Willo of Whiteley

Ducky playing devils advocate for every possible tactical decision, team selection, formation etc, etc. I’d say that every possible question Lord D has asked has been answered, but he’s still not happy with them…

And I think that’s the point, if we’re going to concede then we might as well try and outscore the opposition. In terms of a 4-3-3 if you have an attacking mid it’s effectively a 4-2-3-1, which some are a fan of, very similar to the Koeman era. Alternatively a 4-3-3 allows a holding midfielder to drop deep, which we always do, as a third CB option, this then allows the FB’s to push higher up, the Wingers to push higher as the ST would inevitably drop deep. Effectively it becomes a 3-4-3 in transition, similar to Russell Martin days where Che Adams would drop deep, if you’d like a better option see Liverpool with Roberto Firmino. 😁

The time-wasting, diving and feigning of injuries on both sides in this Arsenal v Villa game is shambolic. How refreshing would it be to see fines given for this shit. Commentators never call out this.

You can have many variations of a three man midfield. You can have an attacking midfielder in that three, a defensive midfielder in that three, it allows the two others to be more flexible and box-to-box players. I’m sure you’re just doing this as a wind up but I’m more than content to still giving you answers. 😂

Three CBs, no improvement from the last few games, borefest of a match. Somehow a 1-1 draw with the classic Tonda post-match line of “We go into every game aiming for three points”. He’s almost as cliche as Russell Martin and “brave” or “courageous”.

I’d say our strongest team if I had to pick is: GK - (?) DEF - Jelert, Harwood-Bellis,(?), (?) MID - Any three from Azaz, Jander, Downes and Charles is good and that’s bearing in mind Bragg has looked half decent compared to some of our “seasoned pros”. ATT - Fellows, Armstrong, Scienza The ones with question marks are positions where I don’t think it makes any real difference in who you pick.

I’m not planning on going for a while, I’ll listen on the radio and watch on TV if I can, but I’m not spending £30 to watch a game which won’t excite me. It’s desperately hard to watch now, and there is more to life than watching Saints.

Most teams in this division have three in midfield, most teams in general play with a midfield three now because it adds a lot of flex in terms of defending and attacking. No one can tell me that Jander and Downes were dominating the middle of the park against Birmingham last night. As for anyone that want to compare to Leicester, Charlton or West Brom - those games were when our tactics were fresh under a new coach - hard to do homework on something you’re not sure about, one was down to ten men and on the back foot, and the other decided to push that high up the pitch and were and are currently showing how poor they are.

Three CBs highlights the following for me: - Less attacking threat - Overrun in midfield, permanently - Less chances created - Just how many we continue to concede even with more defenders on the pitch, it’s no worse than two CBs - Just how poor they are - An inability to win a header in our own penalty area It’s not rocket science

I think the problem is we could do so much better but there is a reluctance either from him or the club to change. I’d rather we played four at the back in a 4-2-3-1 and lost having played well, then limped to a defeat. Last night he was very fortunate.

I disagree to a point. Our best for of defence has always been to attack. Even in the last decade we have never been a team to grind out huge defensive displays, but we have been excellent at creating chances, something we were still doing up until recently. Take the game to the opposition, make them crumble, not us, that then breeds confidence. Basic football and basic psychology.

Any chance you have Sports Republic’s email? Send it today, it’ll be a back four vs Millwall 🤣🤣

I wonder if the ten year plan involved yo-yoing for at least the first four seasons and wasting a lot of money on dross that we wouldn’t recoup.

Based on recent results I reckon we need roughly 10-15 players to make us promotion contenders, give or take maybe one. I envision we’ll make one loan signing. 😂

He’s a yes-man. That is literally it.

It’s very simple stuff. Three CB’s invites pressure as you have less of a midfield. Your “wing backs” become full backs and form a back five. You get pinned in defensively and will struggle to get out. An extra player in midfield or up top allows flexibility and puts the opposition on the back foot. For a team of our supposed attacking talent we don’t half do our best to waste it.

Can someone compile a spreadsheet of the number of seasons where a team that play with three CB won the league in either the Premier League or Championship? I can only recall Wolves under Nuno. Not a single other team can I recall someone getting promoted with this weird hybrid back five/three formation that leaves you with no attacking threat and overrun in midfield. Can someone pass that stat onto Sports Republic? Ta.

Both sides content with a point there, the last ten minutes were dull, as well as the majority of the match.

Birmingham manager and players rattled

The three subs combining there. Fair play. Completely unjust. On a side note what an absolute helmet Birmingham’s manager is 🤣

Like for like subs. Bold strategy. 🤣

He’ll get a decent pay off at least on the summer, tough life

Has Tonda taken Scienza off yet to preserve him for the Millwall match in three days? 🤣

Or a proper manager in general would be good enough

All teams have to do is put a little bit of pressure on and we crumble.