If you put your dislike of Irvine to one side and think about it logically, what he says makes perfect sense. In a 2 man strike partnership, playing 2 similar strikers is hard to make work because they will both want the same sort of service, make the same runs etc which makes things predictable. A 2 man strike partnership should always have 2 different types of strikers such as Anichebe with Berahino.
Also if we were to play Ideye and Berahino together, it would mean having to play a 4-4-2. We showed against Newcastle just how poor we are in a normal 4-4-2. We started with a balanced 4-4-2 which offered little going forward and we finished with an attacking 4-4-2 with Sessegnon and Samaras out wide and we still offered little going forward.
The other variations of the 4-4-2 are 4-3-1-2 and 4-1-3-2 which are both also known as 4-1-2-1-2. The 4-3-1-2 failed in the cup against Bournenmouth because of it's lack of width and struggled against Hull City. The 4-1-3-2 formation will leave us ridiculously open at the back. We would become the English version of Hoffenheim from Germany in that system. We would score lots of goals but we would also concede lots of goals. (Hoffenheim last season scored over 80 goals but also conceded over 80 goals)
We could play Berahino in the hole behind Ideye but it would mean taking Berahino further away from goal. Moving Berahino out wide would also do the same thing. Playing Ideye in the hole would be ridiculous and even though Ideye played outwide for a Dynamo Kyiv in the first 10 weeks of the 2011/2012 season, he would be wasted out there for us.
Everyone needs patience. Berahino's current goalscoring form won't last forever. The goals will eventually stop coming and when that happens, Ideye will then have his chance as our lone striker to show all his doubters what he can do. He showed some of his quality away at Southampton when he came on.
Also if we were to play Ideye and Berahino together, it would mean having to play a 4-4-2. We showed against Newcastle just how poor we are in a normal 4-4-2. We started with a balanced 4-4-2 which offered little going forward and we finished with an attacking 4-4-2 with Sessegnon and Samaras out wide and we still offered little going forward.
The other variations of the 4-4-2 are 4-3-1-2 and 4-1-3-2 which are both also known as 4-1-2-1-2. The 4-3-1-2 failed in the cup against Bournenmouth because of it's lack of width and struggled against Hull City. The 4-1-3-2 formation will leave us ridiculously open at the back. We would become the English version of Hoffenheim from Germany in that system. We would score lots of goals but we would also concede lots of goals. (Hoffenheim last season scored over 80 goals but also conceded over 80 goals)
We could play Berahino in the hole behind Ideye but it would mean taking Berahino further away from goal. Moving Berahino out wide would also do the same thing. Playing Ideye in the hole would be ridiculous and even though Ideye played outwide for a Dynamo Kyiv in the first 10 weeks of the 2011/2012 season, he would be wasted out there for us.
Everyone needs patience. Berahino's current goalscoring form won't last forever. The goals will eventually stop coming and when that happens, Ideye will then have his chance as our lone striker to show all his doubters what he can do. He showed some of his quality away at Southampton when he came on.