At the risk of sounding like Brian the Blade 4-4-2

Tbh I thought we looked good with Cosgrove and cole upfront with mcatee just behind.

It's then how you want to set up behind that either 4 3 or 5 2

 

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!

Plus a great big strapping centre forward who puts the fear of God into defenders, and a nippy little striker who feeds off his scraps.

And a midfield hard man who takes no prisoners, alongside a creative genius who runs at the opposition all day long until they break down in tears...

God, I really miss football. Proper football, I mean, not the statistic-driven, strategic borefest they serve up these days. I'd rather watch chess.

 

Am not saying Cosgrove looked fantastic but just thought overall we looked alot more balanced and a threat going forward. Am still hoping Cosgrove will come good but he needs to show more as well.

 

Yes it is.

442 with Bazza on the wing.

Dodgson for Styles then the rest as you say.

Styles
Russell
Phillips
Mcatee
Watters
Jalo
Okeefe
Mccart
Marsh
And the rest fighting just to get on the bench

 

I play chess and have watched some very exciting chess

 

not sure I'd totally agree with your choice of players but I do relate to your 442 suggestion.
it might also help in NC stamping his own identity on the club rather than him just copying the MHL 352 formation.
we have the players to play 442 and whilst many would deem it outdated, it could play to our strengths.
Who the **** knows!!!

 

Me too. But I want to see us go full-on Mikhail Tal or Alireza Firouzja, because currently Collins is setting us up to play like Karpov!

 

We are not playing to our strengths at the moment. Cotter is not a defender. McAtee is a number 10. Williams is a full back, not a centre back IMO. Today's error highlighted that,

 

I'm still not convinced we have two centre backs good enough to play in a two.
We do need to utilise our players better though. Maybe with Connell back he could sit in front of that formation.

 

Said that for weeks.. but no that's out dated.. we must play the 'modern' way.
Id change your team tho.. Dodgeson
Left back.. mid field diamond with McAtee at the front of it and Cosgrove and Cole up top..
Oh and buy two center backs in Jan cos without em we ain't going nowhere
Our most consistent defender at the club this season, is the one on loan and not wanted by Rotherham. That must tell everyone the standard of the others..

 

Lads, we can choose to play with wingers or not - for entertainment reasons I'd prefer if we did. Nothing better than watching a good dribbler in full flight.

However, the rigid 4-4-2 system is as outdated as cheese and pineapple on cocktail sticks. No sane manager plays it for good reason. Take a look back at any Man Utd game from the 00's. It was a completely different game back then and 4-4-2 allows the opposition way too much time on the ball in the middle third.

 

4-4-2 has it's merits just like any other system. It isn't outdated at all, it's just unfashionable due to all football coaches coming through the same coaching systems and being taught in the same classrooms.

You say that 4-4-2 gives the opposition way too much time on the ball in the middle third. I'd argue that having 4 players in the middle third reduces the time the opposition has compared to 5-3-2 which only has 3 players in the middle third. However you could argue we play 3-5-2 not 5-3-2 in which case yes maybe they get more time in the middle third but isn't that preferential to giving the opposition acres of space in the final third from where they can score a goal?

There are pros and cons of all systems. 4 in midfield leaves you far less exposed to fast attacks down the flanks than 3 in midfield does which is something we've been caught out with many times this season alone. But 5-3-2 with wingbacks allows you to overload the opposition when you attack fast in numbers.

Both have merits but the claim that 4-4-2 is for dinosaurs and you'd have to be insane to play it is just wrong

 

We have players that could play 4-4-2 but that doesn’t mean we should.

Only playing two centre backs and JW at right back means whichever two we choose will lack pace. It also frightens me to death that we’d play any of them in a two to be honest.

Two central midfielders will be a challenge as well - a lot of opposition would dominate the ball and kill us.

4-4-2 might work with the wide players we have, if the opposition played 4-4-2 as well. They won’t, so we can’t. We’d be mullered in midfield against a lot of the division, the ‘wingers’ would end up narrow to help out, the full backs would often come up to support and we’d end up isolated with two or three back.

I’m not sure it’s the formation that’s the problem. They need a bit more freedom to play.

 

It's a combination of everything that's the problem.

Extremely weak defensive wingers who just don't go back and defend at all meaning that the 2 outer centre backs have to cover so much of the back line it's unbelievable. This leaves us extremely vulnerable to attacks into the corners and crosses into the box.

Defenders who aren't fast enough or skilled enough to do one job nevermind two.

A trio of midfielders who just don't get stuck in or put themselves about at all. If the ball is played perfectly to their feet they'll control the ball and play a nice pass but if it or an opposition player is a few yards to the side of them they aren't interested and that goes for Herbie Kane, Callum styles, Jon Russell and Adam Phillips too, basically all of them.

Strikers who have zero aerial presence and frankly don't work anywhere near hard enough to make space or bridge the gap between midfield and attack.

Our team isn't good enough because we have weakened it in basically every area of the pitch. Defenders aren't as good as last season, wingers are nowhere near as good, central midfield extremely poor without a fully fit Connell and upfront the loss of Norwood workrate cannot be underestimated.

Then you've got the manager. We've already established that the wingers don't and can't defend so why the f are we not hitting balls into the positions for them to run onto and whip balls in? Why instead is the default tactic to pass between the back three for 5 minutes giving the opposition ample time to get in positions to mark out players? We are at our best when we attack with pace because that's the one benefit that our formation brings. It has numbers and width in attack and we just don't use it.

The formation itself isn't to blame, it's the formation being played with poor players and using tactics that do not suit the formation. We have decided to use nails to attach something to the wall but Collins is giving the nails little taps with a toffee hammer in the hopes it will bore the nail into submission.

 

I'd be tempted to go with a 4231

Killip/Roberts

Williams De Gevigney Lopata Cadden

Connell Philips

Cotter Styles Mcatee

Cole

 

Playing with 2 goalies would definitely help us!

 

Well Brian ……..

 

nowt wrong with 2- 3- 5 if you ask me !

Seriously though for me , there's no such thing as an outdated system, you put your players in their natural position ( wide central etc) pick the best ones in each category then use the system that suits the majority best!