When mourinho first arrived, he brought with him a fairly revolutionary idea with him, which was to line up with 433, with a lone striker. It hadn't been used to much effect in premier league history, but it meant we had a deverstating midfield, that swept all in front of them. The abilty of drogba to occupy 2 defenders, and the freedom it allowed lampard to score so many goals, were 2 of the main reasons this formation wad so successful.

fast forward 10 years and the view at the top is very different. Since mourinho left, no team has won league, playing the majority of the games with 1 out and out striker, even the 433 we played under ancelotti contained 2 natural strikers in anelka and drogba.

This season we've struggled to score against the so called 'lesser' teams, we don't have the personnel to field 2 strikers, some games we struggle find 1!

I think teams at the bottom have now figured out a way to combat a lone striker system, (which is generally to employ one of there own).

Next season I think our best chance of winning the league is to go 442 against the sort of opposition we've struggled against. Then we stick to the system that has been so successful in the big games.

Agreed, something has to change when we play the smaller teams, at times I can't even fault the players on the pitch too much I just think the system is too easy to play against

To be fair we are playing with 4 attackers. Taking defenders on or out of the game shouldn't be the problem. However I would love to see our current team be set up as a 433. I think it would suit some of them quite well. The problem is it's fashionable to set up with 4231. In recent years the world as created so many number 10's the they are easily available where as top class strikers are becoming more and more harder to come by as we can see by our options that are ahead of us currently.

To be fair we are playing with 4 attackers. Taking defenders on or out of the game shouldn't be the problem. However I would love to see our current team be set up as a 433. I think it would suit some of them quite well. The problem is it's fashionable to set up with 4231. In recent years the world as created so many number 10's the they are easily available where as top class strikers are becoming more and more harder to come by as we can see by our options that are ahead of us currently.

We play with 4 attackers but how many them are natural goal scorers? The last time we won the league, we regularly played with drogba, anelka, and lampard, we dont have that many goals in our team now.

I think the only player that would miss out would be oscar, if we played 442 alot.

We play with 4 attackers but how many them are natural goal scorers? The last time we won the league, we regularly played with drogba, anelka, and lampard, we dont have that many goals in our team now.

I think the only player that would miss out would be oscar, if we played 442 alot.

That isn't a formation issue then it's a player issue. As you said we had Drogba, Anelka and a younger Lampard being played in his natural position. Those player were all in the peak of their playing days. Right now we have a younger team who need to get better.

Also regarding the 442, we would have to sign 3 good enough strikers and try and keep Lukaku to make that happen.

I'd like to see us move away from 4-2-3-1 in every game and mix it up a bit

That isn't a formation issue then it's a player issue. As you said we had Drogba, Anelka and a younger Lampard being played in his natural position. Those player were all in the peak of their playing days. Right now we have a younger team who need to get better.

Also regarding the 442, we would have to sign 3 good enough strikers and try and keep Lukaku to make that happen.

It becomes a formation issue when your looking for natural goal scorers though, as the current crop of midfielders aren't renowned for hitting 20 goals a season.

Dont think we need 4 out and out strikers, city have 3, aguero, negredo, and dzeko, plus jovetic who can play in a 2.

schurrle can play upfront in a 2, to the effect as jovetic. So I dont think we would need more than 3 we've had this season.

lukaku

ba/torres/eto'o

new striker

schurrle.

I'd like to see us move away from 4-2-3-1 in every game and mix it up a bit

Agreed.

4-3-3 works against certain teams like Liverpool, City and United.

However we should play with two strikers against the likes of Palace, West Ham, Newcastle ect.

When teams park the bus we are clueless.

People are making too much of a big deal out of these poor results against the smaller sides. What team doesnt struggle against parked buses? its like people think theres this one formation that will totally nullify defensive tactics.

 

you cant expect not to lose points at all. with a better striker, wed probably get around 6-7 points more than we have now, but wed still be losing points no matter the formation

Edited May 1, 201412 yr by Lane

People are making too much of a big deal out of these poor results against the smaller sides. What team doesnt struggle against parked buses? its like people think theres this one formation that will totally nullify defensive tactics.

 

you cant expect not to lose points at all. with a better striker, wed probably get around 6-7 points more than we have now, but wed still be losing points no matter the formation

 

Thats a good point, also for me it's not so much about the formation its more about the personnel playing in it. Allowing the fullbacks to get further forward, having a better striker upfront and maybe a good creative ball playing central midfield player will help us be better going forward. We are still the third highest scorers in the prem so its not like we are in need to change a formation, City and Liverpool have better strikers than us scoring alot more goals yet we are right in the title mix with them.

People are making too much of a big deal out of these poor results against the smaller sides. What team doesnt struggle against parked buses? its like people think theres this one formation that will totally nullify defensive tactics.

 

you cant expect not to lose points at all. with a better striker, wed probably get around 6-7 points more than we have now, but wed still be losing points no matter the formation

No there are no tactics that guarantee you get through defences but we are easy to play against at the moment, if you defend well its very unlikely we are gonna score and teams know that, they sometimes don't even look to go forward, but if you defend as best as you can vs city or Liverpool teams will probably concede anyway so sometimes it seems teams bring the game to both of those a bit more.

I do feel its a mix of tactics and players, but I definitely wanna see a bit of a change of formations, our problem with breaking teams down has been since playing 4-2-3-1, makes us good defensively generally but going forward has been a problem for a while. The only way I feel we can play that formation is if we have a young Lampard type that can bomb forward at get 10+ goals a season with matic providing the cover.