mozy

I was going to post in here right before our keeper fucked up, but Sampson seems like an excellent international manager too. Knows when to shift tactics and play certain players in certain roles.

It's like they cloned Carver's personality when he was Toronto manager.

Sexist

Any tips for the racing today?

Bet on all Gabrial horses as me little girl's called Gabrielle but don't see him getting anywhere near today, will still have a daft e/w bet. That must keep you busy Paddy power is paying 6 places in the 5pm so that gives him more of a shot.

Tupi, Rah Rah, Cannock Chase and Gabrial. ew lucky 15, returns 34k. Should all have relatively good chances.

That would mean nothing if they were weak and couldn't fend off defenders. They don't need to fend them off if the ball isn't lumped at them from 80 yards. You're clueless. Am I now So you're saying it's not possible to win football matches without the presence of a large striker, regardless of his other abilities? Of course you're clueless. You're asking me a silly question. It's easier to win football matches with footballers with all-round skill packages. Generally, having strikers with strength, the ability to fend off defenders and combine well with their team-mates - will do better. Whether that's Messi or Zlatan. No, no. My point was that having a high quality first touch and sense of awareness was the most important thing about hold up play. You then claimed it was more about being big, strong, and able to fend off defenders. Don't try and twist the narrative so it looks like we're arguing from two sides of the same coin.

That would mean nothing if they were weak and couldn't fend off defenders. They don't need to fend them off if the ball isn't lumped at them from 80 yards. You're clueless. Am I now So you're saying it's not possible to win football matches without the presence of a large striker, regardless of his other abilities?

That would mean nothing if they were weak and couldn't fend off defenders. They don't need to fend them off if the ball isn't lumped at them from 80 yards.

It's less about being a target man and more about first touch and awareness. The list of players you mention there all possess these two traits, which enables the team to play off them.

I've seen absolutely no evidence of Sissoko producing a good performance in a midfield 2. His passing is just as limited as someone like Tiote, his defensive effort is embarrasing for a man of his stature, and his turbo boost counter attacks are nullified because he has more men to beat (which he can't). The few times I've seen him play for France, he plays right centre midfield in a 4-3-3 which is exactly where he should play for us. Never in a 2.

That's exactly how you end up with broken teams that cannot string a performance together to save their lives. That's like saying all goals should only come from the striker. The best teams are intelligent, fluid and have multi-dimensional players complementing the one dimensional ones. Sissoko has one high level skill, which is recieving the ball near the half way line with space to run into ahead of him. To do this, he needs to have less defensive responsibility, and that can only come from playing furthest forward in a midfield 3. If you take that one skill out of Sissoko's game, he is a rank average premier league midfielder.

Yes he can, that was his natural position before Alan Pardew used him as a #10. He's the ideal box-to-box midfielder in a 2 along with a purely defence-minded cover. Tiote on form would be perfect really. That pairing would be an absolute car crash man, who the hell provides the passing/creativity. The days of a pure box to box midfielder being effective in a 2 are long gone.

Do we really need Delph in this kind of game?

Sissoko cannot ever play CM/DM in a midfield 2. Never ever ever.

Yeah, personally I think partly the key to his formation working was Chris Martin being a perfect fit for that lone striker role. It went to relative shit when Darren Bent played as he just can't hold it up and get the other attackers involved.

How much defensive resposibility do the wingers have in his system? I want Perez in first team as I think he will only get better and love watching him, but if we go 4-3-3 i worry he will be benched for defensive wingers and de jong behind the new striker. I always find formation talk can be misleading, see coaches say they play 4-3-3 when they're defensive 4-5-1 with a very flat midfield. I want the striker and the no 10 advanced and i want the wingers fluid and always looking to run in behind if its a 4-3-3 I'd say it's more like a 4-1-4-1. The holding midfielder has by far the most discipline and the central 2 rotated and supported forward (Perhaps this was just Will Hughes being class). Derby played without a real #10 so I'm not sure how that will go. De Jong obviously played in a 4-3-3 for Ajax so he should fit in regardless.

I think McClaren prefers a 4-3-3 but will adjust if he doesn't have the players to fit it. Derby were certainly a 4-3-3 team during his whole time there.

Re-reading the FAQ's it says you 'will never receive less than the amount of tickets you apply for in one match'. So basically if you apply for tickets for you and 3 mates, it will be all or none of you going, which is a relief.

I'd say it was knowing when to make the right subs, change tactics in order to exploit a particular weakness in an opponent, know when to attack / defend, press / drop off etc etc. Basically Jose Mourinho is the best at it.

We've been after him for about 4 years.

Are there any prerequisites to apply? I know for previous tournaments where it's been done through the FA it was like the 'points' system regarding England attendance. When's the draw to be made? For tickets i mean..

Austin is a pure poacher from what i've seen, they got the best out of him playing alongside Bobby Zamora in a 4-4-2.

That is genuinely the worst touch I've ever seen.

This is the kind of post that annoys me. I know very little of Quique Flores apart from he has managed some semi decent teams around Europe. But his CV boasts one major competion win, and little else. His CV looks very similar to McClaren's yet because he's Spanish, he gets a reputation.