This was the point I was going to make. How can it be a problem that we haven't replaced three attacking players when we're among the highest goalscorers in the division?
Okay, so I get that someone like Ennis had the ball retention qualities that can take pressure off a team, but the key issue for me is that our back four just aren't good enough as a unit. Scarr and Pleguezuelo have both had more troughs than peaks and are both better suited to a back three IMO, while only one of our fullbacks (Joe Edwards) is actually any good at 1v1 defending.
If for some reason we lost Schuey tomorrow, you can guarantee any new manager coming in would immediately set about trying to make us more solid at the back - be it through recruitment or on the training ground.
The return of Saxon Earley should help, but we have no idea how he'll cope with the step up in standard.
I still think it was a mistake to abandon our successful formation from last season. The tactical tweaks Schuey made after the MK Dons 5-0 were wildly successful, but I think he got a bit carried away with his own success in rolling the tactical dice again this summer.
You sign two players for a million quid and then play them in different positions in which all and sundry can see they aren't as effective. Dan Scarr was recruited to play in a three but is now being asked to play in a two against Championship forwards. He's coping but only just. Callum Wright was recruited as a No.10 but is being played out wide. Azaz has been good but his very best form for us came when he had another No.10 alongside him.
I think it was a change that was made for the sake of change and one that isn't getting the best out of our squad.
As usual, I agree with almost everything you've said Woodsy. Certainly the part about Ennis. He's the only outbound business that I think was poor / a shame. The club did what they could in the summer, but ultimately it wasn't enough. I don't think we should be letting talented 23 year olds run down their contract. But hind sight is 20/20.
But I do have to disagree about change for change sake.
Schuey said at the start of the season that the 4-3-3 was
the system to use to counter 3 ATB systems. I honestly have no idea if this is true or not, but I can only take his word for it. Pretty much every side in the Champ (and PL) has moved away from 3 ATB and is playing 4-3-3. So I think we just evolved with football, rather than change for change sake. I would fear that swapping back to 3-4-2-1 would have us using the weaker system vs most sides using 4-3-3.
You and I both agreed earlier in the season that the 4-3-3 wasn't getting the best out of Whittaker. But I think Whittaker has massively improved in the last month or so, along with his work-rate defensively. I also think that the midfield, particularly Cundle, are now better at spotting the times when they have to go wide to support the FB. I think Mumba finds his defensive responsibilities far more natural which I think comes at a cost of him being less effective going forward.
I'd love to know the stats behind Mumba's ball carrying, because I'm pretty sure that there would still be some metrics that he's excelling in, despite not relentlessly delivering like he did last season.
I think Finn playing deeper just highlights his biggest weakness (and I'd guess it's the same weakness why Villa aren't using him). He's 23 but he really hasn't developed physically yet. He's a marvelous footballer, but he can't ride challenges and rough people up yet. That's not his fault, it's just his body. If he had developed, he'd be in and around Villas first team, I'm sure of it. So this 8 role means he's tackling more and having to ride challenges more, whereas as a 10 he didn't have to do that as much. I cannot stress enough how much I think we should be buying Finn in Jan/summer. 6 months on his deal so won't be too expensive. If we can wait for his body to develop, we'll have a PL player within our team when it eventually happens.
As for Saxon... I really rate the player. But I do have a reservation about his injuries. He isn't constantly injured because of a reoccurring muscular injury.
It's constant dislocations, breaks, sprains etc. It's all well and good being firm in a challenge and tough enough to throw your body into tackles and blocks, but surely at some point, somebody has to tell him to calm down... He's spending 70% of the season injured because he doesn't seem to have learned the balance of risking his body and being highly physical. I do remember him saying if he wasn't a footballer, he'd being playing rugby. That doesn't surprise me at all. Perhaps I'm being harsh and he's just been unlucky, but after watching him play and getting injured, I don't sit there thinking it's any great surprise.
