The next fortnight (and a day)-Time to switch to 4-3-3?

Over the next 15 days we have four games which, in my humble opinion, could actually show if we are going to do owt this season.

1)First game up is Swansea at home. Realistically at home we should be wanting to beat Swansea if we are, as Pardew likes to state, a potential top 4 team. Tiote will be back which should hopefully break up Swansea's passing game and I would like to think we can do some damage against Swansea's defence who have failed to keep a clean sheet in 9 games. However, I worry how our defence will cope with things like Dyer's pace and their slick movement.

2)Maritimo (home)-Play second string and Colo, win this one hopefully and qualify for next stage.

3)Southampton (away)-Southampton's defence has looked suspect but I think in parts they have been unlucky. A team challenging for Europe should be beating a team who got promoted, especially one who have failed to win; although I always find we struggle against teams who have just got promoted (Derby, Blackpool, Hull, Reading spring to mind).

4)Stoke (away)-Last season this was one of my favourite games. I thought it showed what we really could do as a team and began to silence some critics who thought we were just getting flukey/it wouldn't last. Stoke is always a difficult place to go and if we stick to our long ball tactics we will almost certainly lose to Stoke who will dominate us in this department.

Ignoring the Maritimo game, which should be a formality, we should aim for around 7-9 points. If we play 4-3-3 I think we will be able to get near to max points from these three. As we all know it allows us to play good football that should break down weak defences in Swansea and Southampton and should prevent Stoke from playing route one.

Is anybody an eternal optimist like me and thinks we will switch to 4-3-3 and win or do you reckon Pardew will stick with 4-4-2 and we might get lucky and grind out some wins.

p.s. this is my first post so take it easy on me.

 

Pardew has, if I recall correctly, used a 4-2-3-1 system in a couple of Europa games so far this season and it's worked well, so I can't fathom why he's not trying it in the League. Anything has to be an improvement on the bore-4-2 we're playing at the moment. Maybe Jonas' injury will force his hand and we'll get to see Tiote paired with Anita/Bigi as a holding two with Cabaye ahead of them, but I'm not holding my breath for it.

As much as 7-9 points is what we need, I feel 4-6 is much more realistic given our current form and the recent spate of injuries.

You say the Maritimo game is a formality, but this is, in my opinion, the one we're most likely to screw up on as they've not really got anything to lose. The flip side is that they could all be overwhelmed by SJP and we'll roll them over 4-0.

 

I like the flip side.

 

Unfortunately I think Jonas' injury is more likely to result in us sticking with 4-4-2. Last season Pardew used to push Jonas into the middle for 4-3-3 and I think he's more likely to pick Obertan and stick with the drab 4-4-2. We could slip up against Maritimo but I don't think we will, We've looked alright at home in the Europa and Maritimo are the weakest team. Sadly I think we will probably end up with 4-6, which combined with a difficult Christmas period will result us leaving too much to do to push on for Europe.

 

I agree with Longi (welcome) that the next few matches, especially the league ones, will determine whether there will be anything to shout about come the end of the season.

I also agree with Pulp about why Pardew isn't playing 4-3-3 in the league when it seems to me everyone on this forum thinks it would be a better idea!

The Swansea match for me is key to the season. After the defeat at home last weekend everyone will be expecting an immeasurable improvement. If we don't win this and win it in a way that gives confidence that the team are together then I think we have to accept it is likely to be a bit of a non-season for us.

 

We beat villa 4-1 it's reading and QPR who haven't won, however QPR may have beaten us by the time we play you!

 

My mistake, apologies.

 

The West Ham match was an absolute joke, playing long ball with the smallest midfield in the entirety of football ... I came away from the game feeling like a relative of Jimmy Savile. Demba Ba, Ben Arfa and Davide Santon aside, I thought the team were dreadful, the worst offender being Cabaye. First touch = ****, passing 3 yards = misplaced ****, and tackling = f-ing ****... There was so much **** on the field I think it would be a valid question to pose to Pardew whether the players mistook St James' for a massive toilet.

Pardew got the tactics very wrong overall, and the players didn't cover-up for him this time by putting in one of the lousiest performances I hope I ever have to witness. However, I'm not going to attribute the season's poor performance to the 4-4-2, because that comes down to really poor individual and collective performances, as on the whole they have not been up to the standard of last season. 4-4-2 doesn't stop someone making an easy pass, having a good first touch, or putting a decent ball in the box. The motivation and togetherness of the group is under question here, and I think it's more than obvious we have some weak mentalities in the squad, rather than weak physical ability.

 

Welcome on board my friend.

 

What I would prefer is to see Anita and Tiote paired as 2 x DM, with almost zonal left and right sided defensive responsibilities to allow the full backs and Cabaye more freedom. In turn, this should support Ben Arfa on the right of a front 3-ish and Ba on the left to be a bit more able to drop inside - Benny to drop deeper to collect the ball, Ba to push on to form a front 2 with Cisse. Jonas' injury might help this cause, as for all his industry he has never really excelled in being a creator of goals, so if you have him and Santon you have two left backs and no outlet on the left hand side.

It's not a lot of tweaking, it's really just the introduction of two defensive midfleiders instead of Cabaye/Tiote.

 

Great Saville joke for starters.

You're right about formations etc too. Its simply not an excuse for some things in football. Players win games most of the time, not formations. I don't doubt their effort but the mental application is not right at present. I thought Cabaye was shocking. Only thing I disagree with is Ben Arfa. I though he was shocking and has lost sight of why he improved early season. He is playing for himself again and his decision making was poor. He needs to get back to using his teammates. Not all the time because his mazy runs are a must, you can't do it every time though.

We can't blame everything on the manager. He clearly doesn't want Krul and Willo ****ting themselves and launching it long. His body language on Sunday told us that. The players need to have a long hard look in the mirror and question themselves.

 

My team for what it is worth would be:

Krul
Simpson
Santon
Tavernier or Streete (I think Willo is hurting us)
Saylor
Tiote
Bigi
Cabaye
Benni
Sammy
Ba

433

 

I think the team above but Cisse instead of Sammy. I think the the very reason Cisse looks awful is because we are not playing in and around the box. Having both Tiote and Bigi in the middle will surely allow Cabaye to get forward more and get the ball into Ba and Cisse.

Another problem IMO, is Ba not playing Cisse in. He needs to pack it in. Ba has been one of our best players, if not THE best so far, but he has to drop into the middle to get the ball which is no good. There have been a few times he's took it on himself instead of playing Cisse in.

 

Interesting above, there's points which touch on real issues. Ba is not really a provider, he's a single minded striker. Last season, he dropped wide but wasn't really involved in assists, he was just the known threat who took the attention away from Cisse, who in turn thrived on finding space. This year, the league knows both of them, so when putting a man on Ba, they don't divert from Cisse. With Ben Arfa, they just push him as far back to get the ball as possible knowing he can't beat an entire team. At least not every game...

Worth noting that Tavernier is a right back, he only plays at CB in the reserves because it's a position that requires more experience, which he has. Good is surely an option out there, Streete's still very young for a CB. However, the chance of either replacing Willo is zilch.

I must confess, though, I don't quite understand what reasons we have for not adopting the 4-2-3-1 style when we've only really got players for that. We don't have 4-4-2 players - Gutierrez is not a threat, Benny not a right midfielder, and there's more often than not 3 in the middle for the opposition so we invariably end up over-run.

One point, though - on paper, our strongest XI has never played together once this season as opposed to (injury to Saylor aside) last season when the usual suspects managed some 20-odd league matches.

 

I don't care if Pardew adopts a Ballroom Dancing figure of Eight formation, so long as we start performing and playing with some belief and verve.
Truth is we are disjointed and misfiring, worst still l don't think Pards knows why, therefore it suggests a solution is not obvious. The injury to Jonas will force him to make changes, who knows maybe he will stumble across the right formula . Something needs to change and fast.

 

You can't say that, you may jinx my weeekend predictions, ........there's big money at stake!

I've got Southampton for a win


Welcome to the forum Longi!

 

Don't worry, I'll give you your 25p back if your bet goes down.

 

If it isn't broken it doesn't need to be fixed, if it isn't working it needs to be changed and pretty damn quick.

 

Ahem..... Is that the 25p you borrowed from me LTF, she said she had lost her bus fare and l took pity on her.
Surely she has not squandered it in a den of iniquity. Lol

 

What are these dens of iniquity that you speak of? I'm much too young and innocent to know of them.