Formation issues, how should we play?

[cityfanlee23]

Which formation do we need to be able to get the best out of every player?

 

Mahrez is bad in defence and better central, Fuchs deserves to play (in my opinion) 

 

Okazaki has has a tough time so far, and I don't think he suits our play or will provide the goals we need, if we play 2 upfront I think Ulloa should start ahead of Shinji. everytime ulloa has come on he's looked good and made a difference.

so what formation do we play?

 

 

I think with the form vardy is on, can we play with him up top? in a 4-2-3-1? It's one of the most popular formations around for a reason, providing the wingers can chip in with goals and have mahrez feeding vardy on the last defenders back, could it work?

4-4-2 limits mahrez to the wing, 3-5-2 has worked quite well but not sure it gets the absolute best out of schlupp, but long term is not a solution in my opinion, and was played out of desperation more than anything toward the end of last year. 

 

 

                 Kasper

De Laet     Huth  Wes  Fuchs

 

          Drinkwater Kante

 

Albrighton   Mahrez    Schlupp

    

                   Vardy 

 

 

 

What do you think will be our best formation?

 

 

 

 

[Frank to be]

Since when has Mahrez been better central? He has barely played there, and when he has, he has been mostly ineffective.

[foxes21]

Dyer for Schlupp in that team. Better final ball imo.

[cityfanlee23]

Since when has Mahrez been better central? He has barely played there, and when he has, he has been mostly ineffective.

 

 

I think a fair amount of the forum will disagree... He does not defend so he simply cannot carry on playing as a winger unless we get rid of De Laet for a better right back. 

[foxes21]

I think a fair amount of the forum will disagree... He does not defend so he simply cannot carry on playing as a winger unless we get rid of De Laet for a better right back.

Yep. Also Riyad is a smart player he will grow into the central role over time. The lad needs space if we want to get the best out of him, on the wing he's starting to be found out.

[Frank to be]

I think a fair amount of the forum will disagree... He does not defend so he simply cannot carry on playing as a winger unless we get rid of De Laet for a better right back. 

 

Get rid of De Laet for a better right back then. I'd much rather that than limit Mahrez's ability to cut in from wide which is how he gets the vast majority of his goals and assists.

[cityfanlee23]

Get rid of De Laet for a better right back then. I'd much rather that than limit Mahrez's ability to cut in from wide which is how he gets the vast majority of his goals and assists.

I disagree but fair play, He's been found out a fair amount, he's been a monster don't doubt that! but he's better central in my opinion. 

He seems to think so himself, he's always getting pulled into the centre or cutting in and dribbling towards the middle, it just does not work. 

 

Even if we got a new right back teams will just double up on him. 

[foxes21]

New right back or not. We could have Lahm at right back and teams would still nullify Mahrez on the wing because they are targetting him and succeeding. Time to shake things up and stick him centrally please!!

[steflcfc]

Giving Mahrez a free role in the middle behind the attack really suits his game, and is generally all over the pitch (in an attacking sense) and pops up on the right/left to keep them guessing.

By putting him on the wing we are doing half of the job for the opposition of trying to nullify his threat, as they will know where he will be most of the time.

Today, he had a poor game, partly to the fact he was stuck on the wing and arsenal knowing he usually wanted to cut inside and run at them.

Arsenal did a good job on him and didn't give him much time on the ball at all.

Shame we couldn't do the same with Sanchez!

[RedSoxUK]

We already play a slice of 4-2-3-1 anyway, Okazaki sits a little back but doesnt play or perform as a number 10. Mahrez did look great vs Villa down the middle at times and it may be worth starting him there, seeing how it gets on and switching things around if it doesn't pay off. I'd like to see Ulloa + Vardy partnership for the time being now though, but when Dyer is back I'd go with a sort of 4-2-3-1 with Mahrez playing and feeding the striker and wings, his vision has improved so much this season - he can do the number 10 role.

 

           Schmeichel

RDL - Huth - Morgan - Fuchs

     Drinkwater - Kante

     Dyer - Mahrez - Albrighton

                 Vardy

[Jimmy]

352 is a must, we simply can't defend in a 442

 

As for De Laet today, he was just jogging back paying no attention when Cazorla played a pass right next to his foot for Sanchez to run on to, that it why people criticise him he doesn't concentrate and when a cross comes in he's practically up Huth's arse instead of being in a right back slot

[Jimmy]

Giving Mahrez a free role in the middle behind the attack really suits his game, and is generally all over the pitch (in an attacking sense) and pops up on the right/left to keep them guessing.

By putting him on the wing we are doing half of the job for the opposition of trying to nullify his threat, as they will know where he will be most of the time.

Today, he had a poor game, partly to the fact he was stuck on the wing and arsenal knowing he usually wanted to cut inside and run at them.

Arsenal did a good job on him and didn't give him much time on the ball at all.

Shame we couldn't do the same with Sanchez!

he was never on the wing and when he got the ball all he did was cut inside, that's why he struggled he showed no variety, you have to change things up against the better teams or they'll just read your play and stop you

[cityfanlee23]

352 is a must, we simply can't defend in a 442

 

As for De Laet today, he was just jogging back paying no attention when Cazorla played a pass right next to his foot for Sanchez to run on to, that it why people criticise him he doesn't concentrate and when a cross comes in he's practically up Huth's arse instead of being in a right back slot

 

I agree, the amount of times Huth had to come across and cover De Laet when RDL had plenty of time to get back in the first place was shocking, that in term drags wes across the back and we end up down shit creek without a paddle...

 

I said it last season, I genuinely think De Laet would be better as a winger. 

he was never on the wing and when he got the ball all he did was cut inside, that's why he struggled he showed no variety, you have to change things up against the better teams or they'll just read your play and stop you

 

He also tried to do far too much. 

 

It's great taking players on but when it's 3v1 just pass the bloody ball... 

[Jimmy]

I agree, the amount of times Huth had to come across and cover De Laet when RDL had plenty of time to get back in the first place was shocking, that in term drags wes across the back and we end up down shit creek without a paddle...

 

I said it last season, I genuinely think De Laet would be better as a winger. 

 

He also tried to do far too much. 

 

It's great taking players on but when it's 3v1 just pass the bloody ball... 

he can't cross to be a winger he's actually a decent CB to be fair to him

[benpicko]

I said it last season, I genuinely think De Laet would be better as a winger.

Can't consistently cross, hardly ever scores, isn't very skillful with the ball, why would he be better a winger other than the part where he's fast?

[cityfanlee23]

Can't consistently cross, hardly ever scores, isn't very skillful with the ball, why would he be better a winger other than the part where he's fast?

 

Neither can schlupp    I think his skills suit him best as a winger if he was trained that way personally, crazy i know.

 

Crossing isn't a natural born talent and can be worked on.

Most wingers don't score many apart from the top class ones, and he's playing right back so of course he wont score many, 

Albrighton is not skillful at all, neither is Milner.

[Guest CityFan 06]

It could be worth trying the 3 at the back again because that's what worked last season when Wasyl, Huth and Morgan played together.

[cityfanlee23]

Definitely open to 3 at the back again, Just worried it's not a long term solution. 

 

Also don't think fuchs would get a look in.

[Guest Sharpe's Fox]

Don't know why we aren't playing with a three. We had the same bravado up front we have now but looked solid. Arguably gets Drinky or Inler on the ball further forward as they don't have to come deep, also.

[Freeman's Wharfer]

Got to play 3-5-2...

1) Huth and Morgan look more solid in a back three - Wasilewski deserves to play based on last season's form

2) Schlupp can get forward more, we know he's not an outright full back as he's too suspect defensively. If Fuchs needs to come in then he can play wing back

3) Albrighton can play on his natural right-hand side and not have to keep cutting in onto his favoured foot

4) Mahrez can play in a free role in behind the front two and not be relied on to defend down our right side

5) De Laet can be dropped

6) We can play a front two alongside each other (Ulloa and Vardy) without relying on one to drop deeper than the other as we do at the moment

So many reasons as to why it works better. Ranieri says he hasn't changed much but our success in the latter part of last season was built on the following; the back three, our width, our pace and our spirit.

Today we had lost the back three and we had no width. The spirit can only maintain for a certain amount of time seeing as it came from a side being built in their manager's image - how long until we've lost three out of the four things?

That Ranieri hasn't changed much is a myth. The things that have remained have been in spite of him, not because of him.

[sdb]

I'm a 3412 man anyway but today it was crying out for it. CB's were so exposed by a midfield and full backs with the primary instruction to attack. Exciting but naive. 3412 would've allowed Kante to close in more effective areas and Mahrez to put them on the back foot a little more. RDL at CB may also have limited the free runs Walcott was getting all day.

[MonarchFox]

Formation needs to suit our defenders. Huth and Morgan defend too far up the pitch, it allows players to run in behind and pace just kills us. Also Maherz leaves us exposed down the right, so again a high line hutmrts us. If we stay with 4 at the back then we need a centre half with pace. I'd go 3-4-1-2. Stick with Huth and Morgan and add either Fuchs or Benouane to the mix to add a bit more pace. Midfield of Schlupp, Kante, Drinkwater and either Albrighton, Dyer or De Laat on right depending on who we are playing. Mahrez in the hole with Vardy and another alongside. Team sort of reminds me when we had O'Neill as manager. He had Walsh, Taggart and Elliott to choose from but new ge needed pace so got Frank Sinclair in

[Jackster21]

Kasper

RDL Morgan Huth Fuchs

Kante

Albrighton Dyer

Mahrez

Vardy Ulloa

[Jackster21]

Kasper

Wasil Huth Morgan

Kante

Albright Drinky Dyer

Mahrez

Vardy Ulloa

[cityfanlee23]

Got to play 3-5-2...

1) Huth and Morgan look more solid in a back three - Wasilewski deserves to play based on last season's form

2) Schlupp can get forward more, we know he's not an outright full back as he's too suspect defensively. If Fuchs needs to come in then he can play wing back

3) Albrighton can play on his natural right-hand side and not have to keep cutting in onto his favoured foot

4) Mahrez can play in a free role in behind the front two and not be relied on to defend down our right side

5) De Laet can be dropped

6) We can play a front two alongside each other (Ulloa and Vardy) without relying on one to drop deeper than the other as we do at the moment

So many reasons as to why it works better. Ranieri says he hasn't changed much but our success in the latter part of last season was built on the following; the back three, our width, our pace and our spirit.

Today we had lost the back three and we had no width. The spirit can only maintain for a certain amount of time seeing as it came from a side being built in their manager's image - how long until we've lost three out of the four things?

That Ranieri hasn't changed much is a myth. The things that have remained have been in spite of him, not because of him.

 

 

I would take this definitely, Albrighton is a better wing back than De Laet, He's a better player than DeLaet in every sense actually... Just a tad slower, but definitely quick.

 

The only issue I keep having with this formation, is that Fuchs or schlupp can't both play... And I'm swaying towards Fuchs in a formation like this.. That extra CB will give fuchs the cover he will need and he's obviously not the quickest.. Kante could drop back if fuchs is running back aswell.

 

Just unsure about the Longevity of 3 at the back, In italy maybe, in the Premiership, not sure.