Change to the Diamond Formation

[Ric]

I don't think it is a leap of faith Ric,I think pep has realised he got it wrong in a few of the games,I will be very surprised if he stuck with 3 at the back from now on.

I don't think he'll go 3 at the back as much now, although like others have said I'm sure he'll use when he thinks it's appropriate. I just think saying we'll win the league if he plays a diamond is over simplifying things and a huge assumption based on one performance.

 

[OB1]

How can you say "stuck with 3 at the back" when he hasn't used it for weeks and when he did, it was only occasionally. He was never married to 3 at the back, he just used it when it was appropriate and he'll probably do the same again.

You can argue that Pep plays 3ATB much of the time: 3ATB doesn't mean 3 centre backs and he himself says that everything ends up as 3-4-3. Against West Ham, Yaya split the CB's and the three of them were deeper than the rest, then Sagna, Zab, KDB and Clichy were virtually a straight line and Silva, Raz and Kun were more advanced; although what was very noticeable was how compact the team was vertically. If people want telephone numbers, the formation was a squashed 2-1-4-1-2.

 

[domalino]

You can argue that Pep plays 3ATB much of the time: 3ATB doesn't mean 3 centre backs and he himself says that everything ends up as 3-4-3. Against West Ham, Yaya split the CB's and the three of them were deeper than the rest, then Sagna, Zab, KDB and Clichy were virtually a straight line and Silva, Raz and Kun were more advanced; although what was very noticeable was how compact the team was vertically. If people want telephone numbers, the formation was a squashed 2-1-4-1-2.

Yes you could argue he nearly always defends in a 3-2, but you couldn't say that after just saying he's seen the error of his ways and has moved away from the 3ATB like the person I replied to has said.

 

[Corky]

The formation didn't really matter last night.

 

[OB1]

Yes you could argue he nearly always defends in a 3-2, but you couldn't say that after just saying he's seen the error of his ways and has moved away from the 3ATB like the person I replied to has said.

Agreed, I was just trying to emphasise that he hasn't really moved away from it (as opposed to contradict your point). What he will learn with each passing game is the strengths and weaknesses of each of his players and how they adapt to roles etc.

 

[OB1]

The formation didn't really matter last night.

There's a case for saying that but I would say it over simplifies things because you don't always know how much impact each element of the set-up had on the game.

What you may be alluding to is that the key thing at WHU was that Pep picked a strong side and all the players performed well. However, in playing well, they appeared to execute his game plan well and the formation was part of that and may or may not have helped get the best out of the players selected.

You could of course just boil it down to they took their chances...

 

[BlueAnorak]

Pretty hard to shut the big man down when they had Kev, Zaba, Sagna, Clichy and Silva all lurking around that area of the pitch as well. The first two goals were a result of pushing up on Yaya and leaving the others too much space.

Nail on the head. When defending Yaya had 6 players in support - centre halves behind him, full backs along side him and the central diamond midfielders just in front of him.
It dramatically reduced the threat of the hoofed ball and gave us much more strength against the second ball.

 

[BlueAnorak]

I'm aware the popular vote is against me but the stats are with me but that's because Silva's performance was more eye catching but Yaya did more.

Bit of both I think YaYa's long accurate passing got our attacks moving quickly and Silva in a free role destroyed any oppositoon defensive scheme when the ball arrived at his feet fairly quickly after Yaya had played it forward (directly or via a third party)

 

[BlueAnorak]

Simply put, the diamond formation suits the players we have.Aguero always plays better with a partner.

 

[BlueAnorak]

We can beat an abject West Ham with the diamond. But to win the league with it we'd need some serious full backs. Clichy and Sagna are not the answers.

I think Sane could play the pushed forward right fullback. Clichy defends well and call fill in for KDB when he gallops forward so not that bad on the left.