So What Would YOU Change?

[Yorkie]

Just where the fuck did Anita play for Ajax? If we're going to play him, can we play him there.

 

Anything that allows Cabaye to have a more specialised attacking role is good for me. Sissoko being a box-to-boxer should help that.

[Disco]

Just where the fuck did Anita play for Ajax? If we're going to play him, can we play him there.

 

Anything that allows Cabaye to have a more specialised attacking role is good for me. Sissoko being a box-to-boxer should help that.

 

Busquets role or full back weren't it?

[Mole_Toonfan]

Just where the f*** did Anita play for Ajax? If we're going to play him, can we play him there.

 

Anything that allows Cabaye to have a more specialised attacking role is good for me. Sissoko being a box-to-boxer should help that.

 

Infront of the back 4 in a 4-3-3 with 2 midfielders in front of him which is basically what i'm advocating if Tiote was sold....

 

Anita as the DM, Sissoko box to box and Cabaye in the role you mention.

[Yorkie]

No idea, i've never watched the Dutch league. But he's been horseshit wherever we've tried to play him.

 

Starting to get the idea he isn't as versatile as previously made out.

[Yorkie]

Just where the f*** did Anita play for Ajax? If we're going to play him, can we play him there.

 

Anything that allows Cabaye to have a more specialised attacking role is good for me. Sissoko being a box-to-boxer should help that.

 

Infront of the back 4 in a 4-3-3 with 2 midfielders in front of him which is basically what i'm advocating if Tiote was sold....

 

Anita as the DM, Sissoko box to box and Cabaye in the role you mention.

 

Well that makes complete sense in theory. I get the impression he's more of a footballing DM than Tiote (even though Cheick has the potential to be excellent on the ball, he's too busy battering the opposition and getting suspended).

 

An anchor as an outlet for passing football going forward, accompanied by a box-to-boxer and an attacking CM sounds good on paper.

[colinmk]

It's not really about training and prozone and percentages and posession graphs and fitness regimes and psychology. They have their place, but IMO, what happens in those 90 mins is much bigger than that. It's about magic and dreams and belief. There are a few special managers who have that 'x' factor, the rest are clones of the modern game.

 

 

 

 

I believe most of that too. I also think there are certain managers who might not have one thing or another but are almost suited to a club and therefore it tends to work.

[Gallowgate Toon]

Would love to see a box-to-box man come in, not least for a bit of squad variety although I doubt he'd ever be allowed to break too often!

 

If we're going to go 4-4-2 then I think it's Cabaye who should be sacrificed. He's an excellent footballer but just lacks the presence to really be consistently effective there.

 

If it's 4-3-3 then Anita will do fine as a DM and it should be the box-to-box player alongside Cabaye, who should be the playmaking midfielder.

[Wullie]

If we're going to go 4-4-2, we pretty much need an entire new squad.

[Parky]

No point in playing 2 CM's in the PL anyway. It means giving up chunks of posession and having the 2 hamstrung the whole game chasing shadows and firefighting. It's 80's football.

[Wullie]

I think you can do it if you've got wingers on their natural side who are a real threat meaning that one of the central three from the opposition need to go out to them at all times. Spurs manage ok and did last season too but we're a million miles away from having the players to do it.

[Mole_Toonfan]

You can play 2 in midfield if we are going to speak technically.... Real Madrid play 2 in midfield but have a AM dropping deep to facilitate play.

 

Basically you need 1 player to drop deep to sometimes turn into a 3 and support the front 3 when in possession.

 

Rooney does that for Man Yoo which is why they can get away with it ( look at how they struggled against Norwich without him), who do we have that can play that role?

 

Which is why for us 3 in midfield with 3 forwards gives us the best balance at least when all the players are fit anyway.

 

 

[Chris_R]

Correct players, correct flanks. That's where I'd start, and it's non-negotiable. Under a 4-4-2, we need lefties on the left and right-footers on the right in the wide forward positions so they can get to the bye-line and deliver a competent cross to the forwards. Under 4-3-3, the reverse is true as your wide men are auxillary strikers.

 

Under either formation, the fullbacks should be on their natural side, which means Santon goes to right-back. I've got no time for this bollocks about playing him at left-back, no matter how competent he looks there. He simply cannot deliver anything going forward, and going forward is part of a modern fullback's job - supporting the winger, getting past him on the outside even and offering options in attack.

 

Therefore we need to play one of the following, when everyone is fit.

 

Either 4-4-2, Pardew's seemingly preferred formation:

 

------------------------Krul

 

Santon--------Taylor----Coloccini--- New Left-footed DL

 

------------------------Tiote

 

Obertan or Jonas----Cabaye-------New Left-footed AML

 

-------------------HBA

-------------------------Ba or Cisse

 

 

Pardew seems hell-bent on playing 4-4-2, and I must admit it's my favourite formation as well when employed correctly, but as you can see above I think we need a couple of new players to play that formation effectively. Under a 4-3-3, we can also accommodate Ba, HBA and Cisse together. We can't do that in 4-4-2 no matter what anyone says.

 

Ben Arfa simply must play, and he can't play as an orthodox winger in a 4-4-2. If he did, he'd have to play left wing as I'm adamant that we have to have the correct people on the correct flanks. I think he'd be too peripheral there though, which is a massive waste, so I'm putting him as a number 10 to one of our strikers. Therefore one of Ba or Cisse is dropped, sad though that is. Of course with Hatem injured, both could play, so perhaps rotation is an option.

 

I do think Ba and Cisse can play together, they just need the service, and the players we've been playing and the positions we've played them in have completely negated any possibility of that happening. With 2 strikers like that, you need 2 proper wingers backed up by 2 attacking fullbacks on the correct flanks. That gives you the ammunition to put balls into the box for them, and with 2 bombing forward on each flank Cabaye and Tiote will get more time in the middle as more opponents are taken up marking the runners so through balls become an option as well. At the moment, we attack so badly that the opposition can just crowd us out.

 

The big problem with playing 4-4-2 now is that our wingers are sub-standard (Jonas, Obertan) or non-existant (Left wing). We're just over a month from the transfer window, so I'd be looking to recruit players for those roles as a priority if we're really going to go 4-4-2 and carry any intent at all. Ferguson is a possible option for the left wing in the meantime. No idea who I'd play DL, possibly Simpson. At right-back he's good defensively, and s*** going forward. No reason either point will change if he plays left-back, he might as well fill in there for now so Santon can actually contribute to our attacks in a meaningful way. Or play Ferguson at left-back, he looks good going forward from deep but there's question-marks over his defensive abilities.

 

There's not a perfect answer, but that's where I'd start for a 4-4-2.

 

OR if we're willing to play 4-3-3:

 

------------------------Krul

 

Santon-----Taylor--- Coloccini-----New Left-footed DL

 

-----------------------Tiote

 

---------------Cabaye-----Anita

 

HBA--------------------------------------Ba

----------------------Cisse

 

This worked last year, and worked bloody well. Accordingly, I'm baffled why this isn't our default formation this season.

 

Well that's a lie, I'm not baffled at all, because it's looking likely that Ba is being a t*** about playing wide left. Now I love Demba, he's a great player and I'm glad we have him. But if the above is our best formation (and, given the personnel we have, it just IS our best formation) then he f***ing plays there or leaves. There's no point keeping someone happy to the detriment of the whole team, our league position and our chance to progress in cups. No point finishing 14th and keeping Ba happy, what the merry hell will that achieve? Everyone else will just f*** off then instead.

 

Cisse is a goalscorer, who needs others to create for him. Reminds me a lot of Andy Cole in that he's just so instinctive in everything he does. He can't play wide left, and under a team that creates nothing he'll look a lot poorer but don't for one second ever think he's a poor player, because he's not. I think he can be phenomenally important to us if we can get a good, forward-thinking team set up to play to his strengths and I'll be really rather angry if his lack of goals under a team that creates nothing for him is used as a reason to bench him and play Ba at the top of a 4-3-3 instead. Yes, as said Ba is good, but then we've got an unhappy Cisse and just as bad as that we've now got to find a left sided forward. Sammy? Obertan? We weaken the team massively by even considering that.

 

Again we need a new left-back though under 4-3-3. Or, as above, play Ferguson there. At least for now. Or even Simpson if we must.

 

#####################

 

The above is probably a bit disjointed as I've just got in from work and the missus is making tea and nagging me to set the table, but hopefully it gets my point across.

 

However you'll note, perhaps, that I've spoke hardly at all about defence. That's deliberate, I'd suggest Pardew follows suit. We're better than 75% of the teams in the league, let them worry about us, because if we do as above they will worry and we'll win far more than we lose or draw, certainly against the likes of West Ham, Swansea, Villa, Reading and Sunderland.

[matta]

The stat where krul had 24 longballs yesterday, with only 8 hitting would be a start. Retaining the ball and play some football.

 

 

We lost possession 15times alone from Kruls longball passes. It's a start. And start playing to team strengths - like last year where ba did a sound job abit wide in a 4-3-3

[Deuce]

Oh lord, I would change so much. I don't even know where to start.

 

Firing Pards and throwing money at Roberto Martinez would probably be first. Doubt he'd come here though, supposedly turned down bigger jobs to stay at Wigan last offseason. Martin Jol would be my second choice. Point is, we need someone who can get the most out of what we have, rather than keeping the manager and completely overhauling the roster.

 

Considering the current roster, at full health, this is the team I'm trotting out:

 

-------------------Krul--------------------

---------S. Taylor----Coloccini----------

Santon-------------------------Ferguson

-----------Tiote----------Anita-----------

------------------Cabaye-----------------

Ben Arfa-------------------------------Ba

-------------------Cisse-------------------

 

Now, this system also has flaws. Time will tell if Ferguson is a capable enough defender to play LB. I think he shapes-up better there than he does at LW. And I also don't think Ba and Cisse can co-exist. They're the same player and neither would be happy playing on the left in a 4-3-3.

 

Anita should be played as a deep-lying playmaker with two box-to-box CMs in front of him. I think Juventus is the ideal type of how to play a 3-man midfield with such a player. Pirlo, obviously heads and shoulders above Anita as a regista, has Marchisio and Vidal to worry about traffic. Their roles are largely interchangeable, as both are equally adept at dropping and pushing.

 

So if we're going to play Anita in his natural role as a deep-lying playmaker, ideally we'd have 2 box-to-box CMs in front of him. Tiote, imo, is more of a box-to-box player than Cabaye, but neither really fulfills that role. Tiote is best hanging back as the midfield destroyer while Cabaye is at his best just behind the attack, making things happen.

 

I think our best bet is to sign 1 box-to-box CM, with Sissoko being talked about the most recently. Bringing in Sissoko allows Tiote to drop into his natural DM role and Cabaye to push forward. But this pushes Anita out of the picture. Could do worse than Anita and Jonas as back-ups, though I don't think Ashley spends 7mil on Anita to have him ride the pine.

 

I also suspect that if we were to sign Sissoko, it would mean Tiote's exit. Despite them being quite capable of existing on the same pitch, as they're quite different players, I don't believe Pards/Ashley would see it that way.

 

 

 

Considering the roster, at current health, this is what I'd do:

 

-------------------Krul--------------------

---------S. Taylor----Coloccini----------

Simpson-------------------------Santon

---------Tiote---Anita---Jonas----------

Ben Arfa----------------------Marveaux

--------------------Ba---------------------

[Skirge]

I would beg Sir Les to come in and help coach our strikers but also I would only play Benny central and build a team around him.

Santon as a RB and Fergie LB until January where I would sign a proper left footed LB.

 

 

I would NOT be looking to get rid of Pards, makes no sense.

[NG32]

Our strikers dont need choaching...the supply and support to them does tho

[Skirge]

Our strikers dont need choaching...the supply and support to them does tho

 

Aye well Sir Les to coach our attacking play

[Mole_Toonfan]

I would NOT be looking to get rid of Pards, makes no sense.

 

Agreed he's struggling at the moment but i think more than anything he needs help and i don't think the current coaching staff can provide that.

 

As for getting Sir Les in to coach the strikers it's not the most important thing ( which is well documented) but something like that wouldn't hurt especially with regards to movement and partnerships go he could really help in that regard or someone like him.

 

[Chris_R]

Just noticed I put Williamson into my team ahead of Taylor. For anyone confused by that, read the last paragraph about having just gotten in from work and the wife was nagging me to set the table and help with tea.

 

Back four would, of course, have Steven Taylor in it based on current personnel. In fact I'm going to go back and edit that, it's too wrong to be allowed to stay.

[henke]

I would NOT be looking to get rid of Pards, makes no sense.

 

This entirely.

 

All the people who cuurently think a Martinez or whoever else would walk in an do a better job are deluded. In two years time when whatever manager was hired hit a rough patch we'd be in the exact same situation we are now.

[Chris_R]

Whether or not I'd want to keep Pardew really depends on Pardew.

 

I'd like him to stay, as I think he's a decent, intelligent and articulate bloke who wants to do well and the players seem to like him. That means, if he stays and gets the right people in to do the right things then he could do a very good job. Plus, every club needs stability.

 

However if he isn't going to change things, if he is going to continue putting the wrong players in the wrong positions and stubbornly refuse to acknowledge and change what's happening just yards in front of him every week then unfortunately there's only so long we can persist with him.

 

At this stage, he still has my good will and trust.

[alexthegreat]

Main problem for me is the midfield.

 

We weren't very creative last year either, but Ba was taking all his chances and we had Cabaye and Tiote consistently controlling games in the middle.

 

The stats after every game would show that those 2 ran further than anyone else on the pitch. Jonas put some shifts in as well - and the start of last season was probably the best form hes shown for us. Even Obertan seemed to cover alot of ground, however ineffectively, and Guthrie was excellent as a stand in.

 

We just haven't had that this year. Jonas, Cabaye and Tiote have been injured, out of form, or suspended for all of this season.

 

The worrying thing is that we arent going to have Cabaye and Tiote in the middle together until February. Anita absolutely has to make the step up for us - if he could manage an extended run in the middle with Tiote it would help us immensely.

 

I would try and get Jonas, Tiote, and Anita grafting away in midfield for 5 or 6 games in a row to try and get last seasons spirit back.

 

At the moment losing Guthrie for nothing and bringing in Anita for 7m is beginning to look like replacing Aaron Hughes with Boumsong, something the much vaunted 'new system' was supposed to have eradicated. Its time to chuck him in, give him a run and see how he does.

 

[mikejaxer]

Martinez! 

 

Seriously though. As long as we play fluid, passing and attractive football with results that we SHOULD be winning then I'll be happy.

[Weezertron]

I would beg Sir Les to come in and help coach our strikers but also I would only play Benny central and build a team around him.

Santon as a RB and Fergie LB until January where I would sign a proper left footed LB.

 

 

I would NOT be looking to get rid of Pards, makes no sense.

 

Aye, Pards can stay if he agrees not to be in charge of coaching, have no say in player transfers, and match day formations & tactics.

 

He can stay then.

[Cronky]

I'd like us to have a striker with better pace and movement than our current options - a Bellamy type. If that meant trading in Cisse or Ba, I'd do it. I've not got much idea who's affordable and available that would fit the bill though.

 

I've not seen Sissokho, but a midfielder that could attack the box would be a big asset.

 

The obvious - replace Simpson. I don't know why we didn't go for Clyne when he was available, by the way.

 

I've gone right off Tiote. Given the chance, I'd trade him in for a DM who was more secure in possession and who could pass the ball forward quicker. We can't really wait for Bigi.