the balance of the team isn't right and hasn't really been all season.
1) We have no left side - Bailey/Shelvey/Racon have fllled this role between them this season and it has worked on some occaisons but lately has shown that we lack a natural left sided player.
2) We are a one trick pony - beacause of the lack of a left wnger all our attacks come though Lloyd Sam and probably the reason why he gets the flack he does as he is doing the work of two players. He is a bit of an inigma at times and can be frustrating as he could do some much more........but without him we are f**ked.
3) We have no real midfield play maker - Racon and Shelvey are probably the best at carrying the ball but need to do more with it to create chances for the strikers. Shelvey is wasted out wide and needs to have a free role to pick up the ball and create things.
4) We have no natural striker - Burton maybe our top goalscorer and although he works very hard and is always there to hold the ball up he ain't a Hunt/mendonca or Killer. He lacks pace and is not a finisher of chances. Mooney is now getting too similar and wheras he was chasing the ball into channels he is now doing v.little different to Burton and can't have both in the side. Haven't seen enough of Mackenzie to say he will do anything different and now lost any patience I had with Dickson..........bringing on 2 players with just 3 goals between them is not a recipe for success
So.......a lot for parky to sort out with no money and v.little time before the transfer window shuts. There are players out there (was v impressed wih Orients no 24 on Monday - Adams, who is on loan from Leicester - how come they got him) and unless we sort out the left wing & striking positions we are doomed to be in this division for some years to come.
I predict we will finish in a play-off position (3rd or 4th) and as the play offs are mini cup ties then we know how good we are in cup ames, don't we ?
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2 - Agree we're massively overplaying his wing. If we adress point 1 we might find players all over the park have more spce and become more effective.
3 - Agree again. Bailey isn't a playmaker and Semedo is the steel so unless we go back to a 5 man midfield how do we accomodate a central playmaker?
4 - Maybe we have to go back to Burton on his own up front as our Plan A, at least until a couple of our key injuries return.
2- I literally could not agree more about the predictability of our side at the moment. This has been a characteristic of most Charlton sides since the early Premiership years and the only way of adressing this problem is to have more versatility in our midfield/strikeforce, but the current financial situation makes this virtually an impossibility.
3- I think that both Racon and especially Shelvey are playmakers in every sense of the word. As long as Shelvey is played in his most effective position (as has been extensviely discussed on here) then we should make the chances to score the goals necessary to see us promoted.
4- Again I think in Burton we have a natural goalscorer. He has so much experience (and ability/effort) that at this level he is definately an asset NOT a liability. I can't say the same for Mooney who in my opinion is one-dimensional, and I think a decent partner for Burton should be the priority if we are to go up. You just have to look at Norwich, Leeds, Swindon and Colchester who all provide support for their main striker through contributions either from attacking midfielders or secondary strikers who facilitate the success of goalscorers.
Shelvey can do the playmaker job for us, but then who do you move out of position or drop? Racon doesn't have the range of passing but he starts moves as he likes to run with the ball. If we got a left winger in and a better striker to play with Burton, Shelvey's good passing and vision would be more obvious, he'd be using it a lot more.
We do need another option up front but might have to (at best) settle for Akpo or a similar type of player. Powerful and a nuisance rather than a regular goalscorer. Even then we might not get anyone in.
Still have the feeling we will get one or two players on loan before the deadline if not when the loan window reopens. Might need to get Yassin out even just on loan first though.
Elliot
Richardson Dailly Llera Basey/Youga
Sam Bailey Semedo Shelvey McKenzie
Burton
subs, Racon Wagstaff Spring Omo/Solly Mooney Sodje Randolph
I really believe we need to get Racon back in and in a central role. He is, for me, one of the best players at the club and i would be gutted if he is sold.
Could sam not play a more central role behind the strikers? with a lack of width at the club surely the right move would be to focus on playing down the centre - the midfielders we have got are all very good on the ball and play this much more effectively imo.
No good just lumping balls up to Burton & Mooney
I would have Racon Bailey Semedo across the middle with Sam/Shelvey just behind the strikers.
But we also won our first 6 games with this system. It's clear Bailey needs to be in the middle, but so does Racon, and they both need to play. Difficult one.
Racon would have been the most obvious "sacrifice" with his known refusal to play on the left even if it meant a place in the team a reasonable reason for doing so plus the fact that up until Monday we had been doing O K without him.
Probably too late to do anything now though.
Bristol City were intersted in him but, following last night's result, they probably need a Centre Back more. That's a thought - do you think they'd pay £2m for Llera?
I also like the idea of Sam playing centrally for a spell during games against packed defences - provided he attempts to take defenders on and dribble through. That would have been a decent option against Orient on Monday, especially when they were playing such a high back line early on in the game.
With Sam on the left, it'd give him the freedom to sometimes cut inside, and attack on the floor the soft underbelly of centrebacks - or shoot.
Waggy could no doubt go right, with his pacy direct style - and he's not afraid to take a pop either.
Mooney had an ineffective, bit of a limp wristed game the other night and was duplicating much of what Burton might have done, instead of playing off the shoulder more. But overall Mooney has brought much to the team when he's played, but we could certainly use someone with pace alongside Burton - to me that's a perfect foil. But with Dicko not performing to expectations who do we put there ..... could in fact Waggy be our wild card for that position?
Would still like to see McKenzie alongside Burton. Hard to tell just how slow/quick he is at the moment, he did have pace back when playing for Coventry/Norwich didn't he?