The tactical genius of dropping Hoolahan

[kilroyslefteyebrow 0]

Thought I''d get in first and hedge my bets, pre-empting the posts at 4:50pm.

[kilroyslefteyebrow 0]

The forum wouldn''t let me post two threads on this.

I wanted one supporting the decision and another condemning it, just to play it safe when the results are in.

I was trying to get my fickleness over with before the results come in.

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="kilroyslefteyebrow"]Thought I''d get in first and hedge my bets, pre-empting the posts at 4:50pm.[/quote]I think it''s a brilliant/terrible decision which shows Lambert is the next Martin O''Neill/Peter Grant and we need to make sure we hold onto him/give him his P45 before premier clubs come calling/he takes us back to League One.  This tactical masterpiece/disaster would never have happened under Glenn Roeder/Dave Stringer.

[kilroyslefteyebrow 0]

Thanks for saying what I found it too challenging to say.

[star_manic 0]

defo tactical genius and strong personality. went 4-2-4- and realised after donny result hooly couldn''t play as well in this formation so put him on the bench. masterstroke.

[star_manic 0]

not sure what happened at the end of that, looks like i lost control of the mouse.

[chicken 0]

I would just like to say I suggested this a few days ago on the ''lets discuss Grant Holt'' thread.

Yeah that''s right - I am the tactical genius! Not.

We got two or three decent crosses in Tuesday and scored once, suggests we play with a bit more width and more crosses will happen meaning more chances - which we had today but just didn''t make enough of them.

[Robert N. LiM 4,241]

I wonder if the diamond will reappear away from home where Wes tends to get a little more room against more attack-minded teams.

I was really surprised by Lambert''s selection today and remain unconvinced that McNamee is good enough to justify leaving Wes out. But it''s clear that Wes can''t play in a 442 unless he is one of the two up front, and to be fair, the two banks of four really did their jobs today.

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

I''m not saying this is why Lambert made the changes he did, but sometimes the cute thing to do is to do what the opposition manager likes least.

Middlesbrough will have prepared for Hoolahan and the diamond. Not only is Hoolahan dropped, but until we start playing the stand-in Middlesbrough manager doesn''t know whether we are sticking with the diamond (albeit without Hoolahan) or playing a different formation.

It means Agnew has to think on his feet while the game is going on.

It also means Cardiff won''t be so certain what line-up and tactical formation they will be facing.