4-4-2 made us a lot better balanced

[oapdodge]

It did work much better,Jake did hold the ball up and work hard.We did create more chances.Currie was more involved.The players looked more comfortable.We got a point.London Irish even Mark McGhee realised he made a mistake on Tuesday and admitted it.With the same players available at his disposal.

 

[Turkey]

Yeah it worked very well today. The midfield duo of Nicolas and Hinshelwood did very well for me. Harrassed Coventry very well. I hadn't expected them to do so well in that area. Kerry Mayo looked solid too. Harding may find it hard to get back in now.

 

[BensGrandad]

IMO the players are more comfortable playing 4-4-2.

My one worry was that Jake won a lot of headers that went nowhere. Was it because he misdirected them or were the rest of the team not up to him in thought.

 

[dougdeep]

I loved that block tackle Jake did, the big feller went flying.

 

[Knightsworld]

IMO the players are more comfortable playing 4-4-2.

My one worry was that Jake won a lot of headers that went nowhere. Was it because he misdirected them or were the rest of the team not up to him in thought.

There was never another albion player near him unfortunately

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Very curious quote in McGhee's programme notes today:

'Against Plymouth on Tuesday, I fielded a team in a 4-3-3 formation that proved unable to cope in the game with Plymouth's 4-4-2.'

Must have been the most inept and inert 4-3-3 formation in the history of the game, is all I can say. Even Andy Naylor in tonight's Sports Argus makes multiple references to Tuesday's 4-5-1 formation.

Trying to write yourself out of a hole there Marky baby?

 

[Kev the Ape]

it does work

i am still worried y we r still playing the ball in the air all the time we need to move the ball on the deck because players like per frandsen who plays for wigan ex bolton will gobble it up for dinner, like steve staunton did today!! currie looks more comfortable with the formation now lets put that to the task at the mouth dropping jjb or any others words rugby stadium for the wigan warriors lol

 

[Turkey]

I think McGhee is saying he got it wrong to try and take the blame of the players. Fair enough imo.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

We played it a lot more on the ground today than we did on Tuesday. Looked to actually finally be taking advantage of the fact that we've got a progressively smaller nippier side capable of causing the opposition trouble.

 

[Exiled in Exeter]

The team certainly looked more comfortable and functioned better with the 4-4-2.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

The team certainly looked more comfortable and functioned better with the 4-4-2.

Best batten down the hatches. Reports are coming in that a 20,000 word lecture is just about to sweep in off the Irish Sea to tell us that we're all just plain WRONG

 

[Beach Hut]

Yeah common London Irish - what is wrong with this formation ?

 

[Trigger]

4-4-2 is the only way to go at home, we look so much better using that system, 4-5-1 will be needed at times away though i feel.

 

[Easy 10]

Best batten down the hatches. Reports are coming in that a 20,000 word lecture is just about to sweep in off the Irish Sea to tell us that we're all just plain WRONG

Tom, you crack me up.

 

[Turkey]

Best batten down the hatches. Reports are coming in that a 20,000 word lecture is just about to sweep in off the Irish Sea to tell us that we're all just plain WRONG

Maybe I should take this as the joke I think it's intended to be but wouldn't it be bloody boring if we all agreed?

 

[London Irish]

It did work much better, Jake did hold the ball up and work hard. We did create more chances.Currie was more involved.The players looked more comfortable.We got a point. London Irish even Mark McGhee realised he made a mistake on Tuesday and admitted it.With the same players available at his disposal.

Yes, the 4-4-2 was the right choice today. But the difference I have with the prevailing sentiment on this thread is that the formation made the crucial difference in getting us the point compared with Tuesday. In fact, I would judge there to be two more important factors than that today - 1) the selection of in-form players like Hinshelwood over out-of-form/unfit ones like Reid, and 2) the lower quality of opposition compared with Tuesday. You might also throw in a third factor, today there were no dreadful decisions from match officials that disadvantaged us.

Much more vital than changing the formation was getting the right mix of players in midfield. Most advocates of 4-4-2 after Tuesday on here were calling for Reid to continue and for Currie to be dropped McGhee knew better - the selection of Hinshelwood was a smart move, as was the decision to retain Currie over this siren call for Hart.

The second big difference to Tuesday was the quality of the opposition, Plymouth played much, much better than Coventry. Coventry were slow and defensively hesitant for much of the first half today, Plymouth were strong and physical from the get-go and never allowed us into the game. Today's selection would have struggled against that level of Plymouth performance too, I'm afraid!

I am simply not going to join in this "McGhee made a blunder" crap. His selection on Tuesday was a brave attempt to deal with the problems he faced. I applaud him for trying something different in difficult circumstances, just as he did last year with the 4-3-3 in the televised Plymouth game. I applaud him today, too, for coming up with new solutions - NOT ONE PERSON on NSC correctly forecasted this team!

Don't be foolish enough to buy this myth that the 4-4-2 sorted all our problems today. Far from it!

The bit that worked well was Jake's selection. The fear was that the extra man up front would not take pressure off our midfield. In fact, Jake held the ball up beautifully at times and brought others into the game, he did so better than Maheta in fact. Despite our bright first-half play, we sadly never created a killer chance, just 4 or 5 half-chances. Alas, none of them were made to count and this had dire consequences for us.

The other fear of the 4-4-2 compared with 4-5-1 was that Coventry would eventually find too may holes in our midfield. As Coventry settled into the game, this fear came true in spades. Coventry owned the second half and the tiring Hinsh and Nicolas could not hold them. After the first goal, Coventry had two great chances and a few other lesser ones to kill the game but Michel performed brilliantly to keep us alive, somehow.

Now I'll ask you all a question - and I want you to be honest! Did really any of you know where that equalising goal was going to come from in the second half? I couldn't see it coming.

When it came, I saw 6,000 Albion fans rubbing their eyes in disbelief. This was because the balance of play had not suggested we were going to get anything out of the game! That's the truth of it. But we gritted our teeth, rode about six rounds of punches from Coventry and finally landed a sucker punch in the last round!

But I'm delighted Virgo saved the day. What it has also saved us from is another orgy of recrimination from the anti-McGhee moaners on here. Hard to say precisely what would have been their scapegoat of choice - probably the removal of the relatively ineffective Jarrett, although I'm sure Darren Currie would also have had a few kicks too if he hadn't have won the vital free kick at the end!

Still, the arguments are settled now. With Charlie back all arguments over formation are now at an end. Charlie is made for 4-4-2 and that's what you'll get from now on Enjoy!

 

[London Irish]

Best batten down the hatches. Reports are coming in that a 20,000 word lecture is just about to sweep in off the Irish Sea to tell us that we're all just plain WRONG

An apt metaphor - Doubting Thomas is always at his happiest when the dark clouds are gathering over the Albion

 

[London Irish]

Very curious quote in McGhee's programme notes today:

'Against Plymouth on Tuesday, I fielded a team in a 4-3-3 formation that proved unable to cope in the game with Plymouth's 4-4-2.'

Must have been the most inept and inert 4-3-3 formation in the history of the game, is all I can say. Even Andy Naylor in tonight's Sports Argus makes multiple references to Tuesday's 4-5-1 formation.

Trying to write yourself out of a hole there Marky baby?

No, he was just trying to educate a few dullards that 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 are close cousins and that 4-4-2 is not necessarily a more "attacking" formation. McGhee's aim on Tuesday was to have both Currie and Jarrett marauding up front with Maheta, but the Plymouth defence was too good to allow that.

Another big plus point for us out of today was the realisation that there might not be a huge gap in class between the Division 1 and Division 2 as regards defence.

Plymouth looked impregnable against us and their record bears that out, no goals conceded in 3 games, top of the league and 'avin a laugh. Meanwhile, established Division 1 defences like Reading's and Coventry's both have had shaky moments against our B-team line-ups.

Plymouth, bless 'em, are proving that we have nothing to fear from this division when we get our A-teamers back.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

No, he was just trying to educate a few dullards that 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 are close cousins

Gotta agree with you there LI. Bit of a bummer tho that you wore out about three keyboards defending a 4-5-1 system that apparently we weren't even using

 

[mona]

Re: Re: 4-4-2 made us a lot better balanced

Still, the arguments are settled now. With Charlie back all arguments over formation are now at an end. Charlie is made for 4-4-2 and that's what you'll get from now on Enjoy!

This is surely an ironical comment.
Having written coherently and perceptively about yesterday's game, the post ends with a comment about a player who doesn't exist.
Charlie plays at Pende................
London Irish is Perseus..........
I hear the sound of one hand clapping.......
Ineluctable modality of being........