Formation

[seagullwedgee]

Gus is the man, and this is not a crtiticism, just my view of why it went so wrong at the Dons.

Gus said before that the Dons liked to play proper footie, and play on a good surface. Why did we go in 433? Other than the first 90 seconds when he had a half chance we were completely over-run in midfield. It didn't hlp that Dicker was having such a shocker, but they just came raining through us down the middle and down both flanks, whilst our 3 centre forwards stood up field waiting for the others to mop up. And when we were trying to play out from the back we could never find a spare man in midfield because they pushed high up and outnumbered us, so no outlets.

I kept thinking he'll change it soon and go 442 to even it up, and maybe give us some width (yes I know we missed Noone and Kish) but every tactical change was more and more bizarre, to the point where we had taken off both our full backs, and were still playing with three centre forwards against 10 men - and still we had less and less width as the game went on.

The only tactical change that went on at the Dons (if you can call it that) is that we resorted more and more to high balls lumped in from 45 degree angles (rarely got to the byline).

So formation wrong, tactics wrong, but the players need to look in the mirror.........

 

[CAPTAIN GREALISH]

Gus is the man, and this is not a crtiticism, just my view of why it went so wrong at the Dons.

Gus said before that the Dons liked to play proper footie, and play on a good surface. Why did we go in 433? Other than the first 90 seconds when he had a half chance we were completely over-run in midfield. It didn't hlp that Dicker was having such a shocker, but they just came raining through us down the middle and down both flanks, whilst our 3 centre forwards stood up field waiting for the others to mop up. And when we were trying to play out from the back we could never find a spare man in midfield because they pushed high up and outnumbered us, so no outlets.

I kept thinking he'll change it soon and go 442 to even it up, and maybe give us some width (yes I know we missed Noone and Kish) but every tactical change was more and more bizarre, to the point where we had taken off both our full backs, and were still playing with three centre forwards against 10 men - and still we had less and less width as the game went on.

The only tactical change that went on at the Dons (if you can call it that) is that we resorted more and more to high balls lumped in from 45 degree angles (rarely got to the byline).

So formation wrong, tactics wrong, but the players ened to look in the mirror.........

my view as well . gus for once got it wrong

 

[CliveWalkerWingWizard]

I also thought that we would be in trouble when I heard they were playing 4-5-1

 

[Bwian]

I also thought that we would be in trouble when I heard they were playing 4-5-1

And most of their players looked like they wouldn't be out of place in a rugby team (and played like they were all the time the ref allowed them to).

 

[southwickseagull]

So? We lost a match! The formation and tactics have worked fantasticly well for the majority of the season, so why change it? The boys will be back with a vengence come tuesday night. If it aint broke dont fix it

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Not sure about your comment about the subs being bizarre. Barnes not playing well so straight swap for Fran. Calderon for Sparrow let Bennett go out as the right winger rather than staying in the middle. Painter had an injury so again straight swap with Tanno.

The problem was the shockingly poor final ball and awful crossing. The strikers just weren't linking today and Wood and Murray weren't finding teamates with their lay offs. Everyone played poorly so I don't think you can just blame Gus for the formation

 

[Giraffe]

I think that's why we missed Noone. Bringing him on at half time or later could have changed the game.

 

[BensGrandad]

This just goes to show what I have been saying for ages our first XI are good with back ups but if a couple are injured or not available we are very weak on the bench.

 

[tube train]

So? We lost a match! The formation and tactics have worked fantasticly well for the majority of the season, so why change it? The boys will be back with a vengence come tuesday night. If it aint broke dont fix it

yeah we did lose the match and i agree its work most of the season, but that doesnt mean it shouldnt be changed when needed. thats the sign of a top manager knowing when to change and spotting mistakes either by him or the other teams manager. now i think gus has a great future same as everyone else but yesterday he didnt get it right. best would have been to set 451 and match them across the park at least to start with and win the midfield battle.

we missed Noone i would like to see him start more games now then we could go to a really exciting 442 with him one side and bennett the other (dont like bennett inside in the middle)

plus i agree with the comment above about needing more strenght in depth but thats something that will be address this summer hopefully when planning for (dare i say it) the Big C!

 

[BensGrandad]

I would like us to bring in 3 loan signings for 3 months to ensure promotion. A versatile full back, attacking midfielder and striker. A young premiership prospect or an old player on his way down who could fill the bill for 30 minutes each game would suffice. I think to wait to strengthen the squad until the summer could prove wrong, I would rather make sure than a rely on a possibility.

 

[brunswick]

3 up front yesterday was silly - away against a passing 4 man middle....nieve.

 

[tube train]

I would like us to bring in 3 loan signings for 3 months to ensure promotion. A versatile full back, attacking midfielder and striker. A young premiership prospect or an old player on his way down who could fill the bill for 30 minutes each game would suffice. I think to wait to strengthen the squad until the summer could prove wrong, I would rather make sure than a rely on a possibility.

yeah really agree on the striker front! im not a fan of barnes i think he works hard, he gets himself in great positions and if he doesnt need to think about it he can score but his bottle goes if he has time to think about it...

i think as a team we struggle to score (i know 12 in 3 at home) the first goal.. once we go infront we seem to change and be fine its just that first goal is hard to come by at times

i just meant the summer is where it will be address in terms of signings and not just loanees

 

[Thunder Bolt]

This just goes to show what I have been saying for ages our first XI are good with back ups but if a couple are injured or not available we are very weak on the bench.

I'm sorry but that is rubbish. We have Sparrow and Kish available for different tactics with Championship & Prem experience. Noone, McNulty and Navarro still recovering are the only casualties. We have enough players to change tactics especially in midfield.

 

[BensGrandad]

I agree 100% about signings but why not use the loan market for what it is desiogned and to our advantage.

 

[BensGrandad]

I'm sorry but that is rubbish. We have Sparrow and Kish available for different tactics with Championship & Prem experience. Noone, McNulty and Navarro still recovering are the only casualties. We have enough players to change tactics especially in midfield.

It showed yesterday with Kish not available and Noone injured that our bench is weak and nobody can deny that. We needed to replace players to freshen up the team biut they were not available to do so. Sandaza is not the answer neither is Tarrico to change a game. Sparrow could have been but without Kish to give him the ball he was struggling to have an impact. As has been said Dicker was awful and provided nothing for his team mates, Bridcut was below par also and as a result we struggled.

 

[tube train]

3 up front yesterday was silly - away against a passing 4 man middle....nieve.

this is something i have said all season.. Gus doesnt like change..is it nieve? i wonder if we need an older head behind the scenes to help and advise. look at our coaching staff.. Brown, Oatway, Tarrico and Gus all in their first jobs in their current roles!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Like Micky Adams did? Poyet doesn't like loan signings. Why upset the balance of the squad (who are doing very well) bringing in players who aren't used to our style of play?

 

[tube train]

I agree 100% about signings but why not use the loan market for what it is desiogned and to our advantage.

oh im saying we should as a stop gap! we bring in a striker and he scores 6 in 12 we go up as champions

 

[Napper]

We were crying out for a left winger yesterday, we simply did not have enough quality out wide or a bit of genius to create something.

Far to often we were depending on Painter being the left winger which as good as Painter is , he is not going to skip past people and make to much happen.

We are very thin on the ground for wide men. Would of like to of seen this adressed in January as if Bennett gets injured we are in trouble, I just pray we do get Lua Lua back. We needed someone like him yesterday

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Unless we get any serious injuries then Lua Lua is the only player I think we would look to bring in