If its the three you gotta take advantage of the space between the outside AM/FW/Mid and the outside back. 3-5-2 allows for that if used right and again it is all about personnel. Some do it rigid, we played it very free flowing with the ss, am, outside mids insterchanging a lot and teams couldn't keep track of us. 3 in the back with the 1 dm holding is good enough cover most of the time and if you need another you can pull a rm, in and play a varied 4 in the back. Ya we got tonked by stoke but we also beat Chelsea and maxi got hat-tricks last year with it!
look honestly this depends on the players available. anyting with one up top requires a player like torres or drogba WERE... anything with 2 in fornt of the back 4 requires a player like alonso (not lucas). 4-2-3-1 suited LFC at the time beacuse we had alonso, gerrard and torres. 3-5-2 suites roy evans cos he had mcmanaman and folwer and mcateer and a pletora of CBs in 1998 4-2-4 suited lfc cos we had mcmahon and mobly in CM for instance. In 1999 4-4-2 suited utd cos they had an amazing midfield and a strike force that worked together. the question should be i guess if you've one great player how do you build around them... for years upon years lfc managers have built around gerrard, hence a free role for him. the question should be how to get the very best out of suarez.
Didn't the managers of those teams bring in the players to be able to play those systems...? #justsaying
yes and no... i thought about that point but decided to stick with my gut. some managers like say hodgson are a straight orthodox kind of guy. Here is an example of what i means. Anchelotti tried a 4-4-2 diamond formation in his first season and found that you know what it won't work cos the players won't play it... he went 4-3-3 with malouda drogba and anleka up top and lampard ballack and essein behind. it worked in spades. He matched the formation to what was available. of course if you have some formation in your mind and sign players to suit your style then it will morph over time but unless you are wenger or ferguson you will never get enough time to really get it set up so you must work with what you've got first. Thats funny seeing rafa won two cups in his first two years but after that despite good league form never got close to a final as his team got closer to the ideal in his mind. Guardiola said a manager should only stay 3 years at a club... mourinho has only ever stayed 3 years at any club.... i guess the question of flexibility in a managers mind is one that just may determine success. I think I'd really be looking at three things to determine a formation. 1. availble players right now, the special player eg jay jay okacha at bolton, oronaldo at utd, messi at barca, zola at chelsea, henry at arsenal. 2. what money do i have available. 3. what style of play i want. I think generally speaking a 4 man defense is preferred by 95% of teams, occasionally we see a 3 man defense, 5 man lines are long past. Its pretty easy to ocach a back line to go do the needed, the question is on full backs as they decide a lot going forward too. If i want to play direct then i guess that requires one type of set up and if i want to pass it thats another. If i have ronaldo for example i know he has to be licked up to, never asked to defend etc so i have to stick him up top but not wide, i know i need wide men to play to his strengths too. if i have messi i know he'll need to play free but will work hard and needs tricky passers no pacey wide men. If i've gerrard i've a similar problem. If I've gerrard AND suarez i've very similar issues from both. Neither defend well both want to go forward etc. all in all right now i think lfc might best be served with a 4-4-1-1 for the rest of the year but i'd want to convert it to a 4-2-3-1 next season beacuse i've got the full backs, the suarez, gerrard and downing to play behind someone etc. I'f i've only 20mil to spend i think i'd be looking for one bloody good lone striker.
I was going to say Rafa got the time to adjust the system to what he wanted but you sort of addressed it anyway Absolutely, I don't think it matters what we have to spend, a quality striker is number one priority regardless
I really loved the 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 we played going up the Wembley steps to lift the Carling Cup.
Yeah but the joke really wasn't worth stretching out that far. But when you repeat it feel free to make the adjustments.
My favourite formation is a Mesa - like table mountain. I'm kidding! ... ...It's clearly an Inselberg (like Uluru)! It's late and I'm clearly going a little strange. Night Redmen! YNWA
Any formation that stops goals at one end (we seem to be doing that OK) and scores them at the other (therein lies the rub)
