Formation?

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Are we better off with a back three / five?

Given / harper

Dabs O'brien hughes

Speed Solano Robert Dyer Bellemy Searer Cort / an other

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001

Answers

Right now i would go for 4-4-3 with Bellamy in a deeper role;

Given, Griffin O' Brien Hughes Elliot,

Solano Lee Robert,

Ameobi Bellamy Shearer

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001


Gotta be 4-4-2 as its better suited to English football. What do Man Utd, Arsenal, Leeds and Liverpool play? Even against Troyes we tried a back 3 and it was a disaster.

I'd go for

GK Harper

RB Griffin CB Dabizas CB O'Brien LB Hughes or Elliott

RM Solano CM Lee until his replacement arrives CM Speed or Acuna LM Robert

CF Shearer CF Cort

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001


No goalie then Roxy? =)

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001

If you read carefully it says Given before Griffin....

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001

Got to be 4-4-2. We've never (never?) cracked 3-5-2. Stick with what we're good at (?).

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001


4-4-2 is the only one for me, with two proper wingers and two different strikers (ie not two Shearers up front - although it would be nice)

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001

Hughes for leftback. Elliot has been bad thus far.

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001

with shearer and cort fully fit and robert and solano raiding down the wings and Dyer fit and competing in midfield alongside bobby lee i feel we have a devastating team. truly fantastic.

-- Anonymous, August 28, 2001

I've always felt you need three top-class defenders to play effectively with a back three. We don't have them.

You also need effective WB's - players who can defend as well as support the attack. We don't have them either.

So, back four it has to be - and even that isn't good enough. Lesser evil though.

-- Anonymous, August 28, 2001


You need a Pretrescu or a Thuram to play with wingbacks, we nearly have this in Barton and Elliot :0) You also need very aware centre halves and we only have that in O'Brien and Hughes. Having seen him once I'd say Gary Caldwell has the awareness to be that person too, but you also need a dominant centre half too and none of the three are it, yet.

-- Anonymous, August 28, 2001


i don't get this one bit! how many centre backs do we need? we are always buying defenders Quinn-Elliot-O'Brien of average quality and still are no further forward. if we are going to buy another of the buggers let us please get a TOP quality one in or its just more money draining away...OK we can't afford Stam but surely we can muster 2 top stars in this position? Can aybody really comment on Distin favourably, or is he just another average signing in the making.

yours, dropping off to sleep

-- Anonymous, August 28, 2001


You are, of course, quite correct swift. One of the starkest failures of the present regime is the vast amount of money we have spent over the last 8-10 years trying to create an effective defence - just try adding it all up - and frankly it is still hopeless.

-- Anonymous, August 28, 2001

Really dislike three in midfield. We lose all the width. Now we've got genuine wingers on both sides, let's use the width of the pitch. I don't want to see Robert and Solano get involved in the huff-and- puff around the edge of the d that's constituted most of our attacking play for the last three years. 4-4-2, CM much more of a priority than CB, but I disagree about needing an attacking midfielder. A tackling ballplayer is more important - shooting boots would be a nice plus, not an essential. Yes, someone in the Keano/Lennon mould. Imagine some point in the future where injuries force us to play a midfield of Robert-Bassedas-Dyer-Solano. Less steel than a...um, defunct steel works.

-- Anonymous, August 29, 2001

less steel than Consett?

-- Anonymous, August 30, 2001

Clarky, it isn't as bad as all that - until Christmas last season, we had one of the best defences in the PL. The problem is as Swift says, wew have some OK players in defence but no really top notch ones: our best central defensive partnership is supposed to be Dabs and O'Brien but they shipped in 3 goals against Liverpool away and were bloody lucky not to let in more (Shay was on form) which shows how far we have to go. However, buying cheap players isn't the answer.

-- Anonymous, August 30, 2001


Dougal,

What is it they say about statistics? Whatever they indicate, I still maintain that we cannot defend properly, and considering the amount of money we have spent on defenders it is bloody farcical.

The main problem, as you have sussed, is the quality of the players we have bought - plus, I would add, the lack of a top-class defensive coach.

-- Anonymous, August 30, 2001


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