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Is anybody else wishing that we switch to regularly playing a 4-2-3-1 again? When Suso came on against Chelsea and we switched to this and looked a lot, lot better as a result.

 

We simply don't have the personnel to play a 4-3-3 like Rodgers wants us to. It seems pointless not to play to our strengths and we have the players to suit a 4-2-3-1 formation which has served us well in the recent past.

 

Once Lucas is back we can have him holding with either Allen or Sahin next to him (allowing the former to play in his old Dortmund position where he excelled) and in the forward 3 we have the options of Sterling on the left, Shelvey, Gerrard or Suso centrally or the latter two could both play on the right.

 

Sure, we'd still need reinforcements come January but I'd be willing to bet we'd have more points on the board than if we persist with a rigid 4-3-3.

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There's very little practical difference. Plus, Rodgers has been saying that's what we've been playing. Can't much see it myself, but it's not much difference.

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There's very little practical difference. Plus, Rodgers has been saying that's what we've been playing. Can't much see it myself, but it's not much difference.

 

I've been trying to tell people that we are playing 4231 not 433. However, because skysports put our formation up as 433, people believe that rather than their own eyes. If you take the recent newcastle game as an example, its pretty clear that sahin is playing further forward than allen and gerrard.

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Stick to 4-4-2 please. Different opposition have different tactics and formation. Suso was good when he came off the bench against Chelsea and so did Suarez, Sterling and especially Enrique, he was a monster that day.

 

At the moment, i'd play Sterling alongside Suarez and Suso at left wing. Allen and Sahin in the middle with Gerrard at right wing. Defense, Enrique, Agger, Skrtel and Wisdom.

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Is anybody else wishing that we switch to regularly playing a 4-2-3-1 again? When Suso came on against Chelsea and we switched to this and looked a lot, lot better as a result.

 

We simply don't have the personnel to play a 4-3-3 like Rodgers wants us to. It seems pointless not to play to our strengths and we have the players to suit a 4-2-3-1 formation which has served us well in the recent past.

 

Once Lucas is back we can have him holding with either Allen or Sahin next to him (allowing the former to play in his old Dortmund position where he excelled) and in the forward 3 we have the options of Sterling on the left, Shelvey, Gerrard or Suso centrally or the latter two could both play on the right.

 

Sure, we'd still need reinforcements come January but I'd be willing to bet we'd have more points on the board than if we persist with a rigid 4-3-3.

 

Whenever I do formations I do err towards setting players out in a 4-2-3-1, but in all honesty there's very little difference between that and 4-3-3, just a slight shift of one player in each bank of three.

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I normally quite like 3-5-2 as I find it is a formation that can have all areas covered as long as the players position themselves right for each "phase" but on sunday I felt it was far too compact and there was far less space at the end of the pitch that we were attacking, in all honesty I think 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, and 4-4-2 all have a lot of similarities and are easily interchangeable in a game with the right personel

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Stick to 4-4-2 please. Different opposition have different tactics and formation. Suso was good when he came off the bench against Chelsea and so did Suarez, Sterling and especially Enrique, he was a monster that day.

 

At the moment, i'd play Sterling alongside Suarez and Suso at left wing. Allen and Sahin in the middle with Gerrard at right wing. Defense, Enrique, Agger, Skrtel and Wisdom.

 

You are a massive spastic.

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I like the formation on Barca, but not on us.

 

You've got to have the tools for it, and we don't.

 

4-4-2 looks inviting, I'd love to see Suarez and Morgan given a go, with Sterling and Gerrard out wide, and Lucas and Suso/Allen through the middle.

But everything hinges on the central defenders and goalkeeper orchestrating the team from the back, moving up, squeezing the space, and controlling the opposition.

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I think it depends on the opposition and how your own players are performing in any given game. To my eyes, the 3-5-2 set up that helped stabilize things in the 2nd half v Everton was part of the problem against Chelsea. Our play got squashed into very narrow channels on either side of the pitch, mostly in our own half, and mostly on the left side of the pitch (through Enrique) for some reason.

 

Allen was reliant on movement of those around him to distribute the ball quickly before he got hit early by Mikel/Ramires/Torres, but others – mainly Sahin – didn’t provide it. As a result, we had very few options down the middle and were predictably forced out through the sides.

 

The switch to 4-2-3-1 in the second half changed things as it gave an extra player in the back line who could remove pressure from the player on the ball, and, in Suso, it gave a more mobile outlet in the central part of the pitch. These two small changes made us less predictable with the ball, and allowed us to be better at working the play up the pitch.

 

What I found most pleasing about Saturday – and in the Everton game also – was the ability of our management team to identify the problem and solve it. Against Everton, 3-5-2 was the solution. Against Chelsea it was the problem.

 

I don’t think any one formation provides the answer. Players having a shite game can always undermine how you set up, as can how the opposition play.

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Dunno.

 

The midfield seems to be neither protecting the back four, or getting forward with much regularity at the moment.

 

If we're not going to bother with Assaidi, then I'd like to see us switch to a narrow formation that doesn't have three at the back, like 4-1-3-2, 4-3-1-2, or 4-3-2-1. It might get the best out of all of our creative central players.

 

Reina

Johnson Skrtel Agger Enrique

Shelvey Allen Sahin

Gerrard Suso

Suarez

 

Or something.

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Do people think in a 4-3-3 everyone has to stand in straight lines across the pitch and never get out of position?

 

In any given formation with four at the back, the fullbacks occupy space well in advance of the central defenders most of the time.

 

Shouldn't we call it a 2-2-something? Or when the DM drops back, are we switching to 2-3-something?

 

What's the difference between 4-5-1, 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3?

 

A few yards at most.

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The responsibilities of the players in each position.

 

It's nowhere near that simple. You can have a 4-4-2 where your fullbacks push on, or one where they defend. One of your strikers might drop deep. One of your midfielders might stay while the other one goes, or they might provide a stable platform for the forwards.

 

These formations we all talk about are just a bit of notional convenience. Those simplistic numbers tell nothing of the whole story, which also changes frequently throughout the course of a game.

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It's nowhere near that simple. You can have a 4-4-2 where your fullbacks push on, or one where they defend. One of your strikers might drop deep. One of your midfielders might stay while the other one goes, or they might provide a stable platform for the forwards.

 

These formations we all talk about are just a bit of notional convenience. Those simplistic numbers tell nothing of the whole story, which also changes frequently throughout the course of a game.

 

Notations are for paper. On the pitch, it's the sum of player responsibilities that defines the story.

 

Xabi said it best, my responsibility is to be a solution for other people. Notate that!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I must admit, I am not a big fan of this formation.

 

I think for it to work you need special players - like Barcelona have.

 

You need all front three to get goals. Currently only Suarez looks capable and the two wide players aren't getting enough goals.

 

We don't have a midfielder who is getting goals either, at least one of these players needs to be chipping in.

 

Defensively I think it is tough on the midfield players, especially the two that press and I don't think Gerrard is fit enough to do that job for 90 minutes anymore.

 

With the addition of two attacking wide players (Walcott and Sturridge for example) and a fit Lucas, enabling Allen to push high as one of the pressing players, it will work better and probably a better time to judge.

 

But with the players we have at the moment 4-2-3-1 would be a better fit, Suarez would get more support and it would be more balanced.

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I didn't think we played 433 today, it was more a 451 but with Sterling further forward than Enrique, so a bit like a lopsided 4411.

 

The team that Sky put on the tv before the game would have been much better with Henderson & Allen holding , Enrique and Sterling either side of Stevie, and Suarez buzzing round in front of them.

 

Thought we were decent first half but fizzled out in the second.

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you could argue we've actually been 4141 in the last 2 league games (after henderson came on against wigan)

 

---------------------------------------Reina---------------------------------------

 

GJ---------------------Skrtel-----------------------Agger---------------Downing

 

 

---------------------------------------Allen----------------------------------------

 

Sterling----------------Gerrard-------------------Henderson------------Enrique

 

 

--------------------------------------Suarez---------------------------------------

 

 

That's what I saw today.

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We currently don't have - and haven't had for a long long time - a group of players that want to score goals badly enough. Too many players past and present have hoped they might get a chance, but very few have played as though the will get a chance. Very few seem willing to take a gamble.

 

Jose Enrique is not a winger, or somebody that can be relied on to find the back of the net on a regular basis. He has quite a few flaws in his game, defensively and especially when we attack. But the one thing he's done in his last few appearances as a left-sided midfielder is to get into the box when we've had the ball out wide on the right. Whether the ball reaches him or not, or whether he's the intended target or not, he's got himself in there and found some threatening positions. It has resulted in a few attempts on goal, getting his first goal for the club, and unlucky being denied another by a dubious offside call. In his last few appearances, he has done what Downing has never done in all his time here.

 

If players with more finesse and technical ability than Enrique had been prepared to take a gamble and get themselves into threatening positions like he's done recently, we'd probably be doing a lot better this season. We'd have done a lot better in previous seasons too.

 

Play with intent to cause havoc to the opposition, and the formation will take care of itself to some extent.

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If players with more finesse and technical ability than Enrique had been prepared to take a gamble and get themselves into threatening positions like he's done recently

 

Something Maxi would be brilliant at doing.

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