I hope Baze seriously looks at it, because it is great to try and find a formation and setup that enables you to get your best XI on the pitch. It is also really important in international football to be rock solid at the back, and as good as Cacace is, nobody would say that defending is the strongest part of his game. de Vries is solid defensively, has a great cross and dead ball delivery, and is no slouch supporting a LW on attack too.
The biggest question in our squad has always been who supports Wood and Singh in the front third, because they're so much better than the other attacking options we have available and nobody has really made those positions theirs. Garbett has been good for us but is still so young and it isn't clear what his best position. Just too, but he hasn't impressed much at decent levels of club football. McCowatt has been OK and not amazing. Old has been an exciting possibility recently but he didnt impress in the few chances he got in a white shirt. It may turn out that it is better to play Old deeper in central midfield than LW too.
I think instead of a 4-2-3-1 we could look at a 4-3-3. Cacace with Singh and Wood up front, and the likes of Old, Garbett, McCowatt and Stamenic as more attacking players can be considered for the midfield 3 alongside the defensively solid Bell and Rufer.
Edit: such a system would perhaps ask a lot of Payne/Roux to add attacking impetus wide on the right to enable Singh to stay more centrally, but that might always be the case as we don't have a really high level RW. Kosta could have been it but has never delivered in white and is on his last legs, probably couldn't be expected to be in the starting team in 2026 at his age.
The biggest question in our squad has always been who supports Wood and Singh in the front third, because they're so much better than the other attacking options we have available and nobody has really made those positions theirs. Garbett has been good for us but is still so young and it isn't clear what his best position. Just too, but he hasn't impressed much at decent levels of club football. McCowatt has been OK and not amazing. Old has been an exciting possibility recently but he didnt impress in the few chances he got in a white shirt. It may turn out that it is better to play Old deeper in central midfield than LW too.
I think instead of a 4-2-3-1 we could look at a 4-3-3. Cacace with Singh and Wood up front, and the likes of Old, Garbett, McCowatt and Stamenic as more attacking players can be considered for the midfield 3 alongside the defensively solid Bell and Rufer.
Edit: such a system would perhaps ask a lot of Payne/Roux to add attacking impetus wide on the right to enable Singh to stay more centrally, but that might always be the case as we don't have a really high level RW. Kosta could have been it but has never delivered in white and is on his last legs, probably couldn't be expected to be in the starting team in 2026 at his age.
