A possible alternative for difficult away games

[Ianmooreslovechild]

Having watched the city game on telly again I got to wondering how the players we have may be used in an alternative formation like the sort of thing Allardyce used in his peak years.Here's a possible solution based on the principle of having cover in front of the defence, a long ball option, counter attacking pace, and a midfield mobile fit enough to get forward and support the striker/provide a threat.Not suggesting for a minute that Elmander CYL and Muamba should be dropped.Just thought it might be an interesting idea.

Steinsson Ricketts Knight Robinson
Cahill
Holden M Davies
Rodrigo Taylor
K Davies

Apologies if this is going over well trodden ground I'm new here.

[Ianmooreslovechild]

Hmmm the whole thing justified itself to the left but anyway i hope it makes sense

[Athers]

Coyle showed last season he's not afraid of playing with an extra midfielder playing off one forward - M.Davies at Arsenal and Wilshere at Chelsea.

No sign of breaking up this front two this season though.

[Ianmooreslovechild]

Coyle showed last season he's not afraid of playing with an extra midfielder playing off one forward - M.Davies at Arsenal and Wilshere at Chelsea.

No sign of breaking up this front two this season though.

Given the way they've played together I totally agree and for the majority of games the 442 he prefers works.Just felt it didn't work at city as they overan our midfield and had a lot of space infront and behind our defence as have a lot of teams this season and we were never likely to outscore them in an open game

[Athers]

I agree with you about something different although I don't really agree at your suggested team..

I'll admit I'm a believer at the church of Jonathan Wilson and it's true that people have been working out how to beat a 4-4-2 for decades now... We only had to watch the World Cup to see what's going on these days.

Anecdotally it feels like teams who have lined up something other than 4-4-2 themselves seem to have done better against us - thinking Liverpool & Blackpool, while Newcastle we battered and Spurs got thumped as soon as they put a second striker on. Before the season I had some fears about this team playing away from home but the results & performances have been good, maybe because teams are bit more open and as long as Holden & Muamba play well we still have the front two to cause them problems. It's just that where Blackpool had Grandin and Taylor-Fletcher getting space, yesterday it was Yaya Toure and Silva.

I think I'm probably cautious when it comes to tactics though, always thinking about protecting any leads we get not thinking of putting Petrov and Klasnic on like Coyle seems to do! Can't fault him so far so I'm enjoying the ride.

[newboy]

going back to a previous thread regarding Mavis. if Elmander went playing Mavis in behind S.K.D. and keeping the Muamba and Holden partnership in the middle whilst utilising the wide men Lucy and Petrov wouldn't be a bad thing in my eyes with Rodders ,Klasnic and Matty Taylor on the bench to shuffle things up could be interesting.

[a1]

just get gavin mccann back to kick 'em

[Ianmooreslovechild]

just get gavin mccann back to kick 'em

Aye but that was the problem when Megson tried to play one up front.We had a midfield that lacked mobility couldn't pass well and sat deep.We didn't play on the counter,we played hit it toward Davies head and hope we draw a free kick.We have players now who could use that system far more effectively and it wouldn't be the mindnumbingly negative system it was under Megson

[SonsOfThunder]

------------Juicy---------
Steiner-Zat-Cahill-Robbo
---Moo--Capt. America---
-Lucy---Sparky---Petrov-
------------SKD------------

Subs: Bogdan, Ricketts, Alonso, Taylor, Rodrigo, Elmo, Klasnic

And certain 'subs' like Elmo/Taylor would be more of an alternate starter depending on opposition.

[Ianmooreslovechild]

Not convinced about Petrov as a starter.I thought players legs were supposed to go with age not their touch.

[CAPSLOCK]

Why the balls are we looking at leaving out our top scorer

It's not like we're carrying him

For me, there is one change that is so obvious I'm thinking I'm missing something...that being Petrov out and Taylor in

If we are desperate to get MD in then the Korean can have a rest

That;s a much more solid looking set up

[newboy]

------------Juicy---------
Steiner-Zat-Cahill-Robbo
---Moo--Capt. America---
-Lucy---Sparky---Petrov-
------------SKD------------

Subs: Bogdan, Ricketts, Alonso, Taylor, Rodrigo, Elmo, Klasnic

And certain 'subs' like Elmo/Taylor would be more of an alternate starter depending on opposition.

that's the type of line up i was alluding to if Elmo left.

[Ianmooreslovechild]

Why the balls are we looking at leaving out our top scorer

It's not like we're carrying him

For me, there is one change that is so obvious I'm thinking I'm missing something...that being Petrov out and Taylor in

If we are desperate to get MD in then the Korean can have a rest

That;s a much more solid looking set up

Agree re Petrov and it may help CYL if Moreno and Mavis come in for him occasionally.I was simply looking at ways to cope with stronger teams than us away from home where the current set up could leave us getting tonked.Hence one striker and pacy players and potentially a better use of Cahill and a stronger defence.If you only have one striker,could be Davies or Elmander.I doubt very much that it'd happen as Coyle likes consistency and 442 with good reason especially when the front two are working well together as they have been.There's not a lot between most teams in the prem this year and we'll do well enough with 442 but in some games it won't work, like the city game at the weekend.

[Lord Kangana]

Can someone remind me of all the car-crash away results we've had which would force us to change it?

As I recall we've lost to the top of the league and the richest club in the world. I think Elmander deserves to be dropped for that.

[Ianmooreslovechild]

We were lucky not to have a car crash result yesterday.Most games 442 is fine but there will be games where an alternative approach may be more effective.Also we've drawn quite a few games we could and should have won and conceeded a lot of goals.It would be good to think we don't need a 4 goal cushion to believe we've won a game so looking for a way to reduce the goals we conceed seems to make sense.
We've been brilliant going forward over the last month which makes our inability to defend less of an issue but should Davies and Elmander hit a lean spell or Elmander leave it could become more of an issue.

[midnitefooty]

Okay, I'll bite.
If there was a hypothetical and meaningless fixture somewhere in the near future, I wouldn't mind giving this lineup a try.

Elmo SKD
Taylor Lee
Holden Cahill
Robbo Knight Ricketts Stein
Whoever

- Taylor over Petrov simply because he gives it away less
- Sacrificed Moo's ability to break up play for Cahill's ability to pass and shoot. I really like what Moo does for us but think we'd be even better off with someone more technically sound in his position to provide link up play in the midfield. Mavies is alright but sorely lacks the defensive mindset. Thus Cahill.
- Ricketts has not been playing well but has shown in the past that he can play at CB.

But this is only if we had room for experimentation. Don't mess with what has been working I say.

[BWFC_Insane]

Does anyone think playing 5 in midfield would have changed the result on Saturday? Citeh when they're "on it" are just better than us.

There are times when we've been outnumbered in midfield. But equally there are times when we've used our two up front and completely played off them as a pair.

I'm not a big fan of chopping and changing system unless its absolutely necessary. Sure we'll lose some games playing 4-4-2 but right now its not done us any harm, and its what Coyle and the squad seem to believe in. So stick with it IMO!

[seanworth]

City play much better when the field is more open and the opposition trying to attack. Against sides that sit back and play more defensive, something we have done a lot of the past few years. they really struggle. Maybe taking a more conservative approach in this game might have changed the game drastically. In general though I say go for it. I like Coyles approach, but for this game it was like conceeding the game before we started.