Taken a couple of days to muse, aided by flying back to the USA.
We seem to have a squad of not quite right players. BY that, I mean, they are ok, sometimes they even look good for this level, but very few of them really fit a position, really have anatural home that beds together as a team.
Taylor - not a left back and certainly not a holding midfielder. Good set pieces, effort but he can't defend without running in reverse and we can't get him in the right positions up the field often enough.
Iandolo - not a left back - good crossing but how do you get him into that position?
McCourt - he doesn't seem mobile and doesn't seem to fit the defensive role, but he has some moments of creativity and can shoot, but again, he's not got enough to be left up the pitch
All our forwards are not quite forwards in different ways - we have a few pacey players but none of them seems comfortable out wide and none of them can play upfront on their own. I am coming to the belief that someone at Fulham knew that Adebayo didn't have a natural forward position and trying him at centre back must have been to see if letting him just attack the ball would be better - he doesn't know how to play both ways. Anderson - I can't think of a position you play this guy in any team at any level. Woolery - he might work as part of a front two with a big lump of a forward to play off, but without that, again, he has no home in a team.
When you go through them all, it's tough to put together a team and formation where you have all eleven players, or close, in their optimum positions. I think we have eleven good players, just no way of making them into a good team. The big question is whether it's a few people in specific positions that make it come together, or whether you end up having to let someone like Anderson go because you can never figure out how to use him without detracting to from the team shape.
The main thing to remember about the majority of our squad is they cost little or no money to aquire.
whether they can hold a position or are good at this or any other level is irrelevant.
We need 11 players to pull on a shirt each week so the club can sell tickets for games.
Nothing else is required.