4-3-3 / diamond

[benjii]

Worked nicely today. Puncheon superb, as was Morgan amongst a host of very good performances.

 

Could be the future if Chambo leaves.

[Matthew Le God]

It was more 4-3-1-2 with Lallana and then Guly behind the front two and the three midfielders behind them quite narrow.

[DrunkenSaint]

id play chambo upfront for his pace if punch becomes a regular in the team again of course now we have a good option to rest strikers if we had to play 2 games in quick succession as they all seem to be playing well. I dont think we should sell Chambo not for any money, we need to stay strong and keep our good players together for as long as possible so they can gel and become very hard to beat. Tbh if its right we have a shed full of money we dont need to sell.

[benjii]

It was more 4-3-1-2 with Lallana and then Guly behind the front two and the three midfielders behind them quite narrow.

 

Whatever, point is that it wasn't a 4 with "wingers".

[NickG]

Lallana playing CF - with Puncheon behind him meant they were chasing shadows in the middle.

 

Thought Morgan on RM was amazing.

 

Dickson did a very good job when he came on CM

[Saint Garrett]

Morgan was MoM IMO

[Mustapha Fag]

Whatever, point is that it wasn't a 4 with "wingers".

 

who were the wingers?

only problems i could see was i think it could be easier for a decent defence to defend against with no real width, plus noticed full backs exposed a little more than i would have liked

[Mustapha Fag]

meant to add the full backs were giving width where possible what a plank lol

[Turkish]

it is good to have another formation other than 4-4-2 the players look good in. "the hole" has long be said to be Lallanas best position and looking at Gully think probably his as well, so why not use our best player in his best position, particularly as he is now ours for another 4 1/2 years.

[NickG]

Morgan was MoM IMO

 

agree

[wessex saint]

if we play a decent side they would have loved the space on the flanks. Blackpool not good enough to exploit it today but a lot of teams will be

[Chez]

if we play a decent side they would have loved the space on the flanks. Blackpool not good enough to exploit it today but a lot of teams will be

 

agree with that. Even today at times today Philips caused us massive problems and with better players around him and more ball the formation may have been our undoing.We used it a lot in relegation season. We had a lot of ball, but the opponents would just play 4-4-2 with the fullbacks overlapping creating a 2 on 1 against our fullbacks and we got done time after time.

[toofarnorth]

And Dickson looked great in the middle when he came on. Had my eyes opened with regard to a few players today. Great stuff

[Matthew Le God]

if we play a decent side they would have loved the space on the flanks. Blackpool not good enough to exploit it today but a lot of teams will be

 

Unlikely Saints would play that way if the opposition were playing with width. Adkins knew Blackpool would play their usual 433, which is very narrow.

[Littlelat17]

Unlikely Saints would play that way if the opposition were playing with width. Adkins knew Blackpool would play their usual 433, which is very narrow.

 

Spot on MLG.. Superb tactical move from Nigel, not only did we match them with our 4-3-3 but it allowed the front 6 to rotate, and the shape was always there... Morgan started right side but then he roved around as did Lallana, as did Punch, all interchanging in their roles which meant Blackpool didnt know who to pick up the width came from Richardson and Harding, it was a formation that worked brilliantly with the players we had but wont necessarily work every week but it worked to a 't' against Blackpool...

We passed and moved really well and when we did need to go direct we saw a fair few diagonal balls to Lambert on the Left striker role from Morgan and Frazer which then saw Lallana, Punch or Barnard looked for the knock downs..

 

Was easy on the eye and the fluidity in which it worked and the thinking behind Nigel's decision to play it - shows he has the nous and proves what an astute manager he is.. couldnt fault anyone yesterday, even the relative inexperience of the two centrebacks were solid. Dickson when he came on showed he could do a job as a CM too.

 

Worked wonders for me too - as I got my Sunday team to play it today and we won 6-0 (having lost to the same team 4-1 before Christmas)

[West End Saint]

Nige got it spot on I thought Punch did well we would be mad not to keep him here decent player at this level Morgan had a great game nice to see him getting back to his best Lallana was great as per he & morgan are the most gifted players we have & they have a great understanding of each others game they take the ball under pressure and have great composure.

 

Nice to see we can change our formation & play well some great passing & movement well done Saints

[Chez]

And Dickson looked great in the middle when he came on. Had my eyes opened with regard to a few players today. Great stuff

 

he was superbe wasn't he? I really like this guy, he's so full of running, he kind of reminds me of Bale. Yes not at his level, but the way he is willing to give it a go and force opponents to make desperate last ditch tackles really does turn defence into attack. The one thing missing is a goal. He's come so close in recent weeks and at times it feels like he might never score! I honestly think he is going to become a real fans favourite in time.

[Saint_John]

Spot on MLG.. Superb tactical move from Nigel, not only did we match them with our 4-3-3 but it allowed the front 6 to rotate, and the shape was always there... Morgan started right side but then he roved around as did Lallana, as did Punch, all interchanging in their roles which meant Blackpool didnt know who to pick up the width came from Richardson and Harding, it was a formation that worked brilliantly with the players we had but wont necessarily work every week but it worked to a 't' against Blackpool...

We passed and moved really well and when we did need to go direct we saw a fair few diagonal balls to Lambert on the Left striker role from Morgan and Frazer which then saw Lallana, Punch or Barnard looked for the knock downs..

 

Was easy on the eye and the fluidity in which it worked and the thinking behind Nigel's decision to play it - shows he has the nous and proves what an astute manager he is.. couldnt fault anyone yesterday, even the relative inexperience of the two centrebacks were solid. Dickson when he came on showed he could do a job as a CM too.

 

Worked wonders for me too - as I got my Sunday team to play it today and we won 6-0 (having lost to the same team 4-1 before Christmas)

 

Good writeup, thats the way I saw it.

 

Jason and Morgan both had very good games in that system in that they could press the opposition when we didn't have the ball.

It also made us more "compact" in the centre of midfield which meant the central defenders were not exposed which they are sometimes when we play 4-4-2 or 4-2-4 (when Adam & Ox push up).

 

I believe Nigel will use the system ALOT, even when the opposition have wide players. He will use to get control of central midfield and then ask the "morgan/jason" players to cover across as much as possible. With that system and the outlet of long balls between their full backs and centrebacks I don't believe the opposition full backs will be able to get up and support their wide players too often and our full backs are good enough to handle most wide players in L1.