The 4-5-1

[chileanspursfan]

Could have been boring to watch, might have been unsuccessful in the past, definetely it's not a traditional English style of play; still it worked for us perfectly yesterday and seems to be the way Ramos will use to kill the matches when we have a lead to defend.

On the past 3 seasons we have been world champions in giving away leads in the final 10 minutes of the game. Ramos knows this, in fact he used this weakness against us in the first leg of the Uefa Cup at Sevilla. So now he will definetely switch to this one whenever we attain a minimum lead in the second half.

He did it straight away when Keane scored the 3-1 and would have done it if he had scored the penalty against the indecent and unmentionable team.

Some times it will be with Berbatov holding up the ball and tricking defenders, as in the Man City cup match; others it might be Defoe or Bent coming from the bench to do the "pig in the middle" chasing of the defenders. Anyways, I think this is a major improvement from Jol, as it makes the difference from being a good team to become a winning team. It will give as well some chances for fast midfielders such as Steed or Lennon to score on the counter.

 

[LSUY]

I don't think it will work against the bigger teams. If we take a lead against a top four side it would be suicide to sit back to play on the counter and let the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard or Fabregas attack & possibly dominate the game from then on.

The England national team are a brilliant example of how hard it is to change gears during a match. In the '02 World Cup and Euro 2004 they played more defensive when they took a lead and when they lost those leads they found it difficult to change back to their normal style.

 

[BoringOldFan]

I didn't think it was particularly positive to go 4-5-1 when we were 3-1 up. Especially with Keane and then Defoe.

 

[eViL]

He's not doing it to be positive or more cautious.

The way he subs confuses the hell out of the opposition and it worked.

I'm pretty sure we went 4-5-1 yesterday to allow Taarb't some freedom.

 

[dynamoSpurs]

Just because he takes off a striker doesn't mean he's adapting to a more defensive style. Consider the subs he brought on... KPB, Taarabt and Defoe.

 

[chinaman]

I'm hoping under Ramos, we can develop the continental short passing game. This will make the opposition chase around like mad and wear them out. Already we seem to be not rushing too much; hence we are improving on our conversion rate in front of goal.

 

[Yid-ol]

He's not doing it to be positive or more cautious.

The way he subs confuses the hell out of the opposition and it worked.

I'm pretty sure we went 4-5-1 yesterday to allow Taarb't some freedom.

it confuses the hell out of me, and it still does!!! :lol:

 

[AngerManagement]

Well we went on to score twice more after his changes, so they werent exclusively negative. Also it serves as some rest time for the likes of Keane and Berbatov (with the croweded upcoming fixtures) and gives some playing time to the likes of Taarabt and Boateng (although not Mr Bent)

 

[AnotherSpursFan]

Defending a lead with 4-5-1 is definitely better than defending a lead 8-0-2 if you get my drift...hehehe

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I didn't think it was particularly positive to go 4-5-1 when we were 3-1 up. Especially with Keane and then Defoe.

BOF, haven't you and I disagreed about this before when Jol was around. I used to say every week that is what Jol should be doing. And you argued that it is inviting pressure.

The point is, if it is done correctly, it cuts off the supply of pressure and still allows you to break (when played with people like Lennon, Malbranque etc).

 

[eViL]

BOF, haven't you and I disagreed about this before when Jol was around. I used to say every week that is what Jol should be doing. And you argued that it is inviting pressure.

And BOF was right, in todays Premiership there's no possible way to shut teams out.

We sat back for 5 minutes yesterday and conceded.

Watch a few United games - Attack, Attack, Attack.

The scum and United are up there because they don't worry too much about defending. True, they'll never have the meanest defences, but ask their fans (if you can stand the smell) if they give a shit!

 

[Babylon22]

united have the best defence in the premieship.only 2 weeks ago,they spent the majority of a match defending a 1-0 lead against liverpool.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

And BOF was right, in todays Premiership there's no possible way to shut teams out.

We sat back for 5 minutes yesterday and conceded.

Watch a few United games - Attack, Attack, Attack.

The scum and United are up there because they don't worry too much about defending. True, they'll never have the meanest defences, but ask their fans (if you can stand the smell) if they give a shit!

Could you be more wrong.

 

[stemark44]

I think he is actually trying different systems to see how quickly and how well the players adapt,it is as much a test for our players as it is for the opposition.

 

[stevenqoz]

As has been said on here quite a lot of late, we train full time to have strategies available on match day. A 4 5 1 is usually played with a good hold the ball up player up top or a whippet who can chase down the opposition defence for 15 or 20 minutes. If Ramos does one thing for Spurs fans it will be to show them that teams have no need to to be constrained by a default 4 4 2. Any formation can only work if you have the personell to use it properly. The broad based squad we have gives flexibility and more importantly continual competition for places(when they are all fit).
We know Ramos will usually start with a 4 4 2 but now can see that 3 5 2 may be used if we are chasing or 4 5 1 if we need consolidation. Its coaching init?

 

[Festy]

only 2 weeks ago,they spent the majority of a match defending a 1-0 lead against liverpool.

they spent whole match defending and playing on counter and/or Ferdinand's long balls.

but anyways, Ramos will hardly switch to 4-5-1 if we have only 1 goal lead. Against Fulham, we were ahead by 2 goals, that's why he decided to play safe IMO. Furthermore it was important to give Berby and Keano some rest considering the list of fixtures.