Based on what Grant said, who are we not seeing for a while?

[In the box]

I know on this forum we don’t do loosing to well . But it’s getting to the point where the question has to be .. why are we struggling to attract a striker that we can get behind and build a team around . Is it money or identifying one ?

[grayx]

I know on this forum we don’t do loosing to well . But it’s getting to the point where the question has to be .. why are we struggling to attract a striker that we can get behind and build a team around . Is it money or identifying one ?

There does seem to be a shortage of good proven strikers available throughout the leagues tbf, unless crazy money is paid. Blades, amongst many others, are also struggling to find one.

[selby]

 
  Due to the players we lost at the end of the season in Wood, Anderson, Olowu, the keeper, Street, and Ironside apart from Sharpe we are noticeably weaker down the spine of the team from back to front, playing at a higher level, again IMHO.
  Others will disagree with me and are entitled to do so, but that is how I see it.
  In the first half of last season we had Olowu with blistering pace for a defender who had an excellent half of a season and covered a lot of mistakes when paired with McGrath who has not got that cover this season and not the most composed on the ball under pressure, and lacks pace.
  We had Street whose pace and power upset defences and in Ironside one of the best link up front men I have seen play for us since Brown.
  Anderson and Wood were shot for pace, but had positional sense and physical strength making it hard for players to play against, and the keeper got noticeably better as the season progressed due to his confidence in Anderson and Bailey who provided that bit of pace Anderson didn't possess
   What played at the Orient was a keeper who was second fiddle all last season, two central defenders with no real pace wearing L plates  positionally, and a central striker nearing 40 yrs old who put the rest to shame with effort and movement chasing nothing coming out of a sterile mid field, and the only player who looked remotely division 1 class on the day.
  We need better.

[GazLaz]

  Due to the players we lost at the end of the season in Wood, Anderson, Olowu, the keeper, Street, and Ironside apart from Sharpe we are noticeably weaker down the spine of the team from back to front, playing at a higher level, again IMHO.
  Others will disagree with me and are entitled to do so, but that is how I see it.
  In the first half of last season we had Olowu with blistering pace for a defender who had an excellent half of a season and covered a lot of mistakes when paired with McGrath who has not got that cover this season and not the most composed on the ball under pressure, and lacks pace.
  We had Street whose pace and power upset defences and in Ironside one of the best link up front men I have seen play for us since Brown.
  Anderson and Wood were shot for pace, but had positional sense and physical strength making it hard for players to play against, and the keeper got noticeably better as the season progressed due to his confidence in Anderson and Bailey who provided that bit of pace Anderson didn't possess
   What played at the Orient was a keeper who was second fiddle all last season, two central defenders with no real pace wearing L plates  positionally, and a central striker nearing 40 yrs old who put the rest to shame with effort and movement chasing nothing coming out of a sterile mid field, and the only player who looked remotely division 1 class on the day.
  We need better.

I watched the whole game again yesterday. We were up against a better coached, better prepared team with more intelligent players in attacking positions. Every time Connelly dropped off the front line one of our center halves followed him and the space vacated was exploited by their midfield runners. The only player that looked anything like for us was Bailey. If Sharp was the shining light for some then god help us. He produced a couple of positive actions later in the game but is so easy to defend against when he receives the ball back to goal its untrue.

Sbarra doesn't fit into our style of play at all, he needs a really structured passing style in a team that recycles the ball with controlled possession.

Molyneux and Gibson were too high and wide too often. In games like that when we are struggling to cope, they should tuck in and reinforce the middle of the pitch a bit more.

I also think we struggle against teams that play 352/532 when they overload the channels. It just completely negates our attacking threat which tends to be pretty predictably from wide areas.

[Ldr]

Our play always seems to end up resembling an “M” high up the flanks then back to the holding mid, back up the other flank then back to the defence, it’s tedious

[GazLaz]

The lack of athleticism we have in the team is quite obvious as well.

I dont think its terminal. We have largely been good this season so far. Grant just needs to realise what his best team is. He said in his interview that "nobody knows the best X!", there's absolutely no excuse for him not to know it. He signed these players, he's with them every day. We have 4 centre halves that he rotates most weeks, how can he not know the best combination there? Do we look at any performance analytics to help find these solutions?

[Avsuptem]

Grant has said we don't have a 1st team and seemed to have a policy of viewing every game on a squad basis utilising all the subs and most of the squad in groups of games. It seemed like a brilliant approach at the start of the season but now it has all turned to crap.