24 Apr 2018 14:16:13
Going to go on a little rant here so bear with me ;) . The formation that we play absolutely stinks. Last night we played a 4-3-3 formation with the midfield seemingly being a flat 3 consisting of 2 defensive midfielders, Gana and Schneiderlin, and an ever waning (pun) Rooney who can't even run to the shop anymore.

With Gana and Scneiderlin both being defensive, this already sets us off on the back foot. Neither have an ounce of creativity about them and are both decent tacklers so we're pretty much playing 2 of the same player. Because they like to sit back and shirk responsibility it's giving the other team the freedom to press forward without fear of being hounded. Couple this with a lathargic Rooney who can no longer track back and is agonisly slow on the break it is clear to see why we lose almost every game in midfield. Now because of this situation when we get the ball in our half the other team finds it very easy to prevent us from playing our way out of danger because they have squeezed the gaps down between defence and midfield, they know we don't possess the quality to engineer a move out so we divert to long ball tactics either to Tosun or the wings which very rarely pay off because the midfield has been cut off and there is noone there to win second balls.

Playing a midfield 3 with 2 defensive midfielders has never worked and never will work. Is it so difficult to see that playing one defensive midfielder is sufficient? By playing the way we do we are allowing the oponent to force our hand instead of giving them something to think about. Is Allardyce's skull that thick that it's impossible for him to even think that just one, maybe 2 attacking midfielders will push the oponent further up the pitch leaving more space in the midfield to create chances for our forward line?

Some may say that we don't have the players to play an attacking system but that's utter b*llocks. The fact is, we don't have the players to play the system we're using now! With the players we have available now I'd love to see a 4-1-4-1 formation for the remaining games. Same backline as usual. Gana at defensive mid, Davies at CM with instructions to track back to provide extra cover when needs be. Rooney also at CM, personally with a fully fit squad I wouldn't pick him but it's all we have at the moment. Give him the instructions to drift between their midfield and defensive line where he'd be availble to pick up balls in space and influence the game further up the pitch with his passing ability. I'm unsure whether it'd be best to play 2 wide attacking midfielders or wingers. Both could be tried out… Nevertheless i'd play Walcott on the right hand side and Vlasic on the left, both with instructions to have the freedom to roam inside in order to provide closer support for Tosun up front.

Well that's my 2 pennies worth anyway.

1.) 24 Apr 2018
24 Apr 2018 15:12:57
I agree that we are losing mid field battles by picking 2 CDMs. But the notion of there not being the quality to have a more attack minded midfield isn’t b*llocks at all. It’s reality. Which is why I don’t fancy your attacking midfield solution because your using Rooney in a role that requires legs which we both agree he’s not got. Personally I’d never start him. Vlasic hasn’t shown he’s good enough yet. Walcott has been inconsistent so far (might be down to SA tactics tbf) . So I get that his midfield is more damage limitation than anything I’d like to see. I’m afraid it’s true that there isn’t anything good enough in the squad and this desperately needs fixing in the summer.

I don’t like it. I’d prefer to attack. But in the absence of quality I’m apathetic to the current set up sadly.

2.) 24 Apr 2018
24 Apr 2018 15:29:29
The game I watched 'Gladwys' saw a No 17 cover just about every blade of grass with our No 2 in the holding DM role. In fact Gana was even to be seen up with the attack further forward than Rooney. I too would like to see us play Klaasen etc now that we are safe but marry that against prize money for finishing as high as possible and I am afraid Football is a business. I do not believe that Sam can take us forward on the one hand but on the other I am old School and would take a 1-0 win playing boring football rather than losing 1-0 playing attacking pretty pretty football.

3.) 24 Apr 2018
24 Apr 2018 15:36:11
I agree Ace, which is why I said Rooney wouldn't get into the team if we had a fully fit squad… If Sigurdsson and McCarthy were fit I'd have them in the team over Vlasic and Rooney but as I mentioned, I was working with what we have available. If you don't instil the confidence into the players that they can attack and create chances instead of saying they're not good enough to play that type of football then what's the point of even playing?