However, we have a bit of a problem now. Mark Hughes has made it clear Zamora has to earn his spot back. But what spot is that exactly? AJ, while not exactly my favorite player on the team, has been at least doing enough to earn his spot, and Dembele has been proving he's one of Hughes' best signings with his superior ball control and passing skills. Dempsey is a lock at midfielder, Duff and Sidwell have been playing real well, and you don't just sit Danny Murphy, so what to do? Well, here's the only two real options I could think of that would be viable:
Option 1: Replace Andy Johnson with Zamora
I realize that AJ has been playing a lot better recently, however he will stray offsides a lot, and isn't the best finisher in the world. This is going to be a tough decision for Hughes to make because he likes AJ (more than I do at least) and he's on a run of pretty good form at the moment. But this is the best option to keep Hughes' current formation (foreshadow).
Option 2: Change the formation to a 3 striker formation
This, as much as I'm for benching AJ, seems to be the best option for me. You take out a midfielder, say, Sidwell or Duff (alternate them maybe?) and go with some type of a 3-3-4. Don't take out a defender since that's been the team's real strength all season and when they win matches it's because they are at their best. Also, when Senderos comes back, it will be a pretty darn good defense. Finally, taking out a midfielder isn't too terrible since, while Dembele is technically a striker, he plays more like an attacking midfielder, at least in my mind.
This is a good problem we're talking about, when you have an overflow of pretty good players, most in good form. It means most likely one of AJ, Zamora, Sidwell, or Duff will be on the bench, unless Hughes makes a switch I don't anticipate.
Do any of you have any other options for putting Bobby back into the lineup?
nice blog mate, good to see that sport is growing across the pond
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about this yesterday as well. I think the switch to a 3-3-4 is the proper move. Keep their defense the way it is, get Zamora back into the lineup, adds more speed to the attack as well.
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