It is refreshing to see that, although we have not been playing particularly good football, we have a manager who is willing to admit defeat and make wholesale changes to try a rectify it. I think Rene excelled in the transfer window. Yes we did not get another left back but I think we would have got one had events not conspired against us. He covered most of what we could suggest were weak positions and got rid of what could deemed as luxury players. Highlighting the need for some fresh faces and some hard working players, he has improved our chances of survival. Perhaps more significantly though, Rene has not been afraid to try something new tactically. New in one sense for him, but perhaps not new to fulham. It would seem that he identified our inability to defend goals and has taken us back to the Roy days. The last 2 games we have played with 2 very noticeable banks of 4 and most significantly played very narrow when we do not have possession. This was the style of play under Roy when we had our Europa league success. It may not be pretty but it can very effective. We need to get some clean sheets as well scoring goals. Defending narrow and the introduction of true goal scorer could see us move up the league. Very refreshing to see we have a manager who is willing to be brave and change his style as well as drop players he does not feel a doing their job.
I think Rene could see what the rest of us were seeing. We only have 2 wingers capable of playing effectively in a 433/4321 formation (Dejagah & Kacaniklic) and with the problems associated with those two, we had to try something different. I've commented on 442 before; to play an effective 442 you need to have 2 hardworking wingers who provide as much defensively as going forward. We had this with players like Davies and Duff, but Dejagah & Kaca can't play in this formation. As such Rene has brought Richardson into the wing role, where I feel he has been very good in the past two games. Tunnicliffe is not a winger, but he can provide the discipline and energy required to hold down his side of the field. This is where the two banks of four are effective - Roy has spoken of this often as the basis of 442 as a formation and it is difficult to disagree with that. With the two wingers providing defensive cover you can then have a box to box midfielder burst forward without leaving the defense exposed, especially with a defensively minded holding midfielder (Kvist). Sidwell loves to get forward and in a 442 featuring Kaca/Dejagah he leaves the defense exposed. However 442 seems to accentuate his positives and allow us to conceal the negatives. Finally, the bank of four midfielders means less pressure is on the strikers to come back to help. We frequently found ourselves with Berba/Ruiz/Kaca all choosing not to track back (plus Sidwell pushing too far forward) and that left us overwhelmed in midfield. Rather than two strikers we have Holtby, who seems happy to play the 10 role combining attack and defense. This leaves our striker (Bent or Miroglou) free to do their thing up front. Hopefully our switch back to 442 will end some of the uncertainty in our team, providing a strong base in time for the arrival of Mitrogoal for the remainder of the year. Hopefully.
It was a very decisive act and the new formation, although not my favourite, is tailored to our needs and players. The only thing I'm confused about is what the problem is with Dejegah. Kaca, I can see, is not good enough defensively and lacks composure in the final 3rd. In a 4-3-3 he is a good outlet in that he has speed. Dejegah, for me, is one of our better players and has an obvious understanding with Reither. Is it that Dejegah just can't defend? I don't know this is something I'd really noticed before. Maybe Tunnicliffe's discipline is the reason. I get the feeling there is something in his personality that makes him unpopular behind the scenes. Nothing to base it on aside from his curious omission from the team at various points this season. What I like about him is the progress I've seen. When he joined I thought he looked pretty useless, but he's really come on and I think could continue to get better for us.
I understand the 442 formation and the points raised but I have felt that we were tweaking it slightly into a 451 with the adjustment like so: Stek Reither Heitinga Burn Riise Kvist Sidwell Tunnicliffe Holtby Richardson Bent (Mitroglu when ready) It allows Kvist and Sidwell to move about in front of the back 4 with Sidwell springing forward as required in the knowledge that Kvist is covering and the wingers can drop back and help provide defensive cover. Really a 451 with two players pulled back and slightly offset. Probably not as pronounced as shown above when seen on the pitch but withour Sky's graphics machine it's about the only way I can explain what I mean.
To be honest, that is more of a 4411 than 451, so I pretty much agree. I would expect the wingers to be more advanced at home against mid to lower level teams.
