So we’ve seen Jon Whitney pretty much sort out his defensive options before July 1st. For that, the much maligned manager deserves credit, how well the new signings perform is of course, still to be judged. Quiet optimism is how the majority of Saddlers fans have welcomed the additions of messers; Gillespie, Guthrie, Leahy and Devlin and the reviews from previous clubs are mostly positive.
With the, hopefully, solid base for next season already sorted, Whitney must focus on securing the services of some real attacking talent. One of the main disappointments from last season was the lack of innovation and flair in the final third – apart from the excellent Erhun Oztumer – and it’s that balance between a solid defence and potent attack that Whitney needs to find. Too many times last season we saw only two attacking players on the pitch, for example the dire performance against Fleetwood at home – where we didn’t have a shot on target – saw just Erhun Oztumer and Simeon Jackson take the field with a plethora of defensive players behind them.
Looking at the make-up of the current squad, Amadou Bakayoko, Jackson, Oztumer and Kieron Morris are our only senior attacking options. In the next few weeks we need to see at least; one striker, two wingers and a goal scoring midfielder (Flo could do this job but is simply not reliable enough). That should hopefully give us enough firepower to at least make other teams worry about us going forward.
By the swiftness of the transfer business seen in the last few weeks, we can hope that Whitney can add the majority of those new attacking options before that first friendly with Solihull Moors on 15th July.
Oh, and let’s just all hope Oztumer is still here on the 1st September…
What additions do you think we need to make to the squad in order to be competitive this season?
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