Striker/Winger Situation

[Shepherds Mush]

CAM - Need cover for Chery as cant expect him to play every game and be effective in every game.

Got a feeling that Luongo would be good in this position.

[Stanley]

Someone ask nasser the other day if he's ever kissed a girl. Don't think he got an answer.

Don't need to dignify sh it like that with an answer. This stuff is very much high school bullying-esque attempts lol.

"Oh you like numbers, I bet you've never talked to a girl haha". Some people just wanna make themselves feel better by making jokes about others. I don't take their opinions seriously.

Good comeback Nasser. The "do not suffer fools" proverb comes to mind.

[Pinkie]

He doesn't but he'll make a point of it anyways. Anyways, I've gone through the relevant years where the information is readily available and valid to modern football. Lets take a look at what formation they actually played, either coming from the club itself or transfermarkt.co.uk

2001–02 Arsenal 4-4-2
2002–03 Manchester United 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 (13 times and 24 times) 1 time 5-3-2
2003–04 Arsenal 4-4-2
2004–05 Chelsea 4-3-3
2005–06 Chelsea 4-3-3
2006-07 Manchester United 4-3-3
2007–08 Manchester United 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 (18 times and 20 times)
2008–09 Manchester United 4-4-2
2009–10 Chelsea 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 diamond (24 times and 16 times)
2010–11 Manchester United 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 (21 times and 17 times)
2011–12 Manchester City 4-4-2/4-2-3-1 if you actually look at how they played, you'll see it's a 4231 but if you look at the players its a 442
2012–13 Manchester United 4-2-3-1
2013–14 Manchester City 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 (17 times and 21 times)
2014–15 Chelsea 4-2-3-1
2015–16 Leicester City 4-4-2

What you might notice is that against weaker teams, the winner will tend to play 442 since they don't need to work to get control of the game. From what I saw in the research, when teams split their formations throughout the season (a very common occurrence and I'll get to that below), they play a 4-3-3 against the bigger teams and a 442 against the weaker teams, which makes sense.

You'll also see the trend is heading in the direction of a 4231 in the long run, I did a bit more research and looked at the teams around the champions (Ie second and third) and they generally prefer to use a 4231 but have 442 available. What's clear is that tactical fluidity and versatility are key, having players who can play as attacking midfielders and strikers will definitely help in a match, but having the squad depth of speciality players will help throughout the season.

442 is still used, there's no doubt about that, but to use it, you can only use certain players and expect success. Why? Because of the 433 which is designed to totally take control of the midfield of two which in the past may have worked since everyone else used a 442 as well and the control was purely based on the quality of players and not the quantity. But now with the 433 there, the midfielders in a 442 are at an immediate disadvantage due to the numbers. That's why you need your Kante's, Yaya's of old, etc. I even looked at the Utd side that won the league of 10-11 to see who their specialist was whenever they played a 442 and it was unsurprisingly Darren Fletcher, another player who's running and workrate made him the asset to play a 442.

The Chelsea team that under ancelotti won in 09/10 played a 433 or a 442 diamond, but this isn't really a 442 in the traditional sense at all. Their midfield 4 was Deco, Ballack, Lampard, Joe Cole. These are 4 central players, playing in a very narrow diamond with the full backs (Cole and Ivanovic) overlapping. This is definitely not a standard 442, this is a formation designed to guarantee consistent control of the midfield and it worked because of the quality they had in those positions. You can't pull that off as a mid table side.

In any case, my takeaway from this is that football is leaning towards the 4231, the 442 is used to create a tactical diversity so the game doesn't get stale or easily readable. 442 in it's standard form is hard to pull of any more without the right players and as a club, it's much easier to build a long term squad with a 4231 in mind because of the fluidity brought about by the players taking each role. The 442 works against two types of teams 1) other 442s 2) 4231's with poor deep midfielders.

I bet old brian clough wish he could have done with youre vast knowledge nas jeez....

[Pinkie]

All this about tactics malarky,at the end of the day id love to see rangers playing with flair,be it whatever system we use,but as cloughie said footballs a simple game,& its about getting a set of players gelling be whatever system,its about the team & gelling not so much the system!

[Timmy the Doc]

All this about tactics malarky,at the end of the day id love to see rangers playing with flair,be it whatever system we use,but as cloughie said footballs a simple game,& its about getting a set of players gelling be whatever system,its about the team & gelling not so much the system!

Sounds like our 'Arry ,too.

[nasser95]

Think we probably will set up this way, but does worry me that we are a fair few players off this yet.

Need 2 wingers minimum as the current crop need to be back up at best imho.

CAM - Need cover for Chery as cant expect him to play every game and be effective in every game.

Personally think Polts will be effective in this system. Not sure about Connor though, so perhaps another Striker.

Always think this formation allows the full backs to get further up the pitch as they have decent cover in the 2 CDM, so will need another RB unless Furlong as vastly improved.

To be fair, Perchy got a few assists last seasons from great runs from deep. I'd say we'd be ok even if we didn't replace him.

[Ramsey is god]

To be fair, Perchy got a few assists last seasons from great runs from deep. I'd say we'd be ok even if we didn't replace him.

no im quite happy with Perch, more concerned with what back ups are available.

[nasser95]

no im quite happy with Perch, more concerned with what back ups are available.

Yea fair enough. If Onuoha doesn't leave, I can see the most likely situation being Perch with Ned replacing him and Darnell behind

[hal9thou]

We can shut the back door but show no sign of getting out the front.

Formations are by their very nature predictable - which means you can counter them. Total Football - where pretty much anyone can turn up anywhere, always keeping a loose structure on the go by covering for anyone out of position - is still by far the best philosophy against man 2 man marking, defenders get dragged all over the park. But your players have to be aware, think for themselves, read the game. Once we've got our basics sorted out I really hope that we can develop into a more imaginative side. Wont hold my breath.

[Stanley]

We can shut the back door but show no sign of getting out the front.

Patience Hal.

If you look at all the signings so far, each one is working its way up the pitch. Priority was sorting defence and DM/CM areas first.

Of course JFH/LF know full well wingers and strikers are now the next step.

[Pinkie]

We can shut the back door but show no sign of getting out the front.

Formations are by their very nature predictable - which means you can counter them. Total Football - where pretty much anyone can turn up anywhere, always keeping a loose structure on the go by covering for anyone out of position - is still by far the best philosophy against man 2 man marking, defenders get dragged all over the park. But your players have to be aware, think for themselves, read the game. Once we've got our basics sorted out I really hope that we can develop into a more imaginative side. Wont hold my breath.

agreed if youve got good footballers they can adjust to nearly any system,& not become rigid like alot of teams seem to be

[Shepherds Mush]

We can shut the back door but show no sign of getting out the front.

How George Graham built sides....

[Olly]

A 'not conceding' approach brings more points than an 'attacking' one, right Nasser? Start at the back first, Pulis knows that as an example of a budget conscious manager.

[nasser95]

A 'not conceding' approach brings more points than an 'attacking' one, right Nasser? Start at the back first, Pulis knows that as an example of a budget conscious manager.

If you're building for the long term, a starting at the back approach will generally make more sense.

[West Acton]

Clean sheet at the back and one at the other end has worked a treat for many successful sides in past. Under Harry last promotion we got by keeping clean sheets early on and nicking one at the other end