modric and the formation

[van_Pommel]

I'm sorry but I dont see how Modric can be clased as a DM, the best part of his game is his creativity, little inticate passes and defence splitting balls as well as getting forward to support the strikers. Now I know you will say Carrick's best atributes were passing etc but they are 2 very different players and imo there is no way in the world Modric will ever be used as a DM....

I can actually see similarities between Modric and Pirlo. Pirlo was an attacking midfielder in his early years much like Modric. Considering hardly any teams in the Premiership play with a player 'in the hole', I can see Modric being moulded in the same way Pirlo was.

The only way to play Modric in an attacking midfield postion would be on the wing, or to drop Keane and play him behind Berba. However playing him behind Berba would mean he has alot less time on the ball. If we play him in a deep lying playmaker role like Carrick used to, he'll have plenty of time to pick out passes and make late runs into the box.

 

[Woody10]

-------------------------Robinson------------------------

--Hutton-------Woodgate-----------King-----------Bale---

-------------------------Velosa!?!?!-----------------------

-------------------Jenas-----------Modric----------------

------Lennon----------------------------------Keane-----

-------------------------Berbatov------------------------

Subs:GK-Gunter-Dawson-Zakora-Huddlestone-Santos-Bent

 

[SpurSince57]

Fairly sure Bale will be first choice too. Let's face it we had Chimbonda playing right back and he hasn't got a clue how to defend. I'm still waiting for him to learn how to stop a cross coming into the box. We haven't yet seen Bale in a stable team, the fact that everything in front of him was a complete shambles last year when he played didn't help. If he just keeps his defending simple, i.e. stop the cross coming in and keep the defensive shape I'll be more than happy. Thats all I want from our fullbacks, they don't need to be Paolo Maldini. Just stop the cross anyway possible.

I'd just like to add to that by playing with a DM will help massively, as the number of times at the beginning of last season teams were able to play in the space between our midfield and defence was silly. At times throughout the season when we pushed the same can be said. I still see us playing 442 'SSDP' formation, with a new keeper, new DM and possibly new RM.

I thought we'd established that Chimbonda wasn't a LB after Jol tried him there against Sevilla; in fact the whole LB thing last season was pretty bizarre, with Ramos trying just about anyone but Lee there. Weird.

I don't think we spent £2m on Gilberto just so he could fill in for half a season—and we completely wasted our money if we did. Bale is going to need time to develop into the role, and I just don't see him starting to really fulfil his potential for another year or two; it's positively unfair on the kid to expect him to be a world-beater, and it will only take him getting skinned two or three times for the idiots to turn on him. And don't say that won't happen, because it will. The prospect of a left side of Bale and dos Santos (or Capel, if we get him) might be mouth-watering going forward, but defensively it scares the wits out of me.

Dan thought we'd got Gilberto in with a view to his playing a Nayim-type role, and I think that's it in a nutshell. I can easily see him and Bale alternating at LB next season, and games in which one will play LB and the other LM.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

I thought we'd established that Chimbonda wasn't a LB after Jol tried him there against Sevilla; in fact the whole LB thing last season was pretty bizarre, with Ramos trying just about anyone but Lee there. Weird.

I don't think we spent £2m on Gilberto just so he could fill in for half a season—and we completely wasted our money if we did. Bale is going to need time to develop into the role, and I just don't see him starting to really fulfil his potential for another year or two; it's positively unfair on the kid to expect him to be a world-beater, and it will only take him getting skinned two or three times for the idiots to turn on him. And don't say that won't happen, because it will. The prospect of a left side of Bale and dos Santos (or Capel, if we get him) might be mouth-watering going forward, but defensively it scares the wits out of me.

Dan thought we'd got Gilberto in with a view to his playing a Nayim-type role, and I think that's it in a nutshell. I can easily see him and Bale alternating at LB next season, and games in which one will play LB and the other LM.

I quite agree Chimbs isn't a left back. I was actually talking about his defending as right back though which was possibly even worse than when he was playing on the left. He defended far worse at RB than I ever saw Bale defending.

Also I like Gilberto too, I think he'll see plenty of time next season, just I think Bale would be ahead of him in the pecking order. I could be entirely wrong, I very often am.

My major hope is that we will defend much better as a team with a preseason of hard work and starting the season with the correct philosophy. I would hope we would be more compact, try to stop the opposition playing in dangerous areas, close the gap between the defence and midfield (which we started doing more effectively but could still improve) win more second balls, track players better etc. That for me is far more important than one players defence ability versus another (i.e. Bale v Gilberto and I'm not sure the difference is all that much, although I do like having the experienced player too).

I expect Modric when we have the ball will be predominantly in the opposition half, pulling the strings, sliding balls out to the wide players or calving the backline open with through balls. I think defensively he will work hard and come back into the centre of the park to form a very compact central midfield.

The pairing of the midfield will be very important and they need to be able to work better as a partnership than we have done last season. If one wins the ball the other has to be available for a pass or to win the second ball and as such be the basis on which we counter from. When with the ball I expect to see some good interchange play especially with the technical ability we seem to be building.

 

[SpurSince57]

What happened to Chimbonda's defending I have no idea. For the first half to two-thirds of 2006-2007 he was very impressive, and then he went progressively to pot. Last season he started where he left off, losing Chopra. If someone could be arsed to anayse all the goals we conceded last season I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that he made more errors that led to one or forced either keeper to make an unnecessary save than anyone else.

Of course, if we get a DM who can really do the job it will make Bale's learning curve a lot less steep.

 

[double0]

I predict that Gareth Bale will have a similar path to that of Gareth Barry and one day end up as a central midfielder.

At the moment though I see him more as a left midfield player- hope we don't buy Capel and have Bale and Dos Santos as options on the left. With Assou-Ekotto and Gilberto as options for Left back.

 

[ohh_when_the_spurs]

I can actually see similarities between Modric and Pirlo. Pirlo was an attacking midfielder in his early years much like Modric. Considering hardly any teams in the Premiership play with a player 'in the hole', I can see Modric being moulded in the same way Pirlo was.

The only way to play Modric in an attacking midfield postion would be on the wing, or to drop Keane and play him behind Berba. However playing him behind Berba would mean he has alot less time on the ball. If we play him in a deep lying playmaker role like Carrick used to, he'll have plenty of time to pick out passes and make late runs into the box.

:clap: finally someone on my wavelength, as i said in my original post HE WILL HAVE A LICENCE TO ROAM. zoko and jj can keep it tight there aswell.

if you play....

.......teemu

lennon....modric.....dos santos

..keane ....berbs......

away at chelsea, utd or the scum even pool we would get over run....each player is 5 ft fuck all to boot


...................modric...................
..........(licence to roam yer)

.........zokora............jenas.............
...........(both have the legs to
............run 90 mins)

lennon................................dos santos/keane

....................berbatov

solid as a rock, those 3 in the middle wiil cancel out modric/santos being shite at defending and give them the licence to stay up for a quick counter attack ....ramo's style if im not mistaken

mil1lion i appriciate you disagree with me but to say i know nothing about the game when you dont know me from adam is complete stupidity, i bet you wouldnt say that if we were face to face so dont say it behind the safety of your pc screen.

 

[DJS]

I'd never agree to splitting up the Berbs - Keano partnership. I'll like to see us line up like this against Boro (and away games). I'm also including further people I'd like to sign.

Gomes

Hutton Woodgate King Bale

Bentley Jenas Albelda Modric

Berbatov Keane


My preferred line-up (mainly for home games). Reckon if we could get Bentley he'll offer a more physical presence on the right and an experience head in Albelda would provide good defensive shielding and leadership in midfield. Modric can them sit deep when we're under the cosh and push forward when we're in control and on attack.

Gomes

Hutton Woodgate King Bale

Bentley Albelda Modric Dos Santos

Berbatov Keane

 

[mil1lion]

mil1lion i appriciate you disagree with me but to say i know nothing about the game when you dont know me from adam is complete stupidity, i bet you wouldnt say that if we were face to face so dont say it behind the safety of your pc screen.

Well i wouldn't have a problem saying anything to anybody's face, so dont worry about that sir. We obviously have very different opinions on the matter but its no big deal. Sometimes when people are passionate with their opinions, it gets a little heated on these here forums. No big deal. I just dont think Zokora and Jenas are good enough for the 1st team myself. And i think Modric is at his best alongside a true defensive midfielder. And i would always play Keane and Berbatov up front.

I hope i'm right in saying that, despite our disagreement on formation etc, we trust Juande Ramos to get it right.

 

[Locotoro]

Fantasy formations are all very well, and good fun, but nothing to do with what we're actually likely to see in practice.

When Ramos took over at Sevilla one of his first acts was to switch to 4-4-2 from Caparros' 3-5-2. This is well-documented. He's shown no inclination to depart from 4-4-2 as a starting formation since.

Playing a single striker up front means that two of the others will be pissed-off rather than one. It won't happen.

The buzzword 4-2-3-1 is a fancy way of saying 4-5-1. It's a matter of semantics.

We don't know how Modric will be used until we have the rest of the midfield sorted. Discussion is therefore pretty pointless.

Some might say that 4-2-3-1 is a fancy way of saying 4-4-2 with the striker dropping deep and two holding players.

 

[ohh_when_the_spurs]

Well i wouldn't have a problem saying anything to anybody's face, so dont worry about that sir. We obviously have very different opinions on the matter but its no big deal. Sometimes when people are passionate with their opinions, it gets a little heated on these here forums. No big deal. I just dont think Zokora and Jenas are good enough for the 1st team myself. And i think Modric is at his best alongside a true defensive midfielder. And i would always play Keane and Berbatov up front.

I hope i'm right in saying that, despite our disagreement on formation etc, we trust Juande Ramos to get it right.

yes indeed in ramos we trust, he definatly knows more about the game than me an you put together.

p.s i dont play fifa manager or whatever crap you said, im a pro evo man and proud to say i was rank 1832 in the WORLD, and you say i know nothing about the game eh?:rofl:

 

[ohh_when_the_spurs]

ohh pps il call that a truce

n ppps sorry about the bad rep

 

[Locotoro]

ramos favoured this sort of line up at seville


--------------------gk--------------------

RB .............CB................. CB................LB
| .........................................................|
|............... DM.............. DM.................. |
|......................................................... |
v...... RW.................................. LW........v
..........|....................................|...........
..........|..........SS......................|...........
..........v................. CF.............. v...........



don't knowif he'll apply this to us though:shrug:

this is exactly the way I believe Ramos will line up. I think Modric will play as a CM rather than a DM as he seems disciplined enough not to let the team lose shape when defending, but in essence its about right.



--------------------gk--------------------

AH................JW................ LK................GS
| ..........................................................|
|............... dm.............<--LM-->.............|
|..................................... |...................|
v...... AL........................... v......GDS........v
..........|.....................................|...........
..........|..........RK........................|...........
..........v................. DB............... v...........

 

[Locotoro]

yes indeed in ramos we trust, he definatly knows more about the game than me an you put together.

p.s i dont play fifa manager or whatever crap you said, im a pro evo man and proud to say i was rank 1832 in the WORLD, and you say i know nothing about the game eh?:rofl:

awww thats really cute.....





can I have a hug?




please?

 

[ohh_when_the_spurs]

this is exactly the way I believe Ramos will line up. I think Modric will play as a CM rather than a DM as he seems disciplined enough not to let the team lose shape when defending, but in essence its about right.



--------------------gk--------------------

AH................JW................ LK................GS
| ..........................................................|
|............... dm.............<--LM-->.............|
|..................................... |...................|
v...... AL........................... v......GDS........v
..........|.....................................|...........
..........|..........RK........................|...........
..........v................. DB............... v...........

i agree with this formation if the dm we get is a brick shithouse lmo lm, al,gds are all 5 ft fuck all as i said before, if were playing a physical team i.e the whole premiership bar arsenal we'd get battered off the park.wed win jack shit in the air and i see jenas as a part of ramos's starting 11

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

this is exactly the way I believe Ramos will line up. I think Modric will play as a CM rather than a DM as he seems disciplined enough not to let the team lose shape when defending, but in essence its about right.



--------------------gk--------------------

AH................JW................ LK................GS
| ..........................................................|
|............... dm.............<--LM-->.............|
|..................................... |...................|
v...... AL........................... v......GDS........v
..........|.....................................|...........
..........|..........RK........................|...........
..........v................. DB............... v...........

Yes!

The Split Spanish Double Pivot!!!

I don't think it will be a problem defensively to be honest LM is disciplined enough positionally to allow us to play a compact midfield and as long as the Pivot play close enough defensively and the defense pushes up to cut out the space between the defence and the midfield where we were exposed last season it will be fine.

In any case if rumours are to be believed we might well be seeing Bentley on the right who isn't small and the rest of our team aren't exactly midgets. Not quite sure how being short means you get battered off the pitch anyway. Teams that pass the ball play it along the ground, teams that play physical hoof it and that is down to the defence versus a big strong target man most of the time. I am sure Wooders and Ledders are big enough to cope and if the central midfielder partnership are there to get the lose balls we will be lethal on the counter with Modrics slide rule passing and the creativity we will have either flank not to mention the Berba Keane partnership.

 

[ohh_when_the_spurs]

awww thats really cute.....





can I have a hug?




please?

:hand: wow easy there!

 

[ohh_when_the_spurs]

Yes!

The Split Spanish Double Pivot!!!

I don't think it will be a problem defensively to be honest LM is disciplined enough positionally to allow us to play a compact midfield and as long as the Pivot play close enough defensively and the defense pushes up to cut out the space between the defence and the midfield where we were exposed last season it will be fine.

In any case if rumours are to be believed we might well be seeing Bentley on the right who isn't small and the rest of our team aren't exactly midgets. Not quite sure how being short means you get battered off the pitch anyway. Teams that pass the ball play it along the ground, teams that play physical hoof it and that is down to the defence versus a big strong target man most of the time. I am sure Wooders and Ledders are big enough to cope and if the central midfielder partnership are there to get the lose balls we will be lethal on the counter with Modrics slide rule passing and the creativity we will have either flank not to mention the Berba Keane partnership.

could you see lm, dgs, al winning any headers in the middle of the park against gerrard , lamps, ballack, and all the other midfeilders that are over 5ft 6??? we need to be combative in the centre of the park, thats where games are won and lost. you cant play roy of the rovers football every game for 90 mins. we need to graft and win 50/50's and headers

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

could you see lm, dgs, al winning any headers in the middle of the park against gerrard , lamps, ballack, and all the other midfeilders that are over 5ft 6??? we need to be combative in the centre of the park, thats where games are won and lost. you cant play roy of the rovers football every game for 90 mins. we need to graft and win 50/50's and headers

For me it's not massively important for us to win headers in the midfield. Whenever we won headers in midfield this season we hardly ever retained the ball. If you noticed towards the end of the season the defence were pushed up a lot higher and Wooders or Dawson were picking off balls knocked into that area. It may well be the case however when we play against bigger teams that actually get the ball to the middle (and there aren't that many) we will utilise our squad and that is the nice thing about the squad we are developing. We have many different players with different qualities.

I certainly can understand your original post. I think Modric would be more than capable of playing deep passing role and it's daft to dismiss it entirely. I personally don't think that is how we will use him, firstly because he will offer a more creative spark in the opposition half particularly against teams in the lower half that we struggled to break down because all our creativity was coming from the front two. Modric would certainly pose even teams who get a lot of men behind the ball he can pose a big threat around the opposition box with pinpoint passing and his awareness of where his team mates and the opposition are. Secondly because Ramos already seems to have indicated that he doesn't know where he will play yet, but it will be in the opposition half, according to Guillem Balague:

A question that has bothered Spurs fans is, what role will Modric play at Tottenham? We can all speculate, but Ramos has not taken a decision yet. He said “It will really depend on how we are going to play. I haven’t got the team in my head because we haven’t got all the players we want and others might still go.” The only thing we can be sure of is that, while he adapts to the physical side of the Premiership, Modric will play in the opposition half, where he can hurt the opposition.

I can certainly see times when the formation you have suggested could be very useful and wouldn't be surprised to see him play that role. I just think it won't be the norm.

 

[ohh_when_the_spurs]

For me it's not massively important for us to win headers in the midfield. Whenever we won headers in midfield this season we hardly ever retained the ball. If you noticed towards the end of the season the defence were pushed up a lot higher and Wooders or Dawson were picking off balls knocked into that area. It may well be the case however when we play against bigger teams that actually get the ball to the middle (and there aren't that many) we will utilise our squad and that is the nice thing about the squad we are developing. We have many different players with different qualities.

I certainly can understand your original post. I think Modric would be more than capable of playing deep passing role and it's daft to dismiss it entirely. I personally don't think that is how we will use him, firstly because he will offer a more creative spark in the opposition half particularly against teams in the lower half that we struggled to break down because all our creativity was coming from the front two. Modric would certainly pose even teams who get a lot of men behind the ball he can pose a big threat around the opposition box with pinpoint passing and his awareness of where his team mates and the opposition are. Secondly because Ramos already seems to have indicated that he doesn't know where he will play yet, but it will be in the opposition half, according to Guillem Balague:



I can certainly see times when the formation you have suggested could be very useful and wouldn't be surprised to see him play that role. I just think it won't be the norm.

i see your point. me personally would like an iron man next to modric to bully teams and snap as few legs if we are going for a 442 without jj or zoko. i guess it good to have these options now as we are more versatile than last season