Didn't you guys ditch the diamond beginning of last season as it gave you sweet FA width? And is Ivanovic really up to playing on the right? Personally haven't been impressed when he's played there. --------------------------Cech---------------------------- Bosingwa-------Alex-------------Terry-----Cole ---------------Essien-----------Lampard--------------- Anelka----------------------------------------Malouda---- --------------Drogba---------Torres------------------------- Essien and Lamps are great working as box to box midfielders, good good forward and staying back, but you'd be looking to slowly introduce ramires into it somewhere. I put anelka on the right as he's been there in a 433 so why not in a 442, with him and drogba swapping round at times. The key will be to see how well Torres can link up with another striker as he usually plays a more lone role, even for spain as David Villa tends to sit back a bit more when playing with FT.
Good post My opinion...Stuff the diamond, drop Drogba or Torres to the bench and stick with what we know
Fair points Although Ivan I think has been excellent overall (better at RB than CB for me) - we are still failing to pick up players making late runs in the box & maybe Luiz will be the difference here I have to say my preferred back four would have to be Ash JT Alex & Luiz - so unsure where that leaves Ivan now - probably not mobile enough for midfield & will be benched more I guess... We have to go 4 4 2 soon with width Ash & Luiz overlapping probably Malouda & Anelka Be interesting to see if Benny makes any impact this term creativity wise I hope what I read saying Carlo is sticking to this diamond formation for Fulham is unfounded too
--------------Cech-------------- Ivanovic----Luiz----Terry----Cole ---Ramires---Essien---Lampard--- ---------Torres---Anelka--------- -------------Drogba-------------
Can't see Carlo putting Drogba further up the pitch than Torres somehow I think he'd be better benching Drogba & starting with Malouda wide We'll see later I guess
I thought they kept it for a while, but ditched it when Malouda started outperforming Deco, who was the main reason the diamond worked so well. Deffo shouldn't put Lampard at the top of the diamond - he never settled there at the start of last season. Personally, I can't see the point of going back to a diamond now you've ditched Ballack and Deco. Malouda, Anelka, Kalou and Benayoun can all play on the wings, but also come inside and get involved if needed - a diamond would restrict them too much.
Swarbs...Lampard played on the left of the diamond last season, hence why so inneffective. The whole point of it was that the midfield would be more fluid, with Essien, Deco and Lampard having almost free roles, but that only really happened once when we played Sunderland at the SoL... Would be a lot better with Malouda involved, as he would add the width where we need it
Having said that, I still hate the feckin formation Didn't work for Mourhino, hasn't worked for Carlo...even Guus went 4-2-3-1...
Personally I thought he played better on the left of the diamond last season than when he started out at the tip. He got more goals and more assists last season than in any other, imo largely cos Deco was able to drag the opposition players out of position on the edge of the box to create more room for Lamps to let fly. But I agree that you'll definitely do better with two wide players who can also drift inside and create that space just as well.
He played better once we shifted back to the 4-3-3 in around November...he's most effective in the hole that Drogba creates...so to speak...
Yeah, Lampard is great in Drogba's hole. Sorry, couldn't resist. Back to the subject is it not worth seeing if Torres and Drog can link up, or is that something best left til summer?
I can't say I paid that much attention to him last season, I just remember him playing pretty well in games where Deco was there to create that hole as well. Which is why I don't think he should play at the tip of a diamond - whoever plays there needs to be the one looking to create the space, whereas Lampard is better at exploiting the space.
Would work. But I think Benayoun, Malouda, Kalou and Anelka will all work better cutting in from wide than in a diamond. That way they get both the width and the space created for Lampard. I don't see why Chelsea would go back to a diamond when the main reason they played it was to accomodate the fact that Mikel, Essien, Ballack, Lampard and Deco were all CMs.
