(Image via www.birminghammail.co.uk)
As Danny Graham makes his debut for Wolves, David Handley looks at how the on loan striker will fit into Wolves formation and style.
This week Wolves finally signed a goal-scoring forward. Someone to offer some real competition or alternative to the explosive Nouha Dicko. Danny Graham.
Graham is a player many Wolves fans discussed, and dismissed over the summer, and then again at the beginning of the loan window. However, following the apoplectic disaster that was Yannick Sagbo, we are more than willing to welcome Danny to the club. A (somewhat) proven Premier League player and someone with a tremendous goal-scoring record at this level, Graham has the potential to be an excellent loan signing.
This is a player who scored 12 goals in his first premier league season, before being dropped in favour of Michu. Having previously scored 24 goals for Watford in the championship, as well as being voted their Player of the Season and being included in the Championship Team of the Year.
So, we now have an alternative to running Dicko into the ground. As Nouha Dicko missed Wolves 3-0 defeat at home to Forest with a tight hamstring, Danny Graham made his debut up top on his own in our usual 4-5-1 formation. But when they are both fit, what are the alternatives?
4-4-2
A formation we haven’t really seen a lot of under Jackett, but traditionally teams with a big man + little man strike force do very well in this division. It would give Dicko someone to work off and more freedom to run channels and hassle defenders. While Graham is a proven goal-scorer in teams who create chances.
But, do we currently have a midfield partnership capable of controlling games without a third player?
4-3-3
Similar to our current formation. But with Danny Graham through the middle with Dicko and Sako given free rein to play around and off him. This would allow us to keep the midfield 3 and help us to keep our very impressive possession statistics high.
4-5-1
You would think that if we keep the current formation it will be either Dicko or Danny Graham up top with the other on the bench. But could Dicko play ‘in the hole’? We know that Danny Graham is good at bringing others into play so this could well be the way Jackett goes.
Whatever formation we go for, we at last have some other viable options that could make us a lot less predictable and more threatening in attack.
What formation do you think could best suit Dicko and Danny Graham? Or could they not play together? Drop a comment below and let us know your thoughts.
Leave a Comment