Astute
Well-Known Member
Astute - why would you play a striker that thrives off playing on the last man and looks like scoring goals in attacking midfield? Cody's running and positioning is what actually stretches oppositions back fours creating the space for an attacking midfielder. Playing him in that roll will nullify the space, and instead of playing of the last man will have a defensive midfielder as well as centre backs between him and the goal.
From the vids I saw of his goals last season a lot of them were going past players or getting on the end of knockdowns. We have two strikers that can get on the end of high balls and knock it down. Our problem has been not having a player getting on the end of them. If Cody is a bit behind them then he might be in a better place and not be marked as much as he would be if he played as a striker. The defenders would be on the two big men after the crosses, not the player running in. Or would you prefer the smallest of our strikers going up with big defenders and trying to beat them in the air?
We need to change the way we attack. It is not working. We have limited players. We should play the players we have to a system that is good for them, not just because they are all we have. Cody seems to be getting towards match fit now. We should be trying to give him more opportunities to get better chances and not have him marked by at least two defenders. We have 3 strikers that could work well together. Why not give it a go in an away game that most are expecting us to lose against a team that has scored 7 goals in the last two games. Or should we just sit back and risk getting hammered?