Ben Garner heads north today for his first league game as Charlton Athletic manager. Understandably he has spoken in the last couple of days about his confidence in his squad of players and, more surprisingly, about his admiration for the football of Klopp and Guardiola and a desire to repeat it in order to get more from your team than the sum of it’s parts.
I don’t think any of us would complain about being able to replicate the football of Liverpool and Man City at the moment but they have the best technically gifted players in the world and can play to their managers’ instructions, whatever they may be. They have the ability to change shape and formation quickly and influence games, especially later on when the result may still be at stake.
Johnnie Jackson’s biggest failure was an inability or unwillingness to change anything much in games and as a consequence, we rarely responded in matches under him when we needed to.
It will take awhile to judge Garner’s ambitions but I have to say I really cannot see it with the players at his disposal. He has brought in four defenders and two midfielders. He looks to favour a back four, which I think suits our personnel better but the ‘high press’ is won in midfield and delivered upfront.
We have good competition for places in midfield but most of them were here last season and struggled to win midfield, let alone press or score goals. If you add to that the fact that we have lost 11 goals from Washington, that Chuks is already injured and that Davison has been sold, it is hard to see where the goals are coming from. Placing your hopes on Miles Leaburn is really expecting far too much. This is a glaring red light with an accompanying loud noise. It is so obvious that I am sure they will be seeking loan strikers when they play their remaining hand towards the end of August.
In the meantime though, we risk repeating the slow start of last season which effectively hobbled us. Accrington Stanley away shouldn’t be the hardest fixture in League One but they beat us there last season. A big-spending Derby will then come to the Valley looking for three points. Sheffield Wednesday away, Plymouth home, Cambridge home and then Wycombe away will all need to be faced without what I would call an adequate attack.
Maybe Garner’s coaching nouse will save the day but I haven’t seen any sign of it during pre-season. By the end of August he and Thomas Sandgaard may already be fighting a rear-guard action.
We also have a defence without a single left footed player?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately its all going to be too easy for Accy. Double team Stockley and we have no goal threat. Its then only a matter of time before they score.
ReplyDeleteTotally Agree; for reasons that l cannot fathom, we have not replaced those that have gone, and as you say, where are the goals coming from, certainly not from any of the forwards. i hope l am wrong, but our league position by the end of August will put us in the bottom three, together with all the associated pressure and problems, which is why l firmly believe BG will be gone sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteI can not understand Garner or Sandgaard thinking. We need at least two good strikers. We have not really spent a penny in the last two years. I am starting to think that Sandgaard is going along the same lines as that Belgium idiot. Miles is still only a boy and unproven. Thomas spend a bit of money which you have received from the Pope deal and give us a chance of promotion.
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