How would you fit wes in?

[Sjb 11]

Today i felt we lacked that little bit of creative spark that Wes can provide, but the 442 worked very well, and should have won us the game. We needed somthing just to get our 2nd goal, and im sure Wes would have set us up with one, but i just can''t see where he could fit in. Maybe in crofts space? I wouldn''t put him up front with holt simply cos he''ll go deep looking for the ball and leavig holt up on his own.

[Phillip J Fry 0]

[quote user="smiley"]Today i felt we lacked that little bit of creative spark that Wes can provide, but the 442 worked very well, and should have won us the game. We needed somthing just to get our 2nd goal, and im sure Wes would have set us up with one, but i just can''t see where he could fit in. Maybe in crofts space? I wouldn''t put him up front with holt simply cos he''ll go deep looking for the ball and leavig holt up on his own. [/quote]Change formations to a 4-2-3-1 with Hoolahan playing behind the Striker, a 4-3-3 with Hoolahan playing more advanced than the other two midfielders or a 4-4-1-1 with Hoolahan playing behind the striker are the three obvious options if you wish to avoid using a diamond shape. I doubt Lambert will play with three at the back so that''s probably it as far as formations go. The presence of two central midfielders helps relax the defence and makes the team more solid, unfortunately this means always playing one up front unless you wish to play something like a 3-4-1-2 which I can''t see hapening. 

[Phillip J Fry 0]

[quote user="Gareth"][quote user="smiley"]Today i felt we lacked that little bit of creative spark that Wes can provide, but the 442 worked very well, and should have won us the game. We needed somthing just to get our 2nd goal, and im sure Wes would have set us up with one, but i just can''t see where he could fit in. Maybe in crofts space? I wouldn''t put him up front with holt simply cos he''ll go deep looking for the ball and leavig holt up on his own. [/quote]Change formations to a 4-2-3-1 with Hoolahan playing behind the Striker, a 4-3-3 with Hoolahan playing more advanced than the other two midfielders or a 4-4-1-1 with Hoolahan playing behind the striker are the three obvious options if you wish to avoid using a diamond shape. I doubt Lambert will play with three at the back so that''s probably it as far as formations go. The presence of two central midfielders helps relax the defence and makes the team more solid, unfortunately this means always playing one up front unless you wish to play something like a 3-4-1-2 which I can''t see hapening.  [/quote]That is, of course, if Hoolahan plays.

[Jim Smith 2,314]

I personally think hoolahan behind Holt could work really well. I know some have pointed to the fact that it hasn''t always worked before but then before we''ve not had the pace and flair on the wings that we have now so Holt has had to drift wide a lot. Ig he actually stays more central then Wes buzzing around him could work really well as well as giving us an extra man in midfield at times which we will need. I would quite like to see us play this at Chelsea:

Johnson Crofts

Bennett Hoolahan Pilkington

Holt

[alysha 0]

Good question. I thought our midfield worked very well yesterday with Crofts and Johnson in the middle and Pilkington and Bennett on the wings, we seemed balanced - assured in the middle of the park with creative moves coming from the wings, we were much more solid yesterday in midfield than what we were at Wigan. So in answer to your question, at this moment in time I wouldn''t worry where would Wes fit in untill it seems apparent that we need a change; I believe that with or without the inclusion of Hoolahan yesterday, we would have created more goal scoring opportunities had we of not been playing with 10 men. Against Chelsea, I would have the same midfield that started yesterday.

[a1canary 0]

It''ll be really interesting to see what PL does for Chelsea away. He went with the diamond at Wigan but i''m not sure he was convinced about how well it worked. He doesn''t give much away but he did let slip that he thought we were too open at Wigan. If we''re too open at Chelsea we''ll get battered. Then again, Chelsea have played a similar system with three in the middle so the diamond may not be as open against them. Not sure what AVB favours system wise. They''ve just got this new fella in from Valencia so it seems like he might prefer to use the wings more given the right players. What are our other options besides how we set up yesterday and the diamond? I like the sound of the 4-2-3-1 suggestion with Crofts and Johnson doing as they did yesterday but sitting a bit closer to the back four, then that gives Wes his free role and Bennett and Pilks the licence to roam the wings. Did Lambert try any 1 up front formations in pre-season?

[Jim Smith 2,314]

[quote user="a1canary"]It''ll be really interesting to see what PL does for Chelsea away. He went with the diamond at Wigan but i''m not sure he was convinced about how well it worked. He doesn''t give much away but he did let slip that he thought we were too open at Wigan. If we''re too open at Chelsea we''ll get battered. Then again, Chelsea have played a similar system with three in the middle so the diamond may not be as open against them. Not sure what AVB favours system wise. They''ve just got this new fella in from Valencia so it seems like he might prefer to use the wings more given the right players. What are our other options besides how we set up yesterday and the diamond? I like the sound of the 4-2-3-1 suggestion with Crofts and Johnson doing as they did yesterday but sitting a bit closer to the back four, then that gives Wes his free role and Bennett and Pilks the licence to roam the wings. Did Lambert try any 1 up front formations in pre-season?[/quote]

I think he played Morrison up front on his own at Southend. I think in the past he''s tended to avoid one up front largely due to the fact that Holt would presumably be that one and he doesn''t stay in the middle enough. However, with Pilks and Bennett playing as genuine wide men Holt really doesn''t need to be drifting wide all the time. If therefore Lambert can get him to stay in the middle I think this could work. Wes can play "in the hole" thus giving us a bit more creativity going forward but also 5 in midfield for when we need to keep it tight in there.

Obviously Chelsea have a new manager now so not sure how they are playing but if previous seasons are anything to go by us being strong through the middle will be crucial. The Stamford Bridge pitch is also really narrow so sides that pack the middle tend to get some joy against them. Still a huge ask mind!

[Canary Man of Kent 0]

Hoolahan in for Martin for me against Chelsea. Wes is excellent at holding up the ball and also at hassling defenders.

 

What Wigan showed me was that the diamond has big problems in the Prem as it relies on overlapping full backs, something which can give you massive problems at this level against teams that can break incisively with pace.

 

I think a 4-4-1-1 formation will work well, although Holt will be required to stay more central than he normally does, but so should he when we''re playing a 4-4-2 with proper wingers in any case.