Posh Squad Depth Analysis

So that’s it, 5pm yesterday marked the passing of Darren Ferguson’s last chance to make any new additions to his squad until January (barring free transfers and emergency loans). It was a day on which Darren Ferguson failed to bring in the midfield enforcements he desired, however there was some success as Posh were able to get three unwanted players off the books.

Now that the squad looks set for at least the next four months, The Posh Report will attempt to break down the strengths and weaknesses of the assembled squad. We will consider which areas look capable of surviving all but the worst injury crisis and where Posh look wafer thin behind the starting 11.

Transfer Window Recap

First let’s quickly review what was another hectic summer transfer window for Posh. The majority of the players signed last summer by Steve Evans have departed as the return of Darren Ferguson has dictated a rethink both in terms of style of play and player recruitment. Below is a recap of all the comings and goings of senior players at The Weston Homes Stadium, sorted by position:

Goalkeepers

In: Christy Pym (Exeter City, Free)

Out: Mark Tyler (Retired)

Defenders

In: Frankie Kent (Colchester United, £360K) Frazer Blake-Tracy (Kings Lynn Town, undisc) Mark Beevers (Bolton, Free) Nathan Thompson (Portsmouth, Free) Dan Butler (Newport County, Free) Niall Mason (Unattached, Free)

Out: Ryan Tafazolli (Hull City, Free) Sebastian Bassong (Volos NPS, Free) Lewis Freestone (Brighton, Free) Jason Naismith (Hibernian, Loan) Sam Cartwright (Kettering Town, Loan)

Midfielders

In: Serhat Tasdemir (AFC Fylde, undisc) George Boyd (Sheffield Wednesday, Free) Josh Knight (Leicester City, Loan)

Out: Darren Lyon (Queen of the South, Free) Isaac Buckley-Ricketts (Released) Callum Cooke (Bradford, Loan) George Cooper (Plymouth, Loan) Mark O’Hara (Motherwell, Loan)

Forwards

In: Mo Eisa (Bristol City, undisc)

Out: Matt Godden (Coventry City, £736k) Mathew Stevens (Forest Green Rovers, undisc)

*all transfer fees taken from transfermrket.co.uk

Squad Analysis

N.B: Starting 11 rating based on strength of players currently in starting 11 relative to the rest of the league. Depth rating based on ability to cover injuries/suspensions to first 11.

Goalkeeper

Current starting 11: Christy Pym

Cover: Aaron Chapman and Connor O’Malley

Starting 11 Rating: 4/5       Depth rating: 5/5

Last season giant keeper Aaron Chapman started as clear number 1 and impressed early before some error strewn displays saw him rotated with Connor O’Malley. Darren Ferguson was evidently not convinced with either, primarily as they were not comfortable contributing to Posh’s build up play, and prioritised the signing of a Keeper who could meet his demands in the summer.

Ferguson turned to Christy Pym as his answer. Thus far Pym has looked more than capable of contributing to Peterborough’s build up in the way Ferguson demands. He is comfortable receiving/playing the ball on either foot and has delivered many accurate passes into Posh’s centre backs, full backs and midfield. His understanding of when to play short and long is excellent and is long kicking, much maligned by sections of the Exeter fan base, has been both consistent and accurate so far. His shot stopping looked superb pre-season and one positional error from a Fleetwood free kick aside there can so far be no complaints in this department so far. Pym is also lightning quick off his line to read and mop up danger, a skill which is essential as Posh attempt to play a high line with a relatively slow defence.

Perhaps the largest complaint levelled at him thus far from the Posh fan base has been in relation to his height. Standing 6ft tall it is true that Pym is short for a modern-day keeper and fans were quick to pounce on this ‘flaw’ when Pym made a costly mistake dropping a cross against Ipswich to gift the Tractor Boys a goal. On top of this, I would also argue Pym should have attempted to come for the corner in the Fleetwood match from which they opened the scoring as the ball was never more than 6 yards from his goal. These instances aside, Pym has looked competent enough when dealing with crosses. His handling, Ipswich apart, has been excellent, achieving a catch success rate of 100% in all other games and his punching has looked good enough while being some way short of perfect. All in all, Posh have a well-rounded goalkeeper who is perfectly in tune with the demands Darren Ferguson places on his number 1. Pym also looks a man who oozes confidence suggesting he will not suffer mentally from mistakes in the same way Chapman appeared to last season.

In reserve for Posh are the two men who battled it out for the number 1 jersey last season. While I’m sure the decision makers at London Road would have been keen to get at least one of O’Malley and Chapman off the wage bill the failure to do so does leave Peterborough in a position to cover all but the freakiest of goalkeeping injury/suspension crisis. Chapman, the 2017/18 League 2 Golden Glove winner, looks set to be number 2 having appeared on the bench for every league game so far this season. Despite suffering a worrying dip in form at times last season, and not seeming to fit the mould of a Fergie style keeper, Chapman is a more than able number 2 and it is somewhat surprising no side came in for his signature during the summer. There is also unlikely to be a better 3^rd choice keeper than O’Malley this season leaving Darren Ferguson well stocked in the keeper department.

Defence

Current Starting 11: Dan Butler - Mark Beevers - Frankie Kent - Niall Mason

Cover: Rhys Bennett, Frazer Blake-Tracy, Nathan Thompson, Josh Knight

Starting 11 Rating: 4/5       Depth Rating: 3/5

The full back positions have proven something of a problem area for Posh in recent times, however it looks as though they may now have the players to excel in these positions. It is likely that both the left back and right back berth in the side will be competitive this season. At left back Dan Butler struggled in his opening game and a half for the Posh, opening the door for Frazer Blake-Tracy to come in and snatch his opportunity. The former Kings Lynn full back surpassed all expectations after coming into the side, impressing thanks to his willingness to get forward, strong running with the ball and versatility in possession. A calf injury, ruling him out for up to four weeks, has unfortunately put a temporary halt to his Posh career and provided Dan Butler a second chance to impress. Against Sunderland Butler looked much closer to the player who earned rave reviews as a near ever present for Newport over the past two seasons. His attacking output was much improved as he linked up well with Boyd providing width down the left flank, took up far more dangerous positions and delivered crosses with much improved penetration. It appears Posh have two left backs who are accomplished in possession, capable of providing width and an attacking threat while also not shirking their defensive duties.

Posh let Jason Naismith leave on transfer deadline day leaving Niall Mason and Nathan Thompson as their two recognised right backs. Whilst no one can ever fault Naismith’s effort and willingness to get up and down the right flank, he lacked the quality in possession and attacking output to thrive under Ferguson in Posh’s current formation and thus it was no surprise to see him depart. In Mason and Thompson Posh look well covered in the right back department. Mason got off to something of an uncomfortable start to life at Posh with all three goals against Fleetwood coming down his side of defence. He has been improving steadily since that poor showing on opening day. He is a player who uses the ball intelligently when in possession and provides a different type of outlet to FBT/Butler on the left as he generally plays slightly deeper contributing to attacks primarily with his accurate passes as opposed to darting runs. Mason’s main weakness thus far has been defending 1v1, where his tendency to lunge in, rather than contain, has left him prone to both conceding free kicks in dangerous areas and being beaten too easily by opposition attackers. The smart money may be on Nathan Thompson being the first choice right back long term. Despite thus far being limited to one late substitute appearance as he seeks match fitness after joining late in the window, he is a player who starred in a promotion chasing Portsmouth side last year and who many observers will be surprised to see back in League One having failed to secure a move to a Championship side. Whoever starts it appears that Posh have two good League One right backs to choose from.

It is at centre back where Posh’s defence looks most susceptible to an injury crisis. It was a big call to let Ryan Tafazolli, Posh’s best and most dominant centre back for the past three seasons, to leave on a free. His subsequent signing at Hull City where he links back up with former Posh boss Grant McCann speaks volumes for the quality of the player Posh let go and Darren Ferguson may live to regret his decision should injuries derail what is starting to look a solid defensive unit.

Tafazolli’s replacement on the left-hand side of central defence was Mark Beevers. New captain Beevers suffered a nightmarish debut for his new club, at fault for two goals in the opening 15 minutes of the campaign. He has since recovered and is forming a strong understanding alongside Frankie Kent. Beevers is slowly developing into the calming and commanding centre back Posh thought they had signed, with his positional sense and ability to block shots particularly impressive. Next to him Kent is the chalk to Beevers’ cheese. Kent is key to Posh’s build up play with his notable passing range and capacity to carry the ball out of defence. Although slightly error prone, as best demonstrated by his calamitous failure to deal with a long ball in the build up to Fleetwood’s third goal on opening day, he is a classy player and should develop into a top League One centre back. Although Posh have struggled to defend crosses and corners at times this season and both must improve their dominance in the air, Posh should have a solid pairing at the heart of their defence whose styles and relative strengths complement each other well, provided both remain fit.

And therein lies perhaps the largest potential threat to the Posh back four. Should either become injured Posh lack a quality, natural replacement at centre half. Should either Beevers or Kent succumb to injury or suspension the most likely replacement looks to be Rhys Bennett. Bennett enjoyed a relatively successful start to life as a Posh player, however in the second half of last season his performances quickly deteriorated to an alarmingly poor level as he produced a string of costly errors leading to opposition goals and not many regular observers would trust him in a prolonged run in the side. Furthermore, while a Bennett-Kent partnership could potentially work if Bennett were able to recapture some of last season’s early form, it is hard to see a Bennett-Beevers partnership blossoming as neither possess the required competence on the ball or passing range to allow Posh to regularly build attacks from deep.

The alternative then would be to drop Josh Knight back into the centre of defence. Again though there are major drawbacks here. The first of these is how impressive Knight has started on the right-hand side of Posh’s midfield, meaning that the energy and balance he brings to the midfield would be greatly missed should he drop back. It is also difficult to see Knight successfully deputising for Beevers, as a Knight-Kent partnership would currently have a combined age of just 44 and lack a clear leader at the heart of the defence.

Thus, I would conclude that Posh look at least one player short at centre back. Promotion chasing sides typically need at least three, if not four, reliable options at centre back to achieve their aim. To my mind Posh only have two that they can call upon without unduly impacting the balance/quality of the side.

Midfield

Current Starting 11: Louis Reed – George Boyd – Josh Knight – Marcus Maddison

Cover: Joe Ward, Serhat Tasdemir, Harrison Burrows, Kyle Barker, Siriki Dembele, Alex Woodyard,

Starting 11 Rating: 4.5/5      Depth Rating: 3/5

The Posh midfield, especially in terms of depth, is perhaps the hardest unit of the four to analyse. Recently, Posh have employed a midfield diamond in a 4-1-2-1-2 formation, although at times this has looked more like a 4-3-1-2 or even 4-3-3 when out of possession. Whilst the midfield players in the starting 11 have been essential to the upturn in performances over the past 4 games, it is hard to assess how Posh would cope were injuries to hit the midfield given that many of the players remain relative unknowns at League One level. Fergie was clearly keen to bring in some midfield reinforcements during the latter stages of the window and will be frustrated that attempts to sign two unnamed midfielders were unsuccessful.

The role at the base of the diamond is currently occupied by Louis Reed, who has been a revelation this season. Last season he demonstrated flashes of quality but not frequently enough to hold down a regular starting spot as he completed ninety minutes on just 11 occasions. Having also started this season out of the side he is now one of only two Steve Evans signings who would be considered regular starters (Ivan Toney being the other). He has proved to be the missing piece of the jigsaw at the base of the Posh midfield and is the man who gets things Posh’s build-up play ticking. Reed appears to have transformed himself into a complete deep lying midfielder at this level. Merging his excellence in possession, where he marries a willingness to run with the ball with outstanding passing accuracy and vision, with the defensive nous required in the role of deepest midfielder. His positioning and anticipation thus far has been excellent, allowing him regularly turnover possession through interceptions and start counter attacks. While he has also demonstrated the necessary positional awareness to sit deep in front of the two centre backs when Posh’s fullbacks push high. A review of some of Reed’s key stats in the most recent fixture against Sunderland go a long way to demonstrating his importance to the side:

Assists: 1 Pass accuracy: 92% Forward-pass accuracy: 85% Long-pass accuracy: 67% Duels won: 7/10

In fact, such has been the level of contribution Reed has made so far it is hard to see any other player having the same effect at the heart of the Posh midfield. Woodyard featured there most frequently last season however was often found wanting in possession and Ferguson has clearly lost faith in his former skipper as demonstrated by his recent attempts to sell him. Alternatively, Kyle Barker is a defensive midfielder who Posh have high hopes for in the future, but at just 18 is yet to make his senior debut and a complete unknown at League One level. The most likely solution then might be to reshuffle the pack slightly, dropping Knight into the deeper role and bringing in Joe Ward to Posh’s right hand side.

Indeed, Knight appears to have many of the same all-round qualities as Reed, perhaps being slightly better defensively but lacking some of Reed’s passing range and dribbling prowess. The issue with playing him in the deep lying role, as it with dropping him into defence, is that he brings so much more to the side when deployed on the right of the Posh midfield. Both Knight and Boyd have excelled for Posh since being deployed on either side of the Posh midfield. Both combine intelligence on the ball with incredible energy and work rate off it, and both players are key to Posh’s pressing game and their ability to win the ball back high up the pitch. Boyd, whose transformation from skilful winger to all round box-to-box midfielder is quite remarkable, offers greater guile and creativity going forward as demonstrated by assists in back to back matches. Knight brings terrific defensive balance to the midfield while he is also not afraid to get into the opposition box as proven when he scored his first Posh goal on Saturday.

Currently waiting in the wings for their chance in the midfield are Joe Ward and Harrison Burrows. Joe Ward is Peterborough’s Mr Consistent and would slot in nicely on the right of Posh’s midfield whilst also being capable of doing a job on the other side. Another player with enviable work rate, he is solid both in attack and defence without truly excelling at either. Harrison Burrows is a player likely to have a big future at Posh. He has come off the bench in Posh’s previous 2 fixtures with the side leading 3-0 and showed early signs of promise with his carrying of the ball and willingness to pass forwards. However, whether he would be able to perform on a regular basis given a prolonged run in the side remains to be seen. Posh therefore look slightly light on cover in three of the four midfield slots, with Joe Ward seemingly the only player who has proven he could come into the side without upsetting the balance and quality of the midfield.

At the tip of the midfield is the immensely talented Marcus Maddison. Maddison is currently thriving in his new role, enjoying the license he has been given to roam across the pitch and the time and space he can find as a result. His skillset in the position at this level is irreplaceable as he has the vision and passing ability to play through balls, creativity to make things happen out of nothing, long range shooting to score from deep and the dribbling/crossing ability to be a threat when drifting wide. Such is Maddison’s importance to the side, with 3 goals and 5 assists already this season, a prolonged spell on the side lines would do great damage to Posh’s promotion ambitions this season.

Maddison’s importance in making the current system a success is such that Darren Ferguson may well rethink his tactical approach were he to face an extended period of time without his star man in the side. Ferguson’s alternatives in the role would be Siriki Dembele and Serhat Tasdemir. Dembele, predominantly a winger, has limited experience in the number 10 role and placing him at the point of the diamond may be to put a square peg into a round hole. Tasdemir is a player who arrived following rave reviews for AFC Fylde and has shown flashes of quality in his limited appearances so far, however as with others he is unproven at League One level and it would take a huge leap of faith to suggest he can get close to the performances and numbers currently being put up by Maddison.

Therein lies the dilemma when assessing a Posh midfield so crucial to the successes in the last four matches. The starting 4 look as good as any in recent memory. However, questions remain over whether the current stand ins could produce the same attacking and defensive output were the midfield to be hit by more than one injury. This is a situation that Darren Ferguson will look to address in January, but until then let’s just hope for a clean bill of health.

Attack

Current Starting 11: Ivan Toney – Mo Eisa

Cover: Siriki Dembele, Idris Kanu

Starting 11 Rating: 5/5      Cover rating: 3/5

In attack Ivan Toney and Mo Eisa have already contributed 8 goals between them this season. Toney is a complete centre forward at this level. Possessing deceptive pace, good aerial presence in both boxes, excellent hold up/link up play and an impressive work rate out of possession. He scored 23 goals in all competition last season despite starting the campaign on the bench and can be expected to at least match that tally if fit for the whole season. Mo Eisa struggled in the opening matches of the season when asked to play a slightly deeper role but has improved since moving up alongside Toney in a two-man attack, seemingly having re-found his confidence and demonstrating a deadly eye for goal. In Toney and Eisa Posh have a duo as good as any in the league.

It is Posh’s options in reserve however which leave a bit of cause for concern. Since the start of last season Posh have lost or sold forwards Josh Cummings, Matt Godden and Matty Stevens with the only player to come in being Mo Eisa. This has left them appearing to be light in terms of attacking replacements. Dembele is an immensely talented player, blessed with superb trickery, excellent balance and a keen eye for goal. However, he is at his best when operating from wide left. Admittedly, Dembele has had some promising performances up front last season and would be able to do a job in this role, but he is at his potent when able to dribble and cut in from wide areas.

Behind Dembele in the pecking order is youngster Idris Kanu. Kanu is a player who has been involved in the senior team since 2017 despite being still just 19 years old. Clearly there is a great deal of faith in the player from those who make the decisions at London Road, however he is yet to score in 28 Peterborough appearances (720 minutes) and scored just 5 goals in 36 appearances for Port Vale and Boreham Wood last season. As with many waiting in the wings this season question marks remain regarding whether he could fill the gap left by a long-term injury to either Eisa or Toney.

An injury to either starting striker may eventually lead to a rethink and switch to a single striker formation. And while both Dembele and Kanu could come good up front, attacking reinforcements may well be high on Ferguson’s list in January.

Final Thoughts

Posh appear to have hit on a winning formula in recent matches with a starting 11 capable of competing with any in League One. Where they may come unstuck is in terms of depth, as they appear at least one player short in defence, midfield and attacking cover. This is reflected with a quick glance at the team profile on the club website. Although they list 23 first team players, three of these are keepers with a further four still in their teens and another, Woodyard, who is clearly deemed surplus to requirements by the manager. This effectively leaves just 15 senior outfield players at Darren Ferguson’s disposal, meaning that should injuries strike much of Posh’s success this season will be dependent on their young guns being able to rise to the task.