4-2-3-1 The Spanish and European Champions have played one up front for a long time now, and in the formation as stated above. Real Madrid are starting to turn to the same/similar formation. Manchester City often play two holding midfielders, with four out and out attackers sat in front of them, free to roam. It's a formation which the top teams are taking to, and is proving sucessful. But the difference between those players and those at our club are massive! We can attempt to play the same formation. We can attempt to play pretty, attacking, free-flowing football. But we don't have Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Silva, etc. We have wingers who seem to be short of confidence, and rarely go past their fullback or can take their full back on, on the inside. The formation makes it easy to control possession, with essentially 6 plus the keeper sat back. But that possession is no good if you can take it forward to score a goal. People on here post about how 4-4-2 is dated, how 4-4-2 was a massive flaw for England at the last World Cup, etc.. But 4-4-2 does work as long as the play doesn't go in straight lines, like England did at the World Cup. What happened to the 4-3-3 that Chelsea won back to back leagues with? What happened to the diamond that Milan conquered Europe with? There are other formations which work, we don't have to try and imitate those higher up. I'm not saying let's change to 4-4-2. I'm not saying let's scrap everything and start again. I'm not saying Barmby out. But I am saying, maybe we need a change - especially whilst missing Koren? Win ugly! Points are crucial, not performances. Snatch a 1-0 here or a 2-1 there. We can't keep boasting about how good our defence has been all season because our defence alone will not get us into the play-offs. We can't keep pinning the blame on strikers who aren't getting much service. There is a huge divide between the midfield and the rest of the team and it's punishing us. We have to beat Coventry at the weekend. (We really had to beat Portsmouth too I guess). At the weekend I would go 4-3-3 Mannone Rosenior.....Chester.......Hobbs......Dudgeon (if fit) Evans.......McKenna........Cairney (if fit) Stewart......Simpson......Brady Bench: Gulasci, Dawson, King, Fryatt and McLean It will be narrow and might not hold possession as well as we have been, but it will be quick and direct. Newcastle proved to win the Championship you just need a couple of quick wingers, we have quick wingers, why not use them? I'm not posting this thread on the back of the Portsmouth loss for the sake of jumping on a band wagon, I just think we need a change of plan since we don't seem fully equipped to play the formation we are. I.e stop trying to be Barcelona, and start being a team in the Championship looking to go back to the Promised Land. Let's hope Nick wasn't living on Nigel's legacy/team which has now faded? (no.. not my opinion, but I have overheard this at the KC recently) Any thoughts?
MANNONE ROSENIOR CHESTER HOBBS DAWSON BRADY EVANS McKENNA DUDGEON FRYATT KING SUBS GULASCI ,STEWART, McLEAN , OLLY and CAIRNEY .
Stewart and Simpson played well together last season, I'm not sure why that hasn't been pushed again. We have missed the poacher and the worker (Windass\Campbell). Mannone Rosenior Chester Hobbs Dawson King Evans McKenna Brady Stewart Simpson The teams still young, I wont be too disappointed if we don't make the playoffs this season, as long as we keep hold of the lads and improve in the summer.
It will be narrow and might not hold possession as well as we have been, but it will be quick and direct. Newcastle proved to win the Championship you just need a couple of quick wingers, we have quick wingers, why not use them? I'm confused by this as in the formation you're suggesting we wouldn't be playing with wingers otherwise it would just be the formation that we've been playing all along. Your formation would suggest having 3 players up front and 3 players in midfield with no wingers. If the 3 up front just stay up front all that would happen is our full backs would get torn apart which in turn would mean the 2 wide forwards would come back to stop this happening which wopuld mean we are back to 4-5-1. The problem with the current formation we are playing is that we don't get forward in numbers quick enough and we don't hold the ball up in the oppositions half long enough to give players a chance to get beyond the striker.
Not sure why everyone is so quick to remove Fryatt from our starting line-up? He is our top scorer and has scored goals wherever he has played. He just hasn't adapted to this formation we play with as is probably not mobile enough to work with it. If we are talking about changing formations then surely he is the first name down on the sheet?
Thing is Barcelona are known for their attacking style. They have players all over the pitch who can pass and they never lump it which is the similarity with our formation. The difference is that when they attack it's a proper front 3. They have 3 out-and-out forwards plus in midfield they have at least 2 players who get forward and attack. That's very very different to our style of having one forward and one midfielder who supports.
When a team plays with belief then 4 2 3 1 is great. Last night there didn't seem to be anything but fear in most of the players. Our build-up is now so deliberate and laboured that if we do get the ball into their half they've got all 11 in front of us and we can't break them down. It is so slow because there seems to be fear of taking a chance, taking responsibility and fear of giving the ball away. End result is inevitable, we give the ball away. Law of Attraction, fear is the strongest prayer of all. Twice last night Evans was in a position to shoot, he tried to pass instead. But for Mannone, Portsmouth could (should?) have had 3 or 4 more and we were lucky to get 0. If our Players could regain their enjoyment and fun of playing then they are easily capable of playing 4 2 3 1 successfully. If they continue as they are, 9 1 is a more appropriate formation.
And it has also been proven that playing out of this league can work. Swansea and Norwich last season, Southampton this season. This season, West Ham are mainly playing 1 up front, sometimes even playing a back 3/5. Reading aren't playing a flat out 4-4-2, they play 2 holding midfielders and then the 4 attacking players in front of them. The problem for City is, we can't change except maybe going for 3 midfielders in the middle (which is what I think we should be doing with Koren out) I'd be more than happy to see 4-4-2 if we had a striker that is comfortable dropping deep, but we don't. At the end of the day, our team isn't the best in the division, it isn't in the top 6 in the division. We are relying on other ways of getting into the top 6, mainly luck. I don't want to see hoofball, I think it's pathetic that some people actually value winning over watching good football as well. You're the type of people that are actually wrong with this game.
Agreed. OJ has proved that he does not want to be here so send him on his way Now. He is utter crud and even Millwall did not see enough to keep him in Jan. With news that Dudg also has a hamstring problem now after last nights game and Dawson (to me) running on empty and needing a rest the only option is for Cooper in at LB. Rosie joined Mckenna on 9 bookings last night and we may lose both of them after saturday for the easter weekend games. First Koren, then Cairney and now Dudgeon. Who's next ?
I'll resist the urge to defend Simpson again - anyone who doesn't know my thoughts in that area clearly doesn't come on here often enough Ditch the 4-2-3-1, it isn't working. 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 3-5-2, 4-2-2-2, 5-4-1, 4-1-5, 3-0-7.. I really don't care, just change the bloody thing!
Is there any wonder OJ doesn't want to be here. After scoring 4 goals in 2 matches he is sidelined by NP, because he has brought in Fryatt and McClean, never to be seen again in a City shirt for the rest of the season. He comes back from Millwall with NB saying he is in his plans and is not even on the bench. Before last night he has only play about a minute of football in the first team and what a minute, tackles opposition player and sends a sweet ball through to Stewart who scores the winner. He has not been given the chance he deserves and if you can turn round and say he is ****e based on the time on the pitch he has had since December 2010 then I would suggest you apply for a white stick and a guide dog cause I am sorry you are way past Specsavers help.
There's a pretty epic difference between hoofball and our playing style. One definitely doesn't work and the other probably wouldn't either. Anywhere in between the two would give us a decent chance, but this idea that you either play hoofball or you play football is just nonsense. Have you seen Southampton play? Tactically spot on. They play good football like us but they do it incisively and going forward, not just in defence and they also have two gigantic strikers who can win headers and they don't hesitate to knock it long when necessary and that works a hell of a lot better than this stupid attitude of "4-4-2 is old-fashioned now so we need a new 'modern' formation even if it's ****e." and this idea that 'any big player in the team is ugly' is just bollocks too.
I have no problem with playing a target man providing the ball is NOT hoofed forward. Infact, I am in favour of playing a phyiscal lone striker who can win headers because it means we don't have to constantly pass through the middle of defences but instead pass it out wide too. What i refuse to watch is crap football even if we're winning. I watch football because I enjoy watching it. I do not go to City because I want to watch winning football, I'd go and support a different club if I wanted that. And before people come out with the glory hunter nonsense, if I wanted to support this **** city as a whole, I'd rather donate to charities than spend it on a business that is ultimately trying to make money.
I very much doubt our full backs will be torn apart against Coventry if they didn't have wingers coming back to help them. Watching the Monday Night Football the other night, Gary Neville said how he never saw Ronaldo in front of him on his wing, yet Neville was never torn apart game in, game out, and he isn't the quickest of the bunch. When a full back is beaten on a cross, the pundits are quick to criticise the winger in front for not protecting and so with that, everybody now wants protecting wingers 'doing both jobs'. I think our full backs are more than capable of doing their jobs (even if Dawson does pull the shirt alot). Think when Chelsea played the 4-3-3 under Mourinho. Essien would be the protecting player (in our case McKenna) whilst he would have the likes of Lampard and Makelele either side of him (or Cairney and Evans in my example). Then they had Duff/Robben, J. Cole and Drogba sat up top in the front three. You would rarely see Duff, Robben or J.Cole back helping their full backs as the three in midfield would do that job. So yeah, I did mean 4-3-3. Probably didn't mean narrow, but definately mean direct! I agree with you there though, the holding the ball up issue is a problem! Shame we don't have a Eidur Gudjohnsen or Didier Drogba up front eh?
Ohh, and the reason I put Simpson in there is because of the partnership he had with Stewart before he was dropped and Stewart injured. They worked very well together and seemed to be playing on the same page. Give him another chance, it's not as if Fryatt and McLean are scoring bundles is it? And I aint being anti-Fryatt/McLean... I am just calling for a fresh approach. Either Simpson or King up front, I really don't care! Just start winning :'(
Agreed. If you're going to play in the Barcelona style the important thing is to have sharp finishers at the end otherwise it's pretty but impotent. I can't go along with the thread name; "Stop trying to be Barcelona." To me that's like saying stop trying to be the best. Barcelona have worked for years on technical ability, skill and quality and because they've mastered those things they could probably play in any formation and still be successful. That is Barmby's biggest problem at the moment, he has to teach our players to be confident in their own ability, not to be scared of the ball and to use it properly instead of going for the easy option. It's a huge learning curve (which will probably take more than half a season to master) and the trouble is some of our players are slow learners and they've taken it too literally, to the point that we go for an extra pass when the shot is on or we don't shoot at all.
After last night SACK THE MANAGER and MESSI is sh ite.!!!! The fans derserve much better from them. Messi has only scored 19 goals in the last 8 games and last night he got NOWT.
