I'm not sure it will make much difference to be honest. I think its the key components that are the issue, not so much the system. if players don't know what they are doing despite being coached a system for 4 months or so, how are they going to suddenly adapt to a system they've never played before? Its not nice to have to take punch after punch, but that's what the owners have engineered, so we have to take our very foul tasting medicine til January emerges.
Yes I do agree. I only watch home games, so I see only half the problem, but as I see it, home games are far too open. That was fine last season because our players were generally better than those fielded by the opposition, but this season the opposite is true. The back 4 is getting blamed for the problem, but we are getting repeatedly caught on the break when our midfield players are too far advanced to provide a shield in front of our central defenders. Many did not like what I wrote about Mowatt a week or two ago, but he is one of the chief culprits. Stendel also likes to attack with both full back, and they are being caught out of position too, and when that happens the central defenders are drawn out to cover, hence the gaps in the centre. It drives me crazy at times, and it is far worse when we have to chase the game. It makes us look like a set of amateurs. The players are very young and inexperienced, but Stendel is not helping them. On top of that, the press requires them to run, run, run and that leaves the players tired when they have two games in a week. There is a 2 week break now, and I will be very disappointed if Stendel has not worked on something different during the break. The system that you describe allows the full backs to get forward, just as they are doing now, but it places an extra defender in a position to cover if they are caught up field. It places 3 midfield players centrally as a shield for the defense, and we are still left with 2 up front, which is good because we do not have a player who can play there on his own. Currently, Stendel looks like a one trick pony. This is his chance to prove otherwise. If nothing has changed system-wise for the Swansea game, Minority Report is going to be a bloodbath.
Im a massive Stendel fan but i think he needs to tweak HIS plan. Definitely be less open and try to be harder to beat.....work those set pieces and just try to nick points, it wont be pretty but this is as demoralizing for our young players as it for us watching.
Perhaps that was a bit strong, but I do not think he is helping our young team. My biggest problem is with the pressing game. It has undoubtedly contributed to a few of our goals, particularly last season, but it draws players forward and if the opposition can pass through the press, too many of our players are caught out of position by the subsequent break. The young defenders look worse than they are sometimes because they are drawn out of prime position in coverage. It plays right into the hands of those teams who go to away grounds, set up to counter attack.
So the club identifies they want a Head Coach who favours the 'pressing style' of play. They recruit him, and the next part of the plan is to recruit players who are comfortable playing that style. The Recruitment Department recruits said players, and the club also turns a significant profit on some of the players from the previous season who had played that style and achieved promotion. The Head Coach puts out what he believes to be the best players made available to him by the Recruitment Department to play in the style that he, and those in charge of the club, favour. When it becomes clear that the recruited players are incapable (yet?) of playing the style effectively, the Head Coach is expected to do something differently. Does he abandon the playing style favoured by the owners? What alternative style will these (young and inexperienced) players be able to play effectively? And how long will the transition take? For me, it's neither tactics nor formation. We've just recruited badly in terms of our shorter-term requirements. And we've let key players leave in order to turn a profit. And we are stuck with it.