That Neyul and his big yellow balancing act

[CanaryOnTheWire]

Caught the class of 14-15 in action for the first time against OGC Nice the other night. I was impressed by our quick transitions and movement. What struck me though, was the Moyesian (yes, that is a thing) imbalance of the midfield. I hope this is Adams' plan only in matches where we are at home and constantly on the front foot, as a holding Johnson behind what effectively became a front five of Surman, Hoolahan, Grabban, Bennett and Redmond....lest we forget the amount of time Garrido spent on the edge of the 18 yard box.

Obviously we can afford to do this against an unfit Nice who are quite average anyway, and it gave the fans plenty of oohs and aahs as we tore them a new one. Going into the season though, I can't help but feel that to continue to do this will lead to us being caught out, as ace as attacking football to this extent is you can't operate with no midfield. The question is, how do you feel is the best way to address that imbalance? 

Against better sides (which an equally unfit but more talented than Nice Celta Vigo will be) i'd absolutely love to see a disciplined box to box pair setting up in a 4-4-1-1/4-2-3-1, for example 

That would see plenty of scope for the wide men and their supporting full back to create overloads down the flanks and get the ball into the space behind the defence for Grabban to attack, with Wes roaming to pick up the ball to bring whichever of the box to box pair are joining the attack (this assumes Howson and Fer have the discipline to know when to sit and when to go). Should see plenty of goals from Pilkington, Redmond, Howson and Grabban when we can dominate the ball. This of course is the best case scenario. 

In the event that we are transitioning to a defensive shape having lost the ball, it collapses quickly into banks of four with Pilks and Redmond quickly dropping back to form a bank of four with Fer and Howson. There is scope then for Wes to either hassle the opposition as we have seen him do so well in the past, or if protecting a lead be withdrawn for Johnson or Tettey to sit behind Fer and Howson as a holding mid and make it 4-1-4-1. These are just suggestions- we have Lafferty if route one is needed late on or the passing game isn't working, and scope for a 4-3-3 (though Adams hasn't tried it yet).

I appreciate one game against Nice is nothing to judge, but that's all I have to go on, and this is what I have produced.

I look forward to being picked apart

 

[Yellow Fever]

Like you COTW, I expected to see more of the 4-3-3 by now. I was surprised to see the diamond revived, but Wes, Surman, Howson and Johnson have made it seem natural and very efficient. Adams has said that he intends to vary formations according to the opposition and this has come through in the pre-season matches so far. Wes has been a revelation so far and could be the key to this season should the diamond or your 4-2-3-1 formation be used regularly. Grabban certainly likes linking up with Wes (and Surman if the Nice match is anything to go by) and he and Lafferty seem to have fitted into the squad very efficiently. So far, so good.

 

[CJRV2014]

i thought we wud c a 433 of

Ruddy

Whittaker Turner Martin Olsson

Johnson Howson Tettey

Redmond Hooper Grabban

 

[CanaryOnTheWire]

Of course I neglected the diamond which would facilitate the introduction of Surman- for me though, if i was going to play Hoolahan and Surman I would want Howson and Johnson or Tettey as my other two CMs (Johnson or Tettey holding) as it is better balanced than Johnson Surman Hoolahan Bennett if you ask me

 

[CJRV2014]

Ruddy

Whittaker Turner Martin Olsson

Johnson

Howson Surman

Hoolahan

Grabban Hooper

Only problem with the diamond is where does that leave Redmond, E.Bennett & Pilkington ?

 

[Yellow Fever]

IMO, we'll see much more rotation of players and formations according to the opposition. Hopefully that will lessen the number of injuries and keep the whole squad fighting for places. Also, if Adams needs to change things, one or two substitutions can alter any of these formations to give the opposition more problems. He did just that very effectively against Liverpool last year.

 

[CanaryOnTheWire]

We have a squad with an identity crisis inasmuch as the way half of its midfield contingent seem suitable for the diamond and half seem suitable for a 4-5-1./4-3-3 variant. It means however that we have ways of being exploitative in several different areas of the pitch...where the opposition are weaker at full back we flatten the midfield into a 4-4-1-1 shape and attack down the wings, if their midfield is struggling to string passes together then narrowing the shape into a diamond and working the ball through to the strikers via Wes is more viable.

I can only be excited in anticipation of our multifarious options which will cause a lot of teams a lot of headaches if Adams is astute in his use of them.

 

[Canaryboy]

We had players who were completely frozen out by Hughton because they didn't fit his system (Surman for example),so if Adams is going to make full use of his squad by mixing things up a bit then I'm all for it. 

 

[CanaryOnTheWire]

There's making full use of your squad and then there's having an identity crisis within it. It's not a squad geared towards any particular approach in its current form and that could be an issue in terms of keeping players happy...for example, if the diamond is working then the likes of Benno, Pilks, Redmond, Josh Murphy simply never get a game. Provided Adams man manages well there is no reason why it can't work but I would still be looking to shape the squad slightly towards a clear tactical approach (I don't mean sell all the wingers or the wide midfielders, as you'll need some variation) but at the minute the amount of approaches Adams has tried (although that's normal for pre-season) makes it look as though he doesn't know what he wants to do.

 

[Yellow Fever]

Adams has gone on record saying that he doesn't want us to be predictable and that he'll choose the team according to the opposition in the way COTW suggests. IMO, it's a good thing that the midfield has an identity crisis (or perhaps a split personality) as it means players can be rotated when the formation changes. The defense will probably be fairly stable (except for Elliot Bennett being used as a WB on occasions when the diamond is chosen). Adams, Holt and Martin need to be tactically astute to make this work, but I think they can.

 

[CanaryOnTheWire]

It could be a good thing but his man management will need to be very very good. To my mind few managers have ever successfully man managed squads with split personalities. Carlo Ancelotti springs to mind.

 

[barclay seats 48/49]

And as if by magic .... We are transported backwards three years to the days of Paul lambert ! Attacking football,, squad rotation ,, mix up the tactics/formations .

We all know how that worked out last time OTBC

 

[Yellow Fever]

I think there are some similarities between Lambert and Adams, but I feel that Adams is a deeper thinker about the game.

 

[CanaryOnTheWire]

Interested to know why you think that Yellow Fever. I don't agree, but I'm up for hearing it!

 

[Robert Brompton]

I think there are some similarities between Lambert and Adams, but I feel that Adams is a deeper thinker about the game.

I agree - in the last 5 games of the season he showed a willingness to make multiple changes of system but of course that was against some very high quality opposition. I thought that he did not get the credit he deserved for the performance at Chelsea and do not understand or think that he deserved the stick that he got from some quarters after the game. I was there on the day and thought he got it spot on at the time. It will be interesting to see if all the players are willing to buy into tactical and personnel changes form game to game.

 

[CanaryOnTheWire]

People seem to have very selective memories. Lambert frequently made changes to both system and strategy and in fact famously so- as soon as he recognised an issue he changed things. To suggest Adams is a 'better thinker' has zero basis right now.

 

[The Ghost of Michael Theo]

I agree - in the last 5 games of the season he showed a willingness to make multiple changes of system but of course that was against some very high quality opposition. I thought that he did not get the credit he deserved for the performance at Chelsea and do not understand or think that he deserved the stick that he got from some quarters after the game. I was there on the day and thought he got it spot on at the time. It will be interesting to see if all the players are willing to buy into tactical and personnel changes form game to game.

Sorry, but cannot agree with this. We needed to win that game. From a position where we could go and win it, Adams did nothing to attempt to get those 3 points. We basically accepted a draw.

By the time we played again, we were already relegated.

I think the stick Adams got was completely justified. This game was the reason I was supprised when he get the job permanently.

I just hope he's learnt from this mistake.

 

[CanaryOnTheWire]

Theo, if you are expansive against Chelsea, they will beat you.

None of the bottom half played an expansive game against Chelsea, and because Mourinho's counter-attacking does not work against a team that sits deep and counters itself, a fair few got results that way. We were very close to winning that day. 'Going for it' would have resulted in a heavy loss.

No doubt you'll respond with something of the ilk of 'if you don't try you'll never know'

Trust me, I do. we would have lost.

If you want to pick holes in Adams, try the Man Utd game. Woeful tactical performance.

 

[The Ghost of Michael Theo]

I wasn't suggesting we play expansive to 90 mins at Stamford Bridge. I'd agree that up until 20 to go, the tactics and management was perfect.

What I meant when I said "in a possition to win a game we needed to win" in my previous post was that at 0-0 with 20 to go in a game we needed to win, Adams needed to roll the dice. He didn't.

You're right. We may have lost that game as a result. However a loss ended up being as good as a draw, and with the run Sunderland was on at the end of last year, we all knew that.

Getting back to your origional point - what do you think Lambart would have done in the same situation?

 

[CanaryOnTheWire]

With respect to the last 20 minutes, I agree, we could have done more.

And I think Lambert would have lobbed a couple more attackers on and gone 4-2-4.