With our fullbacks the way they are (Timber, Hincapie useless in the final third and the other 2 permanently injured), I wonder if we wouldn't be better off with a 4-2-2-2. Rice, Zubi, Ode and Norgaard (or some other backup) at the base and depending on the opposition; Eze / Tross OR backup in the left half space, Saka / Nwaneri in the right half space; VG/backup paired with KH/Merino upfront. One of Madueke and Marti can stay for variation and the departing person can fund a VG backup perhaps. Maybe we then don't stretch the play enough, but hopefully Eze and VG and Saka are smart enough to vary their positions on the pitch to stretch the play when required. I wonder if this leaves too much to the players' imagination for the modern game. It also feels like a way to make up for our sub-par strikers to pair them and hope that their complementarities actually augment each other.
It feels like the Ode at 10 experiment worked when we had an inverting FB and Partey / Xhaka were able to progress the ball quickly through the lines. Without the inverting FB, which perhaps puts Zubi at a disadvantage on this front, Ode doesn't work as well so this could be the other way to redefine his role?
