Amazing stuff
essentially you and i have the same philosophy on this system.
Infact you've just reminded me of a game that adds in the pro column for lennon playing narrow or in the hole
the chelsea FA cup game under martin Jol.....lennon was a monster in the first half in that role...Jol then decided to change the formation and sit back ...then it was curtains for all.
sigh...real glory missed
i agree with that idea of yours the only issue is the one of width....its all well and good lennon attacking any space around...but then the congestion initially would nullify our capacity to stretch the oppostion AT WILL, would it not?
if you have a devastating wide man in the hole......in the diamond the width is alsmot completely provided by the full backs....lennon drifting out to the space on the side...in my visual play....tends to just shift the focus of the entire pitch to whatever direction he goes to....it wont stretch the pitch...everyone would just verge in the direction lennon is in now
it would give us threat in the flanks but the option to quickly stretch the oppostion could be lost.....as opposed to having a player thats already stretching the opposition AND THEN comes into the hole
i like your formation just as much as mine though
i think that all depends on phases of play;
offensively with the ball, playing through the centre you would want Lennon to either "buzz around" in the that space behind the striker, going not wider than, say, the middle third (looking at the pitch length ways) of the pitch.
now, depending on the oppositons tactics and state of the game, you either one or both full backs pushing forwards.
if its both, Lennon (or Eriksen) stays centrally.
if its one, he can either stay where is or pull wide. conversely, the "2nd stiker" can pull wide, creating a gap for the AMC to fill or a for CM running from deep to burst into (with the CM playing the ball too and receiving it back from, the AMC.)
there is also the option to switch the play, from CM, AMC or whoever has filled the space on the wing to switch the ball out to the other wing (the one the full back is now on), who can then play from there. put a cross in, attack the oppo fb or pass to someone on the edge of the area.
the great thing with Lennon being there is that, if the move breaks down and leaves the full back high up the pitch, he has the awareness to get back and defend if needs be. Eriksen would give a different type of option in that AMC role, but still an effective one i think.
it would actually be quite like the goons play tbh, although they tend not to use the full backs so preferring to have the midfielders interchange in midfield (something which, when you have a squad with many similar midfielders (as the Goons do and so do we) is important)