3rd match in 6 days on the horizon and Lambert has promised that his side WILL up the tempo for the sky blues saturday afternoon at the ricoh arena... Missing will be James Vaughan (not again) and Elliott ward, both with knee injuries and are set to miss the beginning of the new season, which is a shame as im hoping for big things from vaughany and was looking forward to seeing him in action when i travel NW to wigan on 13th august. Will this game be the first oppertunity to get an idea of where lamberts first XI plans are heading as he promises to up the tempo again, or will we see movers and shakers again across the pitch and another different tactic and line up with wholesale changes after the hour mark Im going to go by what lambert has said and predict we WILL SCORE against coventry and i expect a good performance tomorrow to go with it, i know and understand that its only a friendly but we need to get a bit of momentum going into our 2 home friendlies before the season properly gets underway and so i expect something from this game and will be dissapointed if we dont get anything especially a GOAL. Feel free to have a guess at the score line and first scorer. Line up is as follows. Ruddy, r Martin, tierney, de laet, whitbread, crofts, lapping, k smith, c Martin, holt and wilbraham... Diamond I expect OTBC ILWT
1-0 to Coventry. It might be a friendly, it might be against a lower league opponent but it's away to Coventry - enough said!
I know, I watched the stream but I never have confidence when we visit that place but at least our record at the Ricoh is better than it was at Highfield Road (I did not see us win there in 8 visits)
Coventry 1-2 City Holt and Jackson to score Southend was an try-out for the 4-2-3-1 formation which the players aren't really familiar with. I expect to see the diamond restored at Coventry with Holt and Jackson starting, backed by Hoolahan, Bennett (or Croft), Surman and Johnson, with Naughton, Barnett, De Laet and Tierney the defenders in front of Ruddy. Wholesale changes again at the 60 minute mark, though.
It's worth trying out a traditional 4-4-2, I really dislike it as a formation though, I see it as too basic and unsophisticated reminds me of pub league stuff, it's what I don't like about English football along with being too direct, however we need to experiment and use every formation we can think of. I was disappointed that the German tactic didn't work against Southend I wouldn't of played Morison as a lone striker myself.
a lone striker i think will not be a option come when it matters the most! Lets face it, how many times over the course of last season did we play with one striker, NONE! If anything more than most we ended up with more than 2 or 3 even if i remember we finished one game with all 4 strikers on the pitch! It was a shame that the german style tactic didnt work against southend but it would be nice to be put the test again with a full strength side and actually go for it cos we have the players i think to make it work, but as i say i dont think it will be used much if atall... Ruddy Naughton De Laet BarnettTierney Fox Johnson/crofts Bennett Hoolahan Plikington/surman Holt This would be our strongest line-up with that formation, but by reading what lambert had to say today in the paper i think he wont budge yet on the trusted diamond... OTBC ILWT
I think it will be a close 2-1, possibly 1-0. Ruddy, naughton, de laet, Whitbred, tierney, Johnson, crofts, surman, Bennett, martin, Morison. I do recall using a 4-2-3-1 last season for a few games. Fox and crofts behind Lansbury, hoolahan and surman. Didnt last long though. Think it happened shortly after Martin got injured.
Fair point lads, we've got enough forwards won't make much sense playing just a loan forward. It's anyones guess who get's picked for the front lineup it's Holt & Jackson for me at the moment.
Line up is as follows... Ruddy, R Martin, Tierney, Whitbread, De Laet, Crofts, Lappin, K Smith, C Martin, Holt and woo wilbraham...
What on Earth formation is Lambert using?!? Standard back four, but is he actually playing 3 strikers or is C Martin playing Hoolahan and K Smith playing Fox? In other news, nice to of scored a goal!
Ncfc on twitter says diamond with Martin up top! Is lambert trying to make him a midfielder? He's played there a few times during pre-season.
I have the coventry commentary as well using my player subscription. Coventry is also using the diamond formation and seems a balanced game so far, but City playing much better than they did at Southend. Much more comfortable in the diamond it seems.
Oh, it's on the Pink'un too, but you have to put up with comments like this: "Really worried about our signings Swansea and Qpr much better on paper IMO" Some people really don't know what they're on about!
