Still in it!

[Worthy4England]

and Worthy i thought i'd made it clear what strengths i thought Coyle was trying to play to when he picks Davies- not that i agree with picking him mind. although our goal on Sat did come from the sort of direct tactic that was seen as strength last season

I would argue on current performances, anything that involves SKD could not possibly be counted as a "strength" to play to...The rather obvious weakness in this approach was more than adequately shown on Saturday. Why OC couldn't see this is beyond me.

The bloke is indefensible at the moment in my eyes.

[Worthy4England]

Nobody's suggesting "packing the team with defense and defensive midfielders".

Some of the world's most lauded teams play with two midfielders who could tackle the metaphorical fish supper.

It's fine - necessary, probably - to play Mark Davies. But he's not a central midfielder in a 4-4-2, in that he can't tackle for shit.

Correct.

I think whether it's a 4 or a 5 in MF at the moment, two of the 4/5 have to be Muamba/NRC. When Holden's back we might get away with a 4 man MF - possibly if he comes back as sharp as he was etc.

Having Mavis, Petrov and Eagles in there just isn't strong enough, nor is perming in Tuncay, Pratley, Myiachi etc. without NRC and Moo.

I agree that for attacking intent, we probabl need Mavis rather that SKD, so you keep coming back to Wide-Player, Moo, Mavis, NRC, Wide-Player, as being the only perm likely to work. With Ngog up front as the "one" (although for me I wouldn't have given up on Klasnic yet)

[lovethesmellofnapalm]

Swansea also play 4-5-1 and then 4-3-3 when attacking.... Norwhich also play 4-5-1 where Holt sits behind the main striker or Hollahan sits behind Holt..... 4-5-1 keeps you in the premiership!

not on Saturday according tothis they didn't- maybe Coyle was tring to do something similar against Wigan?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... sfeed=true" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


nobody on here is a bigger fan of Muamba than me.
fist name on the team sheet for me and if Coyle is to be criticised for anything it should be regarding his treatment of Muamba
but this 4-4-2 / 4-5-1 stuff is the wrong rod to be beating him with

[Armchair Wanderer]

Swansea also play 4-5-1 and then 4-3-3 when attacking.... Norwhich also play 4-5-1 where Holt sits behind the main striker or Hollahan sits behind Holt..... 4-5-1 keeps you in the premiership!

not on Saturday according tothis they didn't- maybe Coyle was tring to do something similar against Wigan?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... sfeed=true" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


nobody on here is a bigger fan of Muamba than me.
fist name on the team sheet for me and if Coyle is to be criticised for anything it should be regarding his treatment of Muamba
but this 4-4-2 / 4-5-1 stuff is the wrong rod to be beating him with

I have seen some HORRIBLE 4-4-2 performances this season. Muamba has played in some of them, albeit he's been the first one subbed.

When we play 4-4-2 we can't pass/keep the ball, which is irrelevant because we can't get the ball anyway and when we do we hoof it up top (and lose it).

Some people honestly don't sound like they've been to a game this season. I'm assuming they must be WUMing or devil's advocating.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Norwhich also play 4-5-1 where Holt sits behind the main striker or Hollahan sits behind Holt..... 4-5-1 keeps you in the premiership!

not on Saturday according tothis they didn't- maybe Coyle was tring to do something similar against Wigan?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... sfeed=true" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In other words, Paul Lambert had tactical flexibility and the nous to change a losing gameplan by winning the midfield battle.

As opposed to swapping tacklers for forwards, armed with little but blind faith.

[Prufrock]

Does napalm have glue in it?