Does 3-5-2 suit our players better than 4-2-3-1?

[daztrueblue91]

I know many on here will say 4-2-3-1 and say why change a system what is not broken however if Aguero had not scored in injury time then the system would be broken as we failed to brake teams down on too many occasions. Mancini has come under criticism this season for trying the 3-5-2 system and unfairly IMO, this is what makes Mancini the great manager he is. The main problem with the 4-2-3-1 was the lack of width which everyone was saying last season. Compare this to 3-5-2 which gives us plenty of width it shows that Mancini is trying to give us different options and work on our weaknesses.

The main problem Mancini has though is there are certain key players who do not fit the system and some of this is Mancini's fault as he has bought good quality players and not played them to their strengths. For example;

Dzeko - is an predator, give him the service and he will score but it seems when he starts we dont give him service. We only seems to cross late on in the game when we need a goal.

Nasri - When played in the middle he is top class but he is wasted playing out wide. I don't think I have seen anyone keep the ball as well as Nasri and with a little bit more coaching he could be the man to solve our midfield problems especially in Europe.

Balotelli - When watching his play for Italy he is a different class and this is because he relishes playing as the furthest man forward and there are not many better strikers in the world for holding the ball up and drawing fouls from opponents. However he rarely gets this chance when playing for us.

Now if you were to pick players for a 4-2-3-1 based on their ability to the position then it would be;
--------------------- JH -----------------------
MR/ PZ ------ VK ---------- JL/ MN --------- GC
------------- GB ----------- JM/ JG ------------
DS ---------------- YT --------------------- AK
------------------- ED -------------------------

but with this we would have to leave 3 strikers out of the team this is where Mancini will play a striker for the sake of playing him as quite often we will see one of the striker playing out wide which does not help the team one bit.

Now if you were to pick players for the 3-5-2 it would be;
-------------------- JH ------------------------
--------- PZ --------VK ------- MN ------------
DM ---------------------------------------- AK
----------- YT -----GB ------- SN -----------
---------------CT --------- MB ------------------
Now for me this is our strongest team and formation as it has the right balance as Tevez will play as the link between the midfield and attack, Mario will play in his preferred role which he is effective at. Samir and Yaya will be able to get forward when possible and the wing backs can offer width and a quality delivery. However this leaves us having to keep Silva and Aguero out of the team as although they are better players they are less suited to the system.

Anyone got any other systems what could fit in all players?

 

[Anonymous]

352 will never be our first choice formation in the PL. As a second choice it will only work when conditions are optimal as they were on Sunday against Spurs.

So I realise it doesn't really answer your question but it doesn't matter whether it suits our squad collectively in terms of player characteristics or not ... it's only a plan B ... and as a plan B it's very limited as well.

 

[SWP's back]

Why's it limited? It's worked against Utd, Chelsea and Spurs.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

One swallow does not make a summer with regards to the 352. It's failed much more often than it worked. It doesn't suit our centre backs (Lescott particularly) but mainly it doesn't suit our full backs.

Kolorov and Maicon can put nice balls into the box but they can't recover quick enough and chase back when we have lost the ball. They aren't mobile enough for wingbacks. Same goes for Zab. Richards and Clichy would be the choices for me if we needed 352 as a change formation.

But it is flawed as a system as it leaves you vuilnerable to pacy counter attacks. If Nasri and TEvez are playing this threat is even worse. The way they both hold up play, the wing back's run is often wasted so when we do lose it there are two great holes on the flanks which the wider centre halves have to deal with.

It actually very nearly happened against Spurs once or twice, although overall it worked.

 

[Anonymous]

Why's it limited? It's worked against Utd, Chelsea and Spurs.

That's a wildly subjective way of looking at it.

How many competitive games have we won from making the switch to 3 at the back?

 

[sergiokun]

352 will never be our first choice formation in the PL. As a second choice it will only work when conditions are optimal as they were on Sunday against Spurs.

So I realise it doesn't really answer your question but it doesn't matter whether it suits our squad collectively in terms of player characteristics or not ... it's only a plan B ... and as a plan B it's very limited as well.

If we are losing and we need to change the system it can work great like the spurs game just gone, it also worked well against Chelsea in the charity shield... I agree it won’t be or first choice formation in the premier league, maybe champions league?? I still think 4-2-3-1 is our best formation IMO

 

[taconinja]

352 will never be our first choice formation in the PL. As a second choice it will only work when conditions are optimal as they were on Sunday against Spurs.

So I realise it doesn't really answer your question but it doesn't matter whether it suits our squad collectively in terms of player characteristics or not ... it's only a plan B ... and as a plan B it's very limited as well.

If we are losing and we need to change the system it can work great like the spurs game just gone, it also worked well against Chelsea in the charity shield... I agree it won’t be or first choice formation in the premier league, maybe champions league?? I still think 4-2-3-1 is our best formation IMO

I agree with this. I think it's situational and can work against certain teams depending on how they set up when the 4-2-3-1 isn't suited, but against better, quicker teams it's a Plan B. We're just going to have to hold onto our hearts for a while as the players have growing pains in the system.

 

[Anonymous]

352 will never be our first choice formation in the PL. As a second choice it will only work when conditions are optimal as they were on Sunday against Spurs.

So I realise it doesn't really answer your question but it doesn't matter whether it suits our squad collectively in terms of player characteristics or not ... it's only a plan B ... and as a plan B it's very limited as well.

If we are losing and we need to change the system it can work great like the spurs game just gone, it also worked well against Chelsea in the charity shield... I agree it won’t be or first choice formation in the premier league, maybe champions league?? is still think 4-2-3-1 is our best formation IMO

As I said in the post above, the only competitive game we've won whilst playing that way is Spurs on Sunday. Before that it worked in a friendly against Chelsea, and it half worked against United in a match we ultimately lost anyway.

In my opinion if you want to play 3 at the back effectively your players should play it week in and week out like Napoli and At Bilbao have done over the last couple of seasons. Otherwise, like City, and like Liverpool against Chelsea as well on Sunday, it's just too hit and miss and has too many frailties. Will work occasionally as a plan B, but that's about it.

 

[sergiokun]

352 will never be our first choice formation in the PL. As a second choice it will only work when conditions are optimal as they were on Sunday against Spurs.

So I realise it doesn't really answer your question but it doesn't matter whether it suits our squad collectively in terms of player characteristics or not ... it's only a plan B ... and as a plan B it's very limited as well.

If we are losing and we need to change the system it can work great like the spurs game just gone, it also worked well against Chelsea in the charity shield... I agree it won’t be or first choice formation in the premier league, maybe champions league?? I still think 4-2-3-1 is our best formation IMO

I agree with this. I think it's situational and can work against certain teams depending on how they set up when the 4-2-3-1 isn't suited, but against better, quicker teams it's a Plan B. We're just going to have to hold onto our hearts for a while as the players have growing pains in the system.

Yes it’s great to be able to switch to the system when we need to... I like the 4-2-3-1 system but when things aren’t working out then a change of formation helps win games like it did vs. spurs

 

[LoveCity]

3-5-2 will only work as a regular 90 minute formation if we improve the midfield, IMO. Just watch Juventus to see how good this formation can be when mastered, they are close to unbeatable and every player fits perfectly into the 3-5-2. Most importantly they have an incredible midfield with two tenacious midfielders (Vidal and Marchisio) and the maestro Pirlo, a balance of hard work, drive, and creativity in the middle I don't think we have with too many similar midfielders. As it stands I think our normal formation suits us better in general but Sunday showed 3-5-2 can be used in certain situations.