The Arrvial of Ben Arfa - Part 2

Now, I know everyone is bloody excited by Benny coming back, but the question is where do we play him? May be an easy question, but I propose the following line up:

Harper

Simpson Collo Willo Jose

Tiote

Barton Nolan Jonas


Ben Arfa
Ranger

Thinks that could work a treat and would ensure jose and jonas' link up remained. Ben Arfa milling around the edge of the pen area? mmmmmm..........

 

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remove ranger,stick best there and it looks pretty good.
From what i remembered of him playing for us is that he cut into the midfield alot so maybe be would be better as an AM.

 

Has that image not come out? It was pretty much the same as yours brigtoon, just moved them about a bit

 

Best/Ameobi up front until Ranger begins to score like he does for the reserves. Then Ranger in, definitely. Stronger and faster than Best by several miles.

 

^ Best is better on the deck though!

 

Yes, I suppose the CF spot is up for grabs, but for me it's got to be someone who can "put themselves about a bit"...this doenst mean an oaf of Geoff Horsefield proportions, but somebody who Ben Arfa could play off. So Ameobi/Ranger for me or a potential new signing...I would personally like to see Erin Derdiyok come to SJP

 

If we're going to have a loan striker then we need someone top notch eventually. The thought of Ben Arfa roaming around the penalty area sure seems nice though.

Do any of the top 4/5 teams ever go in a formation with a lone striker? I think it's always useful to look at the formations they use for such successful win/draw rates, and most (or even all) of them seem to either have two or three forwards. That's even with some of the top strikers available in the EPL. Not sure if a lone forward would give us the competitive attacking edge we need - even with Ben Arfa in an AM role.

Now, two quality strikers AND Ben Arfa just behind them. That would be a phenomenal offence.

 

We would be excellent with this system going forward (provided the two forwards are of good quality) but it does effectively mean dropping Nolan (and the goals he gets). If Ben Arfa's in the AM role you are suggesting a diamond? Barton has to stay on the right and Tiote's presence is of paramount importance. Jonas is not undroppable of course but in this system you need a left winger and Ben Arfa would be in the AM role.

 

Dropping Nolan = More mobility and better ''general'' GOOD CM play, but then we lack his goals, his leadership, his experience and his footballing brain!

Something like this COULD work very effectively(Nolan has to be dropped unfortunately) :

Harper
Simpson Colo Saylor/Willo Enrique
Tiote
Barton NEW WINGER/Guti
Ben Arfa
NEW ST NEW ST

TWO QUALITY STRIKERS ARE NEEDED! A combination of great work-rate, strength, height, power, directness and speed, agility, mobility and technique would be perfect! <INSERT NAMES>

 

I must say I'm enjoying this tactical chat, quite in depth considering some of the dross you get on here. I'm now of the opinion that we can afford to be more attacking than defensive considering the stability and consistency of our defence (Arsenal/Bolton aside) and hopefully rekindle some of the glory days under Kev. I think Pardew is on this wavelength too, which is a really positive thing IMO. As far as the 2 new strikers, as I said Derdiyok would be great for around 10-15million, and maybe someone from a relgated team; having seen C.Cole against West Brom he went up in my estimation and therefore could be ours for around 5-7million. Other than that, I still think Bendtner is going to be a TOP player if given game time, which he would get at SJP

 

Honestly, sometimes I think Nolan is the guy who we can't really budge. He's our captain and he scores goals, so we're pretty much stuck with him as a central midfielder. It makes the selection of formations slightly more difficult.

Something like this could work:

Simp---Tayls---Colo----Jose
------------Tiote-----------
-----Barton-------Nolan-----
----------Ben Arfa----------
--Mint striker---Mint striker-

Tiote handles the DM role. Ben Arfa can act primarily as an attacking midfielder and track back to support the central midfield when needed. Then we have two 'mint strikers' bashing in the goals along with Arfa (which we would have to buy in a hypothetical world of course). The strikers would more than likely have to be tactically minded and avoid the requirement of having two designated wingers to put in crosses all the time. Perhaps two traditional 'big target men' wouldn't work so well.

I guess this favours offence more and may weaken our defensive abilities, but if the goals are being banged in, then it isn't so bad.

The reason I think this could work is because we have ample talent to avoid the need to pack out the midfield in something like a normal 4-4-2. Tiote is a defensive rock, Barton is a creative genius, Ben Arfa appears to be a skilled playmaker/scorer and Nolan is good too. I'd say Nolan was the weaker player there, so he would have to step up his game.

 

With Tiote in the side we can be very attacking, because he is such a good DM, and our wingers Barton and Jonas track back and help out all the time, we can go forward more, but try not to compromise a good, working midfield too much.

------------------Harper


Simpson---Wiliamson--Colo---Enrique

------------------Tiote
Barton----Nolan----Ben Arfa----Jonas

-----------------Ranger

I like the 4-1-4-1 now that my previous favourite, the 4-2-3-1, is all the rage in formation world.

 

This would be better I think
Harper
Simpson Taylor Coloccini Enrique

Barton Tiote Ireland

Nolan Ben Arfa
Ameobi

Formation can easily change if we are struggling in the game