Who's your front 3 when fully fit?

Swan
Sarc
Pointon


I think Swan has shown more nous and more of a killer instinct than Humphrys.

 

Hard to judge don’t think we have seen the best from Humphrys. But Pointon Swan and Sarcevic fit the bill now

 

It's very hard and I'd imagine Alexander feels the same.

Sarcevic cook and pointon gives us the option to play more than one way.

Combinations involving swan, humphrys, kavannagh, pointon and sarcevic whilst fairly dynamic also only really offer one option.

I'm going to be lynched here but I think some views on Swan are maybe skewed slightly. I do think he offers more than kavannagh and Humphreys however he was gifted a few goals at the beginning of the year which upped his goal tally and perhaps gave the impression he was outscoring and exceeding expectations.

Don't get me wrong he needs to be there to score and score he did but there were more than a few which fell quite kindly for him

 

For me the wide players pick themselves but the middle position is up for grabs and depends on how we want to play and also the opposition. If we were to play a Barnsley where the ball will be on the ground more, we need to press faster and play on the counter then Humphrys/Swan/Kavanagh is the option. If it's a game like Stevenage or Lincoln with more long balls and little space to counter then I think it's a game for Cook.
If Pointon is out for a few more games I would like us to give Cook and Swan a proper go together with Sarcevic behind as I think they could work well together. I think it would free up Swan more and it would give defenders something else to think about other than just 1 of them as well as making it harder to double up on Cook.

 

I said similar at the time that he was in a period where everything was falling his way and long term that isn't sustainable. His 4 league goals came from 4 or 5 shots on target which was never going to continue, overall in the league he's only had 7 shots on target and 20 shots in total which is quite low. I do think he is a very similar player to Kavanagh with a lot of work rate and the type of player who doesn't quite have the natural finishing ability so they'll be around the 10 goal mark if they are a regular starter.

 

Also are we better playing one up front with one either side or two up front with one behind ?

 

I agree. The only question really is, when everyone is fully fit, who are you playing as striker.

 

I think i'd go Pointon Swan Humphrys and let Pointon cut in on his left, leaving space for Neufville to bomb on and Humps on the left cutting in on his favoured right leaving the left wing back more room to proper bomb on as well.

Although i don't think GA will ever see any front 3 or back 3 as "first choice". He's rotated constantly the CBs and attacking 3 for 18 months now and i cant see that changing. Feels like horses for courses rather than a nailed on starter.

 

Pointon - Cook - Sarce

 

Pointon - Humphry’s - Sarcevic for me. The partnership of Pointon and Humphrys could be really effective and entertaining to watch for seasons to come.

Sarcevic is arguably one of our best signings for many years.

I really like Swan but need to see how he reacts to been a while without a goal and less game time of late.

Cook is a legend and still has a lot to offer - in reality I sadly don’t think we will see the same Cooky as pre injury.

Kavanagh has a lot of improving to do for me. He’s got a lot of qualities but needs to graft to improve. Thankfully he still has years ahead of him but needs to knuckle down if he wants to progress in League One or above.

 

If all fit and we go 3-4-3 then cook doesn't start for me. I think on form both Sarcevic and Pointon are nailed on especially at VP it's the central forward that really is up for grabs Humphrys showed early promise and was decent in the first half against Barnsley. Swan went through a patch where he couldn't miss now he is going through a patch of he can't score but at least he is getting in the right positions. You could even argue kavanangh did well playing that role backend of last season and maybe deserves another shot at some point if all else's fails.


If we go 3-4-1-2 where usually Sarcevic drops in behind a front two then I think that suits Cook better providing he has someone with legs at the side of him to do the main running which is where I would say Swan gets the nod.

 

Cook or Swan. Humphrys gets nowhere near based on form.

 

It’s not only the front three is it though.

For example
Bobby on the left wholly depends on who is behind him on the left side . ie Tilt, Touray and Bobby were the most productive combo probably seen so far .

Stick Kelly and Wright behind him then it’s a different ball game especially away from VP.

 

Sarcevic, Swan, Pointon

Our two best performances have probably been Huddersfield and Cardiff where this front three were devastating. Swan didn't even score in either but was instrumental in four of the six we scored if I remember correctly.

 

Humphries is a good player at the moment but could be a great player. He’s a power house when running at a defence but needs to do it more often. I’m sure a lot more goals will come his way this season but we need Pointon to feed him the through balls.

 

The problem with that point of view it's that Humphrys is now 28 and managers and coaches have been saying the same things for the last 10 years.

 

I think Pointon, Humphrys and Sarc - on their day most L1 defences struggle to live with their movement and skill.

It's good that we have other options though to change things from the bench or from the start to better trouble the opponents and their relative strengths / weaknesses

 

Ibbotson and Cook by the look of things