Earnshaw lone striker in 4-5-1 -> 4-3-3. No more hoof ?

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From the pinkuns'' Hoyte loan article, about the Livingston game :

[quote]Worthington is likely to continue with the 4-3-3 formation he used at Cambridge on Saturday, which reverts to a 4-5-1 when not in possession, with Robert Earnshaw the lone dedicated striker.

“It''s something that we''ve got to look at home and away,” he said. “There were times last season when we were too open and we need to be a lot more compact and solid to give ourselves a chance so it''s something we''re looking at in pre-season to see if we can take that into the season.”[/quote]

If Earnshaw is the lone striker, then that suggests that when we get the ball off the opposition, in order to get from 4-5-1 to 4-3-3, we will be looking to play the ball on the floor into space for the 2 Attacking midfielder / forwards (Huckerby + McKenzie ?), and then on to Earnshaw into channels behind the defense, using his pace to turn the back line.  It sounds like it plays to our attacking strengths, we have small fast players up front after all.

Could this be the end of the hoof as we know it ?

Will Hucks and McKenzie get bogged down in defensive duties and fail to support Earnshaw on the attacks ?  Will we end up hoofing the ball to the smallest bloke on the park as a result ?

Is this formation a Good thing, or a Bad Thing ?

What do you think ?

[InLambertWeTrust! 0]

The formation is a good one because it takes away the need to hoof. But if the players dont adjust to their new duties then 4-5-1 will fail. We have to wait and see I suppose.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

I have always said there is nothing wrong with the hoof, as long as you have the team to do it.  When you are hoofing up to short players it aint gonna work.

I advocate mixing it up.  I am really not sure how well Erny will do up front on his own - especially away from home.  He is one of those players that does not contribute a lot especially when things arent going well.

We can but hope it works (or we sign a right winger and cente forward)

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blahblahblah in negativity shocker :

I hope we don''t play the formation the way England did in their group matches with Rooney in the Earnshaw role.  was it 50 yards of space he found himself in ?

[komakino 282]

With 4-5-1, my fear is that Earnshaw may become isolated in some games - very similar to Michael Owen in that respect. We will probably conceed fewer goals, but I can''t see us scoring many more than last season.

This formation basicially states we haven''t got the quality in the squad ( or the management ) at present to play 4-4-2.

Hoofball will be around for a while yet, but I don''t expect to see as much of it. Gallacher prefers to roll it out instead of Rob ''get me out of here'' Green''s pointless punts to Earnie, so this should benefit the team as a whole.

We shall see...

[Canary02 0]

[quote user="Paul Rankin"]

I have always said there is nothing wrong with the hoof, as long as you have the team to do it.  When you are hoofing up to short players it aint gonna work.

I advocate mixing it up.  I am really not sure how well Erny will do up front on his own - especially away from home.  He is one of those players that does not contribute a lot especially when things arent going well.

We can but hope it works (or we sign a right winger and cente forward)

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Paul - I totally agree. Like you, I''m anticipating Worthington going with the 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation and that''s fine, but to try and play with no height at all is silly. Like everything in life, you need a balance. Long balls/aerial balls don''t have to equate to hoofing it. A well played ball from the back can cut the opposition to shreds if pounced on by a skilfull, speedy striker, i.e. Hucks/Earny, but you do need to mix it up and have some strength. But what''s the answer in that formation? Play Earnie on the right? Push a big midfielder (Etuhu?) on?

 

[John Boubepo 0]

[quote user="blahblahblah"]

blahblahblah in negativity shocker :

I hope we don''t play the formation the way England did in their group matches with Rooney in the Earnshaw role.  was it 50 yards of space he found himself in ?

[/quote]Like I said during the World Cup the tactics were all wrong, if I remember correctly somebody disagreed ehh blahblah?

[DONT REMEMBER YOUR TENURE AS ENGLAND MANAGER 0]

No more hoof if you have the players to receive the ball and not concede the ball to the other team. The left hand side we have the players, but on the right we don''t. What choice did Greeno have when your left side is marked and your right side are gonna give the ball away as soon as receiving it. To lose hoof ball you need the players, which i don''t think we have collectively as a team. I do think we have a decent team in their somewhere, but its all about the midfield. Does anyone think collectively they can do a job, because i am far from convinced after what i saw last season.