Should Watford Become South West Hertfordshire’s Answer to the Catalan Giants?

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Bring Back Wooter

Bring Back Wooter

Member
Mar 7, 2011
562
15
18
The 283rd Largest District in England
Just Like Watching Barcelona

Any Watford fan will tell you that we need at least 1 more striker before the transfer window closes. This elusive forward is the final piece in the 2011/12 Championship jigsaw puzzle. For Watford to have a successful season (ie retain their position in the second tier), many believe an additional striking option is imperative.

But is it?

Any Watford fan will also tell you we have a huge selection of young, talented attacking midfielders. So why don’t we utilise their abilities more?

With our current squad, I feel that a 4-5-1 formation would work very well, with the likes of Massey, Murray, Wichelow, Mingoia, Mcginn, Assombalonga, and to some extent, Deeney providing the attacking midfield options. Admittedly some of these are traditionally “wide midfielders” and may struggle in the centre of the field, but I still feel this is a viable option for us.

My favoured formation (given the current squad and ignore injuries) would be along the lines of:

----------------------Loach----------------------
Doyley-------Mariappa------Taylor-------Dickinson
---------------------Eustace---------------------
----------------------Jenkins---------------------
Yeates---------------Mcginn---------------Forsyth
----------------------Sordell----------------------

Would this position be more suited to Jenkins? The expectation of him to provide that attacking flair will be less, and he has the fall back of Eustace, should he lose possession.

There was a time (last season) when we looked very lightweight, and this sort of formation would result in us being easily over powered and enable the opposing team to essentially play through us. With the introduction of Yeates and Dickinson, I feel this would no longer be an issue.

However, there are a few potential issues which I can see. Firstly, do we actually have the players to fill these positions? We know Eustace is a capable defensive midfielder, so he isn’t the issue. We know Yeates and Forsyth are capable wide midfielders so they are also not the issue. But, would Jenkins cope, providing support for both attack and defence (when applicable)? Could our selection of talented, quick footed youngsters be effective in a more central position?

But most importantly, and what would probably be this formations down-fall, could it actually cope in the Championship? This I am not so sure about.

So what do you think? If you had control, how would you arrange things?

If Xavi were English, he would be called John Eustace.
 
I like the idea there and it is very creative. However, i think you are trying to cure a persistent ailment when we could simply prevent it all together. I would drop Jenkins in place of a more attacking option such as Mingoia; he is quick and likes to attack defenders. He has a bit of maturing to but he did improve a lot in his few games last season. However, if we wanted a slightly more defensive option or holding option we have Walker. I like the idea of the 4-5-1 formation though, i just wonder if it is attacking enough. But its a good idea and a well written piece BBW.
 
Always thought we looked very good last season when we played this style, like this:

----------------------Loach----------------------
Doyley-------Mariappa------Taylor-------A. Taylor
---------------------Eustace---------------------
----------------------Mutch---------------------
Buckley---------------Mcginn---------------Cowie
----------------------Graham--------------------

I think this is how we played away at QPR.

Not sure if Jenkins can do well in that position though, is he really good enough? Not by his showings so far this season. I think Dyche needs to give Walker a chance, or maybe Murray (who looked very good against Preston on the final day). Once McGinn returns from injury he can play in behind Sordell, but before that we can play Whichelow or even Deeney in that position.

It's a very flexible formation, if things aren't working out we can switch to a 4-3-3 with Yeates, Sordell and Forsyth playing together, or even a 4-1-2-3 with a 'holding' midfielder. Also we can go more defensive by going 4-5-1 or 4-1-4-1, with all midfielders in a single line.
 
4-2-3-1 was utilised successfully by Buck, whenever Mackay used it we tended to do well, and looking at the current squad, we have the players to make it work once again. I would keep Jenkins and Eustace in the team - both players have talent despite not really displaying it so far this season, their partnership needs to develop. If Jenkins continues to turn out below-par performances then we have other options in the Prince (who is close to fitness) and Walker.

Murray is probably the most exciting young talent we have at the club, but he is still only 17 and cant be expected to start every week - therefore id play Whichelow behind Sordell, a role that he'd relish and thrive in. The wingers are a no brainer, and the back 5 essentially picks itself (though id like to see Thompson in for Doyley - as much as i love Lloyd, Thompson is the better player).

4-4-2 is far too rigid, it hasnt worked at the club since the days of Henderson and King, and i hope it doesnt take Dyche too long to realise this...
 
Max_WFC, I had forgotten about that game (surprisingly as it was an amazing game).

I think the versatility of a 4-5-1 system is the most attractive thing. The ability to switch from a defensive stance, to an attacking stance with minimal effort.

One important question, could Sordell operate effectively as a lone striker? Danny Graham could do this fantastically, but Sordell is a totally different player. The key, however, is Sordell's age. Plenty of development time.
 
When Prince Buaben signed he described himself as a 'box to box midfielder' which seems to be the role needed in this formation where Jenkins is playing. I think that this could potentially work very well indeed.
 
The interesting thing is that people always seem to associate 442 with being more attacking that 451 but historically, 442 was adopted to be a more rigid, defense-minded formation (that was certainly Sir Alf Ramsey's reasoning from what I have read). I think possibly 451 got a bit of a bad reputation from Allardyce/Pullis. However, when used properly, it is far more attacking in my view, and as many have said we have the players to make it work.

I would get Wichelow in there though somewhere.
 
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