4-3-3?! I don’t believe it…..

Last season I was called Victor Meldrew by one reader who’d written to me at the Journal about my coverage of Nottingham Forest.

 

It was mostly over what I put together in the wake of Forest’s 4-1 hammering of Southend and the somewhat negative angle I’d taken over Colin Calderwood taking four months to realise what many in the stands knew already.

 

Play your best players and just put them in their natural positions I said.

 

I used Nathan Tyson as the example. He came off the bench that night, had the ball played to his strengths down the channels, scored a goal and set up another in a second half romp.

 

I questioned why Calderwood hadn’t maximised particularly his and other player’s abilities more in countless games before that November match.

 

Cue the criticisms. ‘Stop being like a Victor Meldrew and support the team, the media these days are rubbish, just report the facts.’ the letter said.

 

Point taken. So with promotion secured in May and Forest spending the most money of any side in the Championship this summer, I have set out refusing to be called the first Victor Meldrew of the season.

 

Positivity is the buzz word from here on in.

 

Well, actually, that isn’t true. And being ultra positive would just be very boring.

 

So let’s get it off my chest. 4-3-3. Is it really going to work game in game out for Forest?

 

By all means I will reserve judgement once Andy Cole, Nathan Tyson, Paul Anderson, Joe Garner and now Lee Martin have had time to bed into the system.

 

But for me it just doesn’t get the best out of the squad.

 

On paper when everyone is fit you play two of Anderson, McCleary and Martin as out and out wingers in a 4-4-2, pick your best(sorry only two that are fit) strikers and everything else fits into place.

 

Also Chris Cohen Lewis McGugan and James Perch have to play as coventional central midfielders. Their natural games don’t suit a three man midfield because none can take on a role to drive forward and assist the out and out centre forward with service or double up getting on the end of moves. They’re not that type of player.

 

Picking one of them to partner Moussi and then letting the wide men cause trouble with service into the box has to be a better route.

 

And more attacks down the flanks with more crosses is a far better option.

 

Laugh you may with his height but in Earnshaw, Forest finally have a striker who can score with his head-something lacking since, wait for it, the days of Gareth Taylor at the club.

 

But maybe the formation simply won’t matter given the sheer quality of players Calderwood now has at his disposal.

 

One thing is for sure- if you’d said in May Forest would sign Cole, Earnshaw, Anderson, Martin and Moussi I wouldn’t have believed you.

 

With that in mind I’ll try and be a little less hasty with the negativity and criticisms this season and not don my Meldrew flat cap.

 

Even Victor would be hard pushed to be negative about where this squad could take Nottingham Forest.