Mole_Toonfan Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 In all seriousness, are there any teams playing at or near the top level who are playing 442 or playing 442 regularly? Not a flat 442 no but i'm pretty sure there are teams that play variations of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmoset Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Leicester won the League doing it last season. Like any formation there are pro's and cons and they go in and out of fashion, for want of a better word. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanshithispantz Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 In fairness it took him about 40 games to be proven right about Diame in the centre. Same with Atsu and Ritchie on the wings together. I have an inkling that if he stuck Mitrovic and Gayle up top it'd be a similar story - we'll just look the same as we do with Perez/Diame behind. It's pretty clear that most of how we play (good or bad) - more than any past manager - has more to do with what we're doing in training than the team he picks on a weekend. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEMTEX Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 In fairness it took him about 40 games to be proven right about Diame in the centre. Same with Atsu and Ritchie on the wings together. I have an inkling that if he stuck Mitrovic and Gayle up top it'd be a similar story - we'll just look the same as we do with Perez/Diame behind. It's pretty clear that most of how we play (good or bad) - more than any past manager - has more to do with what we're doing in training than the team he picks on a weekend. He's been proven right that Colback is a better option than Diame? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest palnese Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 In all seriousness, are there any teams playing at or near the top level who are playing 442 or playing 442 regularly? Leicester and Atletico. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanshithispantz Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Do you think Diame's genuinely been better than Colback in the middle? EDIT: I've wanted to see Diame in the middle all season but now that he's had a run out there he's been no better than Colback, and we've been no more threatening going forward as a side than we have been with Colback. I thought the same with Atsu over Gouffran but we looked no more threatening then either. Rafa's just choosing the 'safer' of the shit options. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figures 1-0 Football Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 The only reason I think we're better suited to 4-4-2 is because we don't have a number 10, so we're shoehorning players into a position that doesn't suit them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEMTEX Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Leicester won the League doing it last season. Like any formation there are pro's and cons and they go in and out of fashion, for want of a better word. They were fluid with it, but their second striker was exactly that. They certainly weren't the "#10" role that we're persisting with. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest firetotheworks Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Leicester won the League doing it last season. Like any formation there are pro's and cons and they go in and out of fashion, for want of a better word. Probably much more about their counter-attacking style and Kante imo, but a fair point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 The only reason I think we're better suited to 4-4-2 is because we don't have a number 10, so we're shoehorning players into a position that doesn't suit them. I think all things considered a 433 would be more suitable than a 442 tbh, but there's not much debating it either way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minhosa Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Love that TF piece. Quality. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foluwashola Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Some in our support need to wake up and smell the coffee. Good piece. Internet and social media are obviously forces for good but they don't half heighten the hysteria among football supporters like. This season under Rafa is one of the better ones we're going to get. Savour the bastard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallowgate Toon Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 The only reason I think we're better suited to 4-4-2 is because we don't have a number 10, so we're shoehorning players into a position that doesn't suit them. I think all things considered a 433 would be more suitable than a 442 tbh. This. Gayle and a striking partner aside, I don't think we're at all set up for 4-4-2. We don't have the legs in central midfield and our defence (central, in particular) needs lots of protection. We're also struggling in wide areas - giving our wide midfielders more work to do wouldn't really help. It'd work fine if we were exclusively a counter-attacking team, but we're not exactly blessed with pace either. 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 are our best bets, IMO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
triggs Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 I mean, it's hardly an impressive statement to say that "some people on the internet are a bit mental". I don't agree with the "game has moved on from 4-4-2" line. Holier than thou nonsense iyam. As per usual, it doesn't have to be all bad or all good, but people love painting it that way on the Internet. Personally, I'm very happy with Rafa being our manager, and I'm more than convinced he'll get it right in the long run. However, in my opinion, his stubbornness with regards to tactics is proving to be a negative at this point in the season. I understand the limitations of the squad, but in my books that's not an excuse to never try anything other than his 4-4-1-1. It took him about 40 games to brave trying Diame in the central midfield. The complete lack of adventure is a concern to me, that's all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsley Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Do you think Diame's genuinely been better than Colback in the middle? EDIT: I've wanted to see Diame in the middle all season but now that he's had a run out there he's been no better than Colback, and we've been no more threatening going forward as a side than we have been with Colback. I thought the same with Atsu over Gouffran but we looked no more threatening then either. Rafa's just choosing the 'safer' of the s*** options. Does two consecutive games in centre-mid really constitute a run though? I thought he was decent against Burton FWIW, and I'd be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt given that so many others also went missing on Saturday. Was also good against Brighton and Huddersfield when Rafa moved him back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEMTEX Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Aye. I'll let you know in 40 games whether Diame is an improvement or not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanshithispantz Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 He's been asked to play there a few times in the past couple of month or so when Colback has come off and has generally been pretty anonymous. It's not like he was coming back from injury or anything either, he's been fully fit whenever he's went into the middle. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foluwashola Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Rafa, unlike us, probably knows Diame isn't suited to the role and will only stick him there as a last resort. He has looked decent there when moved back mid-game and given licence to bomb on but probably doesn't have the discipline for it full time. Rafa knows. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlies Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Absolutely making a hash of this season. Said it from week 1 of the season. Resources we have versus the turgid s**** he serves up week in week out is unacceptable. I'll say it again, if Pardew was in charge there would be up roar. I don't get the support for Rafa. I'm sure this blokes just been on total spert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 You've got to be kidding? My main issue with shit like that is the presenters who 'debate' said calls are always dumb a fuck and totally unequipped to put them in their place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 This season under Rafa is one of the better ones we're going to get. Savour the bastard. There's far too many awful consequences of failure for it to be savoured, like. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raconteur Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Do you think Diame's genuinely been better than Colback in the middle? EDIT: I've wanted to see Diame in the middle all season but now that he's had a run out there he's been no better than Colback, and we've been no more threatening going forward as a side than we have been with Colback. I thought the same with Atsu over Gouffran but we looked no more threatening then either. Rafa's just choosing the 'safer' of the shit options. This is it for me - he's a conservative manager who is going to take the safer option every time. And choosing Gouffran over Atsu is hardly the same as picking Ryan Taylor over Ben Arfa - Gouffran is poor but Atsu isn't significantly better. Atsu can dribble at speed, but apart from that he's not very good at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK-421 Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Absolutely making a hash of this season. Said it from week 1 of the season. Resources we have versus the turgid s**** he serves up week in week out is unacceptable. I'll say it again, if Pardew was in charge there would be up roar. I don't get the support for Rafa. I'm sure this blokes just been on total spert Yeah, I heard that caller. Said a lot of the same things... "If this form had been under Pardew, there'd be hell on"... "This league is terrible, we should have walked it"... "if we dont win this league, Benitez has failed". Bets bit was, the caller and Anderson both agreed that if/when we go up, the squad needs an 'overhaul', not the 5 or 6 signings many fans are saying. They then proceeded to go through the first team player by player saying who they keep and who they'd get rid of... they only got rid of about 4 or 5 players??!!! Its like Andersons constant rhetoric that 'clubs need to spend about £100m just to stand still' in the PL. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Last night scared me like. Palace are bottom 6 but that front 3 looks insane from where we are now. It'd cost £60-70m to buy those 3 up front alone. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawK Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 This season under Rafa is one of the better ones we're going to get. Savour the b******. There's far too many awful consequences of failure for it to be savoured, like. http://www.just-football.com/soccer-blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Alan-Curbishley.jpg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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