Team shape, tactics and personnel

[duke313]

1 hour ago, og1874 said:

Am I the only one who's given at least fleeting thought to how we might look if we went back to the exact same system we had when Jack was with us, but with Coutinho in Jack's role? Not saying we should, but I've found myself, on occasion, wondering how that would work out

Something like this?

Buendia------------Coutinho------------Bailey

-------------------------Watkins-----------------------

[og1874]

7 minutes ago, duke313 said:

Something like this?

Buendia------------Coutinho------------Bailey

-------------------------Watkins-----------------------

Yup, and not relying on the width coming from the defence, letting the CM stay in CM and not worry about being stand in full backs (which all too frequently leaves us with a CM of 1, or even 0 bodies)

[duke313]

2 minutes ago, og1874 said:

Yup, and not relying on the width coming from the defence, letting the CM stay in CM and not worry about being stand in full backs (which all too frequently leaves us with a CM of 1, or even 0 bodies)

That front 4 if playing well would be the best attacking line up outside the top 6.

[og1874]

Just now, duke313 said:

That front 4 if playing well would be the best attacking line up outside the top 6.

I would possibly say replace Ollie with Ings, but yeah it’s at least got a bit of natural shape to it

[PussEKatt]

What about 4-4-2 utilising Watkins,Ings and Bailey ?

[FLVillan]

I'm sure this has been posted already, but I think the main issue with the way Gerrard wants to play is complete reliance on the central midfielder being a Kante/Ndidi style of roaming/tackling type.  Marvelous is a decent option in there but aside from him we have nobody else like that. Luiz is ideal for the way Dean Smith wanted us to play (ie. a sort of "quarterback who can link play) but he's not mobile enough when we are defending in transition in Gerrard's style.  Hence why we keep conceding from quick counter-attacks.  He tried McGinn in the role at Wolves and that was a failed experiment.  For the rest of this season it's either going to take a radical shift in mindset from Gerrard or the return of Nakamba to see the team play effectively.  My big worry is now the expectation level has been raised too high for Nakamba and he's viewed as the missing piece - and I'm not sure that he's proven over a sustained period of time that he is at that level.  I've always liked him as a player so I hope he is! 

[duke313]

11 minutes ago, FLVillan said:

I'm sure this has been posted already, but I think the main issue with the way Gerrard wants to play is complete reliance on the central midfielder being a Kante/Ndidi style of roaming/tackling type.  Marvelous is a decent option in there but aside from him we have nobody else like that. Luiz is ideal for the way Dean Smith wanted us to play (ie. a sort of "quarterback who can link play) but he's not mobile enough when we are defending in transition in Gerrard's style.  Hence why we keep conceding from quick counter-attacks.  He tried McGinn in the role at Wolves and that was a failed experiment.  For the rest of this season it's either going to take a radical shift in mindset from Gerrard or the return of Nakamba to see the team play effectively.  My big worry is now the expectation level has been raised too high for Nakamba and he's viewed as the missing piece - and I'm not sure that he's proven over a sustained period of time that he is at that level.  I've always liked him as a player so I hope he is! 

Definitely a worry,  if Nakamaba doesn't immediately play like prime Makelele then serious questions will be asked as to why he's persisting with this system if he doesn't have the personnel. 

[og1874]

16 minutes ago, PussEKatt said:

What about 4-4-2 utilising Watkins,Ings and Bailey ?

Coutinho left, Bailey right, no Buendia?

[PussEKatt]

Coutinho and Bailey need to play and Buendia can come off the bench to change things around.

[tonyh29]

read somewhere that Gerrard wants Bissouma AND Phillips 

guess that would change the whole dynamic of how we play  .. long as it doesn't make us negative and dull to watch like Southgate's England 

[Zatman]

11 minutes ago, tonyh29 said:

read somewhere that Gerrard wants Bissouma AND Phillips 

guess that would change the whole dynamic of how we play  .. long as it doesn't make us negative and dull to watch like Southgate's England 

Can we get duller

[og1874]

16 minutes ago, tonyh29 said:

read somewhere that Gerrard wants Bissouma AND Phillips 

guess that would change the whole dynamic of how we play  .. long as it doesn't make us negative and dull to watch like Southgate's England 

That could effectively let us play a 4-2-4 to be fair

[duke313]

37 minutes ago, og1874 said:

That could effectively let us play a 4-2-4 to be fair

Or a 4231, with two holding mids and 3 attacking mids

[VillaParkAvenue]

3 hours ago, duke313 said:

Definitely a worry,  if Nakamaba doesn't immediately play like prime Makelele then serious questions will be asked as to why he's persisting with this system if he doesn't have the personnel. 

And why he’s been persisting with the system during Marv’s abscence, when it was obvious he would be out 12-16 weeks.

[Tom13]

2 hours ago, maqroll said:

I think Coutinho is important to use as a lure. Digne was a fluke who we wouldn't have been able to sign a week later. It's names like Suarez that make my stomach uneasy. Unless the deal is cut rate, an expensive and declining Suarez would stymie Ollie/Ings and Archer. 

It's starting to feel like we need a clean slate in terms of strikers. I go back and forth between wanting to keep Ollie but his all round game is irritating me that much lately that I'd kind of like to see him gone. Sell Ings as well as if he can't get a start now, what is the point? I like him, but he needs a proper run which it looks like he's not gonna get.

So, Ings and Watkins sold.

Archer and Davis back as backups, Wesley back as our main number 9.

But seriously, sign a new one.

[maqroll]

57 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

It's starting to feel like we need a clean slate in terms of strikers. I go back and forth between wanting to keep Ollie but his all round game is irritating me that much lately that I'd kind of like to see him gone. Sell Ings as well as if he can't get a start now, what is the point? I like him, but he needs a proper run which it looks like he's not gonna get.

So, Ings and Watkins sold.

Archer and Davis back as backups, Wesley back as our main number 9.

But seriously, sign a new one.

I'm not sure Davis will want to stay as a bench option again. He's having a ball at Forest. 

We need an explosive and athletic striker. As much as I like Watkins and Ings, they probably aren't the guys we need to advance.

[IrishVilla10]

10 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

Of those players, we only needed Chambers.

Yeah we should have played Ghazi into form on the left until Bailey came round form his months out. I actually can’t believe people have a problem with the coutinho signing, it amazes me. Digne was an opportunity to sign a quality left back, unfair on target maybe but he was a shell of himself last season, there’s no debating it. Digne hasn’t impressed me much but at the time I agreed with the signing. 

[VillaParkAvenue]

7 hours ago, maqroll said:

We need an explosive and athletic striker. 

That would at least rule out Suarez.

[sne]

3 minutes ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

That would at least rule out Suarez.

Unless you add an o to Athletic 

[sparrow1988]

1 hour ago, sne said:

Unless you add an o to Athletic 

And remove the h