A Hurst Headache

I can't for the life of me imagine that a 2-man attack is what Hurst's thinking when he's built this squad, could be wrong...

He hasn't signed Vernam and Eisa to play without width.  Nor has he added Conteh to packed midfield options to only play two of them.  

Playing with high wingers (Vernam and Eisa) also probably rules out wingbacks.  So that leaves a back four, options in the middle and high width.  If it's anything but a variation of 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 I'll be absolutely amazed.

Rose is perfect to do that solo striker role.  Every time I've seen him he's led the line really well.  He's not the biggest but he puts himself about, more the type to nip in front of someone than barge them out the way.  Ridiculously good in the air for his size too.  As with any lone striker, it's all about the support.  Vernam and Eisa won't be there just to defend and keep shape.  Centrally I think we'll have either one holding in midfield with two pressed further forward or two sitting a bit deeper and one playing off Rose.

Quoted from diehardmariner

I can't for the life of me imagine that a 2-man attack is what Hurst's thinking when he's built this squad, could be wrong...

He hasn't signed Vernam and Eisa to play without width.  Nor has he added Conteh to packed midfield options to only play two of them.  

Playing with high wingers (Vernam and Eisa) also probably rules out wingbacks.  So that leaves a back four, options in the middle and high width.  If it's anything but a variation of 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 I'll be absolutely amazed.

Rose is perfect to do that solo striker role.  Every time I've seen him he's led the line really well.  He's not the biggest but he puts himself about, more the type to nip in front of someone than barge them out the way.  Ridiculously good in the air for his size too.  As with any lone striker, it's all about the support.  Vernam and Eisa won't be there just to defend and keep shape.  Centrally I think we'll have either one holding in midfield with two pressed further forward or two sitting a bit deeper and one playing off Rose.

This - in terms of systems
I can't see the point in 3-5-2 when we now have such an abundance of attacking options

4-2-3-1 looks good option to me

Quoted from diehardmariner

I can't for the life of me imagine that a 2-man attack is what Hurst's thinking when he's built this squad, could be wrong...

He hasn't signed Vernam and Eisa to play without width.  Nor has he added Conteh to packed midfield options to only play two of them.  

Playing with high wingers (Vernam and Eisa) also probably rules out wingbacks.  So that leaves a back four, options in the middle and high width.  If it's anything but a variation of 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 I'll be absolutely amazed.

Rose is perfect to do that solo striker role.  Every time I've seen him he's led the line really well.  He's not the biggest but he puts himself about, more the type to nip in front of someone than barge them out the way.  Ridiculously good in the air for his size too.  As with any lone striker, it's all about the support.  Vernam and Eisa won't be there just to defend and keep shape.  Centrally I think we'll have either one holding in midfield with two pressed further forward or two sitting a bit deeper and one playing off Rose.

I think after his recent injury troubles, Eisa is more in the punt category with Khan ahead of him. I don't think we'll be playing without width either, it's clear that Vernam has been brought in to provide that. However, I think we'll see a variety of styles and I'm certainly not saying we'll play 442 all season or anything, just that Rose has for a lot of his career been used in a pair up front and rarely as the lone striker in a three and that there aren't too many other formations that accommodate two strikers. Everyone is probably correct and I'll be proven wrong but just pointing out how Rose has been used most of the times I've seen him play.

Quoted from diehardmariner

I can't for the life of me imagine that a 2-man attack is what Hurst's thinking when he's built this squad, could be wrong...

He hasn't signed Vernam and Eisa to play without width.  Nor has he added Conteh to packed midfield options to only play two of them.  

Playing with high wingers (Vernam and Eisa) also probably rules out wingbacks.  So that leaves a back four, options in the middle and high width.  If it's anything but a variation of 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 I'll be absolutely amazed.

Rose is perfect to do that solo striker role.  Every time I've seen him he's led the line really well.  He's not the biggest but he puts himself about, more the type to nip in front of someone than barge them out the way.  Ridiculously good in the air for his size too.  As with any lone striker, it's all about the support.  Vernam and Eisa won't be there just to defend and keep shape.  Centrally I think we'll have either one holding in midfield with two pressed further forward or two sitting a bit deeper and one playing off Rose.

100% agree with this.

Whatever his preferred starting line up, the competition for places looks better now than I can remember for years. With so many subs now allowed the options to change things around mid game are terrific. Plus we won’t need to carry half fit or out of form players.

We are looking very strong.

Quoted from diehardmariner

I can't for the life of me imagine that a 2-man attack is what Hurst's thinking when he's built this squad, could be wrong...

He hasn't signed Vernam and Eisa to play without width.  Nor has he added Conteh to packed midfield options to only play two of them.  

Playing with high wingers (Vernam and Eisa) also probably rules out wingbacks.  So that leaves a back four, options in the middle and high width.  If it's anything but a variation of 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 I'll be absolutely amazed.

Rose is perfect to do that solo striker role.  Every time I've seen him he's led the line really well.  He's not the biggest but he puts himself about, more the type to nip in front of someone than barge them out the way. Ridiculously good in the air for his size too.  As with any lone striker, it's all about the support.  Vernam and Eisa won't be there just to defend and keep shape.  Centrally I think we'll have either one holding in midfield with two pressed further forward or two sitting a bit deeper and one playing off Rose.

If there's anyone out there who is old enough to remember, Matt Tees was 5ft 10, and he got a few goals with his head, as I recall

Quoted from RonMariner

Whatever his preferred starting line up, the competition for places looks better now than I can remember for years. With so many subs now allowed the options to change things around mid game are terrific. Plus we won’t need to carry half fit or out of form players.

We are looking very strong.

We still have 5 fewer players than we ended the season with. Assuming no major outs (e.g. Clifton), I’d still expect another 2 or 3 to come yet.

Always difficult to make accurate calls before a ball has been quick, but it’s hard not to look at the squad we’re building and not see tangible improvements.