Watching Holland in the World cup playing their AJAX total football under the stewardship of Mr Van Gaal has got me thinking ,with the amount of strikers we have and continue to be linked with copying this formation could be an exciting direction in which to head. The 4 5 1 that most small premier league clubs use screams "let`s not lose and try to nick a goal" but that clearly didn`t work for us and the sheer lack of goals scored and dull games makes me hope that we will be more adventurous this season. Apparently the new Manchester United supremo has already hinted to his squad that they too will be using this outdated formation at some point during their next season and some of the current Dutch squad may well be headed towards Old Trafford to work with this master tactician. We need our nippy wingers to try and emulate the style of Robben but at a lower level this could be fun to watch . I am hoping that we will start taking our game to our opponents and make other sides fear us again ,especially on the road as it was the pitiful amount of points away that nailed our coffin shut. Obviously Adams has his own style and system to forge on our team but from what I saw in the Youth cup games using both Murphy`s skill and pace on either flank in a 4 3 3 set up worked wonders and was easy on the eye as a supporter. Not everyone thinks that entertainment is important any more but hopefully that was just because we were fighting for our lives at the bottom of the league last season and relegation was compared to DEATH from our supreme leader McNally. This season will be different . OTBC http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/manchester-united-set-play-3-4-3-3821591
i hope we play direct football. i'm not talking hoofball nonsense, but getting the ball forward far quicker than last season, speedy wingers, breaking with pace all over the pitch. that, for me, is a great style to watch. the problem with the youth team comparison is that they were actually very defensive but did all of the above very well indeed. we will often need to be the team forcing the issue in the championship - it'll be no good soaking up pressure and then exploding into life every game. there will need to be a balance but hopefully this season will see more opportunities to get our bums off our seats
McGeehan was outstanding in CM for the U21s under Adams so it would be fantastic if he and a few others from that squad that won the youth cup could get integrated into the full squad. One thing`s for sure Supers this will be an exciting season and I am really looking forward to our first win away at Wolves next month.
I agree with all of this wholeheartedly. Supers is right though that 4-3-3 is more likely than 3-4-3 in our case, though the latter could happen if city are chasing the game at the end. Adams seems to be favouring attacking with pace and penetrative passing. I also look forward to that after two years of struggling.
Playing 343 has many merits. Imagine EB and Ollsson as wing backs with the likes of Redmond and Grabban or Murphy as wingers. That would be awesome to watch. And very hard to defend against.
Also difficult to defend with. Any team playing 4-5-1 would kill you in the centre. Like you I want to see more attacking play next year but we still have to defend.
Perhaps 3:5:1 is an option? With wing backs filling in at the back when needed, but making us strong in midfield when attacking.
This is a good point, but it can be compensated for if the WBs drop back into defense when the ball is lost and the wide players drop back into mid-field using their pace to harass the attacking players. Their pace also means they carry a counter-attacking threat that the opposing team has to be aware of. Having that pace available next year will make a huge difference, IMO.
