Tactics Thread 2014-15

[billycopper]

I don't think there is enough of a case for us to play three at the back. It could free up Coleman and Baines and help us to accommodate Stones but we'd probably have to lose a defensive midfielder and a wide man. Getting our fullbacks forward isn't something that we struggle with, we had something like the third best defensive record in the league last season and our anchors and wingers are key to the way we play, so it seems unlikely that we'd switch.

I think that we're going to need to find a way to play Naismith more regularly and it could possibly be at the expense of Pienaar. Maybe we'll play something like:

Howard
Coleman Jagielka Distin Baines
Besic McCarthy
Mirallas Barkley Naismith
Lukaku
​

Rather than playing as a wide-left midfielder Naismith would be tucked in with the job of getting into the box to support Lukaku and get on the end of things. Lukaku, Mirallas and Barkley might all drift left on occasions to find space and Naismith could take up position as the central striker.

I think that we might see McCarthy and Besic taking it in turns to break forward more too, which Barry doesn't have the legs for.

 

[SerenityNigh]

Alright so with a little movement it's possible to change seamlessly from a 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3 and back again without changing personnel.




A lot of people spoke how we built from the back last season when playing 4-2-3-1, split centre backs, advanced full backs, it's the 3-4-3 again but asymmetrical like @FTY showed.





So now we can switch from a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-3 and back again at will.
The thing I find interesting is it's not a pure 3-4-3 with three natural centre backs like against City. The inbalance comes from one of your holding midfielders dropping deeper than the other and playmaking from there. Further inbalance comes from your left sided attacking mid who is actually right footed (Osman / Pienaar) and inclined to drift inside either in to the no.10 position, or deeper in to the sorts of spaces your playmaker (Barry) has just left. This creates the 3-4-3 and leaves tons of space for your full back (Baines) and no.10 (Barkley) to exploit.
The flexibility is immense and that's not even including the times someone roams from position, like when McCarthy goes on one of his rare runs forward and someone else drops in to fill in.
Reckon this'll be a great thread to dip in to over the course of the season as we see what little gems Roberto has lined up for different teams.
School of Science and that.

Barry fits that changing shape role very well. Who else do you see in the same role? Seems a natural fit for Besic. Would Stones or Baines be able to play that as well?

 

[Shipped]

Barry fits that changing shape role very well. Who else do you see in the same role? Seems a natural fit for Besic. Would Stones or Baines be able to play that as well?

Yeah tailor made for Besic who played a little deeper than Pjanic at the world cup for Bosnia. His movement making himself available for the centre backs and distribution forwards reminded me a lot of Barry (shamless plug you can see this in my Besic video here ).
I reckon Gibson could play the role well too given his passing ability.
Stones I reckon is more likely to bring the ball out from the back in orthodox 3-4-3 than drop deep from midfield.
Baines who knows.