Roberto Martinez discussion

Status
Not open for further replies.
So Barkley was playing as a support striker and when Kone replaced him he played further forward than Barkley was but not actually up front?

Bonkers.

Almost correct, but Kone was definitely up front. I just don't class that as a change in shape, as it still involved a forward player dropping deep, as any front two combo works. We didn't change the wide areas, and we didn't move to two up top with a creative midfielder and just deep lying one.
 
Almost correct, but Kone was definitely up front. I just don't class that as a change in shape, as it still involved a forward player dropping deep, as any front two combo works. We didn't change the wide areas, and we didn't move to two up top with a creative midfielder and just deep lying one.

I have no idea what this means mate?
 

What he said from about 10:50 for the next minute onwards. Basically that it's OK to concede as long as you keep doing to right things because eventually you will come out on top.

I took it more as 'there are flaws to all systems, however the benefits of ours means we can control games and get our creative players in higher positions on the pitch'.
 
I have no idea what this means mate?

Ok, so we started the game with Barkley as the number 10, Lukaku as the main striker.

When Kone came on, he replaced Barkley as the support player, or Lukaku replaces Barkley as the support player and Kone plays as the most advanced player. One of them had to drop into the hole to act as the support player.

Either way, you have a partnership of two as the attack in the middle in either system.

What I'm saying is that doesn't constitute a change in shape. What would be is if Kone came on for Galloway, went up top with Lukaku as a front two pairing, and Barkley retained his position as the attacking midfielder. So you then have three as the combo for the attacking phase. That didn't happen - Barkley dropped much deeper.

Throughout, we maintained a front two combo with one striker as the main focal point, one traditional wide player and two deep lying midfielders. That was the shape for the entire game.
 
I think he's doing a excellent job and he needs more funds to compete with the big boys, hell at the moment we can't even compete with the likes of Stoke, West Brom and Villa in the transfermarkt.
 

someone talking sense and you immediately think of me.

I'm flattered :)
I think he was actually suggesting @Tubey was on crack but if you want to take it that way good on ya.

We played a pretty traditional 442 after the tactical switch in my mind, two up top and knocked it longer.
 
Ok, so we started the game with Barkley as the number 10, Lukaku as the main striker.

When Kone came on, he replaced Barkley as the support player, or Lukaku replaces Barkley as the support player and Kone plays as the most advanced player. One of them had to drop into the hole to act as the support player.

Either way, you have a partnership of two as the attack in the middle in either system.

What I'm saying is that doesn't constitute a change in shape. What would be is if Kone came on for Galloway, went up top with Lukaku as a front two pairing, and Barkley retained his position as the attacking midfielder. So you then have three as the combo for the attacking phase. That didn't happen - Barkley dropped much deeper.

Throughout, we maintained a front two combo with one striker as the main focal point, one traditional wide player and two deep lying midfielders. That was the shape for the entire game.

Ok I get that, so one last question from me so i'm positive I understand.

You're saying that there is no difference between

4-4-1-1 (Like we had with Cahill and Saha/Jelavic etc or Barkley and Lukaku)
and
4-4-2 (Beattie and Johnson, or Kone and Lukaku)

Not a loaded question, all about opinions after all, but to me there is a huge difference. 4-4-2 is for teams looking to pin the opposition back in a more direct way, 4-4-1-1 is for overloading the midfield
 
Ok I get that, so one last question from me so i'm positive I understand.

You're saying that there is no difference between

4-4-1-1 (Like we had with Cahill and Saha/Jelavic etc or Barkley and Lukaku)
and
4-4-2 (Beattie and Johnson, or Kone and Lukaku)

Not a loaded question, all about opinions after all, but to me there is a huge difference. 4-4-2 is for teams looking to pin the opposition back in a more direct way, 4-4-1-1 is for overloading the midfield

There definitely is a difference, for the reasons you've just stated; just not in shape. With the latter, a striker has to drop deep to link play (Beattie for example), so in practice it operates as a 4-4-1-1 most of the time.

A difference in shape would be a diamond 4-4-2, or a 4-3-3, where different numbers of players are involved in a set phase of play.

I did say Kone came on as a striker and Barkley was not - I said that from the offset - and the reason for that is as you say; Barkley was to help overload the midfield, Kone was to go more direct with a higher tempo. But that's a change in approach, not shape.
 
To give an example of what I mean in practice.

Barkley: The ball is given short as he is already occupying the space, and he can drop to the half way line to collect too. The play is shorter and the tempo is possession based football.

Kone: He starts from a more advanced position and drops deep, so the pass to him is longer, more direct.

The approach is different, but the two players operate in the same position of the pitch for the build up play.

A different shape would be this:

Barkley, with Kone/Lukaku ahead of him: Ball is either played short to Barkley in attacking midfield, or hit direct to a striker to play off. If the latter happens, Barkley moves off the ball to make it a front three.
 

Status
Not open for further replies.

Welcome to GrandOldTeam

Get involved. Registration is simple and free.

Back
Top