While the results have been good we got cornered into playing the 4-4-2 by having two very good 9s. The system works but it requires getting the ball into the strikers quickly on transition and playing off them which needs the opposition to come on to us. What it does not do is give us much control over a game hence we have struggled with teams that sit in leading to our struggles at Home Park.
The system also suits the first XI but overall has not been a good fit for the squad we have. Watts, Oseni, Paterson, Benarous and to a lesser extent Amaechi don't fit naturally into the system.
If one of Tolaj or Pepple were to leave it might be a blessing in disguise as it would remove the temptation to force a system that gets them both onto the pitch. Personally I think we'll look to move back to playing through the thirds in a 4-2-3-1 as our base which is what I believe Cleverley prefers and plays to the strengths of the players contracted to us for next season.
Of our loan players I don't see there being value in Ralls AND Kane. Harding is good but I'm not signing him to play LB and we need first contact CBs which he is not. I would not push the boat out on a fee to sign Mitchell as top of L1 is his ceiling for me. Dale works hard and I like him but we need a genuine left footed go on the outside type winger.
You are right about us being cornered into 442. But we tried playing through the thirds earlier in the season and it was a dismal failure, we got dispossessed so often before the ball ever got far enough forward. It became clear that pretty football doesn't work in L1. Power, strength and get the ball up the field quickly is what is needed. If we go back to passing it around at the back, we will have the same start to the season as this year.
I think we will probably lose both Tolaj and Bim so the system we use will probably depend on what replacements we can get. If we can replace them like for like, I don't see any reason not to continue with 442. We struggled against teams that sat back because we have relatively little threat from wide areas. On the right, Curtis can cross wonderfully, but doesn't really have the pace to beat the FB consistently. On the left we had Dale and Sorinola, both of whom defend well but lack pace and crossing ability. Two attacking wingers and 442 could work well.
Agree if we keep Ralls, we probably don't need Kane as well (and would need to pay a transfer fee for him). I would definitely try to keep Harding, but as you say, play him as a RB with MacKenzie at LB.
And we have to try to keep Mitchell. He is important to the squad in so many ways. He may or may not be Champ standard, but right now we need a squad for L1, way too early (and too expensive) to start planning for the Champ, we need to get there first.
