We should be getting more goals out of Bonevacia who has had a year in his new position, Rodriguez who has had a year in a first team environment, and hopefully Fenton who won't be quite so far back if he's playing as more of a winger, but still. There's a lot of goals to replace.
You've got Moss and 2 of your back 3 are Durante and Sigmund. It seems that Manny is likely to be the other. Thats 4 players
Up front you have Krishna and this gun striker. Thats 2 +4 = 6
So if you have Roly, McGlinchey and Riera, you now need 2 wide men. Seems rumoured that Fenton and Doyle are the 2. 6 + 5 = 11
So where does A-Rod play?
To me, 3-5-2 is a bad fit. You put your talent on the field, not on the bench.
Reading above people are saying that we've lost depth in the players that weren't re-signed, so even if a player does 'miss out' as you've put it, wouldn't it be good to have those sort of players on the bench? So that when they are given their chance they will be trying to prove why they should be starting.
As for the "all sorts of question marks about Doyle" that has been mentioned, I would love to know what these are. He didn't really do a whole lot wrong during the start of last season when he had the LB spot, and then was dropped in favour of Fenton/Muscat/Boxall as fullbacks. I'll admit I didn't see him play much for the reserves, but when I did it was often as a DM, and not at LB where he would be expected to play in the first team
We know that Ernie's formations are fluid so I'm not too worried about the formation, just about the loss of quality. We have effectively replaced the Johny Warren medal award winner, a former golden boot winner, and three or four players with international experience with a single state league player.