You are basically only taking 1/3 of the pitch into consideration when you are talking about this formation. If you use this formation you leave the fullbacks extremely exposed and the attack is also very, very narrow.
Lamela
- Thread starter bigpalacios
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Also bare in mind davies and walker will be right along side if not further up the pitch than bentaleb and dembele. This would not work for a counter attacking team but will work for a high pressing game. Moussa and bentaleb would help apply a LOT of energy and great defensive attribute further up the pitch where we want to win the ball.
I see what your saying, and truthfully I dont expect both dembele and betaleb to be in the first 11 anyway. I just think it could wourk if wanted.It would be similiar to how italy played in euro 2012 (im an azzurri) and if done correctly a team can work this way. The key is the 2 players either side of the holding/dm and they are the key to this formation. They need to be willing/physically strong and have good defensive atribute.
Its not something we will see anyways so.
Blake Griffin
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- Oct 3, 2011
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the most important part of the pitch, you're basically locking down central midfield. you're diverting the threat to the flanks which is preferable. liverpool played a 442 diamond which is very narrow but they make it work, you hurt teams by attacking their core, most would rather deal with whatever went wide. what's more defensively compact? 2 cms and 3 ams or 3 cms and 2 ams? it's not like the modern version of 4231 is packed with width anyway, the 3 behind the striker all want to move into the same space. off the ball(defensively) you have plenty of options in how to setup - i'll use sc's favs to demonstrate rather than use my personal choices:
simplest option would to simply do this -
alternatively you can do this -
or perhaps a little more complex but nothing out of the ordinary-
in all of the above, the centre of the pitch is locked down. of course the weakness is moved to the flanks but any formation has its weaknesses and it's better to be strong centrally than not. i'm not convinced by any of our current options to play aml or whatever you want to call it, so why play one just to conform to the "in" system. i'm not going to moan if we play 4231, i just think 4321 gets eriksen and lamela in their best positions and we make use of our multiple cm options.
michaelden
Knight of the Fat Fanny
- Aug 13, 2004
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Just watched the full Toronto game and I loved how Lamela gave Lennon a big smile when they did their high5s. I still have a soft spot for Lennon, even if I think he isn't the best anymore.
Syn_13
Fly On, Little Wing
- Jul 17, 2008
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It's really weird, but after that first half I was almost thinking about giving him another chance. I thought he linked up really well with Lamela and seemed to be playing with a lot more freedom, instead of hugging the touchline. He's agile and quick off the mark so could do well to get in between the lines with quick one-twos. The only issue is whether he's got the brain and technical ability to make it stick.
What I really liked was that we were playing a 4-2-3-1 in which the 3 behind Soldado were actually attacking mids, rather than 2 wingers and 1 attacking mid. It's a lot more fluid and provides the 1 up front with more support.
Kendall
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- Feb 8, 2007
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I think Lennon will continue to play a big part in Pochettino's plans. Yet another manager seemingly likes Lennon. I wonder why? They must all be complete mugs according to some on here.
danielneeds
Kick-Ass
- May 5, 2004
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They must just all itch after those 3-4 goals a season and 5-8 assists. At least he's consistent...
Kendall
Well-Known Member
- Feb 8, 2007
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Your stats are only 46.34% relevant here.
danielneeds
Kick-Ass
- May 5, 2004
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Yet I'm 100% sure that Lennon is bang average, and ain't getting better.
the most important part of the pitch, you're basically locking down central midfield. you're diverting the threat to the flanks which is preferable. liverpool played a 442 diamond which is very narrow but they make it work, you hurt teams by attacking their core, most would rather deal with whatever went wide. what's more defensively compact? 2 cms and 3 ams or 3 cms and 2 ams? it's not like the modern version of 4231 is packed with width anyway, the 3 behind the striker all want to move into the same space. off the ball(defensively) you have plenty of options in how to setup - i'll use sc's favs to demonstrate rather than use my personal choices:
simplest option would to simply do this -
alternatively you can do this -
or perhaps a little more complex but nothing out of the ordinary-
in all of the above, the centre of the pitch is locked down. of course the weakness is moved to the flanks but any formation has its weaknesses and it's better to be strong centrally than not. i'm not convinced by any of our current options to play aml or whatever you want to call it, so why play one just to conform to the "in" system. i'm not going to moan if we play 4231, i just think 4321 gets eriksen and lamela in their best positions and we make use of our multiple cm options.
Sure, in theory Eriksen and Lamela could cover either on the wings or drop back into midfield when we need to defend. But if they are deployed as #10's they'll be very central and far up the pitch when the transition from attack to defence happens. The fullbacks also need to be higher up the pitch to provide the width, leaving space behind.
In attack what you are describing would probably look something like this:
(I left Davies a bit further back since both fullbacks won't push super high at the same time.)
It leaves massive spaces in behind the fullbacks if possession is lost, it's very easy to counter attack against it. Imagine a ball played in behind Walker to a winger of the oposition, Kaboul has to come across to cover leaving a massive gap between him and Vertonghen, easy ball through the middle to a striker and he is clean on goal. If Vertonghen goes with the striker then he leaves a massive space behind Davies, a space the oposite winger can exploit.
A 4-2-3-1 is just a lot more balanced. In attack it could look something like this:
Lamela and Chadli provides width, Lamela has the freedom to go either inside or outside. The fullbacks can sit a bit deeper and not concede the same ammount of space and you still have a large number of players in the middle of the park. It also allows the fullbacks to naturally overload the wide spaces if they want to. And I don't see any square pegs in round holes if you line up like this in attack.
You can obviouly counter attack in a similar fashion against this line up but the difference is that Davies has less ground to cover to track the oposition winger on his side allowing Vertonghen to track the striker without leaving a really big gap.
I'm not saying that your idea is stupid and wouldn't work, it might, I just find it very hard to belive it would. You can probably pick large holes in my opinion and "tactics", I'm not claiming to be Mourinho or anything. I just don't see the benefit of playing in such a risky and narrow way.
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Kendall
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- Feb 8, 2007
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Well done on 100% missing the point, though.
shaqTHFC
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- Jan 28, 2011
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Didn't we use that christmas tree formation to good effect under Redknapp a little bit in the 11/12 season when Lennon was injured or when people weren't telling Redknapp to use 442. I seem to remember seeing the team line up:
Friedel
Walker Kaboul King Ekotto
Sandro Modric Parker
VDV Bale
Adebayor
We tried it a bit over Christmas (it worked well in that 2-0 win over Norwich) and used it to get out of that slump towards the end of the season I think. It isn't too dissimilar to:Walker Kaboul King Ekotto
Sandro Modric Parker
VDV Bale
Adebayor
Lloris
Walker Chiriches/Kaboul Vertonghen Davies
Sandro/Capoue Holtby Paulinho/Dembele
Lamela Eriksen
Soldado/Adebayor
I don't know who I'd pick in the middle of the park but that seems to best emulate the first team from 11/12.Walker Chiriches/Kaboul Vertonghen Davies
Sandro/Capoue Holtby Paulinho/Dembele
Lamela Eriksen
Soldado/Adebayor
Spurslove
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- Jul 6, 2012
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People on message boards obviously know these things. Managers who work closely with the players clearly, do not.
Same on all boards my friend.
danielneeds
Kick-Ass
- May 5, 2004
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Oh, yeah, it was an incredibly incisive one. You should develop it further in a term paper or something...
Kendall
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- Feb 8, 2007
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raf18
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- Aug 29, 2006
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coco_lamela11
Fifa 2014 @iago1424 no te enojes,es solo un juego... Fifa 2014... not get mad @iago1424 , it's only a game... #COYS # Tottenham
http://instagram.com/p/q52mfhiUOF/
Fifa 2014 @iago1424 no te enojes,es solo un juego... Fifa 2014... not get mad @iago1424 , it's only a game... #COYS # Tottenham
http://instagram.com/p/q52mfhiUOF/
Matthew
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- Aug 29, 2012
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sounds like he still uses google translate to write in english....
southlondonyiddo
My eyes have seen some of the glory..
- Nov 8, 2004
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Actually Tottenham were bang average before Lennon came along. (I know because I had to and will always watch them at WHL every frigging week He's actually bang well above average
I do admit that he hasn't turned into the player that I hoped he would, World Class,(and Sterling still could) but anyone who thinks Lennon has been and is just average needs to remember the good old average days! (Pre BMJ) 1992-2004
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