- Aug 23, 2004
- 15,035
- 126
One of his best performances for me was after we switched to 4-5-1 against Chelsea and he was mopping up effectively behind Jenas and Ghaly whilst they took on (and largely took out) Essien and Lumpard.
What we need is squad discipline and player defined roles for the players in our team. We should abandon the fluid style of football in exchange for a more role orientated team.
As everyone knows, JJ is a great athelete. We should instruct him to chase the ball all over the pitch and nip at players in the way Davids did.
We should pair him with Ghaly, another versatile midfielder to pair up with him in the middle. Although Malbranque can also play this role, he doesn't have the required energy levels to run up and down the pitch on a constantly. (Although I'm sure Ghaly probably can't either. He is a box-to-box midfielder and at Feyenoord he did actually run). Both players can pass the ball, tackle and are balanced.
Naturally, I'd have Zokora mopping up in defensive midfield. Criticize him all you want, he has all the attributes to succeed there. The rest of our midfield are fantastic passers of the long ball, Zokora's pretty decent too. I think he's not sure as when to pass the ball which could be an adaption issue, or he might just be rather stupid. Either way, with two great passing midfielder in front of him a short pass is adequate. Although it could slow down our tempo. TT could adapt to this role, although Zokora can potentially excel at it.
One of the great things about our midfield is there all versatile enough to swap roles if one gets out of position. I don't think we're actually using this to our advantage presently.
With three in midfield, that leaves three up front. I'm not sure if Berbatov's strong enough yet to play that role but he's decent in the air and he can create chances with the ball at his feet. Without another player to feed through we may struggle to find goals, but we're hardly banging them in at the moment. Saying this, the left and right sided attackers would support as would Jenas.
On the right you could play Lennon.
On the left I'd play Lee or Defoe. Both have the pace to cause damage and both can beat a man.
I'd like to see us try this tactic once. It could be beneficial to the team to have a few other tactical options.
Chimbonda Rocha Dawson Ekotto
Zokora/Tainio
Lennon Ghaly/Malbranque Jenas Lee / Defoe
Berbatov/ Mido
Congested in defense, options in attack. Perfect for tough away games. Does seem a bit 1-0 though. Strong midfield etc.
When do I become Spurs manager?