Kaca playing up top

[tommy]

I've been recently thinking about what we need in a new striker and it got me thinking about whether Kaca could play up front with Berbatov. My initial thoughts are he's too light weight but having said that, alot of strikers are small an agile now (Hernandes and Owen to name 2). He'd win loads of pens to running on to Berba's through balls. With berba and Kaca and front with Ruiz playing some sort of free role behind them and Dejagah out wide, I think that would scare a few defences. What do you think?

[Bassey the warrior]

I'm happy with him on the left wing. He can get assists as well as goals. 

[KP_FFC]

prefer him on the left
better at assisting than finishing

[JackyFulham90]

Kaca is a really good winger he should be left there

[chiefo]

Interesting thought nonetheless.

[zschwartz]

when we're in a defensive setup he is already the most furthest positioned player at times, drifting centrally on counter attacks when berba and ruiz drop back to try and get some momentum going forward.

He is not concerned with defending, 10 tackles all season to Dejagah's 39 (Ruiz 48 & Berbatov 32, but they played a lot whereas Dejagah ended close to the same amount. However they are theoretically placed further forward in the formation, so...).  Look at his goals against west brom, if that is not striker/cam positioning then it doesn't exist.

anyway, i think its already naturally happening in the current system and hopefully with boateng/amorebieta/"new CM" it will make more sense and be a little more effective.

[Bassey the warrior]

when we're in a defensive setup he is already the most furthest positioned player at times, drifting centrally on counter attacks when berba and ruiz drop back to try and get some momentum going forward.

He is not concerned with defending, 10 tackles all season to Dejagah's 39 (Ruiz 48 & Berbatov 32, but they played a lot whereas Dejagah ended close to the same amount. However they are theoretically placed further forward in the formation, so...).  Look at his goals against west brom, if that is not striker/cam positioning then it doesn't exist.

anyway, i think its already naturally happening in the current system and hopefully with boateng/amorebieta/"new CM" it will make more sense and be a little more effective.

I think that having Berbatov as our main front man changes our formation and tactics to what they would be with most other forwards.
Berba is very creative thus having wingers who make good runs and can finish is more important than it would be with a traditional striker, in which case the wingers would be expected to be quick to get lots of crosses in.
Berba doesn't make a lot of runs so crosses aren't as important as usual.

Kaca, like Dempsey makes good runs and has goals in him. I hope he remains on the left wing.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

I have also suggested this and got much the same reaction.

Of course Kacaniklic is doing fine on the left wing and linking well with Berbatov but he has also shown that he gets into good goalscoring positions and is a clinical finisher. I think your comparison with Hernandes is good. I certainly think an experiment like this is worth a try in a pre-season game.

And Kacaniklic moving to striker would leave space for Kasami in midfield.

[Bassey the warrior]

I have also suggested this and got much the same reaction.

Of course Kacaniklic is doing fine on the left wing and linking well with Berbatov but he has also shown that he gets into good goalscoring positions and is a clinical finisher. I think your comparison with Hernandes is good. I certainly think an experiment like this is worth a try in a pre-season game.

And Kacaniklic moving to striker would leave space for Kasami in midfield.

Well, we can't have room for Ruiz, Berba and another striker on the same pitch and I don't want to see either dropped.

[tommy]

I have also suggested this and got much the same reaction.

Of course Kacaniklic is doing fine on the left wing and linking well with Berbatov but he has also shown that he gets into good goalscoring positions and is a clinical finisher. I think your comparison with Hernandes is good. I certainly think an experiment like this is worth a try in a pre-season game.

And Kacaniklic moving to striker would leave space for Kasami in midfield.

I completely agree. He has a great finish too. We'd miss him on the left wing for sure but I can see him scoring a lot of goals running off of Berba and winning a lot of penalties too. Its got to be worth a try.

[tommy]

I have also suggested this and got much the same reaction.

Of course Kacaniklic is doing fine on the left wing and linking well with Berbatov but he has also shown that he gets into good goalscoring positions and is a clinical finisher. I think your comparison with Hernandes is good. I certainly think an experiment like this is worth a try in a pre-season game.

And Kacaniklic moving to striker would leave space for Kasami in midfield.

Well, we can't have room for Ruiz, Berba and another striker on the same pitch and I don't want to see either dropped.

I dont see why we cant play all 3. Ruiz is good enough to drift over to the left or the right with Dejagah mirroring him. Remember how effective it was when Giggs and Beckham did it? And Beckham was similar to Ruiz with his pace and movement.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

I have also suggested this and got much the same reaction.

Of course Kacaniklic is doing fine on the left wing and linking well with Berbatov but he has also shown that he gets into good goalscoring positions and is a clinical finisher. I think your comparison with Hernandes is good. I certainly think an experiment like this is worth a try in a pre-season game.

And Kacaniklic moving to striker would leave space for Kasami in midfield.

Well, we can't have room for Ruiz, Berba and another striker on the same pitch and I don't want to see either dropped.

Of course Berbatov and Ruiz must always be first on the teamsheet (unlike those strange folk who say they can't play in the same side).

It would be a very attacking side so might not be suitable against all opposition and for away games for example but might work by keeping the ball further up field rather that always falling back as we often did last season.

It might look like this:

                          Boateng

Dejegah                                     Kasami
                           Ruiz

             Kacaniklic        Berbatov

[Bassey the warrior]

I have also suggested this and got much the same reaction.

Of course Kacaniklic is doing fine on the left wing and linking well with Berbatov but he has also shown that he gets into good goalscoring positions and is a clinical finisher. I think your comparison with Hernandes is good. I certainly think an experiment like this is worth a try in a pre-season game.

And Kacaniklic moving to striker would leave space for Kasami in midfield.

Well, we can't have room for Ruiz, Berba and another striker on the same pitch and I don't want to see either dropped.

Of course Berbatov and Ruiz must always be first on the teamsheet (unlike those strange folk who say they can't play in the same side).

It would be a very attacking side so might not be suitable against all opposition and for away games for example but might work by keeping the ball further up field rather that always falling back as we often did last season.

It might look like this:

                          Boateng

Dejegah                                     Kasami
                           Ruiz

             Kacaniklic        Berbatov

I don't think the diamond can work in this anymore, that's far too attacking. Also Kasami is not a winger.

[Bassey the warrior]

I have also suggested this and got much the same reaction.

Of course Kacaniklic is doing fine on the left wing and linking well with Berbatov but he has also shown that he gets into good goalscoring positions and is a clinical finisher. I think your comparison with Hernandes is good. I certainly think an experiment like this is worth a try in a pre-season game.

And Kacaniklic moving to striker would leave space for Kasami in midfield.

Well, we can't have room for Ruiz, Berba and another striker on the same pitch and I don't want to see either dropped.

I dont see why we cant play all 3. Ruiz is good enough to drift over to the left or the right with Dejagah mirroring him. Remember how effective it was when Giggs and Beckham did it? And Beckham was similar to Ruiz with his pace and movement.

Well, I disagree.

[EJL]

He's a fantastic finisher. Myself and many others have said before that he could easily match Dempsey's goals totals in a few years time. Whether or not that would be with us is another story...

Re playing him up front, I'd have to say no. Switching between wide and central positions depends almost entirely on the player's subtlety. Whilst Dempsey was a more than impressive replacement for Zamora and Pogrebnyak at striker, it's safe to say that up top is not where you'd want to see him for a full season. It could easily be the same situation for Kaca.