6 Questions for Crewe Alex as Summer 2025 Pre-Season Gets Underway

It's here. Pre-season officially gets underway today. And we're back for another season of ups, downs, and everything in the middle as Crewe Alex look to try and repeat last season's shock run to the play-offs and maybe even go one further and get promoted. To do so looks tough as a competitive League Two is full of teams loading up for their own runs at promotion.

For the Alex, they enter their pre-season preparations looking very different to what they did a few months ago, with a number of key players gone and several brought in as replacements. So, what to make of this new look team as they gear up for another shot at promotion? What questions spring to mind and what needs answering ahead of the big kick-off on August 10th? Here are some I came up with:

How long will it take to complete business?

Most teams don't have all their business done by the time pre-season starts. But the Alex, who's season finished 2-3 weeks later than every other L2 team, definitely feel further behind in their preparations. They've signed 4 players in Kane Hemmings, Jamie Knight-Lebel, Fin Roberts and Jack Lankester.

But they are clearly still short of having the players in place to consider their squad full. As a conservative estimate, they still need a goalkeeper, left back(assuming Adebisi moves), experienced centre back, central midfielder and striker(depending on what happens with Baker-Richardson. That would take them to 25 players in the squad, but when you consider that Sant, Robinson and Roberts are likely not going to get many first team minutes, that drops them back down to 22. And with 18 being named on any given matchday, they would be only a couple of injuries away from issues.

So you likely need to add 1-2 more to that shopping list. And when will we see decisions on CBR and Adebisi, with their contracts now expired? The Alex have a fair bit of business they still need to complete before the season starts in just over a months time.

Whats the formation?

For me, the biggest question behind recruitment is over what system the Alex will play primarily. Last season, Bell alternated between various systems, with the 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 3-5-2 amongst others being used amongst others. Whilst it worked in terms of getting results, I think their lack of a clear system was part of the reason they fell apart late in the season.

Finding and working on a clear, well structured Plan A system that works regardless of the opposition and can be used home or away is crucial for me. And that starts with using it in the pre-season and sticking to it.

For me, the players they've recruited so far seem to suggest a move to a 3 at the back might well be on the cards.

Who are the key players going to be?

Last season, the Alex's best players were Mickey Demetriou, Luke Offord, Connor O'Riordan, Elliott Nevitt, Rio Adebisi and Joe White. They made the biggest contributions I would argue. And now, all bar Demetriou are gone. So that leaves a void for any of the current team to step into.

Who in the current squad could I see stepping up? Truthfully, not many at this point. But the key point there is, I didn't foresee such big contributions from many of the names mentioned above before they did. Someone is going to have to step forward and put this team on their backs. Waiting to see who emerges as their big contributors will be interesting to see.

How do you get the best out of certain players?

The Alex will go as far as their academy takes them. Whilst I wish this wasn't true and they could diversify how they find success, ultimately it still is. They got to Wembley last season with Adebisi being the only academy graduate to give them consistent production across the whole season.

Sure, last season players like Offord, O'Riordan and Tabiner gave them performances across smaller ranges, but it wasn't like there was a strong academy core at the centre of everything good they did.

This season though, there will need to be. Tom Booth in goals, Zac Williams and Lewis BIllington in defence, Tabiner, Matus Holicek and Callum Agius in midfield/attack. Charlie Finney and Owen Lunt as wildcards. Finding a way to get these players into the team on a regular basis and also get them thriving will be vital for Lee Bell over the coming weeks and months.

Tabiner doesn't seem to fit in central midfield and perhaps would be better used further forward. Holicek showed flashes, but nothing consistent. Where does Zac Williams play and will he take that much needed next step? Can Tom Booth stick as the number 1? Is Billington's long term future at RB or CB? How do you find a place for Holicek, Tabiner and Agius in the same team potentially?

Figuring out how to get a lot of these names into the team and into good form will be Bell's biggest challenge over the next few weeks.

Jack Powell?

When do we see the creative midfielder return to the pitch? He's currently 6 months into his ACL recovery following surgery in January. But recovering from such a serious injury at the age of 30 is hard for any athlete. It often takes months before they are in any sort of game condition and I don't imagine he'll play much part in the pre-season workouts and friendlies.

Even if he quickly returns to the pitch, it could take weeks or even months before he's performing to anywhere near his previous levels. He's a huge wildcard at the moment. If he can return and get back to his best quickly, the Alex are in business. But Bell also needs to prepare for the possibility that he isn't anywhere near recovered and won't be until late in the year, perhaps even into 2025. That's a worst case scenario, but also a realistic one in my opinion. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

Can they avoid pre-season injuries?

This also brings me onto another point, injuries. It feels like every season when the first league game starts, the Alex are always missing 2-3 players who've carried over knocks from pre-season. Now, I think they'll be without Powell as he continues his recovery, but I really hope they can avoid any issues with anyone else. I'm looking especially at Conor Thomas, Chris Long and potentially Zac Williams, Joel Tabiner, Charlie Finney and Owen Lunt as well. The Alex need a clean bill of health to take into the trip to Barrow in just over a months time.