Split Spanish Double Pivot and our squad

[tcyrus]

Why not play Zokora & corluka as the two holding players and the rest of the attackers
interchange,most of them are intelligent enough to find space in the attacking third .

 

[JimmyG2]

Why not play Zokora & corluka as the two holding players and the rest of the attackers
interchange,most of them are intelligent enough to find space in the attacking third .

Im really getting into this now.Firstly you need some shape to your attack and most forwards are a liability anywhere near our box.(Bents air clearance on Sunday for example)Most wingers have a preferred side and both Lennon and Bentley are more effective from the right,as is Jenas incidently.Relying on footballers intelligence is a long shot.I would prefer to rely on good coaching and plenty of work on the training ground.As teams do for corners each attacker needs to know where his team-mates will run,more so in general play. Modric needs to know that his forward runs will be covered,similarly so for the defensive midfielders.
On Sunday misplaced passes by Zokora and Gunter were sometimes the result of anticipating runs that didn't happen.
How this relates to the Spanish double pivot I'm not sure.However we do have a young squad full of natural ability and fitness who can make the most of such a system and enough experience at the back to get us out of a hole when the bungee breaks.

 

[superspurs]

Really well explained, but surely this is the basis of the majority of 4-4-2s which use two "wingers" and two more central players, hence the 1 defensive, 1 attacking centre mid combo that most managers employ as their chosen duo.

Obviously during the match there are moments where players are flexible and thus move away from the general set-up, and the pivot is a nice way of explaining it, but to me this has always been the basis what is intended for the midfield when selecting a 4-4-2.

The reality is that this "pivot" concept is a general plan and cannot really be adhered to accurately at all times, especially as the positioning of opposition players has not been taken into account.

 

[E.L.Strict]

Very good read! I'll be keeping an eye out for this.