Wednesday, March 27

Time for two strikers?

The other week Sam Allardyce was saying in his Standard column that he has five strikers fit and can't play them all. Surely a sensible solution would be to try two up front? One of the things I like about Harry Redknapp as a manager is that he fits his tactical system around the players he has, rather than vice versa. At QPR he's now playing Zamora and Remy together up front and results have improved in recent weeks. He's not the only Premier League manager to play two strikers together; Man United have Van Persie and Rooney (or Welbeck and Hernandez), Man City two from Aguero, Dzeko and Tevez most matches, Liverpool now play Suarez and Sturridge, Villa have Benteke and Weimann, Sunderland Graham and Flectcher, and Stoke Crouch and Walters.

Big Sam may argue that two strikers up front is antiquated, but good players should make any system work. Andy Carroll is knocking the ball down for midfielders who aren't getting into the box at the moment. Nolan is meant to do that job but has been playing with a toe injury most of the season. We have a £4 million striker in Maiga who's only started two games, Carlton Cole could play alongside Carroll and frighten defences, and there's also Chamakh and Wellington Paulista. Perhaps Sam is a little too rigid in his thinking and should give another system a go?

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