Here's something Fulhamish from tactical anoraks Zonal Marking: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/03/16/premier-league-sides-attack-lopsided-wing-play/ It looks at whether each Premier League team attacks more down the left, the right or the middle. We are a unique proposition when compared to everyone else, the only team to attack more down the middle than on one or other (or both) flank.
Sounds about right. Most of our creative players play center midfield. Not forgetting we played to Zamora's strength of hold the ball up. With the exception of Duff we haven't really had an out and out winger this season, and even he tends to cut in to shot.
Interesting article but it's a trend that's been going on for awhile in the Premier League, the fact that Jol's Fulham are the only team to buck the trend is certainly worth noting. To be honest the graphs are exaggerated too, focusing on a smaller range on the Y-axis to give a bigger gradient. For example the difference between Arsenal's left and right flanks is only about 7%, not so significant. I remember Jol did some articles for the Times over Euro 08 and World Cup 06 and spoke a lot about the tactics different teams in the tournaments use. I did a quick search on their site but I think you need a subscription to actually view them. They're well worth a read if you have a subscription and give a great insight into Jol's tactics, as well as his understanding of the game in general. Sorry to be off-topic but it didn't seem worth an article seeing as I couldn't link to any of the actual articles as I read them offline at the time and don't have a Times subscription to c+p some of the best bits for you.
That was an interesting story. For all the reasons mentioned in the article, plus the quality of Dembele and Murphy in the middle, it's not surprising we lead the league in up-the-middle attacks. Having said that, I think it would be great to change up our attack when our up-the-middle strategy doesn't work - like on Saturday against Swansea. If Jol could just signal the boys it's time to switch to a wider attack (moving Dempsey to the right, Ruiz/Duff to the left, etc.) I think we'd be a much more dangerous team. And when we play very physical teams like Stoke and Everton, I think whipping the ball in freqently from the wngs would be much more effective than try constantly to bring the ball up through the crowded middle.
Another interesting point of the analysis is how little we attack from the left. A combination of Riise's performance going forward and Dempsey cutting in rather than moving to the left is obvious.
I don't understand why teams don't do this more often, particularly given how many play their wingers on the 'wrong' side. I think Dempsey is always going to be more effective on the left, but if we've got Duff and Frei on the pitch at the same time as on Saturday I'd love to see them playing on their 'natural' sides for 15-20 minutes and looking to get crosses in like proper old fashioned wingers.
Just posted something about this in another thread - we are a bit one-dimensional with our approach play. Too much goes through the middle. One of Utd's strengths is that there is always someone out wide for a player (usually Scholes) to spread it out to. Width stretches teams and creates gaps. As a winger I find it infuriating to watch Fulham at home - my seat is looking onto the box which a left winger should be attacking in the second half, but most of the time it is empty. Our fullbacks are not bad players, but they dont offer much going forward. Kelly has a mental block and Riise isn't really fit enough to get up and back. What is most annoying is that we have Duff and Frei, if we played them on their natural sides we could pin teams back and get balls into the middle. I rate Dempsey highly, but at the minute we are shaping the team around his irregular positioning (and the fact no manager wants to start him upfront when we have a full complement) and this has an impact. It's a bizarre situation but I do think if we lose him this summer we will be weakened on an individual basis, but could actually then build a more effective team. I don't want him to go though.