How to win the league without signing new players

Current system/selection:



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Same Squad/better system (532/352)



CB1 CB2 CB3

Riley Alonso

Lee Holden/Vela Petrov/Wylde

Ngog/Eaves SKD/Sordell

To complete the line up, simply select any 3 donkey CBs and train them to stand in a straight line.

Good post, but a lot of "what ifs".

Squad rotation - but always playing with 3 CBs and two strikers.

3 CBs to allow Riley and Alonso to get forward (as they're better at that than defending in a flat back 4) and to remove the need for Andrews who ain't quick enough to move the ball on.

My personal starting line-up would be

Bogdan

Riley Ricketts Knight Ream Alonso (putting Wheater in the middle when available)

Lee Vela Petrov (putting Holden in centre when available)

Ngog Sordell



..but I guess the manager could switch players around as per form.

I'm sorry, while I agree that 5-3-2 is worth a try, a midfield three of Lee, Vela & Petrov would see us relegated by March.

It's a midfield of Riley Lee Vela Petrov and Alonso though.

I'd prefer it to include Holden. If you agree that the system's worth a shout, which players would be your starting choice?

I guess Eagles would have to be in there too.

I'd bring Georg Iliev up from the u18's right now as a striker. He's quick, skillfull, scores goals. Tell him to sit back and wait for SKD to 'flick on' and that's that.

Iliev has been banging them in but that might be a step too far for Doogie - which is the problem IMO. Would love to see him get some game time, but I can't see it happening.

Problem is at the moment dougie appears to be same as coyle and unfortunately i cant see him changing his preferred formation that much!

He seems hell bent on blaming it down to a losing mentality rather than the players, tactics or formation.

And who's fault would a losing mentality be?

Dougie is only polishing the turds Coyle couldn't! With little effect up to now.

Natasha Whittam wrote:Good post, but a lot of "what ifs".

Like your face lift Nat!

Soul Kitchen wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:Good post, but a lot of "what ifs".

Like your face lift Nat!

Yes


Who is that?

wanderlust wrote:Squad rotation - but always playing with 3 CBs and two strikers.

3 CBs to allow Riley and Alonso to get forward (as they're better at that than defending in a flat back 4) and to remove the need for Andrews who ain't quick enough to move the ball on.

My personal starting line-up would be

Bogdan

Riley Ricketts Knight Ream Alonso (putting Wheater in the middle when available)

Lee Vela Petrov (putting Holden in centre when available)

Ngog Sordell



..but I guess the manager could switch players around as per form.

Good idea but I don't think it would improve results.

We'd just end up being more exposed than we already are, as we take out the supposed protection the 2 sitting midfielders bring, whilst removing our most talented area of the pitch (the three that play behind a lone striker). Plus a midfield of Vela, Petrov and Lee would offer next to no defensive cover.

Not to mention you need two quality wing backs to successfully player a 5-3-2, we don't even have one.

For what it's worth I still think 4-2-3-1 is the best formation for us given the players we have, certainly seems to be the system Freedman prefers anyway. End of the day though I don't think any system will have much of a baring on results with this set of players.

Have to disagree 1874. I think Alonso and Riley could be decent wingbacks and both have a natural desire to get forward. Good point about the central midfield being lightweight, but Vela and Holden can mix it a bit and 3 CBs should be able to cope if organised properly. But the beauty of the system is that our focus would still be on attacking football with a bit of security at the back and it's geared to the strengths of what we have. And with 6 or 7 attacking at the same time the opposition would be reticent to pile forward, and if they counterattack we have 3 CBs to mop up.

It's times like this when we miss Muamba who could have been immense at this level, but we have to work with the players we've got. A system like this takes the pressure off defence and allows us to integrate the younger players we need to come through - and the young midfielders and strikers would have the freedom to express themselves without having to worry about defending all the time as the current system requires. But it would be dependent on Alonso and Riley doing a lot of work.

Agreed about Muamba, he’d have been brilliant in the championship and we really miss his, NRC’s and Holden’s energy in midfield. Andrews and Pratley just aren’t up to it.
The thing about wing backs in a 5-3-2 is that they have to be able to get up and down the line really well, it’s not all about attacking. So far Riley is unproven and Alonso has shown he can attack but not defend. Wigan have Beausejour (who’s been a revelation at wing back) and Ronnie Stam I think? Last time I saw him he was fantastic 2, IMO this is the most important position in a 532 and we’d need to sign at least one before we could play it.
As you say 3 CBs should cope, but none of Ream, Knight or Mills seem to have much positional sense, and there’s no leader amongst them either. They simply wouldn’t cope with a team playing two wingers, they’d get stretched all over the place. Then the outball would be to a midfield, where the likes of Petrov, Lee and Eagles are missing for vast periods of the game. I only think a midfield 3 would be possible with Holden, Mavies and a very good DM, plus a pair of pacy strikers who can hit teams on the break and get them on the backfoot.

bwfc1874 wrote:
As you say 3 CBs should cope, but none of Ream, Knight or Mills seem to have much positional sense, and there’s no leader amongst them either. They simply wouldn’t cope with a team playing two wingers, they’d get stretched all over the place. Then the outball would be to a midfield, where the likes of Petrov, Lee and Eagles are missing for vast periods of the game. I only think a midfield 3 would be possible with Holden, Mavies and a very good DM, plus a pair of pacy strikers who can hit teams on the break and get them on the backfoot.

Spot on. I reckon we would get ripped a new A hole each week if we played with two wingers. It's a luxury we can't afford because our defence is just not good enough to cope with that formation.

bwfc1874 wrote:Agreed about Muamba, he’d have been brilliant in the championship and we really miss his, NRC’s and Holden’s energy in midfield. Andrews and Pratley just aren’t up to it.
The thing about wing backs in a 5-3-2 is that they have to be able to get up and down the line really well, it’s not all about attacking. So far Riley is unproven and Alonso has shown he can attack but not defend. Wigan have Beausejour (who’s been a revelation at wing back) and Ronnie Stam I think? Last time I saw him he was fantastic 2, IMO this is the most important position in a 532 and we’d need to sign at least one before we could play it.
As you say 3 CBs should cope, but none of Ream, Knight or Mills seem to have much positional sense, and there’s no leader amongst them either. They simply wouldn’t cope with a team playing two wingers, they’d get stretched all over the place. Then the outball would be to a midfield, where the likes of Petrov, Lee and Eagles are missing for vast periods of the game. I only think a midfield 3 would be possible with Holden, Mavies and a very good DM, plus a pair of pacy strikers who can hit teams on the break and get them on the backfoot.

Good points, but look at it another way...

A well-drilled back 3 should be able to cope but as a group they need a leader and I would have no hesitation putting Sam Ricketts in there until Wheater gets back.

Alonso and Riley can both get forward and are unproven aka shit in a defensive capacity so having 3 CBs is their best chance of finding a role that works for them and the team. They are both BWFC registered players who are getting paid (on the basis of their potential) but are not getting frequent enough chances to develop or show what they can do. So we stagger on with a shaky back 4 and don't get the results OR develop for the future. The Sunderland match is perfect for testing this in live conditions. If they don't work out then we should be reconsidering their future with us. At least this way we actually get to learn something.

Holden and Vela are allegedly on their way back and we have 10 or 12 midfielders to choose from so it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to find the right balance for any particular game

Which leaves us with 2 strikers. Currently we play with one largely isolated striker and try to get support from midfield where possible, but it tends to leave us 1) shooting from long range (hence the high efforts/low conversion rate) and 2) reticence to support when midfielders have one eye on defence. TBF I can understand why SKD gets to be the lone striker every week as the current system is geared to that, but if we had wingbacks and a more forward committed midfield we could try other striker combinations more suited to concerted attacks with 6 or 7 involved. Geord Iliev for example.

So agree it's not perfect, but believe it gives us more options to exploit what we have to the fullest.