WhiteStripe
Get out of my club you cretin!
- Aug 23, 2006
- 14,213
- 4,989
Benny being injured has changed drastically our run in. We will likely be forced to play Bale at LB and with this in mind I therefore see it that we have a number of realistic options;
Ok, there are tons of other permutations here, but they would involve bringing players in that have hardly played (such as Niko), or reverting to another strange formation (maybe 3-5-2). For me, we need to try and play in the way that suits us best, and for me this means playing with formation 3. Why? I'll tell you.
Best so far this season
We have played this formation for the majority of the season and up until January it looked an incredibly effective way to play. Ok we had Bale wide left and Benny behind him, and Modric playing in the middle, but you get my point. Tbh, until JD came back into any real reckoning and the lineup was disrupted, we looked pretty solid playing VDV off Crouch or some form of 4-4-1-1.
Escape to victory
Modric playing in a free role from the left will give him more freedom, space and time. He gets this in the middle, but playing on the left he will not be picked up in the same way he is in the middle, especially when he is allowed to drift inside. No LB will be able to mark him as they will be pulled out of position, and even if doubled up on, space will no doubt open up for Bale to exploit. I think Modric proved this position (with an attacking fullback) could be utilised effectively last year, so why not again now. Modric is also surprisingly effective at covering the space left by his attacking fullback pushing forward. Watch him last season playing the left hand sided role and his discipline at tucking inside was excellent.
Give roadrunner more road
Ok, so we've spoken about Luka, well now onto Gareth. Defensively, we all would proabably agree that Gareth has some way to go in regards to being a top full back. That said, he does have immense upper body strength, and is very quick, so without a post-mortem on Bales ability to play the defensive side of the LB role, I'll leave it at this. He has played there before, he will play there again, and we have no choice right now. In regards to part of Gareths game that has been lacking of late, his ability to pick the ball up and bomb past players, playing from a deeper position will no doubt help this out. Look at the goals scored v Inter. He picked the ball up in almost a defensive position and pushed into the space. With Modric's movement ahead of him, pulling players around, I would think Bale will see more space to run into. As long as we are tactically drilled to cover the holes (Sandro/Hudd/Modric can do this easily) then Bale from a deeper position can work with ruthless efficiancy.
Guard the back, release the front
Hudd & Sandro playing in the middle will give us the right blend of creativity, grit and dogged determination we will need to go away to places like Stamford Bridge and CoM. We have seriously lacked the Sweeper-type cover for our back four at times this season, being cut open in the middle like a knife through butter. Sandro, as we know gives us that bite that we have lacked since Sgt Wilson lost the consistency that guided us into the Champions League contention last year. I think a lot of our defeats/dropped points this year have come due to our oppenness in the middle of the park, and the combination of Sandro, who brings raw determination and a never say die approach to marshalling the middle of the park, and Tommy Huddlestone who brings that ability to see a pass, and spread the play or find a pressure relieveing outlet ball will prove a winning combination that will hopefully releive the pressure on our back four.
Tag-team telepathy
This brings me to the final key decision. Playing VDV off Peter Crouch. Well it's not rocket science is it? In my opinion, our most lucrative partnership this year, when you look at assists and goals scored has come from these two playing up top. At the beginning of the season they had forged an almost telepathic relationship with VDV feeding off Crouch and reaping the rewards. For me, Crouch looks stronger now than he did then, and VDV given the right set of instructions (ie just go out and do your thing) we could see these two set up/score a nice return of goals. I also think VDV, when playing away from home against a packed midfield, can come deeper and add that bit of grit we need to win that battle.
So there you have it, the situation is in no way ideal, but lets finish the season how we started. Solidity in the middle, Crouch feeding VDV and marauding runs down the left by Bale. The formation that will have the best chance of getting us 4th has to be...
1) We play Lennon in front of Bale and VDV on the right.
2) We play VDV in the middle, modric out left and Lennon out right.
3) We play VDV off Crouch and Bring Hudd into the middle.
Corluka Gallas Daws Bale
VDV Sandro Modric Lennon
Pav Crouch
VDV Sandro Modric Lennon
Pav Crouch
2) We play VDV in the middle, modric out left and Lennon out right.
Corluka Gallas Daws Bale
Lennon Sandro VDV Modric
Pav Crouch
Lennon Sandro VDV Modric
Pav Crouch
3) We play VDV off Crouch and Bring Hudd into the middle.
Corluka Gallas Daws Bale
Lennon Hudd Sandro Modric
VDV
Crouch
Lennon Hudd Sandro Modric
VDV
Crouch
Ok, there are tons of other permutations here, but they would involve bringing players in that have hardly played (such as Niko), or reverting to another strange formation (maybe 3-5-2). For me, we need to try and play in the way that suits us best, and for me this means playing with formation 3. Why? I'll tell you.
Best so far this season
We have played this formation for the majority of the season and up until January it looked an incredibly effective way to play. Ok we had Bale wide left and Benny behind him, and Modric playing in the middle, but you get my point. Tbh, until JD came back into any real reckoning and the lineup was disrupted, we looked pretty solid playing VDV off Crouch or some form of 4-4-1-1.
Escape to victory
Modric playing in a free role from the left will give him more freedom, space and time. He gets this in the middle, but playing on the left he will not be picked up in the same way he is in the middle, especially when he is allowed to drift inside. No LB will be able to mark him as they will be pulled out of position, and even if doubled up on, space will no doubt open up for Bale to exploit. I think Modric proved this position (with an attacking fullback) could be utilised effectively last year, so why not again now. Modric is also surprisingly effective at covering the space left by his attacking fullback pushing forward. Watch him last season playing the left hand sided role and his discipline at tucking inside was excellent.
Give roadrunner more road
Ok, so we've spoken about Luka, well now onto Gareth. Defensively, we all would proabably agree that Gareth has some way to go in regards to being a top full back. That said, he does have immense upper body strength, and is very quick, so without a post-mortem on Bales ability to play the defensive side of the LB role, I'll leave it at this. He has played there before, he will play there again, and we have no choice right now. In regards to part of Gareths game that has been lacking of late, his ability to pick the ball up and bomb past players, playing from a deeper position will no doubt help this out. Look at the goals scored v Inter. He picked the ball up in almost a defensive position and pushed into the space. With Modric's movement ahead of him, pulling players around, I would think Bale will see more space to run into. As long as we are tactically drilled to cover the holes (Sandro/Hudd/Modric can do this easily) then Bale from a deeper position can work with ruthless efficiancy.
Guard the back, release the front
Hudd & Sandro playing in the middle will give us the right blend of creativity, grit and dogged determination we will need to go away to places like Stamford Bridge and CoM. We have seriously lacked the Sweeper-type cover for our back four at times this season, being cut open in the middle like a knife through butter. Sandro, as we know gives us that bite that we have lacked since Sgt Wilson lost the consistency that guided us into the Champions League contention last year. I think a lot of our defeats/dropped points this year have come due to our oppenness in the middle of the park, and the combination of Sandro, who brings raw determination and a never say die approach to marshalling the middle of the park, and Tommy Huddlestone who brings that ability to see a pass, and spread the play or find a pressure relieveing outlet ball will prove a winning combination that will hopefully releive the pressure on our back four.
Tag-team telepathy
This brings me to the final key decision. Playing VDV off Peter Crouch. Well it's not rocket science is it? In my opinion, our most lucrative partnership this year, when you look at assists and goals scored has come from these two playing up top. At the beginning of the season they had forged an almost telepathic relationship with VDV feeding off Crouch and reaping the rewards. For me, Crouch looks stronger now than he did then, and VDV given the right set of instructions (ie just go out and do your thing) we could see these two set up/score a nice return of goals. I also think VDV, when playing away from home against a packed midfield, can come deeper and add that bit of grit we need to win that battle.
So there you have it, the situation is in no way ideal, but lets finish the season how we started. Solidity in the middle, Crouch feeding VDV and marauding runs down the left by Bale. The formation that will have the best chance of getting us 4th has to be...
Gomes
Corluka Gallas Dawson Bale
Lennon Hudd Sandro Modric
VDV
Crouch
Corluka Gallas Dawson Bale
Lennon Hudd Sandro Modric
VDV
Crouch
