How would you fit Jackson, Duran, and Toney into a team without stunting their development? Strikers at this age need to play. Any two of those 3 could work in the same team, but we can't do 3 of 3, especially if the club buy Olise (how are you going to fit Olise, Palmer, Chukwuemeka, Nkunku, Mudryk, Jackson, Toney, and Duran in the same team?)
Assuming you're playing them up front (because the wings are already fairly clogged), that still doesn't work. Even with 60 games in a season, you're looking at a ST allocation of 30/15/15 or something.
Neither Toney, Jackson, nor Duran are going to be happy with starting only 15 games in a year (and playing in, at most, 30), and playing them on the wings is out of the question unless we've got some way to figure out where to put Mudryk, Madueke, Palmer, Nkunku, and Olise. Two strikers is perfect because it allows each striker to get 40 games or so while starting 20-25 at the minimum. Jackson and Duran need time to develop, especially at this age, and Toney fell off *hard* last year.
I see it, but even accounting for substitutions, it genuinely doesn't work. Substitutions will only drive the backup strikers to 30-35 appearances in a season, and importantly, their total minutes will probably equal maybe 20-25 90' played. It's just not enough.
Let's say you're running 4-3-3 with Palmer and Chukwuemeka as the 10s, and Lavia/Santos backing up Enzo and Caicedo. Gallagher goes, in this exercise (doubt it happens in reality), as does Sterling.
Jackson/Mudryk on the left, Nkunku/Madueke/Olise on the right, and Duran/Toney up front? That stunts Jackson's growth as a striker and is one player too much.
It just doesn't work, IMO. You've got to sell Sterling and one of Mudryk and Madueke for this to happen, and the SDs have made clear Mudryk is untouchable. But more than that, why are we convinced Toney is an upgrade over Jackson when he was genuinely awful last year, wants a huge contract, and will want to start every game?
I guess the problem is that when you have players of this potential (but with this little experience), they're going to need a lot more experience and playing time. Even if you sell Sterling, we've got one player extra and what it's going to result in is one of Mudryk and Madueke (likely the latter) just rotting on the bench. That City squad was full of players who were already at their peak and didn't *need* that much development (and of course, world-class players are willing to subsume some individual ambition to win Champions Leagues, not Conference Leagues)
On a side note, Toney's scored 14, 21, and 4 goals over the last 3 years (yes, the last one was in half a season, but...that's not great either). If we want a proven striker, it'd probably be better to either aim higher or go for someone who'd be content with being a backup rotation option. Guirassy, maybe.
I would definitely buy Gyurassi should we need rotational or 1st choice striker or if we don't want to pay big moneyfor someone else. To have 3 strikers is pontless given the squad and the scheme Maresca wants to play. We already have that 3rd striker - Broja. Why do we need to seel Broja for 20-25mil and splash 40mil for Duran 🤷♂️. We again are trying to buy more quantity rathwr than quality! Jackson as second striker and someone better than him as a 1st choice is ideal. Then you have Nkunku and Palmer in the middle. And just need someone on the righr wing. Why do we want to have bloated squad again is what I'm not understanding!!!
I would definitely buy Gyurassi should we need rotational or 1st choice striker or if we don't want to pay big moneyfor someone else. To have 3 strikers is pontless given the squad and the scheme Maresca wants to play. We already have that 3rd striker - Broja. Why do we need to seel Broja for 20-25mil and splash 40mil for Duran 🤷♂️. We again are trying to buy more quantity rathwr than quality! Jackson as second striker and someone better than him as a 1st choice is ideal. Then you have Nkunku and Palmer in the middle. And just need someone on the righr wing. Why do we want to have bloated squad again is what I'm not understanding!!!
Was coming here to write the same haha. It's too many bodies. With just Jackson and Duran, I think we can make it work, but that leaves us with the inexperience issue. If we want a third striker and Olise, two of Sterling, Noni, and Mudryk would probably need to leave, which I can't see happening - unless we sell Nkunku, which would be a real shame.
I think it depends on the game and the dominance we want to to hold, I think you can definitely get away with only selling 1 but 2 would be ideal.
You would have Olise, Madueke as right wingers, Jackson and Mudryk from the left with Nlunku and Cole as second strikers/10s and then say Duran and Toney as 9s, that’s 2 in each position with only selling one, it’s slightly congested but very manageable
I think the sticking point for me is Nkunku and Cole. It feels wasteful to have one of them benched pretty much every game. Ideally we'd play as many of our best players together as possible.
My first choice front four would be something like this:
ST: Jackson
LW: Nkunku
CAM/Attacking 8: Palmer
RW: Olise
Then if Duran comes in, the rest can cover each other depending on who you want to rest. Jackson covers Nkunku, Nkunku covers Palmer, Palmer covers Olise. Mudryk, Noni, Sterling can provide injury cover and get the cup/bench minutes. If you bring in the experienced striker, they'll want to be first choice I assume, which means those limited minutes go to both Duran and Jackson, which hampers their development, unless one of Palmer and Nkunku miss out regularly.
Even with all the games, it's not ideal to rotate every other lineup. I wouldn't want him to deal with the same bloated squad problems as Potter.
You don’t have to rotate every game, and you have to prepare for injuries especially with our track record, I agree with your front 4.
But it allows you to pick players per opposition, sometimes we may want to be more direct, sometimes we may need to keep the ball better and then you pick your lineup dependant on the situation.
There is plenty enough football with everyone, with selling one attacker (Sterling first) it is manageable, selling 2 is obviously the ideal solution.
In my mind Toney comes in as first choice with Duran as rotation. I prefer Jackson from the left anyway and that would be where he finds the majority of his minutes with hopefully Sterling sold.
How would you fit Jackson, Duran, and Toney into a team without stunting their development? Strikers at this age need to play. Any two of those 3 could work in the same team, but we can't do 3 of 3, especially if the club buy Olise (how are you going to fit Olise, Palmer, Chukwuemeka, Nkunku, Mudryk, Jackson, Toney, and Duran in the same team?)
You don’t have to start all 3 together, we are likely to have upwards of 60+ games next season which will allow healthy squad rotation
Assuming you're playing them up front (because the wings are already fairly clogged), that still doesn't work. Even with 60 games in a season, you're looking at a ST allocation of 30/15/15 or something.
Neither Toney, Jackson, nor Duran are going to be happy with starting only 15 games in a year (and playing in, at most, 30), and playing them on the wings is out of the question unless we've got some way to figure out where to put Mudryk, Madueke, Palmer, Nkunku, and Olise. Two strikers is perfect because it allows each striker to get 40 games or so while starting 20-25 at the minimum. Jackson and Duran need time to develop, especially at this age, and Toney fell off *hard* last year.
See message below…… this is the beauty of having substitutions and being in European competition
I see it, but even accounting for substitutions, it genuinely doesn't work. Substitutions will only drive the backup strikers to 30-35 appearances in a season, and importantly, their total minutes will probably equal maybe 20-25 90' played. It's just not enough.
Let's say you're running 4-3-3 with Palmer and Chukwuemeka as the 10s, and Lavia/Santos backing up Enzo and Caicedo. Gallagher goes, in this exercise (doubt it happens in reality), as does Sterling.
Jackson/Mudryk on the left, Nkunku/Madueke/Olise on the right, and Duran/Toney up front? That stunts Jackson's growth as a striker and is one player too much.
It just doesn't work, IMO. You've got to sell Sterling and one of Mudryk and Madueke for this to happen, and the SDs have made clear Mudryk is untouchable. But more than that, why are we convinced Toney is an upgrade over Jackson when he was genuinely awful last year, wants a huge contract, and will want to start every game?
Selling Sterling and Madueke is ideal in my opinion but it is definitely manageable with just selling one. Look at City’s squad of years gone by.
For me I prefer Jackson from the left so I think l it will help him more than hinder him.
I guess the problem is that when you have players of this potential (but with this little experience), they're going to need a lot more experience and playing time. Even if you sell Sterling, we've got one player extra and what it's going to result in is one of Mudryk and Madueke (likely the latter) just rotting on the bench. That City squad was full of players who were already at their peak and didn't *need* that much development (and of course, world-class players are willing to subsume some individual ambition to win Champions Leagues, not Conference Leagues)
On a side note, Toney's scored 14, 21, and 4 goals over the last 3 years (yes, the last one was in half a season, but...that's not great either). If we want a proven striker, it'd probably be better to either aim higher or go for someone who'd be content with being a backup rotation option. Guirassy, maybe.
I would definitely buy Gyurassi should we need rotational or 1st choice striker or if we don't want to pay big moneyfor someone else. To have 3 strikers is pontless given the squad and the scheme Maresca wants to play. We already have that 3rd striker - Broja. Why do we need to seel Broja for 20-25mil and splash 40mil for Duran 🤷♂️. We again are trying to buy more quantity rathwr than quality! Jackson as second striker and someone better than him as a 1st choice is ideal. Then you have Nkunku and Palmer in the middle. And just need someone on the righr wing. Why do we want to have bloated squad again is what I'm not understanding!!!
I would definitely buy Gyurassi should we need rotational or 1st choice striker or if we don't want to pay big moneyfor someone else. To have 3 strikers is pontless given the squad and the scheme Maresca wants to play. We already have that 3rd striker - Broja. Why do we need to seel Broja for 20-25mil and splash 40mil for Duran 🤷♂️. We again are trying to buy more quantity rathwr than quality! Jackson as second striker and someone better than him as a 1st choice is ideal. Then you have Nkunku and Palmer in the middle. And just need someone on the righr wing. Why do we want to have bloated squad again is what I'm not understanding!!!
Was coming here to write the same haha. It's too many bodies. With just Jackson and Duran, I think we can make it work, but that leaves us with the inexperience issue. If we want a third striker and Olise, two of Sterling, Noni, and Mudryk would probably need to leave, which I can't see happening - unless we sell Nkunku, which would be a real shame.
I think it depends on the game and the dominance we want to to hold, I think you can definitely get away with only selling 1 but 2 would be ideal.
You would have Olise, Madueke as right wingers, Jackson and Mudryk from the left with Nlunku and Cole as second strikers/10s and then say Duran and Toney as 9s, that’s 2 in each position with only selling one, it’s slightly congested but very manageable
I think the sticking point for me is Nkunku and Cole. It feels wasteful to have one of them benched pretty much every game. Ideally we'd play as many of our best players together as possible.
My first choice front four would be something like this:
ST: Jackson
LW: Nkunku
CAM/Attacking 8: Palmer
RW: Olise
Then if Duran comes in, the rest can cover each other depending on who you want to rest. Jackson covers Nkunku, Nkunku covers Palmer, Palmer covers Olise. Mudryk, Noni, Sterling can provide injury cover and get the cup/bench minutes. If you bring in the experienced striker, they'll want to be first choice I assume, which means those limited minutes go to both Duran and Jackson, which hampers their development, unless one of Palmer and Nkunku miss out regularly.
Even with all the games, it's not ideal to rotate every other lineup. I wouldn't want him to deal with the same bloated squad problems as Potter.
You don’t have to rotate every game, and you have to prepare for injuries especially with our track record, I agree with your front 4.
But it allows you to pick players per opposition, sometimes we may want to be more direct, sometimes we may need to keep the ball better and then you pick your lineup dependant on the situation.
There is plenty enough football with everyone, with selling one attacker (Sterling first) it is manageable, selling 2 is obviously the ideal solution.
These are all IFs and BUTs right now
Very true. I should probably stop assuming we're signing Olise anyway, just setting myself up for disappointment haha.
I think we will get him mate but same as you I am assuming already
We really don’t need another player with potential and certainly not for the money that has been talked about.
I'm a fan of Toney. I'd rather him than Solanke or Tammy.
But surely Toney doesn't agree to sign for a club that already has 2 new strikers?
Just won't be enough time on the pitch for him this late into his career.
Neither Jackson or Duran would be happy with that arrangement either.
In my mind Toney comes in as first choice with Duran as rotation. I prefer Jackson from the left anyway and that would be where he finds the majority of his minutes with hopefully Sterling sold.
Fair, you might stand a chance of selling that to Toney if you make Jackson your LW option.
Swapping Sterling for a striker would be a good idea.
Perfect timing on those West Ham links 😂🤞
It’s only Graeme Bailey, probably means Sterlings closer to a contract renewal than leaving….