I'm pleased with the result today, but for much of the game, the usual problems were there (a lack of a real attacking threat). I noticed throughout the game that our players stick very rigidly to our formation. Brady and King very rarely break from that line which they play down - i'm not sure if it is down to them, or whether they are told to do that. I feel like we could be much more effective in attack if the 'wingers' helped Fryatt out a bit more in attack. It's worth noting that our first goal that spurred us on, didn't come from a 'standard' situation, it was a mistake by 'Boro which left us in the unusual situation of two strikers running at their defence. That showed what we are capable, especially King. He is great when he gets a chance to run at the opposition, but unfortunately when he plays on the wing, he picks the ball up too far down the pitch in order to have a realistic chance of getting a shot away. That being said, I don't think he would work too well in Fryatt's position either - i'd love to see him in a front two. In general, I feel the players play too closely to the formation - with nobody (perhaps Koren aside) really breaking from where they 'should' be, in order to gamble, or try to make a real difference to the game. They are all happy to be exactly where they should be, and pass it to the next person, hoping that they will do something special. I'm not sure whether this is down to the players, the management, or even the fans who can get on players backs if they try something and it doesn't come off. So, anyway, my conclusion is that if we are going to be very strict regarding our formation, then maybe a 442 would work better - however, our current formation would work if players were a little more free/willing to drift into areas where they might be able to make a real difference (within reason). Please don't mistake this for a doom and gloom thread, I fully back Barmby and want him to be manager at the start of next season. I think we have a great group of players, that are capable of great things. Just offering a potential solution to a problem that we have had for a while.
I think what has basically being said is that the front three are not told where to play and that they have the freedom and movement to go wherever they please. Which i think is how the system should be played, at times i agree it isn't and there is not enough movement. But you need to take time to develop into a system which we are doing now.
I thought it was much more open today, partly because Boro were more attacking than most teams we play but also because we forced the issue in good positions more and didn't waste these openings like we often do. The other big difference like I said on another thread was having two midfielders who get up and down rather than just one alongside McKenna who always stays back. The key to this formation is isolating players like King against the fullback and making the most of what openings there are. We did that slightly better today but I can hardly remember a time today when Brady had a chance to run at the fullback 1-on-1. We need to get these situations more often.
I agree that a factor in us doing better today, might have been 'Boro being a more open and attacking side. Maybe that is a promising sign if we did get into the Premier League
