Not sure if there's a thread on this already but feel free to send it my way
THIS IS JUST MY OPINION and I'm putting it out there to spark a discussion on how we play...
Right, I know I'm not the manager and have no experience of this whatsoever but we have to play a 5 at the back. When we play a back 4 and are in possession, the two wingbacks advance in attack the two CBs are spread (to accommodate for the pass back) and one of them is usually more advanced than the other. As soon as we lose the ball, the wingbacks are irrelevant and can't get back quick enough, the two CBs can easily be shifted around because they're out of position too, teams can rarely pass it through us as we pack the midfield so they just go long and pick up the second ball after Dunk/Webster head it away as no one is there to help out.
I think we should move to a 523 as we started with, Dunk/Duffy/Webster as the back 3 for now, they can cover for each other, especially if one roams forward to give as us an extra attacking option. Bernardo and Alzate are quick and can attack, if we have 3 behind them they can afford to break forward and know we are covered when we lose the ball. All of a sudden in possession we have a 343, a solid defense, a packed midfield consisting of the WBs (who provide the width) and Propper & Mooy, two players who can pick a pass, break forward and can control the pace of the game. Up top have a central front 3 of Trossard, Maupay and AJ or another pacey skillful winger who we are looking to bring in (for me has to be Mac Allister but that's for another thread). One of that front 3 can drop in and pick up the ball while the other two run at defenders, the WBs are providing width and now we have the same back 3, Propper and Mooy in front of them, a player on the ball with the option to give it wide to the WBs, play it narrow into the remaining front 2 or play safe back to the mid 2 who can pick a pass or restart the move.
I'm not sure if I'm being naive about this but we usually keep the ball so well in games, make the simple passes but create nothing so we try to force ourselves through, giving the ball away and when we do it looks as if we're going to concede. The defense in the 523 system would be stronger, the attack seems to have more options and the midfield looks as if it won't be outnumbered easily because one of the front 3 can drop in.
We have the players for this system, so why on earth are we not playing it? I'm all for this attacking football under Potter and I think results will come but for me, it just seems we play a system to beat individual teams that changes from week to week, we don't have an identity, we don't have a set formation as we just look to adapt around other teams which stops us from stringing a run of performances together. It would be nice to have teams tinker to try and undo us instead of the other way round, especially the teams around us.
THIS IS JUST MY OPINION and I'm putting it out there to spark a discussion on how we play...
Right, I know I'm not the manager and have no experience of this whatsoever but we have to play a 5 at the back. When we play a back 4 and are in possession, the two wingbacks advance in attack the two CBs are spread (to accommodate for the pass back) and one of them is usually more advanced than the other. As soon as we lose the ball, the wingbacks are irrelevant and can't get back quick enough, the two CBs can easily be shifted around because they're out of position too, teams can rarely pass it through us as we pack the midfield so they just go long and pick up the second ball after Dunk/Webster head it away as no one is there to help out.
I think we should move to a 523 as we started with, Dunk/Duffy/Webster as the back 3 for now, they can cover for each other, especially if one roams forward to give as us an extra attacking option. Bernardo and Alzate are quick and can attack, if we have 3 behind them they can afford to break forward and know we are covered when we lose the ball. All of a sudden in possession we have a 343, a solid defense, a packed midfield consisting of the WBs (who provide the width) and Propper & Mooy, two players who can pick a pass, break forward and can control the pace of the game. Up top have a central front 3 of Trossard, Maupay and AJ or another pacey skillful winger who we are looking to bring in (for me has to be Mac Allister but that's for another thread). One of that front 3 can drop in and pick up the ball while the other two run at defenders, the WBs are providing width and now we have the same back 3, Propper and Mooy in front of them, a player on the ball with the option to give it wide to the WBs, play it narrow into the remaining front 2 or play safe back to the mid 2 who can pick a pass or restart the move.
I'm not sure if I'm being naive about this but we usually keep the ball so well in games, make the simple passes but create nothing so we try to force ourselves through, giving the ball away and when we do it looks as if we're going to concede. The defense in the 523 system would be stronger, the attack seems to have more options and the midfield looks as if it won't be outnumbered easily because one of the front 3 can drop in.
We have the players for this system, so why on earth are we not playing it? I'm all for this attacking football under Potter and I think results will come but for me, it just seems we play a system to beat individual teams that changes from week to week, we don't have an identity, we don't have a set formation as we just look to adapt around other teams which stops us from stringing a run of performances together. It would be nice to have teams tinker to try and undo us instead of the other way round, especially the teams around us.