I first saw him aged about 10 at my first reserve game. We has an all black spine - Whyte, Davis, Meade. Raphael scored a hattrick against the mighty Pompey reserves and I told my old man that he was gonna be an all time great. My dad just laughed and said the young black midfielder's got a decent left peg, though.
I miss 4-4-2. When we used to have 2 up top, we'd have 4 strikers - eg Titi, God, Kanu, Skiltord. Which meant that if two were injured, you still had a decent forward line as opposed to playing MFs like MnM.
It also meant it was easier for a youngster to break in, like Super Kev in '91 with Merse moving out wide. Playing 4-3-3 we could never have dropped Smudger to give Kev his chance. Or gradually eased Titi in.
If we were playing 4-4-2 now, and had no injuries {i.e. fit B and Odin} we could have tried Ethan from the bench as one of the two strikers, either a 9 or 10. But if Kai and Jeez were fit, would we really risk trying Ethan as a lone no.9? {Which is where I'd like him tried at some point next season, or this if B's back.}
I reckon Odin and Dec could play as a MF 2 in an old skool 4-4-2. Though I guess it was harder to have two out and out wingers {like B, Gabby M, Leo etc.}
We used to play one winger {Overnmars, Pires} and one wide MF {Razor, Freddie} so when the winger was attacking, the other 3 in MF would shuffle across.