With the EFL squad limit of 22, two to a position with additional depth provided by under 21's, that are exempt from said rule, seems like a rational way to divide this.
Lets compare that to the actual squad:
LB - Seddon / ?
CB - Brown/ Moore / McNally / Mous
RB - Long / Forde
Instantly it's clear we are lacking specialist LB cover.
Counter argument #1, Long can play left back.
This currently weakens our RB position as well, whilst also weakening LB by playing a player out of position, on his weak foot.
Counter argument #2, a CB can cover LB.
Due to the way that KR uses his full back to overload the opposition's midfield / defence, this limits how we attack down our left hand side, meaning oppositions know we will be attacking mainly down our right instead and adjust accordingly.
Our CB'S;
- A very talented, promising but green\raw player in McNally.
- A 35 year old player who recently had knee surgery, that despite being our only fit CB didn't get brought on with 35 minutes to go, in Mous.
(It will say more than I, this forum, or even KR ever could about how the club really see Mous this weekend should Brown not be fit.)
- A loanee, that his own fan's questioned & has so far not done any thing to disprove these rumors, looking shaky in both games.
(though no decision can be made yet as he may not be fully match sharp / fit, so judgement MUST wait)
- A championship calibre defender, that will ultimately end up there.
So of our four CB's, we have two clear first choice, one currently unknown quantity that has had an indifferent start and a player that has had 5 appearances in the league totalling 43 minutes in the season by Feb.
At RB, over a season as back up ford will make mistakes that lead to goals, which in turn will cost points. For the odd game as cover he is fine, a third choice emergency player. To go into a season without specialist full back cover on either side is negligence.
Your notion that this situation is just down to bad luck is wilfully ignorant or naïve at best.
This situation was created by KR building an imbalanced squad in the summer, and compounded by lack of defensive signings in January.
If you think there is no creed in anything I have said just look at the numerical data, despite having four places in defence we only have 7 players (Seddon, Moore, Long, McNally, Forde, Brown, Mousinho), in contrast to the three attacking position we have 9 players (Taylor, Sykes, Henry, Whyte, Holland, Williams, Bodin, Winnall, Baldock).
We can not expect to have to score 2+ goals in every game to win them.
(I wont even get into having only one CDM at the club, as this post is long enough already).
I would assume not everyone lives on this forum, unlike some.
When we win they go happily on with their lives, and when we lose they like to be analytical; discussing & debating what went wrong, as a form of cathartic release.
I would also assume the reverse to be true for people as well.
Nothing wrong with this.
