4-4-2 or 4-3-3 next season?

[mrmojorisin75]

fact is in the modern game our current system is more effective than 4-4-2 and we should try and stick with what works - for the first time in a long time we've hit upon a system that gives enough protection to our defence while at the same time allowing flexibility further up the pitch

 

wingers become a moot point if you sign another pacy striker and/or midfielder as they are the ones who stretch the opposition defence (ala martins) and allow owen the space to come in and sneak goals

 

imagine anelka as another of the three up top with martins and owen; defences wouldn't know what to do with those three, if you then improve the midfield 3 so we've a bit more energy/athleticism you've an easy recipe for success i'd say

 

a final way to look at it is which one would be easiest to get working next season?  it's commonly accepted we're not gonna spend 100m & zog will probably go so is it more feasible to replace zog/duff/milner (last two considered not good enough perhaps) and sign at least one more winger...or is it more feasible to sign a pacy striker, creative midfielder, defensive midfielder minimum to add to barton, butt & geremi?

 

for me it's a no-brainer...we could lose duff/zog/milner and sign the 3 players i've just mentioned and be a far better team, to think we can ship those three out and replace them with 4 top quality wingers is fairytale land

[Dokko]

Sell Owen, bring in Anelka and go 442.

 

 

[Offshore]

Stay mainly using 4-3-3 next season for me. Back to 4-4-2 depending on opposition and injury status.

 

The squad would only need about 3 new better players to push on, 4-4-2 will probably require a wholesale change from midfield up to do that.

[Guest rebel_yell12]

I like the 4-3-3 for next year, as it seems very effective -- especially against the "lesser" defences of the bottom and mid-table teams whom Newcastle really need to be regularly taking 3 points off (see Everton, fifth place with the heavy majority of their points taken off teams below 8th).  However, the somewhat painful truth is that new signings are necessary no matter which system is the preferred one:  Viduka needs replacing, either way, and Owen needs cover because the last season he was fit for every match was 1997-8, I believe.  He come close at Madrid, only missed one match, but he was a super-sub there, an unlikely position for the club captain at Newcastle.  Much as I like and rate Michael Owen, the odds of him playing 38 matches next season are so long the bookies probably don't even bother. 

 

I would say 4-3-3 as the preferred system next season, with a 4-4-2 option if one of the strikers is injured OR the opposition is just bossing the midfield and running the match.  I expect Keegan will bring in two strikers (or one and promote Carroll fully to senior squad), and hopefully sell Smith.  I also expect to see Keegan bring in cover for three of the four backs (Edgar at CB is only recognised 'deputy' at the back), and at least two midfielders to make 4-4-2 a realistic option WITHOUT having to move Owen into the right-mid position as done v. West Ham.  Not that Owen was shambolic (he wasn't, actually decent) but that's hardly his most effective position.

[tmonkey]

If Owen leaves, 4-4-2.

[Nobody]

Hope we stick to 4-3-3

[James]

I'd use both depending onthe formation our opponents play, and how good their players are.

 

I think that any half decent team playing 442 can overrun our 433 at times, as reflected byt the results we have displayed.

 

However, when our opponents play the 451/433 system we have found ourselves able to pass the ball around inferior midfielders, often leaving us at 4 vs 4 during good attacking moves that occur three or four times every game. Meanwhile our defence stays solid because their midfield trio cant get the ball past our midfield trio, our full backs have their wingers under control, and Faye has the better of long balls towards their lone striker.

[Baggio]

What do people think now?

 

I think he'll switch back to 4-3-3 when he gets Martins and Owen back, I also think Jonas would do well in Geremi's position in midfield.

[Yorkie]

What do people think now?

 

I think he'll switch back to 4-3-3 when he gets Martins and Owen back, I also think Jonas would do well in Geremi's position in midfield.

 

Following seeing him for 60 minutes against Hertha Berlin?

[Baggio]

What do people think now?

 

I think he'll switch back to 4-3-3 when he gets Martins and Owen back, I also think Jonas would do well in Geremi's position in midfield.

 

Following seeing him for 60 minutes against Hertha Berlin?

 

Well that's usually how it works, people pass opinions on what they've seen of a certain player with opinions sometimes changing over time depending on their form.

 

Unless you're trying to be smart to which I'd say for you to go and hang your scarf up and fuck off to bed you hom.

[toontownman]

Depends on the game, sure we will stick to 4-4-2 when we get the chance though.

 

 

[Ronaldo]

Depends on the game, sure we will stick to 4-4-2 when we get the chance though.

 

 

 

I reckon if he gets the Duke, Martins and Owen fit at the same time he'll try 4-3-3 once again, especially against lower table teams

[Yorkie]

What do people think now?

 

I think he'll switch back to 4-3-3 when he gets Martins and Owen back, I also think Jonas would do well in Geremi's position in midfield.

 

Following seeing him for 60 minutes against Hertha Berlin?

 

Well that's usually how it works, people pass opinions on what they've seen of a certain player with opinions sometimes changing over time depending on their form.

 

Unless you're trying to be smart to which I'd say for you to go and hang your scarf up and fuck off to bed you hom.

 

:lol:

[rocksammy]

We can only pull of 4-3-3 with viduka, so 44-2 with out viduka, 4-4-3 with, preety easy

[Cronky]

Last night, our 4-4-2 looked very static and predictable, and not for the first time. Football has moved on, and we need something more flexible.

[stozo]

We can only pull of 4-3-3 with viduka, so 44-2 with out viduka, 4-4-3 with, preety easy

Would agree with that.

[La Parka]

Last night, our 4-4-2 looked very static and predictable, and not for the first time. Football has moved on, and we need something more flexible.

 

Agree 100%. I liked our 4-3-3, very few teams knew what to do with it, and with a more mobile Viduka, it could be deadly.

 

[colinmk]

Think our squad is better suited to a 4-3-3 style. It still remains however that if Martins, Viduka or OWen is injured at anytime then this formation goes to shit. This is going to be a real problem.

[Nobody]

We can only pull of 4-3-3 with viduka, so 44-2 with out viduka, 4-4-3 with, preety easy

Wonder how long we could get away with playing 4-4-3 without anyone noticing.

[Lotus]

Atm we don't have good enough CM's to have just 2 of them in the middle on their own. If we don't sign any more then i think we'll be well beaten in the middle of the park with any 2 out of Butt/Geremi/Barton/Guthrie/Zog. Especially away.

We might go back to the idea of only 1 winger away (sometimes under SBR), whatever gets a result i guess.

 

Personally, i think we need a new DM pretty urgently.

[Dave]

I'd be interested to see Guthrie given a go in a deep role alongside someone new in a 4-4-2. He looks like a fairly natural successor to Butt from what I've seen so far. That's not to say he's the best tackler in the world, but he seems suited to sitting and just spraying it about. Good passer, decent vision, enough pace and quietly confident on the ball.

[Taylor Swift]

It has to be 4-3-3. It maximises the strengths of two of our players (Owen and Martins). In the 4-4-2, Owen becomes the slow has-been who can only score goals off of set-pieces or tap-ins (and he's almost too slow to even get in those positions anymore). Similarly, Martins cannot drop deep and try to run at players because there's no support up front, so the defenders can gang up. So, instead, he has to stay up and play off the last defender's shoulder, which isn't his strength.

 

Play the 4-3-3, let Owen drop deep and attack during the second phase - his movement is top class so not many defenders can keep up, and he rarely loses possession when picking up the ball. Martins is better off roaming on the left hand side as well because most of the time he'll only be marked by one player (their full-back) and he's quicker than most in our league.

 

With regards to our new signings, Jonas has shown that he's strong enough to replace Geremi. He also works hard so he should fit in well. Guthrie is a replacement for Butt and Barton/Zoggy can take the other midfield spot. Sure, that's not the most creative midfield you could put out but we played awesome football and went undefeated against our 'competitors' when we played in a 4-3-3 so why fix something that obviously ain't broke?

 

The 4-2-2 is almost obsolete anyway. Man Utd play an unconventional 4-3-3 with three roaming strikers, Chelsea were best off playing a 4-5-1 (even when Anelka signed), Liverpool played 4-5-1 for large parts of their last season and Arsenal have a billion players roaming around so it's hardly a conventional 4-4-2.

[Shak]

If we just buy another striker, a target man type, and play the 4-3-3 we finished last season with then I think we're fairly sorted and a lot of our problems in midfield go away.

 

Butthrie to play the holding role, preferrably Guthrie as the role as we saw it requires a good passer of the ball to sit deep, take the ball in and spread it around well. Butt did look good in the role at the end of the season though, so I'd be content with him there too.

 

Jonas, N'Zogbia and Milner all look fairly suited to playing either side of that holding man. All have good engines and could provide a lot more attacking threat and give us a bit of width, a lot more than Barton and in particular Geremi did in similiar roles last year anyway.

 

More energetic, mobile players in the wide CM roles will in turn help Owen as he'll have a lot more movement going on around him, allowing him to find more space deep. They'd also likely provide better service for Owen to get on the end of getting forward.

 

But, without a new striker (or a miraculously fully fit Viduka) it'll all be for nowt as we're relying on donkeys like Smith and Shola to lead the line. Get that striker in though and that system starts to look very good.

 

Say we signed Baptista, for example

 

 

-------- Jonas -- Butthrie -- N'Zogbia

 

------------------- Owen

 

-------- Baptista ----------- Martins

 

Pretty nice front six if you ask me, a lot better than any 4-4-2 we could likely come up with.

[Kimbo]

Bearing in mind that it is arguably the most important position in that formation, You would go into the season with Guthrie as first choice? If we don't buy better central midfielders i will kill myself, don't think i'm joking.

 

I definitely think we should keep the 4-3-3 though.

[Shak]

Bearing in mind that it is arguably the most important position in that formation, You would go into the season with Guthrie as first choice? If we don't buy better central midfielders i will kill myself, don't think i'm joking.

 

I definitely think we should keep the 4-3-3 though.

 

I said Butthrie, ie whoever proves the better option for the DM slot between Butt and Guthrie.

 

Butt's defensively perfect for the role, whereas Guthrie would appear to be the better passer of the ball. A hybrid of some sort would be ideal, but I'd be confident one of them could do the job anyway.