In recent weeks 'football experts' have said that we are, or will be, found out. Also Lawrenson has said we haven't got enough players (despite every Premier League team being limited to 25 players). I think both of these comments are rubbish. On Saturdxay we played the 6th formation of the season. A 5-3-2. Three centre backs with two wingbacks. We have also played the flat 4-4-2, 4-4-2 diamond, 4-5-1, 3-5-2 and 4-4-1-1/4-2-3-1. We have also had many players playing in different positions. With Russel Martin playing dentre-back for a large chunk of the season as well as right-back. Naughton has played all across the back four. Bennett has played the attacking midfield role, right winger and at right back (helping the team to a clean sheet in the process). We've coped with injuries to our centre-backs and not moaned about it once, unlike Newcastle. We have three reliable left wingers in Lappin, Surman and Pilkington and all three can play in other positions. Two well loved players in Holt and Hoolahan haven't managed to secure their place in the starting line every week. Most noticeably at the beginning of the season when Morison was playing well. Our ability to adapt has helped our season a lot. We have got many of our goals from crosses and set-pieces. We have the highest number of headed goals in the league. We have played the long ball a few times, Holt's goals against Manchester United and Chelsea as examples. We can score from the counter-attack, as proved against West Brom and we can score by slicing through the defence as Holt's first goal against Wolves has proved. Recently we have also been playing great passing football where each player usually has three touches at most. Our passing play in particular as been ignored by the media , but I don't care. As much as I like Swansea we can easily match and counter their style of play by passing the ball ourselves, as has been proved in the two wins against them. So, ignore what the media and MOTD say. We have had a great season and will hopefully continue this great football into next season in the Premier League. What's more we can do it with players that have little or no Premier League experience. Larenson, Shearer, Hansen and co said that because they have players like Cisse, Zamora, Wright-Phillips and Onuoha that they would be fine. It's rather clear now that that certainly isn't the case!
Well said - also we cheat/dive/foul less than the majority of most prem clubs I feel. Swansea, fair play to them have done well but rarely have I seen a team play act, whinge and cheat as much!
Have to agree wonky. The way PL completely changed the formation in the 2nd half against Swansea without making any substitutions was ample proof of the way in which our players can adapt to different positions. You mentioned Bennett who took over the Hoolahan role and was responsible for the pass which resulted in 2 of our goals that day>
Another example of our ability to adapt has to be Barnett's goal against Sunderland. A great one two between Fox and Bennett, then a low cross to Barnett to smash in.
lol you aint seen half the premier league then mate! It's more individuals than teams I'd say, number one is Suarez though, never off the floor!
A chap at work likens Swansea's style to Arsenal, pretty football but not always affective. He compares us to Man Utd, great adaptability and know how to win! I tend to agree!
I gave up listening to BBC pundits months ago, all they ever do is talk up the big five or six teams and expose their ignorance of everyone else. The great thing about the iplayer is you can skip through the nonsense and just watch the football.
All we've had from MOTD is - Lineker - 'Norwich have done well haven't they?' Hansen/Shearer/Lawrenson - 'Yes' Lineker - 'Right, up next...' Mind you for Swansea it isn't much better. The best I've seen is one of them counting from 1 to 22, counting the number of passes before Swansea scored. A 5 year old could do that. So why on earth is Hansen paid £40,000 per episode for saying 'yes' and counting?
Wonky, that is about right what they said on sat! Some of the reviews in the papers are slightly better On motd you missed "holt is like a battering ram" or similar
It's not the first time they've said that though. The Telegraph focused 90% of it's attention on Wolves this weekend.
Best to never set yourself on one formation or style of play, must admit I hate anything which is too direct which has happened in a few games but sometimes you have to play ugly to compete. As for MOTD it is cringeworthy wonky is right on the money with that little script we're always right at the end too thank god for Sky plus and hangover Sundays. When they do actually talk the whole atmosphere is like being on table at a wedding or work conference with people who you have zero in common with, or better still being dragged to your missus friends **** BBQ where the conversation is a bit flat. MOTD rant over.
It isn't just adaptability. As I pointed out on another thread (re. FA Technical Director), it's equally important for the players to understand how the opposition is set up and the strategies best suited to counter that way of playing. By ringing the changes in terms of personnel and systems, PL is developing the entire squad's understanding of the game. There was an item on the BBC web site recently about a Uruguayan tech company who have developed real-time game analysis for use pitch-side as the game is progressing. No substitute for the acuteness of the manager/coach, but being armed with a more complete picture of the pattern of the game as it unfolds than the manager/coach can achieve simply by watching on, and having players with the intelligence and understanding to fine tune their play accordingly at any stage in the match, must be advantageous compared to teams drilled only in one style of play.
my favourite moment on motd this season was when hansen and shearer were highlighting swansea's passing game, showing something like 35 passes in a row and saying how well they pass it and keep the ball. they only crossed the halfway line briefly and then went all the way back to the keeper. now there is nothing wrong with keep ball and they may have been in the lead at the time, but all the clip illustrated is how mind-numbingly boring they can be to watch sometimes! apparently, this was amazing though... as for suarez... i'd love to punch his little rat face
My big criticism of MOTD results from them 'covering' every game and the result is abysmal. When I was young (about 40 odd years ago) they had one game and they had that for the whole programme. Nowadays you never get any kind of flow, it jumps from a free kick on 8 minutes to a quick passing move and close shot on say 19 minutes then a goal from a corner on 38 minutes. it is crap. Then they show the goal from five different angles and of course Hansen says it is poor defending. Pathetic!!
it annoys me when they insist on showing the goals from a match a week prior which everyone has already seen, only to then cut that weeks action out to allow for this
I was listening to Dean Ashton on Radio Norfolk during the game, and he said the formation was 3-4-1-2! It was certainly different from anything seen this season. I thought Lappin had a good game. ILD OTBC
