Cochise
Steve Carr
I've been in a bit of a football theorist mindset since the Alderweireld signing. A lot of talk in some of the threads has been whether or not we will see the utilisation of a three man back line.
Now that we have 5 senior centre backs at the club (perhaps 6 if we think about how Davies did playing there for Wales) it is a possibility, but most of what we have spoken about here on the forums has been how we could crowbar our players into some semblence of a 352. A few people (myself included) feel that this system would not see us utilise the squad to its full potential and that our players don't fit the system, so I wondered what we could do to make use of the players we do have.
I honestly think that we could move into a 343 system with little fuss and perhaps just one more key signing. There were times this past season where we did almost appear to be working in a rough 2341 with the fullbacks advanced on the flanks and the wingers very narrow with Chadli at times running beyond the front man (Lennon did it often earlier in the year and in pre season). What's more is that I think it would still provide opportunities to some of the more promising youngsters coming up through the ranks which imo might be harder with the 4231 where we still could do with a couple of signings.
The lineup
==================
-------------------Dier------------------
-----Alderweireld-----Vertonghen-----
----------------(New DM)---------------
Trippier----------------------------Rose
----------------Bentaleb----------------
------Lamela-------------Eriksen------
------------------Kane------------------
From a squad management stand point I think we already have all the players on the books to offer a lot of possibilities.
Fazio and Wimmer can both perform a few roles in that back line and as mentionned previously Davies could play at LCB and as the left sided wingback. Yedlin and Walker can both come in on the other side and I think the wing back role gives Yedlin more freedom to get forward.
In midfield we would require a decent DM signing. Bentaleb would be deployed ahead as he has a great engine and would be freed from the restraints of the current system where he is currently the more defensive of the pair. The bonus of course is that in games that we are chasing Bentaleb can also fall back to the DM role and allow a more aggresive goal scoring midfielder to play in that role. Mason, Dembele and Alli would all be suited to this role though I think the role best suits a more athletic player.
Eriksen, Chadli and Lamela do a lot of good work in the inside channels as it is so this system would not be a massive change for them. Given the nature of the roles it would not be a necessity to spend money on the winger some of us would like to see. Mason could be employed up there if we wanted a bit more energy and we would also have one of the aforementionned three resting along with Pritchard able to come in. Townsend, Oduwa and Onomah could all be options.
Defensively we could still employ the same press with the front four players. When transitioning from attack to defence the wingbacks would come narrow to close the space available in front of the back three. Were the ball being worked down the opponents right I'd expect Trippier to come narrow whilst the DM shuttled across some and Rose covered the wide channel. With the ball on the opponents left I would expect the opposite to happen with Rose coming narrow on the other side.
I don't believe that we will see a move to a back three, but I do think that were it to happen, this system would probably be the best option.
Now that we have 5 senior centre backs at the club (perhaps 6 if we think about how Davies did playing there for Wales) it is a possibility, but most of what we have spoken about here on the forums has been how we could crowbar our players into some semblence of a 352. A few people (myself included) feel that this system would not see us utilise the squad to its full potential and that our players don't fit the system, so I wondered what we could do to make use of the players we do have.
I honestly think that we could move into a 343 system with little fuss and perhaps just one more key signing. There were times this past season where we did almost appear to be working in a rough 2341 with the fullbacks advanced on the flanks and the wingers very narrow with Chadli at times running beyond the front man (Lennon did it often earlier in the year and in pre season). What's more is that I think it would still provide opportunities to some of the more promising youngsters coming up through the ranks which imo might be harder with the 4231 where we still could do with a couple of signings.
The lineup
==================
-------------------Dier------------------
-----Alderweireld-----Vertonghen-----
----------------(New DM)---------------
Trippier----------------------------Rose
----------------Bentaleb----------------
------Lamela-------------Eriksen------
------------------Kane------------------
From a squad management stand point I think we already have all the players on the books to offer a lot of possibilities.
Fazio and Wimmer can both perform a few roles in that back line and as mentionned previously Davies could play at LCB and as the left sided wingback. Yedlin and Walker can both come in on the other side and I think the wing back role gives Yedlin more freedom to get forward.
In midfield we would require a decent DM signing. Bentaleb would be deployed ahead as he has a great engine and would be freed from the restraints of the current system where he is currently the more defensive of the pair. The bonus of course is that in games that we are chasing Bentaleb can also fall back to the DM role and allow a more aggresive goal scoring midfielder to play in that role. Mason, Dembele and Alli would all be suited to this role though I think the role best suits a more athletic player.
Eriksen, Chadli and Lamela do a lot of good work in the inside channels as it is so this system would not be a massive change for them. Given the nature of the roles it would not be a necessity to spend money on the winger some of us would like to see. Mason could be employed up there if we wanted a bit more energy and we would also have one of the aforementionned three resting along with Pritchard able to come in. Townsend, Oduwa and Onomah could all be options.
Defensively we could still employ the same press with the front four players. When transitioning from attack to defence the wingbacks would come narrow to close the space available in front of the back three. Were the ball being worked down the opponents right I'd expect Trippier to come narrow whilst the DM shuttled across some and Rose covered the wide channel. With the ball on the opponents left I would expect the opposite to happen with Rose coming narrow on the other side.
I don't believe that we will see a move to a back three, but I do think that were it to happen, this system would probably be the best option.