You could see Mourinho's eyes light up

[Anonymous]

What the fuck has formation got to do with anything?

Everything when you're trying to discuss what went wrong and where we were exposed and why we were exposed in those areas. Not only the goals we conceded, but over the course of the whole game.<br /><br />-- Wed Sep 19, 2012 4:20 pm --<br /><br />

I asked him last night and I'm of the opinion that he shares which is we were in a hybrid formation with a wingback on the left and a straight fullback on the right... which is a bit perplexing as to why precisely we did that to be honest.

Wow, a hybrid wingback/fullback formation in which no-one can quite figure out where a few players were playing. I'd say that's a bit perplexing!

 

[Summerbuzz]

I don't want to absolve the manager but I didn't think it was the formation as such. I thought that Zab didn't do his job as well as Maicon. Maicon did let Ronaldo inside but he was restricted to shots from outside of the penalty area. TBH I thought it was the cover in front that was lacking... Barry's lack of legs (predictable for a player coming back) and Garcia tapering off towards the end, maybe that was more mental than physical. Yaya was exhausted as well. Milner should have been on the bench IMO, he could well have saved the game with some energetic chasing down in the middle.

 

[jay_mcfc]

What the fuck has formation got to do with anything?

Everything when you're trying to discuss what went wrong and where we were exposed and why we were exposed in those areas. Not only the goals we conceded, but over the course of the whole game.

Well whatever formation and tactics were used they worked an absolute treat and had our defence held out for a few more minutes we'd be talking about a famous victory. People saying we were battered are very wide of the mark and forget that we had 5 clear cut chances ourselves. We were minutes away from a perfect away performance in Europe. Whatever formation we played in those final few minutes was irrelevant

 

[taconinja]

What the fuck has formation got to do with anything?

Everything when you're trying to discuss what went wrong and where we were exposed and why we were exposed in those areas. Not only the goals we conceded, but over the course of the whole game.

-- Wed Sep 19, 2012 4:20 pm --

I asked him last night and I'm of the opinion that he shares which is we were in a hybrid formation with a wingback on the left and a straight fullback on the right... which is a bit perplexing as to why precisely we did that to be honest.

Wow, a hybrid wingback/fullback formation in which no-one can quite figure out where a few players were playing. I'd say that's a bit perplexing!

Yeah, I feel it was emergency stations due to the Nasri injury and frankly Kompany simply must do better when asked to be a right-sided CB in the back 3, but despite all the flak Maicon has taken, Ronaldo felt a need to switch to the right although that didn't work out either.

 

[Rammy Blue]

Whether it was 4-2-3-1 or 3-5-2, one indisputable fact is that Garcia and Barry were the holding midfielders that were sat in front of the defence.

The main failing of the whole game was their inability to drift and help out the fullbacks.

I posted earlier but I can't recall once where Garcia helped close down Tranny or Marcelo, in which case what exactly was he told by Bob that his role was to do?

And before anyone says "stop Real coming through the middle", it was pretty fucking obvious that Jose told Tranny and Di Maria to stay wide and cut in. Plus in the first half it was Arbeloa that pushed on whereas in the second half it was Marcelo.

Schoolboy stuff and completely inexcusable, imo.

 

[Anonymous]

Milner should have been on the bench IMO, he could well have saved the game with some energetic chasing down in the middle.

I was convinced Milner would start. Going to be interesting to see what happens with Jimmy in the next 18 months. He signed a five year deal in 2010 so at the end of this season he's only got two years left.

 

[Summerbuzz]

Milner should have been on the bench IMO, he could well have saved the game with some energetic chasing down in the middle.

I was convinced Milner would start. Going to be interesting to see what happens with Jimmy in the next 18 months. He signed a five year deal in 2010 so at the end of this season he's only got two years left.

Yep, squeezed out of the middle by Garcia and Rodwell... but as long as Nasri's performances remain so insipid there is hope for him.

 

[Anonymous]

What the fuck has formation got to do with anything?

Everything when you're trying to discuss what went wrong and where we were exposed and why we were exposed in those areas. Not only the goals we conceded, but over the course of the whole game.

Well whatever formation and tactics were used they worked an absolute treat and had our defence held out for a few more minutes we'd be talking about a famous victory. People saying we were battered are very wide of the mark and forget that we had 5 clear cut chances ourselves. We were minutes away from a perfect away performance in Europe. Whatever formation we played in those final few minutes was irrelevant

I'm not sure I'd say our tactics worked an absolute treat. First half I thought we contained Madrid really well and on another day we score from at least one of Yaya's breaks. The issues with tactics/formations comes down to how exposed we were in the wide areas when that is patently Madrid's strongest attacking threat. It was a naive decision to encourage our fullbacks to let Ronaldo/Marcelo and DiMaria/Arbeloa cut inside at will and it's no surprise that two of their goals came directly from shots from wide areas.

Also there was little logic in leaving the wing in front of Maicon empty for 70 minutes of the match. That's Ronaldo, arguably the world's best player, playing in his favoured position with little in the way of pressure.

-- Wed Sep 19, 2012 4:35 pm --

Milner should have been on the bench IMO, he could well have saved the game with some energetic chasing down in the middle.

I was convinced Milner would start. Going to be interesting to see what happens with Jimmy in the next 18 months. He signed a five year deal in 2010 so at the end of this season he's only got two years left.

Yep, squeezed out of the middle by Garcia and Rodwell... but as long as Nasri's performances remain so insipid there is hope for him.

We shall see. I have little doubt Nasri and Silva will start on Sunday if they are both fit. If they're not, then for my money Sinclair will get the nod over Jimmy as we're playing at home.

 

[LongsightM13]

He posted on here for quite a while. He is just another one of of a myriad of online bedroom 'tactics experts', whose judgements are no more valid or backed by qualifications, achievements or experience than anyone else's. Everything is taken from TV and we all know how the bigger picture can be missed when the camera is following the ball.

I think his website is excellent as are most of his analysis as I said just before. As for him posting on here, what was his username. Shouldn't be hard to get tot he bottom whether it was him or not...

Zonal Marking. Definitely the same fella, he started our pretending to be a blue and dropping a few snide comments, then his red allegiances were 'outed'. He used to boast about his 'media commitments' stopping him from attending actual, real, live football matches.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Zabaleta was all over the place when he came on. His 20
Minute cameo was poor.

Clichy and kolorov did well on the other side.

The worst I've ever seen off him....discipline went completely out of the window. He was virtually a centre forward at times. No way can you blame Mancini for that.

I think Mancini will have realised the same and when Micah is fit we might not be seeing as much of ZAb in the side.