We have to get back to a four man defence

[Furey1878]

I did think this, until were signing Coady

I think our managers last few years have gone to 5 at the back out of necessity for a terrible midfield

The terrible midfield part definitely true.

Coady is an easy option for us, especially now with Mina and Godfrey being out. I do wonder about people saying he can only play in a CB trio.

Don;t get me wrong we are gonna see 5 at the back a lot this season, but I just can't see us investing so heavily into CM to only ever play 2 in there.

 

[johnjoeefc]

I think Frank likes 3/5 at the back and you can tell from the moment he joined that it's the way he wants to play

 

[Papa Shango]

I am sure some of our fans hate us having options.

We can play 4 or 5 at the back. Nice to have the options. Especially if we fall short in certain areas with injuries etc we can use another system.

 

[Little Ralphy]

The terrible midfield part definitely true.

Coady is an easy option for us, especially now with Mina and Godfrey being out. I do wonder about people saying he can only play in a CB trio.

Don;t get me wrong we are gonna see 5 at the back a lot this season, but I just can't see us investing so heavily into CM to only ever play 2 in there.

It's nice to have options, and the two who played centre mid on Saturday did ok, but they're not a top half Premiership pairing by any stretch.

Also given the potentially very able wing backs and a serious lack of quality in the wide areas further forward, Lampard could easily change the system, and flood the midfield a bit more with the additional strength there.

 

[Furey1878]

It's nice to have options, and the two who played centre mid on Saturday did ok, but they're not a top half Premiership pairing by any stretch.

Also given the potentially very able wing backs and a serious lack of quality in the wide areas further forward, Lampard could easily change the system, and flood the midfield a bit more with the additional strength there.

Yeah flexibility is good.

I see us lining up like so:

 

[davek]

I think Frank likes 3/5 at the back and you can tell from the moment he joined that it's the way he wants to play

We played a back four more times than we played a back 3/5 last season when he came in.

 

[IrishBlue2022]

Think once we have the new signings in and settled we will alternate between a back 4/5.

I think in the main we will see the back 4 at home apart from the likes of City, Spurs etc. And away mostly use a back 5.

It's a positive that we may have the personel to alternate between the two when needed.

 

[Efcjake]

As much as I prefer it we don't have the midfielder or the defenders to make it work.

Keane and Holgate are a disaster in a 2 man partnership.

Our midfielders we have today aren't capable of controlling a midfield.

 

[zook]

Although I favour a 4 man defence and 3 man midfield, I feel it's a bit odd to complain about the formation of the team after it was succesful in limiting Chelsea so well. They passed the ball about a lot but they didn't create much at all. There won't be many teams outside the top 6 that make that Chelsea side look so toothless I wouldn't have thought.

I just don't think that the front 3 we fielded have enough quality to trouble a back 3 as experienced and talented as Chelsea put out. They all just looked a little bit lost without a proper number 9 to work around.

 

[davek]

Although I favour a 4 man defence and 3 man midfield, I feel it's a bit odd to complain about the formation of the team after it was succesful in limiting Chelsea so well. They passed the ball about a lot but they didn't create much at all. There won't be many teams outside the top 6 that make that Chelsea side look so toothless I wouldn't have thought.

I just don't think that the front 3 we fielded have enough quality to trouble a back 3 as experienced and talented as Chelsea put out. They all just looked a little bit lost without a proper number 9 to work around.

That's because practically the whole team was behind the ball on Saturday.

 

[zook]

That's because practically the whole team was behind the ball on Saturday.

We've had plenty of times the last few years where we've had everyone behind the ball but still been conceding chances galore. But as a team against Chelsea they did well to cut off passing options and restrict the space. They weren't leaving gaping holes for for their players to just barge through like we've seen in games gone by.

Our problem was that we had no forward comfortable picking up possession in the middle of the pitch, holding off a defender and dragging them out of position.

 

[davek]

We've had plenty of times the last few years where we've had everyone behind the ball but still been conceding chances galore. But as a team against Chelsea they did well to cut off passing options and restrict the space. They weren't leaving gaping holes for for their players to just barge through like we've seen in games gone by.

Our problem was that we had no forward comfortable picking up possession in the middle of the pitch, holding off a defender and dragging them out of position.

The success at the back such as it was in Saturday was in repelling crosses into the box. That was due to Tarkowski leading the defence in our box. He can do that in a 4 or a 3/5 man defence.

 

[Joey66]

Forget the defence @davek -we need a keeper who can command his box plus make saves - Pickford was awful on Saturday .....a liability at times ......

 

[davek]

Forget the defence @davek -we need a keeper who can command his box plus make saves - Pickford was awful on Saturday .....a liability at times ......

We know where we are with him. He's a liablity one game and a great shot stopper the next. He's net break even GK.

 

[Goat]

We played a back four more times than we played a back 3/5 last season when he came in.

No we didnt.