If Brighty didn’t advise to sell Murray and Pardew couldn’t wait to flog him we would’ve had a perfectly good lone striker for quite a while. We wouldn’t have bought Benteke or all the other sh1t loaned in or bought on the cheap because all the Benteke eggs in one basket smashed after injury/Hodgson not utilising Benteke properly. He still missed chances he should’ve scored but he wasn’t suited to little involvement while needing to score after a few touches over the course of 85 minutes. We could’ve replaced like for like by preparing for it. I think Parish has learned from this kind of mistake.

COYP

i agree Tekkers was an expensive mistake but it was the purchase of Wickham that led to Murray's departure.
Makes Pardew's decision making even more bizarre doesn't it.

I think most teams at our level are in that boat - Dwight Gayle's career is probably a good example of it.. scored goals for fun in the Championship, still a decent goalscorer at Prem level, but not quite prolific enough to justify a place in a starting line-up.

It's also relevant that most teams trying to survive in the Prem can only really get away with playing one striker, so 'luxury' options like Gayle start too look very hard to accommodate.

I think you're being a bit harsh on Wilf - for me, he's still far and away our best finisher and creator and still the person I want to see on the ball as often as possible in the final third. For all his flaws (of which there are plenty), I think some probably still underappreciate quite how good he is for our level.

I have to say I think Olise is talented enough to warrant building a team to make him as effective as possible - with him and Wilf playing on opposite flanks (which I think has only actually happened a handful of times this season, somehow) we have two genuinely dangerous wide men that will cause most defences problems - I think those two are our 'USP' or the stand-out bits of our squad you'd build around... most bottom half teams don't have final third players half as impactful.

4-3-3 is very effective if you have 5 outstanding forwards like Liverpool and they are devastating on the counter attack whatever the selection.
They also have two attacking full backs to provide width and excellent service to the forwards.
4-3-3 can also be very effective if you have an outstanding central striker like Drogba who could score goals, lead the line and bully defenders.
We don’t possess such a central striker - not many teams do.
I also doubt we have a goal scoring attacking midfielder amongst our ranks to support a lone central striker.
I know Vieira appears wedded to 4-3-3 and has been from day one, but I wouldn’t be averse to seeing different systems tried so we don’t have a one size fits all approach.
When DeBoer came in he wanted to play 3-4-3 before even knowing whether the squad suited the system - which they didn’t.
However, Conte’s Chelsea team executed 3 at the back brilliantly because his players were perfect for the system with the full backs pushed on like wingers. The nominal right back Moses spent barely any time in his own half.
You want to choose the most effective system to suit the available players, rather than shoeing them into an unsuitable system.
I like Vieira, but would like to see us create more chances and on occasions get the ball into the box quicker before the opposition have a chance to organise.
From my perspective we sometimes overdo the patient build up.
It is interesting that some of our most effective passes are the switches of play or balls behind the full back that Anderson plays.
These disrupt the opposition and can catch them off guard.
In conclusion I don’t mind which system we use as long as it’s efficient, reasonably entertaining and makes good use of the available resources.

I think 4-3-3 is the most effective for our players - any time we've deviated from it this season, it has not gone well.

I'd argue all of Mitchell, Ward, Gallagher, Wilf, Olise and arguably Eze are at their best in a 4-3-3, which is the bulk of our best players.

Edouard is the only one who jumps out to me as a bad fit for our system at the moment.

I don't know what to expect tonight if I'm honest... if Mitchell is out I've half a feeling we'll end up with Schlupp at wing-back or something similar.

Ayew was woeful against Newcastle, but his work rate quite suits matching up against Leeds.

I get the impression PV wants to give Eze and Edouard opportunities before the end of the season, but both would concern me a touch against a high-intensity side like Leeds.

Macca has absolutely earned himself a start with the performance the other night - expect he'll be in whatever the system.

Guita
Kouyate Anderson Guehi
Clyne Gallagher Macca Eze Schlupp
Edouard Wilf