What was the problem with 4-3-3

[Fame Monster]

And the single pivot to use the language of modern football?

We beat every fucking team in sight and beat every team we came acrossand played football we could only dream of once upon time, the only time we lost was when we went defensive against Liverpool and Spurs in the Champs Lge,, what's going on

 

[MeatHunterrr]

Our squad is constructed for 4-3-3 yet we play alien formations.

 

[jamesha]

No problem when we had a peak Fern and Dave plus a.n.other to fill the midfield slots.

 

[Damanino]

Workrate/pressing dropped tremendously of attacking/wide players. Silva/KDB was two/three years youngers, Sterling was pressing/chasing opponents after losing the ball, even many were surprised how Kun is pressing etc.

nothing like that now, can you imagine Mahrez losing the ball and sprinting 70 meters back to put in a tackle? Sterling got comfortable as well while Rodri is nowhere near being the workrate machine sussing out danger like Fernandinho in his prime.

 

[Craig]

Wasn’t clever enough. The genius had to reinvent the wheel like he has done in every big champs league tie we’ve flopped in during the last 3 years.

 

[Oleole123]

Not good enough in Europe and easily counterd yb fast Players.

 

[Woody13]

Fernandinho was instrumental in us succeeding with this formation, his aggression, mobility, skill in breaking up play and clever progressive passing meant he started attacks and got around the pitch so well he put fires out all over the show.

Rodri has certain qualities, but he’s not a replica of Fernandinho.

 

[Palerider]

Looks to me that teams have worked out a tactic against us. Sit back and wait for a chance, invariably a very good chance. We need to evolve ourselves, over to you Pep.

 

[jamesha]

I think a Pep 4-3-3 needs a "control" player like Xavi or Silva plus someone that can do a great shielding job (Busquets or Fern). The third player can be more attacking (Iniesta/Bernado/KdB) but this mix is essential. Arguably we do not have great players for the first two roles. Gungodan lacks the quality for the Xavi role and his lack of mobility is exacerbated when Rodri plays the Busquets role. Add Mahrez in as one of the wide players and the intensity required is absent.

The £25m that the dippers paid for Thiago is looking like a smart investment as he could have done a decent job in either role for us.

 

[FromPollockToSilva]

If we played inverted fullbacks again and went with a lineup like:

GK: Ederson
RB: Walker
CB: Dias
CB: Laporte
LB: Aké
DM: Rodri
CM: De Bruyne
CM: Bernardo
RW: Sterling
LW: Torres
CF: Jesus

It might be feasible. BUT it really depends on how well Aké can play inverted fullback, whether Walker and Aké dropping in centrally can help cover Rodri’s lack of mobility, whether Bernardo can recover form and help us control matches, and whether Torres can adapt quickly to the team.

Oh and that everyone stays fit and we score our chances and defend properly.

A scary number of caveats.