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Tamargull wrote:Have not been able to get to any of the friendlies so far. Can someone please tell me if Richards is a holding midfielder? Secondly, do we have the personnel to play three across the middle? I am a little worried as the 442 formation of last season led to us being overrun in midfield as a result of our wingers not being able to play as midfielders when we did not have the ball.
Thanks

In answer to your question Tamar it is fair to say that Richards is a more defensively minded central midfielder alongside the more attack minded Young and indeed Chaney who he was paired with for the last 20 minutes or so against Walsall.

I understand your concerns from last season but we have almost a completely different set of players in the midfield 4 with only Harding, Chapell and Cameron (but for how much longer?) in contention. I think it's clear, based on the way we have lined up in the PSFs that we are looking to play a 442 and quite honestly with the quality we have on the wings why wouldn't we? One thing I must say about Ajala in particular was how impressed I was with his defensive work on Saturday. I lost count of the number of times he tracked back and won the ball back off the opposing winger. I guess we shouldn't be too surprised as I believe he did have a stint as a wingback whilst at AFC Wimbledon. To be fair, Jordan Chapell also did some good defensive work on the other wing too.

I guess we do have the personnel to play the three in midfield and if we did I imagine it would be Richards and Harding behind Young " in the hole" but to be honest there has been nothing I have seen yet in the three PSFs I have attended to suggest we are going to play anything other than a 442 .... although it was much more like a 424 in the first 45mins against Walsall !!!

To be honest tamar, a look at last years conference sees a lot of teams playing a straight 4-4-2, so some of those problems may not be as noticeable this year.

Richards likes a tackle but I'm not sure if he's a true defensive midfielder, more a box to box with more defensive tendencies! For what it's worth, Harding had a half decent game against Walsall, much more like the Harding I remember from Aldershot; strong, stopped their players moving forward, kept it simple and retained possession. If he can carry on getting back to form there is no reason (other than his wages) why he couldn't also force his way into the team.

I think we're underestimating Harding. Last season he was brought into a poor team and was basically expected to be all midfielder roles in one - holding midfielder and playmaker. If he stays, this season we have a recognized playmaker in Young, while Harding can sit as holding midfielder. I know there is criticism that he is not tough in the tackle, but I don't think this is a pre-requisite. He is intelligent enough, good positionally and without having to look to be expansive with the ball should retain possession well.

Also last season, it was once Harding got injured that we went from poor bottom half side to dire relegation fodder.

exilegull wrote:I think we're underestimating Harding. Last season he was brought into a poor team and was basically expected to be all midfielder roles in one - holding midfielder and playmaker. If he stays, this season we have a recognized playmaker in Young, while Harding can sit as holding midfielder. I know there is criticism that he is not tough in the tackle, but I don't think this is a pre-requisite. He is intelligent enough, good positionally and without having to look to be expansive with the ball should retain possession well.

Also last season, it was once Harding got injured that we went from poor bottom half side to dire relegation fodder.

I agree that things can change and Harding could bring balance to the side but do you really think that Harding's injury was our down fall.?

I wouldn't want to overstate it because clearly there were many other factors but he was finding his form. When the injury occurred v York, we were well matched, when Harding went of we slid into a heavy home defeat; could reflect the point being made.

Lloyder5 wrote:I wouldn't want to overstate it because clearly there were many other factors but he was finding his form. When the injury occurred v York, we were well matched, when Harding went of we slid into a heavy home defeat; could reflect the point being made.

I'm only joking but we will never know

Lloyder5 wrote:I wouldn't want to overstate it because clearly there were many other factors but he was finding his form. When the injury occurred v York, we were well matched, when Harding went of we slid into a heavy home defeat; could reflect the point being made.

only joking we will never know

Indeed...well onwards and upwards, new signings and a couple of revitalised existing players; we could have some excitement for the first time in a couple of years