last night, Fabio- was lively as usual. nice! but he will be a deffender i think. Park- Even though Park didnt do his best in pre-session as usual, he showed his class. when premier league starts, he will do his best with 3 lungs. i think if qpr gets Ki or Hargreves, he would be a winger. otherwise, he would be central park,i think.
Id prefer Park on the wing but I think he will play in the middle, at least until Faurlin comes back because we have so many wingers in Mackie, Taarabt, SWP, Hoilett but hardly anyone in the middle apart from diakite.
Wouldn't call Adel a winger and I don't think Jamie would call himself a winger. Now we have the players we should looking at playing in position rather than out of imo.
I wondered if Hughes was playing Fabio in the CM position to see how he did. Maybe another name to add to the central mix?
I thought Park was okay but Fabio looked class. Fabio, small but strong and fast, good foot work and will be a very good player.
Mackie has played every game bar one or 2 on the wing and Taarabt has played the vast majority there too.
Football has moved on from the days of a wide player having to be a ‘chalk on your boots’ get to the by-line orthodox winger. Adel definitely is not ‘out of position’ playing wide on the left especially in a 4-2-3-1 formation. He gets lots more time on the ball out there and can cut inside find a pass or bend a shot in. Think how many goals he scored from that position. Even in a 4-4-2 he should under Hughes he can excel in that position. While Mackie’s favoured position would be centre forward we have around 5 players better than him in that position. He can however do a very good job on the right and is better there than SWP who would be looked at as a ‘winger’.
4-2-3-1 isn't wingers. IMO Adel isn't natural Left winger, he would better deployed more centrally though he can play out there (it wasn't me that called him a winger). Agreed professionals should be able to play on both sides and cutting inside is often just as effective as getting to the line, however with a team of player which we can now afford to play people in there natural positions, why would you want them to play out of position ? For example Park is a winger why not play him on the wing and Adel who isn't a winger in the center rather than the other way round. Willing to be convinced but not seeing it so far.
We would get crucified with Adel in the centre in a 442. Park is much more solid. The only place for Adel in a 442 is out wide and 90% of our games will be 442. Adel can only play in the centre in a 4411 or 4231 and Hughes doesnt play either, its either a 442 or 451.
In a 4-4-2 yes agree but not in a 4-5-1 which MH played a lot as well and it's a fine line to 4 -5 -1 setup to actually be a 4-2-3 -1. From purchases we have made so far, players we haven't released I wouldn't be surprised in MH doesn't changed his tactics, though thats maybe because I lean to other setups.
We don't play any of the above formations The sooner you realise that the players swap formation and position during the game the better
He hasnt played a 4231, he played a proper defensive 451 away from home with no attacking central midfielder and certainly not one off the front man. Warnock played 4231, Hughes plays 451 with 10 men behind the ball when hes not playing 442. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/gamecast?id=318298&cc=5739 Barton, Diakite and Derry in the middle.
This is disturbing what's left of my mind. I heard that they have been practicing a revolutionary new approach, where we play Adel, Hoillet, Traore, Fabio, Mackie and Cisse all wide on the left. This concentrates play in a 40 yard long, 5 yard wide 'box' or 'zone' on the left touch line, leaving Diakite free to run wherever he wants with the ball stuffed up his shirt like in the last scene of MASH ( the excellent film, not the mawkish TV series). Of course this 'shape' is ideal for sloping pitches ( like the old Yeovil one, or the range of foothills I had to play on at school) or slowly sinking cruise ships, when you need something to occupy your mind on discovering there aren't enough lifeboats.
Proof last night: SWP gives the ball away in midfield then on the edge of our own penalty area he wins the ball back and the ball is cleared to Adel in the central midfield position. Johnson running from a central position to the left flank gives Adel the option wide he lays the ball back to Fabio who returns the ball to Johnson. Fabio then moves forward and out of shot Hogan who was in the centre falls back into the left back position. Johnson repeats a backwards pass to Hogan and then exchanges a one-two on the edge of the centre circle. Hogan see the space and moves into it before finding Adel who is playing is a advanced forward position ... his talent plays in a slide rule ball to SWP who has in this 25 seconds of play has moved forward into the centre forwards or strikers position well ahead of Zamora who's running off the ball and positional sense would have been totally ignored by most ... he skips past the keeper and scores a very good worked goal .. regardless of opposition. The difference of course is in a premiership game this amount of space isn't given however its a perfect example of position rotation and the modern game. The days of 442 etc are out of date by about 17 years now as it only pays relevance to how they line up for kick off or th exposition th steam may need to get into when they are defending and haven't got the ball ... Hope a few will see that MH has worked hard on us keeping the bloody ball so that all the rotation can take place in the first bloody place. Help me out here Bob if you are there ..who the **** sticks to a 442 or a 53452121 throughout a football match nowadays ?? ... Hint lads it's about the keeping the ball and the movement off it
A formation has got nothing to do with where players are when the team has the ball, proof of this is that the FBs are often the furthest forward. Its where you line up when the other team has the ball. Adel playing in the middle of a 4231 will just make no attempt to defend, however anyone in the middle of a 451 will get behind the ball. I cant believe people think the 2 formations are the same.
Nope. Fluid to an extent when attacking yes but without the ball it is far more rigid. Players will be know who there responsibility is to mark and if you have a look at one of those graphics that The Times love to use about where on the pitch an indivdual player touched the ball you will see a pattern that indicates they have a position that they generally stick to. And Vale- Adel could only play in the centre in a 4-5-1 and with the relative quality and strength we have amongst our forwards I think Hughes will tend to play two up top.
I said we were Barcelonaesque last night, playing keep ball and constantly moving around. It's not that difficult really, if you see the a player move out of their position you move in to play there. Most players can do it, all they need is to up their fitness level a bit, practice and a manager who gives them the freedom to express themselves....... It drags the opposition all over the place because they don't know who to mark, and the only way correct that is zonal marking. But a negative of zonal marking is it reduces the attacking capabilities of a team, being so rigid.....
