Formation change 17:34 - Mar 21 with 1844 views | PJackArmy | As my post in the 'team for cardiff' thread, the thing that needs to happen is a change back from the 5-3-2 formation, it has been found out and isn't working anymore, especially against sides like Cardiff that are all about just bullying down the middle. I can not believe we didn't go with 4-3-3 yesterday and get at them down the sides which has worked against them so many times over the years. This has got to happen in the next few games and is the only option around the lack of goals problem and poor performances. Just please Cooper open your eyes Woodman Naughton Bennett Guehi bidwell Grimes Smith Fulton Lowe Ayew Whittaker/Routledge | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) | | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Formation change on 18:01 - Mar 21 with 1829 views | Chief | I'd give a 451 a go. Woodman Bidwell Bennett Guehi Naughton Lowe Grimes Hourihane Fulton / Smith Roberts Ayew Might help us to get control of the midfield more and Hourihane in a 5 will be less needed defensively. Lowe on the wing in his proper position. If we're winning etc we could then drop Roberts back to see games out. | ![](/images/avatars/10698.gif) |
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Formation change on 18:13 - Mar 21 with 1823 views | Catullus |
Formation change on 18:01 - Mar 21 by Chief | I'd give a 451 a go. Woodman Bidwell Bennett Guehi Naughton Lowe Grimes Hourihane Fulton / Smith Roberts Ayew Might help us to get control of the midfield more and Hourihane in a 5 will be less needed defensively. Lowe on the wing in his proper position. If we're winning etc we could then drop Roberts back to see games out. |
Hourihane has proved to be part of the problem hasn't he? When he went off yesterday we improved and carried on improving through the game. I'd rather the 433 too, I think. Forme, Whittaker showed enough yesterday to get a run, the sooner he learns to deal with the hurly burly of the Championship the better. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) |
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Formation change on 18:21 - Mar 21 with 1818 views | Chief |
Formation change on 18:13 - Mar 21 by Catullus | Hourihane has proved to be part of the problem hasn't he? When he went off yesterday we improved and carried on improving through the game. I'd rather the 433 too, I think. Forme, Whittaker showed enough yesterday to get a run, the sooner he learns to deal with the hurly burly of the Championship the better. |
Yes Hourihane is a conundrum. Yes Whittaker could be rotated into that team easily. | ![](/images/avatars/10698.gif) |
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Formation change on 18:36 - Mar 21 with 1811 views | Thornburyswan | If we are going back to 4 at the back I’d be suggesting Woodman (although I’d prefer Hamer) Nauts - Bennett - Guehi - Bidders Fulton - Grimes Roberts - Ayew - Manning Whitaker Can easily drop into a 4-4-2 if needed & Roberts/Bidders can provide the width. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Formation change on 19:38 - Mar 21 with 1764 views | onehunglow | Any formation without Hoolie and Woody. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) |
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Formation change on 00:43 - Mar 22 with 1725 views | Badlands | The only player who have made a difference yesterday was Cabango. He is the only physical presence we have in defence and the only player who will get his head to the ball or cause confusion in their box from corners and long throws. We no longer have any speed merchants other than Routledge and Cooper uses him with defence in mind. Cooper has put together a squad of who play this way although several can play football. | ![](/images/avatars/23858.gif) |
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Formation change on 07:37 - Mar 22 with 1682 views | 34dfgdf54 |
Formation change on 00:43 - Mar 22 by Badlands | The only player who have made a difference yesterday was Cabango. He is the only physical presence we have in defence and the only player who will get his head to the ball or cause confusion in their box from corners and long throws. We no longer have any speed merchants other than Routledge and Cooper uses him with defence in mind. Cooper has put together a squad of who play this way although several can play football. |
I agree with the Cabango shout to be honest, I do think he struggles with ball at feet at times but with the amount of space Cardiff allowed out defenders on Saturday when they tired it wouldn't have made a difference. All ifs and buts but he may have been able to get a head on the throw in which cost us goal. Not sure you can call Routledge a speed merchant anymore either but him or Ariolla should be given a go instead of Dhanda. | ![](/images/avatars/20854.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Formation change on 08:41 - Mar 22 with 1639 views | onehunglow | Looking at the cardiff line up,Cabango should have been an obvious starter and Naughton a non starter. Steve sees it differently and that is what killed us. It will again | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) |
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Formation change on 11:07 - Mar 22 with 1612 views | Catullus |
Formation change on 18:36 - Mar 21 by Thornburyswan | If we are going back to 4 at the back I’d be suggesting Woodman (although I’d prefer Hamer) Nauts - Bennett - Guehi - Bidders Fulton - Grimes Roberts - Ayew - Manning Whitaker Can easily drop into a 4-4-2 if needed & Roberts/Bidders can provide the width. |
I'd have Cabango in ahead of Bennett but otherwise, yes. Guehi is the ball player, Cabango the stopper who may also pinch goals from high balls. I love the idea of Ayew in the "hole" but he needs to release the ball more quickly, in looking for the best option he sometimes just runs out of options, I think. Whittaker isn't a target man, he's more a poacher. He's not goint to win many headers so we need to get the ball in behind defenders for him to run onto, the boy can finish, Roberts and Bidwell could be whipping low crosses in which often can cause more confusion than high balls. It's also easy enough to change to 433 or 442 if needed. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) |
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Formation change on 12:49 - Mar 22 with 1588 views | 9MilesHigh |
Formation change on 18:01 - Mar 21 by Chief | I'd give a 451 a go. Woodman Bidwell Bennett Guehi Naughton Lowe Grimes Hourihane Fulton / Smith Roberts Ayew Might help us to get control of the midfield more and Hourihane in a 5 will be less needed defensively. Lowe on the wing in his proper position. If we're winning etc we could then drop Roberts back to see games out. |
Roberts is not a winger or a midfielder. Forget about playing him up there and tasking him with out and out creation. It's gone well for him this season and he's increased everyone's expectation of him and he is bloody good in the box. But with all that said, don't ask him to take men on on the corner of the box. That's not his game. And in a 451 we don't need him there either. We could play Lowe, Whitts or god help us, Arriola. Roberts would be a superb support for any of them in front of him. On the left we could play Whitts or conversely to what I've just said about Roberts, I feel Manning could do a job further up the pitch. And for me, one of the main travesty's of the season is the fact that either Bidwell or Manning have had to sit out games. I think both of those are too good to be sat on the bench. We could have used Manning in left or central midfield this season and given him more games. | ![](/images/avatars/27803.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Formation change on 13:00 - Mar 22 with 1565 views | onehunglow |
Formation change on 12:49 - Mar 22 by 9MilesHigh | Roberts is not a winger or a midfielder. Forget about playing him up there and tasking him with out and out creation. It's gone well for him this season and he's increased everyone's expectation of him and he is bloody good in the box. But with all that said, don't ask him to take men on on the corner of the box. That's not his game. And in a 451 we don't need him there either. We could play Lowe, Whitts or god help us, Arriola. Roberts would be a superb support for any of them in front of him. On the left we could play Whitts or conversely to what I've just said about Roberts, I feel Manning could do a job further up the pitch. And for me, one of the main travesty's of the season is the fact that either Bidwell or Manning have had to sit out games. I think both of those are too good to be sat on the bench. We could have used Manning in left or central midfield this season and given him more games. |
I like Balance myself. Bidwell and Manning in front of one another is a balance. Have 5 player utterly one footed isn't. It is easy to defend against. Ayew can barely stand on his right foot so why have him play on the right side;he should never be there.That is down to coaching. Again. I pray Steve isn't going to destroy Whittaker who should seriously be on a specialised diet to increase bulk,as Dhanda should have been a long time ago. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) |
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Formation change on 19:34 - Mar 23 with 1454 views | AndyCole |
Formation change on 18:01 - Mar 21 by Chief | I'd give a 451 a go. Woodman Bidwell Bennett Guehi Naughton Lowe Grimes Hourihane Fulton / Smith Roberts Ayew Might help us to get control of the midfield more and Hourihane in a 5 will be less needed defensively. Lowe on the wing in his proper position. If we're winning etc we could then drop Roberts back to see games out. |
A winning formula there, Chief. Our best 11. Especially when considering our opposition for the run-in and how well we fared against them. Cooper has proven how he can get the best out of his squad. We're 3rd on merit, not luck as some bang on about. This is so reminiscent of last year, tournament football post break where Cooper smashed it. He needs to go balls out for the auto spot. Be ambitious and bold to take the game to the oppo as before when Brentford and Franks was bamboozled by our clever forward interplay, channels and overlaps. Tearing them to shreds at times. Grimes, our best player by some distance could be pushed on during games to drive our focal point higher up the pitch and create more zip where it matters. We're missing a Cantwell/MGW, Grimes is our best prospect for that space. High energy, heads-up, drives the high press. As games evolve Guehi, our budding CDM can control the deeper space like Makelele (Chelsea will be delighted), along with Fulton/Smith. We have a massive opportunity to do what we did last year, +++. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) |
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Formation change on 08:32 - Mar 24 with 1384 views | Catullus |
Formation change on 19:34 - Mar 23 by AndyCole | A winning formula there, Chief. Our best 11. Especially when considering our opposition for the run-in and how well we fared against them. Cooper has proven how he can get the best out of his squad. We're 3rd on merit, not luck as some bang on about. This is so reminiscent of last year, tournament football post break where Cooper smashed it. He needs to go balls out for the auto spot. Be ambitious and bold to take the game to the oppo as before when Brentford and Franks was bamboozled by our clever forward interplay, channels and overlaps. Tearing them to shreds at times. Grimes, our best player by some distance could be pushed on during games to drive our focal point higher up the pitch and create more zip where it matters. We're missing a Cantwell/MGW, Grimes is our best prospect for that space. High energy, heads-up, drives the high press. As games evolve Guehi, our budding CDM can control the deeper space like Makelele (Chelsea will be delighted), along with Fulton/Smith. We have a massive opportunity to do what we did last year, +++. |
So you think our best 11 is Roberts in midfield, Ayew as a lone striker and Grimes higher up the pitch leaving Hourihane to do the holding role? Roberts is not a winger or a midfielder. Ayew is not a lone striker Hourihane is part of the problem and if he's to play it's not in the holding role because he doesn't put the graft in. He could be out for weeks anyway. Ayew should be on the right of midfield, Smith there instead of Hourihane so freeing Grimes up to get forward too and Whittaker up front for Lowe and Ayew to feed or they cut inside and shoot. It's pointless us putting the high balls in when we can't win them. I also suspect we'd be better having Manning left of midfield instead of Lowe which frees Lowe to play up front. He's not a striker either but he's an option | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) |
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Formation change on 08:55 - Mar 24 with 1366 views | onehunglow |
Formation change on 19:34 - Mar 23 by AndyCole | A winning formula there, Chief. Our best 11. Especially when considering our opposition for the run-in and how well we fared against them. Cooper has proven how he can get the best out of his squad. We're 3rd on merit, not luck as some bang on about. This is so reminiscent of last year, tournament football post break where Cooper smashed it. He needs to go balls out for the auto spot. Be ambitious and bold to take the game to the oppo as before when Brentford and Franks was bamboozled by our clever forward interplay, channels and overlaps. Tearing them to shreds at times. Grimes, our best player by some distance could be pushed on during games to drive our focal point higher up the pitch and create more zip where it matters. We're missing a Cantwell/MGW, Grimes is our best prospect for that space. High energy, heads-up, drives the high press. As games evolve Guehi, our budding CDM can control the deeper space like Makelele (Chelsea will be delighted), along with Fulton/Smith. We have a massive opportunity to do what we did last year, +++. |
Im all for the Chief taking over the reins of our club Go Chief | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) |
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Formation change on 10:10 - Mar 24 with 1367 views | Chief |
Formation change on 08:32 - Mar 24 by Catullus | So you think our best 11 is Roberts in midfield, Ayew as a lone striker and Grimes higher up the pitch leaving Hourihane to do the holding role? Roberts is not a winger or a midfielder. Ayew is not a lone striker Hourihane is part of the problem and if he's to play it's not in the holding role because he doesn't put the graft in. He could be out for weeks anyway. Ayew should be on the right of midfield, Smith there instead of Hourihane so freeing Grimes up to get forward too and Whittaker up front for Lowe and Ayew to feed or they cut inside and shoot. It's pointless us putting the high balls in when we can't win them. I also suspect we'd be better having Manning left of midfield instead of Lowe which frees Lowe to play up front. He's not a striker either but he's an option |
I think Roberts would make a fantastic winger. Hes obviously got the energy and delivery for it. Plus the strength and stamina to tussle more with defenders. My team would have Hourihane as the most advanced central midfielder. Ayew isn't naturally a lone striker no, but we don't have one, so as the most experienced, physically strongest and best header that we have that can play there Ayew would be the man. He's obviously got an eye for goal too. Whittaker can be rotated or subbed into that team very easily along that front 3 or brought on to partner Ayew if needed. Personally i think we need to end the Lowe striker experiment now at this stage where we are. He had a good spell earlier in the season but that doesn't prove to me hes a capable striker at this level. He's not even getting into positions to get chances in games anymore. Put him back out wide where he should be more comfortable seeing as he's played most of his career there. | ![](/images/avatars/10698.gif) |
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Formation change on 11:01 - Mar 24 with 1351 views | onehunglow |
Formation change on 10:10 - Mar 24 by Chief | I think Roberts would make a fantastic winger. Hes obviously got the energy and delivery for it. Plus the strength and stamina to tussle more with defenders. My team would have Hourihane as the most advanced central midfielder. Ayew isn't naturally a lone striker no, but we don't have one, so as the most experienced, physically strongest and best header that we have that can play there Ayew would be the man. He's obviously got an eye for goal too. Whittaker can be rotated or subbed into that team very easily along that front 3 or brought on to partner Ayew if needed. Personally i think we need to end the Lowe striker experiment now at this stage where we are. He had a good spell earlier in the season but that doesn't prove to me hes a capable striker at this level. He's not even getting into positions to get chances in games anymore. Put him back out wide where he should be more comfortable seeing as he's played most of his career there. |
That's a good read . It would mean though coaching. There ya go | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) |
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