Formation

[Goat]

It's to allow our fullbacks more freedom. It isn't necessarily negative. I doubt we'd have the top scoring full backs in the league if we didn't have 2 holding midfielders.

Nothing would stop Coleman and Baines from bombing on.

 

[tim cahill]

Nothing would stop Coleman and Baines from bombing on.

They need to be covered when they bomb on though. Otherwise we'd be picked off on the counter attack even easier than we are now.

 

[Goat]

They need to be covered when they bomb on though. Otherwise we'd be picked off on the counter attack even easier than we are now.

We still have 2 wide midfielders.

 

[tim cahill]

We still have 2 wide midfielders.

They're normally involved in the attack though when Baines/Coleman are going forward.

 

[toffeejack]

They need to be covered when they bomb on though. Otherwise we'd be picked off on the counter attack even easier than we are now.

not seen too many teams pick us off on the counter tbh. a vast majority of our goals conceded have been from set plays

 

[tim cahill]

not seen too many teams pick us off on the counter tbh. a vast majority of our goals conceded have been from set plays

Did you erase the Arsenal/Liverpool games from your memory? You're right though. Defending set pieces is our biggest weakness by far.

 

[quasi modo]

They need to be covered when they bomb on though. Otherwise we'd be picked off on the counter attack even easier than we are now.

That shouldn't be a problem though, Barry plays that deep I seen him on the swings in Stanley Park in the 1st half.

 

[tim cahill]

That shouldn't be a problem though, Barry plays that deep I seen him on the swings in Stanley Park in the 1st half.

Bit harsh considering he got the assist today. To be fair he seems to contribute more to our attack than Mccarthy.

 

[toffeejack]

Did you erase the Arsenal/Liverpool games from your memory? You're right though. Defending set pieces is our biggest weakness by far.

the only two games this season i've tuned out of before the end ha, missed a few goals in those games, but they were chasing a game, not being sucker punched.

 

[LinekersLegs]

Bit harsh considering he got the assist today. To be fair he seems to contribute more to our attack than Mccarthy.

Which is odd since Barry has no pace - he can be the one to do a snide tackle to take the ball off someone in our box then a few passes later be in their box with a useful header.

 

[TheodoreDonaldKerabatsos]

There's a reason we play two DM's in this system. It means our defence has options to go short through the middle.

Leaving McCarthy on his own in a 4-1-3-2 means teams can stick a AMC on McCarthy when they don't have the ball and our CB are forced to go long more often (Hi Moyes). Thats much harder to counter when you have two options though.

A long term option would obviously be having CB's who are much more comfortable to play from defence and make short bursting runs into the DMC position (Think Rio Ferdinand 2002). Stones has shown glimpses of this already, presumably on the instruction of our manager.

That get you moist tictac fans

 

[quasi modo]

There's a reason we play two DM's in this system. It means our defence has options to go short through the middle.

Leaving McCarthy on his own in a 4-1-3-2 means teams can stick a AMC on McCarthy when they don't have the ball and our CB are forced to go long more often (Hi Moyes). Thats much harder to counter when you have two options though.

A long term option would obviously be having CB's who are much more comfortable to play from defence and make short bursting runs into the DMC position (Think Rio Ferdinand 2002). Stones has shown glimpses of this already, presumably on the instruction of our manager.

That get you moist tictac fans

Can't we just have a midfielder who can drop deep when need be and come and collect the ball from defence?

 

[TheodoreDonaldKerabatsos]

Can't we just have a midfielder who can drop deep when need be and come and collect the ball from defence?

You can. But your not going to retain the ball as well. Its also very easy to play against unless you have the players for it.

Like I said, defensively at least, we haven't yet.

 

[Christiffa25]

The formation is fine. The same formation that city, Chelsea arsenal etc all play. The difference is the quality in the final third when these teams park the bus.

The big teams with there 100M + of attacking players struggle often when teams park the bus, our combined 20M options are bound to struggle.

In the main, we have been getting thru in the end against these poorer sides. Ironically more so this second half of the season when our form has dropped a little.

 

[mawders]

Number 6 lad.

Howard
Coleman - Jagielka - Distin - Baines
McCarthy
Mirallas - Barkley - Pienaar
Naismith - Lukaku​

Could work. Or could get bum raped