4-4-2 against Rotherham

[n1 gull]

Please MM play a 442 and lets get at them.
I must admit, I'm bloody worried about this game, we're always rubbish when we're meant to win.

I just hope we have a bloody good go at them.
Claridge and Knight upfront with Currie pinging in the crosses.

Come on Brighton get into them.....

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

And, ideally Harty on the right would be nice. But I'm readying myself for the ingenious 1-3-(1)-2-1-2-1 formation we'll doubtless see.

 

[n1 gull]

I've heard a rumour that Kuipers will be playing right back, and Knight will be going in goal, in a cunning plan to play absolutely everyone out of position.

 

[bellsize seagull]

not really sure why people continue to go on about people playing out of position, any one heard of limited resources
i think Mcghee is doing a good job and the players work for him.
keep the faith !!!

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

its the right way to play it, but we wont

 

[Uncle Buck]

its the right way to play it, but we wont

Have no problem with 5-3-2, as long as he plays a striker up front with Claridge. It is when we end up playing 4-5-1 that it goes wrong.

 

[The Auditor]

Have no problem with 5-3-2, as long as he plays a striker up front with Claridge. It is when we end up playing 4-5-1 that it goes wrong.

Yep....5-3-2,3-5-2,4-4-2 anything but 4-5-1 in a game we must win

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

I agree 4 4 2. Get amongst them early doors etc.

BUT BE PATIENT. EVEN A 1-0 in the 89th min will be enough. All that we need is 3 points.

This is a must win. This is one game where for the first time in a long time the opposition MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT US and not us be worried about them like with Ipswich, Sunderland, Derby, West Ham, Crewe, Burnley etc where I have agreed wholeheartedly with MM team selections.

 

[London Irish]

Have no problem with 5-3-2, as long as he plays a striker up front with Claridge. It is when we end up playing 4-5-1 that it goes wrong.

Yes, like that time we won a Championship with it

McGhee will pick the best system he can within the limits of the players he has at his disposal and with close regard to the system that Roth are likely to play.

Micky Adams used to constantly make the point that it was the performance of players that was ultimately far more important than the system we employed.

With that in mind, tomorrow we have to hope for no more defensive blunders that gifted Burnley their win and that Currie can return to top form with his service, and that if Leon plays up front, he can improve on his goal-scoring-to-chances ratio which has not been as good as last season even with the lesser number of opportunities he's had this season.

 

[perseus]

Albion have got to play and out and out winger, someone to get around the outside of their full backs and put Pollitt in a quandry on whether he is going to make a save or catch a cross.

The trouble it is such a long time that Gary Hart actually did this I cannot remember if he ever did?

Jarrett would seem obvious, but I have not actually seen him trap the ball properly yet.

I would have to think it would have to be Leon Knight. He seems to be nearest to a winger and or best croser of the ball?

Except for Currie, who always crosses from deep when I have been watching. Need to close in and cross at speed.

Got to be two forwards anyway. 4-4-2.

 

[Marc]

Team News from the BEEB:


Brighton v Rotherham
Brighton makeshift striker Adam Virgo misses out as he serves the last game of a three-match ban.

Long-tem foot injury victim Chris McPhee is still out, otherwise boss Mark McGhee has no new injury worries.

Rotherham midfielder John Mullin is doubtful after limping out of a reserve match, and Andy Monkhouse is still out with a knee injury.

Scott Minto came safely through a reserve team work-out to complete his recovery from a shoulder injury.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Yes, like that time we won a Championship with it

McGhee will pick the best system he can within the limits of the players he has at his disposal and with close regard to the system that Roth are likely to play.

Micky Adams used to constantly make the point that it was the performance of players that was ultimately far more important than the system we employed.

With that in mind, tomorrow we have to hope for no more defensive blunders that gifted Burnley their win and that Currie can return to top form with his service, and that if Leon plays up front, he can improve on his goal-scoring-to-chances ratio which has not been as good as last season even with the lesser number of opportunities he's had this season.

I think you are disagreeing to get a reaction, but deep breath and here we go.

Yes you are correct we won the third division with a system that was 4-5-1, but when we attacked became 4-3-3 very quickly, this was down to the fact that we had two pacey players out wide in Hart and Jones (or Brooker). When we played this 4-5-1 system against Burnely, one of the wingers was Currie and he is not pacey, so the system broke down as he was not getting up to help Currie. Also under Adams, he had Zamora up front, who had pace, we are playing with Claridge on his own up front and he has no pace. Are you seeing the link yet? The system works with pace, other than Knight, the inner circle of players that McGhee deams as worthy, there is very little pace in the attackers.

Now personally and this is my view, not the clubs, with the players we have at present, I think we are best served with playing a 5-3-2 formation, like we did for much of the season when Coppell was here.

I would like to see something along the lines of;

Kuipers
Reid
Harding
Cullip
Hinshlewood
Butters
Currie
Nicolas
Oatway / Hammond
Claridge
Knight

 

[London Irish]

Uncle Buck, you're making the precisely the point that I set out to illustrate - that it is the quality of the players that make a system work, not the other way round.

Of course a 4-5-1 with Zamora up front will be more effective with one with Claridge up front - BZ's a better player!

But guess what? The same argument works for 4-4-2 as well! The 4-4-2 will be more more effective with pacier, better players in the front 2! It's the quality (skill, pace, striking ability) that counts with WHATEVER system you employ.

To say that 5-3-2 is our "best" system is again too rigid.

We will employ tactical systems that best nullify the strengths of the opposition at the same time as exploiting their weaknesses. That will inevitably differ from game to game as the opposition changes.

Now, if you explain to me how a 5-3-2 or a 4-4-2 is particularly well suited to overcoming the particular Roth players we'll be facing tomorrow, I'll be all ears, that will constitute some intelligent footy chat.

 

[southstandandy]

As long as we don't play with only 1 up at home like the Burnley game, then I'll be happy. We must try to win this match and not play for the draw as we did against Burnley.

For the first time in nearly 3 months I think we might score 2 in a match.

Come on the lads - this is a must win !

 

[dougdeep]

4.4.2. Keep it simple. Back to basics. Etc...

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

I was a bit worried about MM's comment is the Argus - "I want 6 points from Decemeber."

Surely with Rotherham and the Gill at home there is a certain expected 6 points, plus look for at least a point from Stoke at home and 1 point from either Millwall or Wolves away - I think we should be aiming for 7 or 8 - 6 seems a target too low.

 

[perseus]

I want 7 to 9 points minimum. But MM says what he thinks achieves the best results. He might want to take the pressure of the players, as if they push too hard against Rotherham, they may get caught out?

The 5-3-2 wing-back system is fatally flawed. It is like playing with ten men. e.g. if the 5-3-2 is attacked down the left wing by a conventional 4-3-3 the defending left wing-back is out of the game. If he takes up another position, it is not 5-3-2 any more. Four at the back is the basis for any sensible system.