21 players is quite a large squad for us. On the eve of the new season I wondered what people's starting elevens would be?
I won't include Tom Ward for the moment due to his injury, and will work with a 4-3-3 formation seeing as that seems to be the manager's preference.
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Dan Haystead
Gary Silk Kern Miller Nathan Stainfield Gareth Jelleyman
Ian Ross Matt Wilson Ben Milnes
Spencer Weir-Daley Marc Newsham Ben Fairclough
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I think the defence could be very solid this year. Both Silk and Jelleyman are very experienced and Nathan Stainfield will hopefully continue his impressive displays from last season. The only question mark for me concerns whoever partners him in central defence. I've opted for Kern Miller over Travis Munn, but I could easily change my opinion and I haven't seen enough of the new signings yet. And of course Tom Ward, as shown by when he scooped the player of the month award, has potential.
The midfield three seems well balanced to me and although I haven't seen Matt Wilson play yet, he sounds like exactly the kind of player we needed to complement more creative players like Ben Milnes.
The forward three have plenty of goals in them and I hope the trio are able to have a lengthy run of games together without any interruptions.
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I would worry about not having a plan b with this system. We look quite reliant on playing 'pretty' football through the middle. None of the three forwards I've named are particularly suited to the long ball, and the formation obviously means we have less width in midfield too. That problem might be emphasised by the fact that both of our full-backs are aging and might not be able to make flying runs down the wings. I did think the release of Ryan Semple was a mistake. We saw how he and Jamie Yates provided us with a very fruitful attacking outlet two seasons ago.
Of course we do have Joe French and Jason Stokes, neither of whom I can comment on, although if we were to use them in a different formation then I would question why we released a winger who would surely be one of the better ones available at this level?
Overall, I think it will be interesting to see in the first five matches or so how we get on with whatever system Jason Lee uses. Flexibility is needed to challenge for promotion so I think how Jason Stokes and Joe French get on could be key.
