When I first started watching Barnsley we used to play with 2 wingers Earnshaw and Hamstead.I recall we'd win the ball pass it to either winger he'd take on or attempt to beat his man and cross the ball from the byeline into the middle and hopefully a goal. Football seems a lot more technical nowadays with lots of clubs playing through the middle sometimes running into the most constricted area on the pitch and loads of moves break down. The way Blackpool played on Saturday was in my view a somewhat old fashioned style,win the ball pass it wide to a winger beat your man get it into the middle.Simple but effective.We mostly played through the middle and it can be be very frustrating getting to the edge of the box getting closed down and having to move the ball backwards to try again. Man City are excellent at playing through the middle but for my team if playing that way isn't working I'd like to have the option of putting a couple of wingers on and get back to the older fashion basics.
I just don't know whats wrong with 4-4-2. You've got players all over the pitch, two solid banks of four and stick a little and large double act up front. Play the easy pass, look for through balls when you get into the opposition half, cross it when you get level with the 18 yard box or shoot if there's nothing on. Job done, Schopp out, Redvesp in.
There was nothing wrong with 4-4-2 until everybody stopped playing it. Then it's a very basic formation that demands you win every individual battle on the pitch rather than a chosen system winning that battle for you. In this country it was Sir Alex who first acknowledged that we (as in British clubs) couldn't win games against the best in Europe playing 4-4-2. As we then brought in more foreign coaches who have rarely even seen that formation, it started to be phased out to the point it's rare that we see it from the Championship up. It can still be effective but requires some flex within it. Football is simple on paper when you completely discount what the opposition might be doing to make it difficult.
We seem to be wanting to play intricate through balls, but without having any movement to pass to. Means we might create a chance a game, which we took against Coventry for example, but you can't rely on a 100% success rate on taking chances. The one real chance we created through playing this way at Blackpool was for Adeboyejo in the first half. To be fair, it was a decent effort, just wish Styles was at LWB to follow it up rather than Williams. Incredibly frustrating to watch, because Schopp seems to be the only person that cannot see that it's not working.
Good wingers are great, beat a man and then create space by keeping width and drawing next defender out. Good crossing required. Tall hold up CF to play into. Should get many more corners than we get playing compact through middle. Need talented wingers
Blackpool and others are playing that way against us because it’s clear that we are weak at full back. I’d rather have two no-nonsense players back there rather than what we have now. We’re seeing it week after week this season. Opposition wingers or wing backs are having a field day down our flanks, simply because they know they can
This guy, Voldemort and Paul Hart all played a narrow formation of one sort or another. All with similar success.
I do think people tend to over think and over complicate the game. Eg "The Minority Report" threads that we used to get. The most successful teams we've ever had have featured skillful wide players; Stuart Barrowclough, Adam Hammill, Darren Barnard etc....
Said the same thing to my friend today. How I miss seeing a player create excitement rather than the current mind-numbing mundanity.
It's got to be one of the best sights in football, seeing a player running at a defence, turning them inside out then making the net bulge with a thunderbolt shot. Just like Clarke Oduor did the other week. Oh, hang on.....
End product not quite there yet, but I still think odour is an exciting talent. He’s the only player we have that can beat a man, and give defenders something else to think about, rather than marking static strikers.
Not disputing that. I was on my feet like everyone else and the arms were just going up in celebration when he fluffed it. A confident striker would have slammed it anywhere but straight at the keeper. He could have even scuffed it either side but he couldn’t manage that. I like Clarke and fully expect him to progress as a player. Trouble is that we can’t afford to wait while he learns his trade. Maybe we’ve just not found his ideal position yet?
