My only concern with Andreu is where he would fit in. I think McNulty looks better as part of a front two. He's unlikely to replace Doyle or Kelly in a deeper role and isn't really a winger (but I wouldn't have said Bayliss or Shiperley were). He's ideal playing central in a 4-2-3-1 but are we losing out on a more effective McNulty?
McNulty has already formed a successful partnership with Andreu in a 4-2-3-1, Robins emphasised their past experience when signing him. Last season, 4-4-2 undoubtedly got the most out of the team, and Andreu was the missing piece for that system in my view. McNulty and Beavon never clicked, the same as Nazon and McNulty. They both seemed to do better when Biamou was around — someone needs to be able to create space for them.
I imagine the midfield to look something like this when everyone is fit, based on what we have now:
Bayliss Doyle
Jones Andreu/Allassani Shipley
Expecting Allassani to start the season off (unless he impresses in preseason) as an impact sub because the step up from Dulwich’s league to L1 was quite large — a role he’ll probably suit initially. We’ll probably look to be a bit more expansive in L1 like in Robins’ first spell, hence the balance of Doyle and Bayliss in the middle. Andreu seems to be a bit of a ‘pivot’ player so that’d suit that line up with the runners we’d have. That said, if we kept Kelly and Doyle together, Bayliss would probably remain on the right (Jones on the left) or playing behind the striker (not sure if that’d suit him) flanked by Jones and Shipley.
Things could change, we need a right footed winger and a central midfielder so we need to wait and see what the window brings, which could also see Bayliss leaving too.
All in all, we need the competition in the squad and different options if the goal is promotion next season. 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1 need to be used or even a system with wingbacks (unlikely) at times. Last season, the team picked itself really (injuries didn’t help) and that probably exposed us a bit — especially when we had no one to play on the right!