What's your ideal tactic for us to employ?

The basic system used by Ismael was 3-4-3, the same basic system as England used last night. Ismael used a forward press until it became obvious to most coaches that the forward press quickly became redundant if you did not play out from the back and you got the ball forward quickly. England did not really press.

So what do I like about the 3-4-3 system, and what do i dislike. Well, I like the back 3 and wing backs, but it is interesting to note that Southgate concluded what Ismael belatedly also concluded. At least one of that back 3 must be quick, and sadly, that rules Sollbauer out of that system. He is just not quick enough. The width in the system comes from the wing backs, but whilst Ismael did not employ pace ahead of them, Southgate did. Why is that? Well in transition, you need to have players wide and in space. That gives the defenders someone in space and in a low risk position for their first defensive clearance. Once the clearance has been brought under control, and the first pass made, the wide players must get forward to support the central striker as quickly as they can, and that is why the wide forwards need pace. Ismael did not have forward players with pace, so it was pointless asking them to take up wide positions for transitions. That may be why our clearances were long ones, hit beyond those forward players. It was those long clearances that were the first phase of our transitions from defense to attack, those long clearances that set up our forward press, but only if our opponent was complicit in our plan.

What I do not like about 3-4-3 is the need for 2 defensive midfield players to cover in front of the back 3. It goes against the idea that midfield is the engine room, and the midfield players the directors of our attacking effort. I think back to Neil Redfearn, and I wonder whether he would have been happy to act purely as a runner, a closer down and a brake on the opposition's momentum, because that is the role of the 2 central players in a midfield 4. My other complaint about 3-4-3 is that although there a notionally 3 forward players, none of them are close enough to act in concert, as used to happen with the big guy and the small guy of a front 2 in 4-4-2. Instead, the central player in the 3 is isolated and will have 2 markers for most of the time. Even when we face a back 3, and 2 of the 3 defenders are required to mark our wide players, a midfield player will drop deeper to mark our central attacker, front and back.

It is all well and good defining system that you would like us to play. In the end, we must have players suited to any potential system. Otherwise, they are fish out of water and the efficiency of any proposed system will suffer.

 

I'd like to see us play 4-3-3.

Collins
J. Williams, Helik, Andersen, Kitching
Brittain, Palmer, Styles,
Cole, Woodrow, Morris

Easily converts to 4-5-1 with Cole and Morris dropping back and Brittain and Styles tucking in.
Easily converts to wing backs with either Styles dropping back to LWB and all the defenders shuffling across until Williams is RWB, or Brittain dropping into RWB and Kitching moving to LWB.
Also gives the option of Woodrow dropping a bit deeper to a 10 role and Cole and Morris being ahead of him.
Either wide forward can drop back to midfield and give us 4-4-2.

In fairness to Struber, he did something similar with the diamond, except it was the defensive point of the diamond that tended to drop back into a 3, or one of the centre midfielders would move wide into a wingback position and that sided fullback would move into a 3.

 

I’d like us to continue to play as we have, but with a slightly more cultured hoof.

I suspect it won’t be quite so aimless at West Brom this season.

 

I don't mind working the ball through the thirds so long as we're not passing it about between our defenders around the penalty area inviting pressure.

 

There’ll never be another Socrates. My hero..

 

What a team that was. Best football I've ever seen played. I was gutted that afternoon Paolo Rossi put them out.

 

Socrates was also a doctor of Medicine, political activist & played in a rock band. & he once turned out in Barnsley testimonial..

 

Who's testimonial Mr C? That one's slipped my memory.

 

I think I’m confused about that. It did have something to do with us?
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...he-elder-is-famous-for-15-minutes-534069.html

 

Ah yes. I remember him playing for Garforth. Bizarre.
I was lucky enough to see Falcao and Cerezo playing for Roma and Eder for Atletico Mineiro in a double header pre season tournament in Berne that summer of 82.
Where does the time go?

 

The football I’ve enjoyed most in my time watching Barnsley was under Daniel Stendel. High press, intense, quick, attacking football. I just wish he was given a proper chance in this league by keeping that team together.

 

3-5-2 - Bullock in the hole behind Hendrie and Wilkinson.

 

Bullock. Underrated.

 

Outscore opposition

 

3-5-2 - the Barnsley formation and style of my youth - proper wingbacks, big and little strikers, a snarling defensive midfielder and a long range thunderblaster in the middle

GK - Collins
DCs - Helik, Anderson, and Sibbick
RWB - Brittain
LWB - Odour
MCs - Palmer, Kane, Styles
ST - Woodrow
CF - Morris

 

Decent side, looking fwd to watching em