Do you think that sometimes Wright and BTA hinder each other? It's a discussion that was being had around me during the Sheff Utd game and i've been thinking about it since.
I think early on it wasn't a problem when we had Rudoni in the 10 and BTA was covering injuries out wide. Thinking about recent performances though, i already have the opinion that Wright misses Rudi in behind in, but perhaps they both tend to gravitate to the same areas naturally and end up getting under each others feet in a way.
It's a difficult but good dilemma for Lampard to have when Rudoni comes back to full fitness.
Wright, BTA and Simms are 3 very different types of forwards and shouldn't be compared or pit against one another. We want them all hungry and playing well when they feature as this is what we'll need to get through a long season.
I think Wright should always start as he is capable of turning a game in a moment and is our main man, but with him missing Rudi, perhaps Simms could have come on earlier a couple of times, especially when we are away from home at least.
Not necessarily because there have been games where they've both thrived. Different tools for different jobs and think Simms would be better suited in a 2 man strike partnership where games are expected to be tighter. There's a lot of tough away days upcoming where it makes sense to start him, PNE and Boro strike me as two games he should start.
Until Rudoni is fully fit, 4-4-2 is definitely the best system for us and it's tactically versatile for the preferred 11 as all 4 forward players are to some extent, comfortable in each position when attacking the space. What Sheff U in particular highlighted was that we are at our best with 2 attacking wingers rather than Haji/BTA on wing.
This changes once Rudoni returns because he is still our most influential player when he's on form and plays a crucial role in creating overloads in wide channels and also arriving into the box for headers last season. The only
potential issue is that because BTA/Wright have had such good goalscoring seasons, who starts? Imo, Haji is a better player than BTA, so I agree with you there - you can't ignore the BTA's form right now.
We'll see how things develop over the next few games because the fixtures we have will really test the group and if we come out of it on top, we can be v confident going into the Jan transfer window where we should add some quality to the squad.
