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Rafael Benitez


Jesse Pinkman

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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.

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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?

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Guest palnese

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.

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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.

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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.

 

:thup: They were fluid with it, but their second striker was exactly that. They certainly weren't the "#10" role that we're persisting with.

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Guest firetotheworks

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.

 

:thup:

 

Probably much more about their counter-attacking style and Kante imo, but a fair point.

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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.

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Some in our support need to wake up and smell the coffee.

 

:thup:

 

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.

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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.

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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.

:thup:

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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".  :idiot2:

 

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??!!!  :rolleyes:

 

Its like Andersons constant rhetoric that 'clubs need to spend about £100m just to stand still' in the PL.  :rolleyes:

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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.

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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. :lol:

 

 

http://www.just-football.com/soccer-blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Alan-Curbishley.jpg

 

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