by Z175 »
04 Feb 2013 17:26
I think what people forget is we don't create many chances for 80 minutes. We've learnt from our naivety at the beginning of the season - teams like Fulham, Newcastle were getting points just from taking their chances.
Now we just cynically stay in the game. We fight every ball, we don't all rush forward to attack (until the end), the opponents attacks invariably have to go through all of our 11 men to score so invariably don't make it into a dangerous situation.
Only when we have won the mental and physical battle can we go hell for leather. And thats the period we need Alfie for.
But on Alfie himself - his touch and composure is neat and his vision is excellent. Its not at all just about finishing, hes no slouch either. Could he do a job at a bigger club or for England? Absolutely. Obviously few teams play 4-4-2 these days but I could see him fit in at teams like Arsenal and Liverpool where bulk isn't so important. Lets face it if he had played for Chelsea last week we'd have lost 4-0.
I think if we stay up we should try and go back to 4-4-2, 451 is being too scared of the oppostion and denies yourself opportunities up front. Its great for playing cagey international matches/ champions league games or relegation battles, but if you want to establish your way of playing and maximise our direct attacking play, we should have two up front. I appreciate we failed at that this season but the Champ 4-4-2 with box to box midfielders doesn't work in the PL.
Ideally we would have a classic holding centre midfielder who never gives the ball away and a more attacking midfielder comfortable on the ball sat next to them. Sadly I don't think we have either right now, and if our aim is to sign a Sigurddson, Ince or Aspas I can't see 4-5-1 going.
With Sturridge and Defoe out of Wednesdays England friendly, lets hope he gets the nod ahead of Lambert or Zaha. Imagine a Reading player, making their England debut, against Brazil at Wembley... oh!