Originally Posted by
Ludwig
I am very much convinced that we have an excess of midfield depth, which is my primary objection to drafting Phillips.
My starting point is that I have 9 defenders to cover 6 spots: Rampe, Melican, Brand, McCartin, Gould, Fox, O'Riordan, Lloyd and Cunningham. I like both Dawson and Mills in defence, but I can't find a way to fit them in.
Let's overstock the forward line with another 9 players to fill 6 spots: Franklin, Reid, Dawson, Heeney, Hayward, Papley, Taylor, Ronke and Wicks. And then there's the developing Amartey and McLean. Campbell will more than likely start forward in his first few seasons. So I've pushed this up the 12 players to cover 6 spots; a few can be kicked out of the forward line for one objection or another (Ronke and Taylor doubters). Some can cover in the midfield if needed.
So that leaves the midfield. Let's omit JPK because of age. We will keep him in reserve this year. We have 9 spots left, including the bench, although a couple from the list of forwards and defenders could help fill those 9 spots :
Mostly inside: Parker, Mills, Hewett, Rowbottom, Warner (JPK in reserve and not counted)
Inside/Outside: Florent, Stephens, Gulden, Clarke, Bell
Mostly outside: Blakey, McInerney, Ling
That's 13 players to fill 7-9 spots. Yes, there's a lot of youth in there, including players just at the start of their development. But Phillips will not help this situation. He will just add to he queue of players trying to squeeze his way into the midfield, pushing past some of the less accomplished backups, like Clarke and Bell. Only time, both in regards to age and game numbers, will overcome the lack of experience. All the players on the list deserve to be in the senior side, either on merit or for the purpose of development.
Some might look at this list of midfielders and see a wooden spoon. But it looks a very good young group to me. I see a greater challenge in getting a sufficient amount of senior playing time into the likes of Ling, Warner and Bell, than finding some more players to add to the competition for spots. There's another draft next year, replacing those from the current list who don't make the grade. But the core of youth is solid.
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