Can we get the balance right?

[res]

 Last 8 league games; only 6 goals conceded but only 4 scored with 6 draws and 2 defeats. Draws do not give us the points we need so do we give up some of the defensive stability to risk more up front to go for the 3 pointer wins at the expense of losing some of the 1 point draws?

[SuffolkWhite]

There will come a time when tactically you have to go for wins, but when is that time is the question.

[FFC In Oz]

No I don't think we will.  If we're lucky Cav will get 5 goals for the season.

I don't see Scotty starting Mitro any time soon either.

[blingo]

No I don't think we will.  If we're lucky Cav will get 5 goals for the season.

I don't see Scotty starting Mitro any time soon either.

Five goals hahahahaha i'll have the same as whatever you're smoking Mr Oz.

[davew]

There will come a time when tactically you have to go for wins, but when is that time is the question.

In the Championship next season!

[FFC In Oz]

No I don't think we will.  If we're lucky Cav will get 5 goals for the season.

I don't see Scotty starting Mitro any time soon either.

Five goals hahahahaha i'll have the same as whatever you're smoking Mr Oz.

I did mention we'd have to be lucky Blingo haha.

He only needs 3 more!  3 pens and he's there!

[blingo]

If he don't slip up lol

[Arthur]

It's generally regarded that, for a struggling club looking to improve it's form, a settled team is a good thing and chopping and changing the starting XI each week is not. And Parker appears to have adhered to this axiom for the past dozen-or-so games - with initial success that has now plateaued. Only it has plateaued at a level below what we need to survive. In this respect, last night's game, it feels, was defining. Which means Parker has to try something else.

One option is to return Mitrovic to the starting line-up. He has a cameo role as a substitute and looks a bit lively against tired defenders and there is an (understandable) assumption he would have played like that from the start. But, as we saw against Burnley at the weekend and against Newcastle before that, when Mitrovic came up against defenders as fresh-legged as he was, he was no more of a threat than anyone else. It seems he can be an effective substitute but doesn't improve us over 90 minutes. Even so, the inclusion of Mitrovic this Saturday cannot make us any less of an attacking force than we were last night.

Another option, in my opinion, is to play Lookman as our most advanced striker and try not to over-burden with defensive duties the two players most likely to create chances for him - Anguissa and Loftus-Cheek. To do this would surely require Parker to play both Reed and Lemina and rely on Robinson and either Tete or BDR to provide the width in attack in a fluid 3-4-2-1-attacking-formation-come-5-4-1-defensive-set-up.

I would prefer to see the latter. Parker may favour the former. Or something different altogether. Or he may want to persist with Cavaleiro in the hope that we're only one game away from reaping the full benefit of his consistent team selection. What our manager cannot afford after last night, however, is to pick the same team and turn in the same performance.

[filham]

Please look at Cav's goal scoring record over the last 30 or so games and you will realize that the chances of him hitting more than a couple of goals over the rest of the season are remote.