A lot of discussion over formations.

If you were the manager next season and we are still in the championship and we are going to return /lose/release / sell 7 players total and as such bring in 7 more players what formation would you mould the team in to based on how you have seen the other championship teams play this season? I think the club had a plan based on 442 throughout the club then signed a load of number 10s which suits a 4231 set up. We got promoted to the premier with Wilson playing 532 if I remember rightly Hecky flirted with 352 and 4141 and Jose loves a 433 or a 424. What way would suit this league best and how would you like to see our team play?

 

Dunno but we need to get the flanks sorted - we concede miles of territory, Sheff Utd basically passed the ball around our full backs/helping midfielders yesterday - I know that doesn't matter because McCarthy wasn't playing and he's the only full back that allows a cross in, but we look incredibly vulnerable down the wings, and it's not solely down to individual players.

 

Personally, I think flexibility is key. It would be good to have the personnel to be able to change formations to respond to the match situation, ideally without having to make a substitution.

 

I dont know either, what is the most popular formation in this league, I only concentrate on us so I'm not really observant enough to know how the like of Fulham, wolves villa play.

 

Do the other teams in this division have that flexibility or do they stick to a rigid style of play that works ie Cardiff and Warnock?

 

Having watched extended highlights it looks like Morais is trying to make us fluid - 4-5-1 out of possession , 4-3-3 with the ball - we just sit way too deep for me which isolates Moore and invites pressure.

 

We also need to work on our movement. I lost count of the number of times Yiadom, Fryers and Potts were looking to bring the ball forward but everyone ahead of them was static. It just put us under pressure time and time again.

By contrast, the 25 minutes that Sheff U got on top, their movement was really impressive. We couldn’t live with them. Luckily the change in formation with the Bradshaw substitution let us get back in the game as they looked like they could score on every attack.

 

Agree with all of that - their movement was far better than ours

 

Surely it depends on the players at the manager’s disposal? You pick a formation that gives the team the best chance of getting a positive result all things considered. I’m not particularly concerned about the actual formation, I’d just like us to play quick, attacking and attractive football irrespective of the system. That being said, if I had to hazard a guess based on what we’ve got now and with JM in charge then I presume that we’ll continue to see 4-3-3 or a slight variation of the same.

 

Yes it was. Fleck and Duffy are great little players

 

It's opinions I'm after really, if you had to choose a formation for the championship next season would you bring players in to go 442 or do you like Jose way of playing with 433, what formation are Fulham playing as they seem to be the most exciting and form team at present ?

 

If I had to pick then I really like 4-3-3 as a system or failing that a 4-2-3-1. Loathe 4-4-2, to be honest.

 

I’d go 4-3-3 or 5-3-2 I’m no great fan of the rigid 4-4-2.

 

Seems to be a mixed bag these days. Not so long ago it seemed everyone in top 2 divisions apart from us played 4-2-3-1. Quite a few, including Fulham, still play this but 4-3-3 seems to be becoming more popular as it’s so flexible. Villa play 4-1-4-1 whereas Wolves play 3-4-1-2. At the end of the day a formation’s only as good as the players in it.

Formations tend to be a lot more fluid these days. On Saturday we played 4-3-3 in possession, 4-5-1 without the ball but during the game we could push Moncur further forward to make it 4-2-3-1. Push him on higher to make it 4-4-1-1 (like we used to do with Butterfield) or stick him wide and move McBurnie up top to make it 4-4-2. Only problem is I don’t think Gardner and Potts are a strong enough centre 2 in midfield.

 

I like the flexibility of 4-3-3. We just need to improve our movement off the ball and give better support to Moore.

 

I'd love to make the 532 work personally 2 good fit wing backs and it's got everything and gives 2 central strikers and 2 attacking midfielders and 1 defensive mid, I also think with pinnock we would have the 3rd ball playing defender.

 

Ye Fleck was dropping off into pockets to pick up the ball ,he caused us a lot of problems for twenty minutes , it's hard to hold a defensive line if we don't press the ball, the lads looked tired during that period , but they done brilliant to stick together and turn it around

 

It’s solely dependent on what the owners intention is.

If they don’t invest in championship ready players then we have to get players and have a formation which makes us difficult to beat, so it will be more of the same 4-5-1 // 4-1-2-3 // 4-3-3 etc.