3 at the back?

[bennyboy]

Option 1: Stick with Ota and Stones
Option 2: Bring in one of the two young central defenders, or Fernadinho for Ota.
Option 3: Go three at the back

You seem to think that Otamendi is the problem.
The whole back 4 were shocking on Saturday.

 

[alexmcity]

Pep has played this about six times in his whole managerial career and tends to change his mind immediately after doing it, even within the same match. I don't think he likes it.

You lose a creativity if you play three at the back as you add a centre half and take out an attacking mid. For a team that has up to 80% possession in a game that's just silly.

I didn't like it when he tried it at the start of the 17/18 season but we may not have another choice in some games now. Plus Cancelo is supposed to be fantastic going forward and 3 at the back might be a good way to utilise his attributes.

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

Well, we hope that he is fit and will be able to start games in several weeks, maybe already vs Preston.

Mate, don't hold your breath. Sorry, but I've lost faith in him getting fit enough to play regularly. I really do hope Mendy can get fit and become the player he was at Monaco, we all do. But I've almost given up on him getting fit and (more importantly) staying fit.

 

[Gazza]

If Pep brings Fernandinho, a midfielder, in for Otamendi in defence - what message is that going to send to Otamendi?

 

[decmancity]

PTSD from when we tried it under Mancini but we are on paper far better equipped now. We could see it in the CL or against Preston.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

I didn't like it when he tried it at the start of the 17/18 season but we may not have another choice in some games now. Plus Cancelo is supposed to be fantastic going forward and 3 at the back might be a good way to utilise his attributes.

We've got loads of choice:

Walker-Stones-Otamendi-Mendy
Walker-Fernandinho-Otamendi-Mendy
Walker-Stones-Fernandinho-Mendy
Walker-Garcia-Otamendi-Mendy
Walker-Garcia-Stones-Mendy
Walker-Stones-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Walker-Fernandinho-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Walker-Stones-Fernandinho-Zinchenko
Walker-Garcia-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Walker-Garcia-Stones-Zinchenko
Cancelo-Stones-Otamendi-Mendy
Cancelo-Fernandinho-Otamendi-Mendy
Cancelo-Stones-Fernandinho-Mendy
Cancelo-Garcia-Otamendi-Mendy
Cancelo-Garcia-Stones-Mendy
Cancelo-Stones-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Cancelo-Fernandinho-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Cancelo-Stones-Fernandinho-Zinchenko
Cancelo-Garcia-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Cancelo-Garcia-Stones-Zinchenko
Cancelo-Walker-Stones-Mendy
Cancelo-Walker-Otamendi-Mendy
Cancelo-Walker-Stones-Zinchenko
Cancelo-Walker-Otamendi-Zincehnko

 

[blueparrot]

Option 1: Stick with Ota and Stones
Option 2: Bring in one of the two young central defenders, or Fernadinho for Ota.
Option 3: Go three at the back

Think all those will probably be used, three at the back was used a few times when Mendy first arrived before his injuries.

 

[Gazza]

We've got loads of choice:

Walker-Stones-Otamendi-Mendy
Walker-Fernandinho-Otamendi-Mendy
Walker-Garcia-Otamendi-Mendy
Walker-Garcia-Stones-Mendy
Walker-Stones-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Walker-Fernandinho-Otamendi-Zonchenko
Walker-Garcia-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Walker-Garcia-Stones-Zinchenko
Cancelo-Stones-Otamendi-Mendy
Cancelo-Fernandinho-Otamendi-Mendy
Cancelo-Garcia-Otamendi-Mendy
Cancelo-Garcia-Stones-Mendy
Cancelo-Stones-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Cancelo-Fernandinho-Otamendi-Zonchenko
Cancelo-Garcia-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Cancelo-Garcia-Stones-Zinchenko

I bet Rodri could play central defence too - he's big enough.

 

[alexmcity]

We've got loads of choice:

Walker-Stones-Otamendi-Mendy
Walker-Fernandinho-Otamendi-Mendy
Walker-Garcia-Otamendi-Mendy
Walker-Garcia-Stones-Mendy
Walker-Stones-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Walker-Fernandinho-Otamendi-Zonchenko
Walker-Garcia-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Walker-Garcia-Stones-Zinchenko
Cancelo-Stones-Otamendi-Mendy
Cancelo-Fernandinho-Otamendi-Mendy
Cancelo-Garcia-Otamendi-Mendy
Cancelo-Garcia-Stones-Mendy
Cancelo-Stones-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Cancelo-Fernandinho-Otamendi-Zonchenko
Cancelo-Garcia-Otamendi-Zinchenko
Cancelo-Garcia-Stones-Zinchenko

We have problems defending from set pieces and Garcia is the last available solution to this problem. Most of those options are just not good enough, in particular against top 6 opposition.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

We have problems defending from set pieces and Garcia is the last available solution to this problem. Most of those options are just not good enough, in particular against top 6 opposition.

That's just not true at all. We've had one terrible game and the reaction to it on this forum is laughable!

We're an attacking football team who defend from the front, the best way to defend in our set up is to keep the ball and when we lose it by winning it back high up the pitch. We will do this better by having more attackers on the pitch, not more defenders.

There would also have been plenty of games throughout the season, even if Laporte was fit, where Laporte would be rested and we'd play one of these combinations.

Plenty of these combinations are plenty good enough. and we don't have problems defending from set pieces, it's just that Rodri and Laporte fell asleep for the Norwich and Spurs goals respectively from corners. We are absolutely fine at defending set pieces other than that.