Change of formation???

[Stowmarket Canary (not Delia) 0]

With Elliott Bennett already in and with Anthony Pilkington looking set to arrive, could we see a change in the way we set up next season? Will we no longer employ the diamond?? Maybe he wants wide men to play a 4-4-2. Or maybe a 4-3-3 with Bennett and Pilkington wide of Grant Holt?? Just a thought......

[Lincs Canary 0]

I still think the diamond will be our main formation but you have to have plan b, plan c, plan d etc in place so that if it doesnt work or wont be suitable then it can be changed.

I should say there will be the diamond, flat 4-4-2 with wide men, 4-3-3 with holt and 2 other strikers and maybe a 4-5-1?

[Joanna Grey 0]

I always preferred 3-5-2 on Sensible Soccer, I''m sure that PL will probably go the same way.

[chicken 0]

I think its a matter of having tacticle flexibility and squad srengthening.

Pilkington sounds like he could play at the tip of the diamond.

I guess the teams who have weak full backs will face bennett with his pace.

[Mahogany 0]

Having two goal scoring wingers will let us play a modern 4-1-2-3/4-2-3-1/4-3-3 similarly to Barcelona or Swansea. I like to think we''re more Barca myself.

Reckon the diamond will be how we lineup 1st game of the season, but theres going to be a lot more mixing it up as we go along.

[Deptford Canary 0]

I like a 4-1-4-1 formation myself.

[Boyo 0]

I would imagine we would start with the diamond but I think eventually we will get overun in midfield especially if the other teams play two wingers.  I think we will end up playing 4-4-2 or some sort of 4-2-3-1 formation with wide men, two holders and just the one up front.  The players Lambert''s buying are giving us a lot of options which is only a good thing so I expect us to mix and match with our formation quite alot.

[Morisons Prozac 0]

Perhaps going for the Stoke method. Two pacey skilled wingers (Bennett & Pilkington), two big lumps up front (Holt & Morison), and a couple of bruisers in the middle of the park (Crofts & Johnson).

[Mahogany 0]

Actually looking at the players he''s signed I think Lambert is actually going for an audacious move back to the original formation, the pyramid 2-3-5. That way we can fit Holt, Vaughan, Morison, Bennett and Pilkington into the same team. I''d imagine Johnson would make a good half-back and De Laet''s versatility would make him ideal as part of a fullback duo.

[Phillip J Fry 0]

[quote user="Mahogany"]Actually looking at the players he''s signed I think Lambert is actually going for an audacious move back to the original formation, the pyramid 2-3-5. That way we can fit Holt, Vaughan, Morison, Bennett and Pilkington into the same team. I''d imagine Johnson would make a good half-back and De Laet''s versatility would make him ideal as part of a fullback duo.[/quote]Awesome!

[militantcanary 0]

You may call it audacious, I would call it total suicide.

If we go light on our defence which is our weak spot, we are going to get killed this season.

I would be very surprised to see both Pilkington and Bennett in the same team, one or both of them will be semi permanent subs

[Legend Iwan 30]

I reckon we will definitely see us play two wingers on a number of occassions. Have a read of this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/jun/07/tactical-review-of-2010-11-season

[Mahogany 0]

I was just thinking that it was kind of odd that we having been focusing on bringing in attacking players, considering going forward we were already very strong. So then I thought it might be interesting to look up some slightly more unusual attacking formations that might be part of PL''s master plan.

After a bit of searching I came across Chile''s formation from the last World Cup. They played a 3-3-1-3. There''s a good write-up of how it works here: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/06/08/marcelo-bielsa-chile-world-cup-2010-tactics/

I know it''s unlikely that we''ll stray too far from variations of 442/433/451 but this might just work for us. Basically its a very attacking formation that relies on press, a high defensive line and spreading the ball wide. You have 3 centrebacks (though this changes based on the formation you are playing against). A holding midfielder, 2 sort of hybrid wing backs/box to box midfielders, then a playmaker, 2 inverted wingers and a striker.

Worth trying out in a friendly at least I reckon.

[Phillip J Fry 0]

[quote user="Mahogany"]I was just thinking that it was kind of odd that we having been focusing on bringing in attacking players, considering going forward we were already very strong. So then I thought it might be interesting to look up some slightly more unusual attacking formations that might be part of PL''s master plan.

After a bit of searching I came across Chile''s formation from the last World Cup. They played a 3-3-1-3. There''s a good write-up of how it works here: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/06/08/marcelo-bielsa-chile-world-cup-2010-tactics/

I know it''s unlikely that we''ll stray too far from variations of 442/433/451 but this might just work for us. Basically its a very attacking formation that relies on press, a high defensive line and spreading the ball wide. You have 3 centrebacks (though this changes based on the formation you are playing against). A holding midfielder, 2 sort of hybrid wing backs/box to box midfielders, then a playmaker, 2 inverted wingers and a striker.

Worth trying out in a friendly at least I reckon.[/quote]If Norwich played a 3-3-1-3 I would find immense enjoyment in watching them play (more so than ususal, anyway). I still believe Norwich will stick to the diamond, for the first few games at least. I think that a 4-4-2 will be rarely used, that formation is done and dusted at the highest level, with most top teams prefering a three man central midfield. If Norwich do play a high pressure game (which has never been obvious) then Norwich will need a three man midfield in order to make sure they are not outnumbered in the centre of midfield. Norwich are one of the few English teams who have shown a willingness to play with three CB''s and two Wing-backs/Wide-midfielders (although both experiments, Sheff. Utd. at home and Burnley away went horribly wrong) so you can''t rule out either a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 variant.Basically, it seems that Norwich have a wide variety of players and are capable of covering any position on the pitch. This, along with a coaching staff willing to try any formation, means Norwich will be one of the most (if not the most) tactically flexible teams in the league. Rule nothing out, and be prepared for the unusual and shocking this season!