenders and find our one attacking player within 40 ysrds of him which is usually Antonio who then has to beat two men and then look up to find either O'Grady or sometimes no one in the box.

Our midfielders have got to get a lot nearer our striker and give us attacking options or our attacks will just continually break down.

[gurujuan]

We certainly need to get our midfield players into the box quicker and more often but the whole system falls down because we don't have the quality in front areas. It reminds me of when we had Carbone and Di Canio as our creative hub and all they had ahead of them was flippingAndy Booth

[shandypants]

Just read though the article from Dave Jones regarding the strikers and the fact he appears to be searching the market for some one who can score goals...we all know about fact that Madine could be off to Swindon very shortly but has Dave Jones taken a step back recently and realised that we have stikers who can score goals but are not suited to the 4-5-1 formation? Also we dont have the attacking 'flair' for a 4-5-1. IMO the 4-5-1 is a formation that allows us to scrape through games.

Now i am not saying that we have the potential at the club to create the best strike force in the division but i certainly feel that we would score a lot more goals with a 4-4-2. I am not sure who that partnership would be but i feel there has to be one in the club.

Rodri - has been knocked for what he has done but not sure why, he must have played a combined 190 minutes?? Unfair judgment IMO

COG - we all know his pro's and con's but i feel he his certainly worth playing as part of a two man strike force

Bothroyd - regardless of what the haters say he has got class and has goals in him. Not shown is true colours in my eyes

Madine - people forget its the first time he has played at this level and he is still young. Given time and played in the right system he wod score.

Maguire - your guess is as good as mine. Looked half decent at times in pre season then other times looked very average.

In my opinion the solution doesnt always fall with players who we havent, or who arnt playing at other clubs and i certainly feel its worth a settled run with a 4-4-2 to see how it goes. I think we would all be suprised

Be careful. I tried to provoke debate about our 4-1-4-1 formation and got accused of being a Barkley hater.

[Spookone]

We certainly need to get our midfield players into the box quicker and more often but the whole system falls down because we don't have the quality in front areas. It reminds me of when we had Carbone and Di Canio as our creative hub and all they had ahead of them was flippingAndy Booth

Ha, Ha - yes that was a little bizzare I bet our Italian friends thought it was a wind up!

[Spookone]

Be careful. I tried to provoke debate about our 4-1-4-1 formation and got accused of being a Barkley hater.

You hate Barkley? - you absolute bloody rotter

Edited November 9, 2012 by Spookone

[Spookone]

I don't see the problem in letting Madine go out on loan. When played this season he has looked more than out of his depth. And people claiming he deserves a run of games because he scored 20 last season? Well he should be getting in the team on past glories.

If he goes and we bring in a Chopra type player how can anyone complain? We've got rid of a L1 goal scorer and got a championship one.

If only it was as simple as that!

[Wednesday_Jack]

The defence started leaking goals when we lost both full backs, dropped Llera and played that idiot from Watford. We then reverted to the 4-5-1 formation to stop conceeding but unfortunaltey we then stopped scoring or creating chances...how many time have we seen a ball been crossed into the box to 1 or maybe 2 players!! Our attacking ability doesnt allow us to get 4 or 5 players in and around the area.

i would give COG & Rodri ago. Semedo and Barkley in the middle. It would be unfortunate for McCabe to be dropped but i feel he has played well at times but at this moment in time we need to score goals and win games

[gurujuan]

That Reda was our top scorer during the period you talk about, and remained so right up to when we switched the system, shows that even then our forwards posed very little threat. We have missed Reda's gung ho attacking particularly in the closing stages of matches but there is nothing to say he wouldn't perform the same heroics in the new system. Anyway, we can't continually rely on defenders to bail us out, especially when it is at the expense of them doing their day job as it were

[MotherGoose]

We might get away with a 4-4-2 now we have a settled defence.

Liera and Gardner have looked solid. Gardner especially.

Problem is that Semedo doesn't fit into a 4-4-2. Makalele couldn't do it at Chelsea and Semedo is the same for us. Everyone loves Semedo with good reason but it's difficult to see how we get around that.

I'd like to see a 442 with Bothroyd up front with someone with pace. And I'd like to see us getting the ball on the floor. Last time Bothroyd played up front we just launched the ball at his face. He's not a target man like that.

Depends if we think we can survive without Semedo backing up the defence.

[Last_Great_Hope]

We might get away with a 4-4-2 now we have a settled defence.

Liera and Gardner have looked solid. Gardner especially.

Problem is that Semedo doesn't fit into a 4-4-2. Makalele couldn't do it at Chelsea and Semedo is the same for us. Everyone loves Semedo with good reason but it's difficult to see how we get around that.

I'd like to see a 442 with Bothroyd up front with someone with pace. And I'd like to see us getting the ball on the floor. Last time Bothroyd played up front we just launched the ball at his face. He's not a target man like that.

Depends if we think we can survive without Semedo backing up the defence.

I think that once we have Reda back, he might give it a try.

[steelcityowlsfan]

I love Semedo but he isn't good enough to play in a 4 4 2 system. It leaves our midfield exposed and we struggle to keep and gain possession. Using a 3 man midfield is better suited to his strengths in protecting the back 4. Having said that we really need the crosses to come in using a 4 3 3 or 4 5 1 system and more importantly men in the box when it does. This was evident in the game v Blackpool when time and again there was not enough bodies in the box on the few occasions we put a decent cross in. I wonder if mayor should get a crack on the wing. Hopefully he is a good crosser.