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Which formation to get the best from McCormack; compromises all round

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With the very likely arrival of McCormack this week we are left with two questions

Firstly, he is not a lone striker so who do we havein mind as a Jerome alternative?

Secondly, amd more importantly, how is AN going to change tactics to accomodate a second striker?

In our current systems (4231, 4141) he would either play up front, off the striker in the number 10 role or off the right flank.

He has never been used as a lone striker and is not something that suits his game, putting him in this position is akin to setting him up to fail.

The off the target man is where he works best, Fulham have compromised their squad and tactics to ensure he is the link man, leeds the same before; this is his role. However we already have Wes & Naismith for these roles, and Maddison coming through. I already have concerns that we can accommodate both wes and naismith on the pitch at the same time and adding McCormack complicates that mix.

We could use him coming in off the right, which is a gap we have as we saw on saturday, however his defensive work is not great and he only really played there early on in his career when he was less prolific.

So we are left with a 442 or 4411.

Either could work but means we are likely to see little of Maddison and far less of Wes or naismith - which feels we are compromising an already strong part of our game (unless one of them / naismith is moved on?)

Given the gaps that appeared on Saturday on the left flank would a 4321 or 433 work better

Jerome as the target man and 2 from McCormack, Naismith, Wes, Murphy, Canos, Maddison supporting him.

Behind them we have a less dynamic but defensively more solid formation of Tettey, Dorrans & Howson as a starting preference, with a remit to protect and allow Pinto and Olsson to provide width with the midfiedl three taking responsibility to cover their arses when the do go forward?

We can make McCormack work but it will require some upheaval.

Which bring us back to question 1. who plays the Jerome role when he is injured or off form?

And all that is without wondering who we can get to fill the gaping whole next to Klose.

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AN has said he wants us to be fluid up front, all three could play behind Jerome, Wes can''t manage every game which is where Madison comes into the team.

Yes, we need another Jerome figure, possibly a centre half but we don''t know if that is currently being sorted. I really don''t know why so many people seem to be so desperate to find fault with everything when there are actually a lot of positives to our squad.

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Lafferty would be a worry for me anyway

Fenway - if I came across as negative that wasnt the intention, it was an open question on how to get the best from our strengths. I can see we could play all 3 behind Jerome, however all three are best very central, and I have no desire to see wes floundering our left yet again - I was simply pondering whether we would need to deploy the assets in another way to get the best from a good championship squad.

I do agree we will move to be a more fluid attacking unit and have a likely consequence of less midfield width and less use of wingers from the start.

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If he is prolific in attack only with a target partner with him, then

that flys in the face of the way successful teams set up these days.   Setting up

with a front two, neither of whom will be able to get back as much leaves

the players behind them with too much to do and scoring goals is no good if it means the team doesn''t succeed  - and what team has he been in that has succeeded?  This is an important factor imo - what did Leeds achieve with him in their team? What did Cardiff achieve and what did Fulham achieve with him in their team?   Yes, he scored a few goals, but that does not equate necessarily to success in terms of promotion from the championship.   I fear that if he comes to Norwich, he will score a few goals and we will be stuck in mid table. Could he be ready to be a successful player and being in a successful team?  Time will tell.

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I know this won''t happen and probably wouldn''t work anyway buuuut.....

We do have the personnel to play a 3-5-2.

Bennett, Martin and Klose as the back three.

Pinto and Olsson/Brady as wing backs.

Howson/Tettey/Dorrans (or Wes if you want to be more attacking) in the middle.

Jerome and McCormack up top.

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Good post ZDF.

Quite an interesting conundrum for AN to think through. How to deploy RM is only one of the issues that need to be nailed down

Who will be the loan striker when Jerome is suspended, injured or playing poorly. Lafferty or A. N. Other?

Who is going to play in the wide midfield positions. The issue on the right is the most pressing with Howson having to be played there at the weekend. Surely a waste of his talents. Similarly on the left we may well end up seeing Wes or Naismith. Also not good. Is Canos ready to play a part?

Who is going to support Klose at the back. We still have three possibilities. I fervently hope that AN picks his preferred option and sticks with it to allow a partnership to develop.

Hopefully all these things have been addressed , otherwise we may end up with the disruptive chopping and changing that blighted last season.

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How long will it take him to get match sharp? Hasn''t played much.

I still love the fact so many think he''s the Championship Messi, can''t wait to see just how well he fits the squad and how AN will use him......

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Just had a look on sky sports. Ian holloway has made his predictions for the championship. Got us to finish 3rd (he''s optimistic). Says if we get Mccormack we''re getting the best player outside the premier league.

Anyway

The lad can play anywhere across the front. I''ll be honest I''d rather have Mccormack up top on his own than Jerome. Could care less if people think he can''t play there, Jerome can''t hit a cow''s arse with a banjo.

Being more serious i expect him to play off Jerome or another mostly. Wes won''t make every game at his age and some games he''s ineffective. Best player on form.

Could play the diamond again easily especially with pinto and olsson as wing backs.

4-3-3 can''t be ruled out.

Options are endless but that''s just my opinion.

Rather have him as part of the squad than the cash sitting in the bank and him playing for a rival.

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[quote user="Chemical Bro"]Anyway

The lad can play anywhere across the front.[/quote]Which is clearly why for the past 5-6 years he''s been played almost entirely in a central role...[quote]I''ll be honest I''d rather have Mccormack up top on his own than Jerome. Could care less if people think he can''t play there, Jerome can''t hit a cow''s arse with a banjo.[/quote]Short term memory loss maybe?You seem to have conveniently forgotten Jerome''s 18 goals and 7 assists the season before last when we were back in the champs (as now). Jerome averages a goal every 3.38 games at this level (was 2.28 in that specific season), so even if he just has an ''average'' system, that''s still 14 goals and 4 assists, which means I think there''d be over a dozen very nervous cows...What''s more, I genuinely can''t believe that anyone who''s watched McCormack play, can actually think that he can play the lone striker role with any degree of success whatsoever. He''s lightweight (only 2kg heavier than RvW), he''s only 5ft7" which combined with his physique and weight means he''s not going to be bullying ANY of the main CB''s he''d be up against. He''s not going to be winning many headers either, as this aerial ability is apalling compared to Jerome - not only in regards to success, but overall attempts as well.[quote]Being more serious i expect him to play off Jerome or another mostly. Wes won''t make every game at his age and some games he''s ineffective. Best player on form.

Could play the diamond again easily especially with pinto and olsson as wing backs.

4-3-3 can''t be ruled out.

Options are endless but that''s just my opinion.

Rather have him as part of the squad than the cash sitting in the bank and him playing for a rival.[/quote]Options may well be endless, but good options simply are not.It''d be an ''option'' to play Whittaker in place of Tettey in the defensive role again, but just because it''s an option doesn''t mean that ANY of us would want to see that!The fact is that we cannot shoehorn in Wes, Naismith, Jerome AND McCormack without seriously compromising 1 or more of these players in the process. Wes and Naismith are wasted out wide (as I think McCormack would be), NONE of them apart from Jerome suit the lone striker role, and reverting to a diamond (especially against the current preferred 5 man midfields almost all sides seem to prefer) leaves us badly exposed on the wings and when Pinto/Whittaker can''t really defend for toffee (both decent going forward though), and with Olsson/Brady possibly leaving, that only really leaves young Toffolo to play wing back (or Whitts again - ugh), and then we''d get carved apart like the finest Bernard Matthews turkey breast...

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Indy bones, can I come to your New Year''s Eve party? I bet it''s a right laugh!

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I don''t get all this "needs a target man besides him nonsense", Who wants to watch ''hoofball''?If you look at these goals........https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSeRXmlbSE8........you''ll see many are scored from little though balls and cut-backs which several of our players are very capable of providing (particularly Wes and Naismith).Most defences in this division have big burly defenders capable of dealing all day long with crosses aimed at big target men, but most would struggle with nippy forwards with the ball at their feet. Plus he brings the bonus of scoring from set-pieces, something we have missed since Snoddy left.Bring it on!

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I like the idea of a nippy forward good at taking on a defender. But that isn''t McCormack.

He doesn''t dribble much and he isn''t particularly quick.

I don''t think he needs a target man, his best spell was alongside Dembele who isn''t massive. But what he does need is someone who will make runs to create the pockets of space McCormack likes to occupy. If you don''t have that then defenders just go close to him and mark him out of the game.

People have said Naismith could do this, which is a possibility, but I feel they would both naturally look to occupy the same space (along with Wes) which could make Norwich''s attack very crowded and narrow.

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@Lapps

At Fulham, who got the best out of him he did play with another striker usually. I saw him play with both Dembele and Woodrow who are bigger, strong types and that second player created more space for McCormack to work in. Also he isn''t hugely nippy but he is very clever. I think he could thrive with players like Wes, Naismith and others around him making runs and creating space. The issue will be though a lack of either pace to stretch defenders or a lack of strength to hold the ball up and bring others in to play.

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It''s ironic seeing Indy talking about strikers scoring goals when he''s been championing Rvw for weeks on end.

Are you on a wind up or are you really this clueless?

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Indt bones i would reply to all you wrote but really can''t be bothered as we''ve killed it into the ground.

You''re someone who has admitted they would prefer rvw to Mccormack. I can''t debate with someone like that, it''s pointless and I''ll never win.

Let''s see how it all unfolds.

P.s if u think CJ is the same player as he was 2 years ago, you''re in for a shock.

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[quote user="Chemical Bro"]You''re someone who has admitted they would prefer rvw to Mccormack. I can''t debate with someone like that, it''s pointless and I''ll never win.[/quote]Probably not, because I''m talking about what could and should have happened whilst you''re talking about what did.I''m saying that no matter how quick someone is at running, if you put concrete boots on their feet - they ain''t going to beat Usain Bolt.You''re saying that we just had a slow runner...I''m saying that RvW used in the right system ''could'' outscore a player like McCormackYou''re saying that McCormack HAS outscored RvWDo you see what I mean?All the slating of RvW and similar is pretty unfair IMHO, because at no point over his year here (and to a lesser extent in France & Spain) did ANY of the clubs play him in the role he''d previously performed his best in, in fact it was a completely different role that his skillset and physique were NEVER going to be able to perform in, and what''s more, the supply we gave him was so awful that it made an incredibly difficult situation become almost Mission:Impossible.[quote]Let''s see how it all unfolds.

P.s if u think CJ is the same player as he was 2 years ago, you''re in for a shock.[/quote]PS,. if you think that McCormack can play the lone striker role in either the same manner as Jerome, or even HALF as effectively, then you''re in for an even bigger shock!

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Looks like from what AN said after the game the other day, we''re looking at a high press sort of game with the ball dotting about the 18 yard area frequently. High tempo and clever use of the ball. We have the tools in the middle for that and while McCormack''s not going to win headers that often, he could easily be the guy to find half a yard and finish, or link with the likes of Naismith with 1-2''s and cause chaos.

I don''t feel we''ll have many problems accommodating him.

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[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]

People have said Naismith could do this, which is a possibility, but I feel they would both naturally look to occupy the same space (along with Wes) which could make Norwich''s attack very crowded and narrow.

[/quote]

this is the issue for me; we have three similar players that are unlikely to be effective as a front three on their own.

Rather than a target man they do need a figure head to work off; none of them, incl naismith can do that role, and I think playing all three may be aggressive but as you point out too narrow.

I am sure we can make the tactics work; but do need a focal point that is a lot more effective than lafferty to supplement Jerome, as McCormack is not that player.

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Indy i know what you''re saying about rvw but i simply disagree. let''s agree to disagree on it as it''s something we can now no longer find out.

All I''m saying on Mccormack is there is no reason particularly at home, where we will hopefully dominate and pin teams in, why he cannot play the role well. The lone striker on those days won''t really be a lone striker as he should have plenty of support from either or both wes/naismith. As long as we''re not playing hoofball any intelligent player with half decent distribution should play the role no problem. It''s all about the right support.

His best position no doubt is as part of a 2.

Like i say lets see what happens, i can''t see AN signing a player like him with no plan.

The reality is it probably won''t happen now so all this debate will be pointless. If Fulham are now demanding 15 i think we should move targets. It''s dragging on and we''re looking stupid /desperate

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''''AN has said he wants us to be fluid up front, all three could play behind Jerome, Wes can''t manage every game which is where Madison comes into the team.

Yes, we need another Jerome figure, possibly a centre half but we don''t know if that is currently being sorted. I really don''t know why so many people seem to be so desperate to find fault with everything when there are actually a lot of positives to our squad. '''' ...Fenway Frank

Thanks Frank, saved me the bother of typing exactly that.

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