Jordan Cropper

I think McAtee is probably at his best in what used to be called a free role.  I think since the obsession with giving each position a number, it's a No 10.  Albeit a quite fluid one.  He roams about a bit so you can't really put him in midfield, not unless you've got a couple of guys in there who will happily sit deep and cover him all game.  Equally so I don't think you'll get the best out of him if you tell him he has to sit deep.

When he drifts, he often goes out wide which can work well in tandem with Sousa who does the exact opposite.  From memory a lot of our early exciting play came when those two were switching positions a fair bit and keeping defenders on their toes.  

The absolute problem though is having someone in this role, as your enigma and complete talisman, is that it's literally all or nothing.  The vast majority of our attacking and positive play goes through one single player. If he's off his game, or marked out the picture then we're screwed.  

What Taylor does incredibly well is bring others into play, I can't for the life of me understand any actual criticism of his role in the team other than that he just looks rusty at the minute.  But if McAtee is the talisman, then Taylor's link-up play and the effectiveness of it is dependent solely on....yet again, McAtee.   Again, off the boil or just too many defenders to navigate then any link-up play is ineffective.

What I see is a side with limited attacking options.  1) McAtee produces some magic.  2) Taylor brings McAtee into play.  That's about it for the season.  Early on we had glimpses from Sousa but largely his end product has been nil.  JMD has shown what he can offer and if he stays fit he definitely offers something different moving forward.   But we're largely predictable with this approach and quite easy to defend against.   You can see the frustration in McAtee when it's not going his way and he ends up moving everywhere around the pitch to follow the ball, further isolating Taylor and often getting in the way of others.

Totally honest, I don't know the answer to it.  There's a part of me that would like to see two proper wingers with an actual front two to aim at and go off.  Deeper than that two central midfielders with at least one pushing forward to pick up off the front man/loose balls.  That doesn't feature McAtee, he simply doesn't fit into that system.   I've said before I think he's not at his best at the minute, but I also think it's a brave manager that drops your top scorer and best player.  

This all said, McAtee takes his two chances at Boreham Wood and Clifton's chance on Tuesday clips in off the post rather than bounces out and we're not having this conversation at all.  We're thinking who can we reel in from the teams in 2nd and 3rd etc.  Fine margins.

Good to have another specialist available in that position and, if he's got a long throw, it will certainly give us a 'Plan B' (along with Dieseruvwe) if we're chasing a game. When Efete is back fit, let's hope we can see some real competition for the position.

Quoted from Maringer

Magnay was an odd one, though, wasn't he? I seem to recall he was actually right-footed but preferred to play at left back!

Playing as a full-back on your weaker side can be done, but you tend to see lots of weakly-hit clearances either going straight into touch or straight to an opposition player 30 yards up the line. No ideal.

Didn't he start as a centre back?  

He was definitely right footed though.  What he did have to help him play on his weaker side was an outside of his right foot that was as good as his inside.  There was one goal midway through that season, night game I think, where he fizzed in a cross from left back with the outside of his left peg.  Paul Merson like.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Didn't he start as a centre back?  

He was definitely right footed though.  What he did have to help him play on his weaker side was an outside of his right foot that was as good as his inside.  There was one goal midway through that season, night game I think, where he fizzed in a cross from left back with the outside of his left peg.  Paul Merson like.

FGR just before Christmas I think 👍

Quoted from diehardmariner

I think McAtee is probably at his best in what used to be called a free role.  I think since the obsession with giving each position a number, it's a No 10.  Albeit a quite fluid one.  He roams about a bit so you can't really put him in midfield, not unless you've got a couple of guys in there who will happily sit deep and cover him all game.  Equally so I don't think you'll get the best out of him if you tell him he has to sit deep.

When he drifts, he often goes out wide which can work well in tandem with Sousa who does the exact opposite.  From memory a lot of our early exciting play came when those two were switching positions a fair bit and keeping defenders on their toes.  

The absolute problem though is having someone in this role, as your enigma and complete talisman, is that it's literally all or nothing.  The vast majority of our attacking and positive play goes through one single player. If he's off his game, or marked out the picture then we're screwed.  

What Taylor does incredibly well is bring others into play, I can't for the life of me understand any actual criticism of his role in the team other than that he just looks rusty at the minute.  But if McAtee is the talisman, then Taylor's link-up play and the effectiveness of it is dependent solely on....yet again, McAtee.   Again, off the boil or just too many defenders to navigate then any link-up play is ineffective.

What I see is a side with limited attacking options.  1) McAtee produces some magic.  2) Taylor brings McAtee into play.  That's about it for the season.  Early on we had glimpses from Sousa but largely his end product has been nil.  JMD has shown what he can offer and if he stays fit he definitely offers something different moving forward.   But we're largely predictable with this approach and quite easy to defend against.   You can see the frustration in McAtee when it's not going his way and he ends up moving everywhere around the pitch to follow the ball, further isolating Taylor and often getting in the way of others.

Totally honest, I don't know the answer to it.  There's a part of me that would like to see two proper wingers with an actual front two to aim at and go off.  Deeper than that two central midfielders with at least one pushing forward to pick up off the front man/loose balls.  That doesn't feature McAtee, he simply doesn't fit into that system.   I've said before I think he's not at his best at the minute, but I also think it's a brave manager that drops your top scorer and best player.  

This all said, McAtee takes his two chances at Boreham Wood and Clifton's chance on Tuesday clips in off the post rather than bounces out and we're not having this conversation at all.  We're thinking who can we reel in from the teams in 2nd and 3rd etc.  Fine margins.

Top post that. Completely agree regarding Taylor too, I don't understand the criticism he gets at all. I thought he did alright at Borehamwood, even when he's not completely at the races he still holds the ball up well and contributes some great link up play. A clever target man with a decent touch is a great asset at this level. Much easier to slot into a team alongside a #9 than McAtee too.

When I posted on here on Tuesday to say he is training with us, I asked some Chesterfield mates i have what is he like and they both said that he is a decent non league player, always looks to get forward, not afriad of shooting from range, likes to get crosses into the box and he generally has decent technique which has seen him score a few goals for them, one of them even said he is a similar style of play as TAA!

Good debut - Efete has a challenge on now !!

Quoted from Maringer

Magnay was an odd one, though, wasn't he? I seem to recall he was actually right-footed but preferred to play at left back!

Playing as a full-back on your weaker side can be done, but you tend to see lots of weakly-hit clearances either going straight into touch or straight to an opposition player 30 yards up the line. No ideal.

Kevin Jobling?  Class, at a much higher level.

When you consider that Jobling was a right-footed central midfielder, he did a pretty decent job at left-back. Pretty sure I remember him being used as a man-marker by Buckley on occasion? Have a recollection of him marking Kinkladze out of a game at BP. At least, I think it was Kinkladze. It might have been somebody like Prosinecki. A famous East European midfielder, at least!