The Tactics Thread - Part 2: The 4-3-3

[StriderHiryu]

It's time for another Tactics thread!

 

At the end of 2018 Leicester had a very tricky run of games featuring Tottenham Hotspur at home, Man City at home twice in both the cup and the league and Chelsea away. However, despite these difficult looking games, Leicester picked up 6 points and took Man City to penalties in the cup game. How did they do this? Well a lot of it was down to improved performances from key players but without any shadow of a doubt a major reason was Claude Puel's switch in system from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3. In this post, I'm going to break down what the 4-3-3 is, how we play it and how it's performing.

 

Before I start though, it's worth having a quick glance at the previous thread which looked into the 4-2-3-1 system that Puel favours. This is because despite our success with the "new" system, in every game Puel has switched back to the 4-2-3-1 at some point.

 

 

But without any further ado, I give to you the 433!

 

      

 

Background

 

The 433 has been around for a very long time... so long in fact that it's difficult to say who invented it. However, it's a system that when played with the right personnel is exceptionally effective and is often deployed by "bigger" teams who have lots of resources and are expected to go out and win games every week. The current Premier League leaders Liverpool deploy this system, and it was also famously used by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea when he first joined the Premier League. Manchester United (think of the team with Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez up front) and Arsenal among many others have also used the system in the past. Barcelona also very famously used this system when Guardiola was in charge, but I am going to leave them out of the discussion because they are a rather unique case.

 

What’s the idea behind it?

 

• In possession, the 4-3-3 allows at least 7 players to attack, as the wide forwards squeeze the defence, the full-backs come up behind them and two of the central midfielders push forward with one sitting back to help the centre backs. When played correctly, this is one of the most attacking formations possible.
• A good 4-3-3 has the benefit of "strangling" the play the other team has. This comes from combining two elements, a three man central midfield which typically dominates possession via passing triangles and three strikers who can press high up the pitch. who win the ball back quickly to start a counter transition.
• Opponents find it hard to get the ball and hard to keep it. Midfielders can´t get a hold of the ball and are pressured quickly when they do as the midfield area is congested.  Additionally defenders are faced with three men pressing them and there are no easy balls to the wings when the full-backs push up.
• A fully-functioning offensive 4-3-3 is like the tide against a sandcastle - it might take a while, but it's gonna break through the defences eventually.

 

Now you might be thinking "but hang on in all of the games we've played this system, we've had very little possession" and you would be right! And we will cover why that is a little bit later on.

 

 

Player Roles

 

Key to this formation are the wide forwards, that flank the lone central striker. These players are all-round attacking players with pace and shooting ability, who use their speed on the wings before cutting in towards goal. Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane are outstanding examples. Leicester start games with Marc Albrighton and James Maddison in these positions, though James Maddison is a special case we will cover a bit later. Other players who crop up in these positions include Demari Gray, Rachid Ghezzal and even Ricardo.

 

The lone striker himself has a very challenging role. They need to drop deep to drag defenders away and leave space for the wide forwards, as well as link play between the two forward facing midfielders of the midfield 3. Though it helps if this player is physically strong to be able to hold up the ball and threaten from aerial crosses, it's not a necessity. Lionel Messi is very diminutive but plays as the furthest forward player for Barcelona and in the Premier League, Liverpool's Roberto Firminho is six foot exactly. Tall, but not exactly towering over other players. In this system, this position is of course played by Jamie Vardy, though on occasion Kelechi Ihenacho and even Demari Gray play in this role.

 

We then have a midfield three of whom two usually play a little further forward on offence, but all of whom sit back and defend together when defending. Ideally the striker is aided by at least two of the central midfielders. Those central midfielders form a tight triangle in the middle of the pitch and often fall into the roles of ‘creator-destroyer-passer', to attack, defend and maintain possession. Some midfielders combine all of those elements but a well-balanced midfield is key to the formation. THe two players that get forward of the three in Puel's system are Wilfred Ndidi and Hamza Choudhury.

 

One of the three midfielders has a more defensive role of the three. They usually sit back and play just in front of the two centre backs to form a shield if the team loses possession. This player also drops back when the team has the ball in their defensive third to help the team pass their way out of trouble and to make a triangle option for the centre backs to pass to. Now you might expect from the graphic above and with his physical nature that Ndidi would play this position, but you would be wrong! It's actually performed by Nampalys Mendy or Vicente Iborra. These players need to be assured passers of the ball and with the slight of foot to be able to deal with pressure from opposition forwards who will pressure them and is an essential role in the team.

 

Finally with a compact central midfield, the full-backs are fully expected to join the attack and move into the huge amounts of space ahead of them due to the high positioning of the wide forwards. These players need to be super fit because they need to get up and down the flanks all day long. Fortunately we are blessed in having two superb full-backs in Ben Chilwell and Ricardo.

 

4-3-3: The Leicester City Way

 

Now as mentioned before, our system is quite a bit different to a regular 4-3-3. That's because instead of using it as a "on the front foot" tactic, we've applied a typical Leicester City slant to it and instead use it to counter attack. Or at least we appear to start this way and then try to be more front footed after the game matures such as the recent performance against Chelsea.

 

In our system, rather than high pressing in the opposition box, we actually sit off them until they get into our half. This is because against the teams we have been playing against they have used styles which involve heavy possession and also use full backs that bomb on. We are trying the classic Leicester "rope-a-dope" tactic as we want the opposition to leave huge gaps in behind their full backs so that our front three and our own full backs can run into this space when the ball is turned over.

 

 

^Here against Man City we see that we have let Man City have possession without pressure on the halfway line. Vardy is actually occupying Gundogan and not Laporte, and neither Delph or Danillo are under heavy pressure from Albrighton or Maddison. However, look at how compact our midfield three are, Ndidi, Mendy and Choudhury are almost in a straight line and there is less than 10 yards between each player. This is an attempt to congest the midifeld space so that the opposition has to pass it out wide. However, one note of caution in this passage of play is that Kevin De Bruyne has drifted between the lines and is behind Mendy. Man City would go onto score in this passage of play through some excellent midfield passing.

 

 

^ Against Chelsea we see a defensive block when Chelsea are on the attack. Notice again how close our midfield three are and that Mendy is the furthest back of the three. A slight mistake here is that Ricardo is getting attracted to the ball leaving Hazard space behind him and Wes has stepped up trying to play an offside trap but is one step ahead of Maguire. In this passage of play, Hazard received the ball and forces Kasper into a smart save.

 

^ Another example of our defensive block and once again look at the midfield three. Again all within 10 yards of one another and compressing play. Chelsea are again trying to feed Hazard here, but he is offside but the faintest of margins.

 

^ This is from the first game in which we tried these tactics. In this game Iborra was the sitting midfielder whereas Ndidi and Mendy were more forward minded. However, in this game we barely laid a glove on Spurs as they ran rampant and ended up comfortably winning the game 2-0. The big switch from this game was putting in Hamza Choudhury over Iborra and moving Mendy to the sitting role. Puel probably wanted a player with a better engine to cover more ground as his lesson he learned from this defeat.

 

^ Here we are on the attack, or more specifically the counter. Ndidi has stolen the ball from Man City and sets up a fast break. This time observe that Mendy is slightly behind Ndidi and Hamza as the "sitter" whilst Chilwell is on the deck after a physical battle versus Danillo who is also floored. I love this freeze frame of James Maddison as it typifies the man. Unlike a regular 4-3-3, Maddison drifts centrally into almost a classic number 10 role whereas Albrighton plays wider. Here he has already found space, is showing for the ball and demanding it from Ndidi. I highly recommend watching this passage of play for some vintage Maddison who after receiving the ball, lets it drift across him to get us on the front foot and plays the key pass that leads to the goal.

 

However, also notice that whilst this was a case of "getting it right," Puel switched back to 4-2-3-1 after 30 minutes. This is because though Maddison was posing an offensive threat, by drifting inside he was allowing Man City far too much room on their right hand side and Sterling was threatening consistently. In some ways we are lucky that Kyle Walker was not playing as the two together might have been a better combination. Thus Puel changed it so Maddison could remain a threat in the middle, but by going 4-2-3-1 forced Man City into playing it centrally and using less wide play. Man City definitely got more of the ball centrally in the second half as a result, but the tactical change worked out well as Man City didn't really create a clear cut opening whilst Leicester created several.

 

 

^ A little later in the same move and we see some excellent forward three play. In fact perhaps the best play we have seen from all three all season! Vardy has been superb here, he has dragged FOUR players with him leaving Albrighton one on one with Delph, who he tricks with a checked run. Maddison has been superb here too, after playing in Vardy he has followed up, meaning that Vardy could lay it off to him if needed. But it's Vardy who gets 10/10 for this move for not only has drifted into space but has the superb game sense and "picture" to play a beautiful cross into Albrighton who heads home brilliantly for 1-1.

 

Here is the full goal (whilst it lasts):

https://streamja.com/Lo3K

 

 

^ Now we are looking at a replay of the attacking move that led to Vardy's goal against Chelsea. Here we again see the Midfield 3 who guess what... are about 10 yards from one another with Mendy the "sitter." But here on the break it's the superb Ricardo driving at 3 players with Maddison drifting centrally into space to act as the key creative fulcrum. And of course Vardy is being Vardy and sniffing out the space to apply a finish.

 

Here is the full goal (whilst it lasts):

https://streamja.com/1KZ2

 

 

Thoughts and Conclusions

 

You'd have to say the switch to a 4-3-3 has proved to be a tactical masterstroke. Whilst it was largely ineffective against Tottenham, it has been electric in the other matches thanks to the timely introduction of Hamza Choudhury. His engine and speed means that the midfield three can provide high energy when the ball gets into our third and cause the opposition problems. Whilst Hamza was eventually substituted versus Man City it was only because we changed to a 4-2-3-1 and Puel wanted a player who could drive at Fabian Delph to stop him coming forwards. And even then, Hamza did a good job as a makeshift right winger! So you'd have to say that versus possession heavy teams who play a 4-3-3 or variation that this is a very useful tactic to use. I personally expect to see it used away to Everton and think they may struggle to deal with our midfield three.

 

However, it's notable that we played a largely defensive version of this tactic and to question if it will work against a team that sits back like Cardiff or Burnley. In theory even if those teams sit back we should still be able to cause them problems as both Ndidi and Hamza have been getting forwards in recent games and both have almost scored. Liverpool play the same system and score a lot of goals. Of course, they have a world class front three in Mane, Salah and Firminho and it's in those positions where we may fall short.

 

Overall though it's been great to see these new tactics in use. Not only have they led to some truly fantastic results, they have also given us a "Plan B" we can use and also led to yet another academy player coming through and making an impact. I also think that Puel deserves a lot of credit for not only making this change when no one was begging for a 4-3-3 but also in all of the games to change it back when needed. Each time it has successfully changed the dynamic of the game and in beating the last two Premier League champions, really given us all a wonderful festive period .

 

Hopefully it marks our turning of the corner and leading onto a European charge next year!

 

[SheppyFox]

So in short.. you’re saying Puel is a genius? 

 

Excellent and interesting read, joking aside. Thanks for taking the time ?

[lcfc sheff]

Love it, great read! 

 

Will be very interesting as you’ve said to see this against Cardiff, really hope it can work but fearful Hamza gets dropped and suddenly we’re back to square one. 

 

 

[StriderHiryu]

22 minutes ago, SheppyFox said:

So in short.. you’re saying Puel is a genius? 

 

Excellent and interesting read, joking aside. Thanks for taking the time ?

Ha ha!

Well I'm just a fan that likes his football a bit too much! I think any manager that beats the last two Champions of England in successive games whom have each signed one of our best ever players in Kante and Mahrez deserves credit where it's due. But like many I find the choices a manager can make before and during a game to be quite interesting. Surely there isn't anyone on Foxes Talk who after losing to Crystal Palace was preaching to go to a counter attacking 433 and to bring in Hamza for his first start of the season, yet our manager did exactly that and it worked.

 

I also really enjoyed our performances in the last two games, they were very reminiscent of the title winning season. not just the counter attacking football, but also the "have a go" spirit. That first half today was breathless, I think any neutral would have enjoyed watching it.

 

And to make sure I stay fair and impartial, if the manager changes tactics again to something that doesn't work, I'll probably make a similar thread pointing out where it's all gone wrong! But right now I think he's found a great system that suits our players. Hamza, Mendy and Ndidi are all typical Premier League centre mids who have great tackling ability, great engines and are positionally sound. If you think about it, we've actually gotten more creative by adding another "defensive" midfielder to the team which is completely counter intuitive but has worked.

 

I do wonder if he will go 433 or 451 against Cardiff. I think it's a brave man that drops Hamza after that performance!

[urban.spaceman]

****ing hell Strider that is sterling work!

[foxes21]

We need to sign another CM so we can continue playing these tactics. If one of Mendy/Choudhury/Ndidi gets injured or suspended we have no one adequate in reserve.

Silva will be leaving and Iborra won't have the same impact as our 3 starters because he's too slow

 

[yorkie1999]

Said on motd we switched to a 4411 because we were getting over run,which changed the game for us

[StriderHiryu]

1 minute ago, yorkie1999 said:

Said on motd we switched to a 4411 because we were getting over run,which changed the game for us

Shows you what Danny Murphy knows because he was wrong on both fronts! We started with a 433 (as shown in BBC’s own graphics) and reverted to our “usual” formation which is 4231 and has been used in almost every game this season. 

 

Those guys at BBC watch all the games simultaneously and only review the highlights, hence why they don’t see everything. 

[Raw Dykes]

3 hours ago, yorkie1999 said:

Said on motd we switched to a 4411 because we were getting over run,which changed the game for us

 

2 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

Shows you what Danny Murphy knows because he was wrong on both fronts! We started with a 433 (as shown in BBC’s own graphics) and reverted to our “usual” formation which is 4231 and has been used in almost every game this season. 

 

Those guys at BBC watch all the games simultaneously and only review the highlights, hence why they don’t see everything. 

Just playing Devil's advocate, but 4411 is very similar to 4231. The only real difference is how far forward the wingers are. I can forgive the BBC that error.

 

Great OP, @StriderHiryu. Very interesting read.

[Stadt]

Puel's adjustment's were excellent today, however a key concern is that our chances against Manchester City and Chelsea were primarily from winning the ball back whilst the opposition (more natural given the opponents, tbf) were in transition rather than our own work on the ball. I'm not sure a midfield three of xHamza, Ndidi and Mendy is conducive to trance creation and finishing at home to Cardiff, for example.

 

Hopefully however, Puel has realised we need to be more direct to create chances and the by playing conservatively in possession we stifle games to the benefit of literally nobody 

[KingsX]

4 hours ago, Stadt said:

 I'm not sure a midfield three of xHamza, Ndidi and Mendy is conducive to trance creation

 

This could explain why we are trying to sign a guy called "Baghdad Bounedjah".

 

[mozartfox]

9 hours ago, urban.spaceman said:

****ing hell Strider that is sterling work!

Obviously has the 'Outlaws' staying at his gaff over the Chistmas Holidays..............

[Captain...]

10 hours ago, foxes21 said:

We need to sign another CM so we can continue playing these tactics. If one of Mendy/Choudhury/Ndidi gets injured or suspended we have no one adequate in reserve.

Silva will be leaving and Iborra won't have the same impact as our 3 starters because he's too slow

 

This is probably a perfect formation and style for Silva, if he is ever going to resurrect his career here he may get his chance against Cardiff. We need to rest/rotate players and Silva coming in for Ndidi against Cardiff could be a master stroke. Or just wishful thinking.

 

The other option in that position is Maddison play a bit deeper add some creativity and play Albrighton, Gray and Vardy front 3.

[HighPeakFox]

I think you'd get very long odds indeed on Silva ever playing again for LCFC, sadly.

[UniFox21]

58 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

I think you'd get very long odds indeed on Silva ever playing again for LCFC, sadly.

Something has definitely happened behind the scenes with Silva. Either he simply isn't good enough or some other kinda fall out has happened 

[Ricey]

4-3-3 with 3 defensive midfielders is, I hope, just a game plan to deal with Man City and Chelsea. A game plan that was actually scrapped midway through the first half yesterday to return to pretty much our usual system.

 

You could also argue that the 4-3-3 game plan actually failed in the first half against Chelsea as it invited far too much pressure on to us and we should have really been behind. Second half was improved as we seemed to commit more runners forward when we had the ball.

 

I’ve heard and seen people call for the same system and team selection against Cardiff, as if we’ve now struck a winning formula. Yesterday’s match and Saturdays match are chalk and cheese and we should adapt accordingly.

[StriderHiryu]

3 hours ago, mozartfox said:

Obviously has the 'Outlaws' staying at his gaff over the Chistmas Holidays..............

Guilty as charged !

[kingfox]

I've just emailed this to Sky Sports asking them if they could sack Jamie Carragher and replace him with you.

[That_Dude]

Brillant post OP. Thanks for the good read.

[Foxxed]

Great post. I've definitely not digested it all though. You could start a blog or YouTube channel and get a fair bit of traffic and ad revenue (don't leave though!)

 

I did notice we've got much, much better at covering for our maurding defence. Mendy is great for that and zooming around the pitch helping out with an important pass and immediately getting back into position.

 

It's been mentioned many time this may not work so well against 11 men behind the ball. But this formation gives us a way to win against big teams - great for the FA cup. And when Barnes comes next season and (eventually...) becomes Premier Level quality it'll give us an even more threatening front three.

 

 

 

 

[Paninistickers]

I only skim read your amazingly thorough review. Good work, however, sir.

 

At the risk of over simplifying things, I noticed after 20 mins yesterday and half time on Saturday was us being ballsy enough to play our own game. Knocking into Mendy into the heart of the pitch (prepared to receive under pressure), followed by a quick triangle out to Chilwell. 

 

An old adage is for players to 'win your battles' ....I thought that we collectively shook off any inferiority complex and just looked at the man, not the hype, and took our tactics to them.

 

 

[StriderHiryu]

47 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

I did notice we've got much, much better at covering for our marauding defence. Mendy is great for that and zooming around the pitch helping out with an important pass and immediately getting back into position.

Switching Mendy for Iborra as the sitter definitely produced better results. I think Mendy is a very good team player that is consistent and fulfills a very important role in whichever system we play. He's an intelligent player and it's no wonder Puel trusts him; he was Puel's captain when he was manager of OGC Nice.

 

6 hours ago, Ricey said:

You could also argue that the 4-3-3 game plan actually failed in the first half against Chelsea as it invited far too much pressure on to us and we should have really been behind. Second half was improved as we seemed to commit more runners forward when we had the ball.

I’ve heard and seen people call for the same system and team selection against Cardiff, as if we’ve now struck a winning formula. Yesterday’s match and Saturdays match are chalk and cheese and we should adapt accordingly.

You could definitely argue that! It must be noted that in all of the games, Puel has switched it back to 4231 after a certain amount of time. What I find interesting is the timing for all of the changes. Against Chelsea we scored playing a 433, but changed the system shortly after, and it was the same scenario against Man City too. My gut feeling is because Puel wanted to restore the double pivot of Mendy and Ndidi which usually gives us a more solid edge, but in both games we also started to create more chances after that change too! Whether or not that was the intent I don't know. I think Puel changed it against Man City to counter their full backs AND to give Maddison more space to operate, whereas against Chelsea I think he wanted to sit on the 1-0 lead. Regardless I think it adds a real tool to our locket because clearly it means teams have to change their own gameplan to adapt to ours. Despite having largely the same players on the pitch, we can either frustrate them through the middle or force them to go inside depending on how the game is going. It really does change the flow of the game.

 

50 minutes ago, Foxxed said:

It's been mentioned many time this may not work so well against 11 men behind the ball. But this formation gives us a way to win against big teams - great for the FA cup. And when Barnes comes next season and (eventually...) becomes Premier Level quality it'll give us an even more threatening front three.

 

6 hours ago, Ricey said:

I’ve heard and seen people call for the same system and team selection against Cardiff, as if we’ve now struck a winning formula. Yesterday’s match and Saturdays match are chalk and cheese and we should adapt accordingly.

This is an interesting one. My gut feeling is the same as Ricey's, which is that we shouldn't use the 433 against Cardiff because it will limit our creativity against a team that is going to sit back. But a 433 has been used historically by the very best teams in the business including current leaders Liverpool. It can give you a firm grip on the game because the midfield 3 take control. Our midfield 3 have mixed passing ability, Mendy is very good at short range passing, Ndidi is usually horrific and Hamza is a bit of an unknown quantity. But I will say that Ndidi had great games in the last two games and one reason I think is because the 433 meant that he always had a player close to him for him to lay the ball off too, which naturally improved his passing as he could often just play a simple ball. If Hamza can pass like Mendy, then I think there is an argument to try the system against a sitting team because all three have incredible engines and we could pin Cardiff back into their own third. We can always make the change later in the game and Hamza IMO deserves to start again given his performance.

 

All that said, I think given the hectic schedule that Puel will rotate heavily, and so will plump for the 4231. But I could see both Iborra and Hamza starting this game in either a 4231 or 433.

 

 

 

[Foxxed]

31 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

Switching Mendy for Iborra as the sitter definitely produced better results. I think Mendy is a very good team player that is consistent and fulfills a very important role in whichever system we play. He's an intelligent player and it's no wonder Puel trusts him; he was Puel's captain when he was manager of OGC Nice.

 

You could definitely argue that! It must be noted that in all of the games, Puel has switched it back to 4231 after a certain amount of time. What I find interesting is the timing for all of the changes. Against Chelsea we scored playing a 433, but changed the system shortly after, and it was the same scenario against Man City too. My gut feeling is because Puel wanted to restore the double pivot of Mendy and Ndidi which usually gives us a more solid edge, but in both games we also started to create more chances after that change too! Whether or not that was the intent I don't know. I think Puel changed it against Man City to counter their full backs AND to give Maddison more space to operate, whereas against Chelsea I think he wanted to sit on the 1-0 lead. Regardless I think it adds a real tool to our locket because clearly it means teams have to change their own gameplan to adapt to ours. Despite having largely the same players on the pitch, we can either frustrate them through the middle or force them to go inside depending on how the game is going. It really does change the flow of the game.

 

 

This is an interesting one. My gut feeling is the same as Ricey's, which is that we shouldn't use the 433 against Cardiff because it will limit our creativity against a team that is going to sit back. But a 433 has been used historically by the very best teams in the business including current leaders Liverpool. It can give you a firm grip on the game because the midfield 3 take control. Our midfield 3 have mixed passing ability, Mendy is very good at short range passing, Ndidi is usually horrific and Hamza is a bit of an unknown quantity. But I will say that Ndidi had great games in the last two games and one reason I think is because the 433 meant that he always had a player close to him for him to lay the ball off too, which naturally improved his passing as he could often just play a simple ball. If Hamza can pass like Mendy, then I think there is an argument to try the system against a sitting team because all three have incredible engines and we could pin Cardiff back into their own third. We can always make the change later in the game and Hamza IMO deserves to start again given his performance.

 

All that said, I think given the hectic schedule that Puel will rotate heavily, and so will plump for the 4231. But I could see both Iborra and Hamza starting this game in either a 4231 or 433.

 

 

 

I hadn't noticed the line of Hamza, Mendy and Ndidi. But it's beautiful really. Especially as it forces teams out wide to face Chilwell and Ricardo, our two most dangerous players. Players who have Hamza or Ndidi in support to help retrieve the ball. And both the Chelsea goal and first Man City goal came from retrieving the ball in wide positions. Mendy's dropping back when teams are forced wide seems essential: Man City did score after managing to get KDB behind Mendy.

[Clever Fox]

20 hours ago, StriderHiryu said:

Ha ha!

Well I'm just a fan that likes his football a bit too much! I think any manager that beats the last two Champions of England in successive games whom have each signed one of our best ever players in Kante and Mahrez deserves credit where it's due. But like many I find the choices a manager can make before and during a game to be quite interesting. Surely there isn't anyone on Foxes Talk who after losing to Crystal Palace was preaching to go to a counter attacking 433 and to bring in Hamza for his first start of the season, yet our manager did exactly that and it worked.

 

I also really enjoyed our performances in the last two games, they were very reminiscent of the title winning season. not just the counter attacking football, but also the "have a go" spirit. That first half today was breathless, I think any neutral would have enjoyed watching it.

 

And to make sure I stay fair and impartial, if the manager changes tactics again to something that doesn't work, I'll probably make a similar thread pointing out where it's all gone wrong! But right now I think he's found a great system that suits our players. Hamza, Mendy and Ndidi are all typical Premier League centre mids who have great tackling ability, great engines and are positionally sound. If you think about it, we've actually gotten more creative by adding another "defensive" midfielder to the team which is completely counter intuitive but has worked.

 

I do wonder if he will go 433 or 451 against Cardiff. I think it's a brave man that drops Hamza after that performance!

Great posting by the way. But just to pick up on a point you made as highlighted.

I've been calling for us to play 3 in midfield all season simply because it gives us better balance and doesn't burn out any of the 3 in there, whereas a 2 will always lead to burnout from being over run at times.

 

At the start of the season I called for Hamza or Iborra to be that 3 player in there. Although I've since lost some faith in Iborra. I've been surprised at how long it's taken Puel to bring in Hamza. But I suspect that might have more to do with politics outside his control somewhat.

 

If you look at my pre Chelsea post you'll see that I said I believed this was our best team or lineup. Which it has proved to be. given the 2 recent results.

 

I'm not a huge fan of Tactics, believing that sometimes it hard to get players to understand, and when they don't work players look lost and always blame someone else.

I much prefer a Balanced and Organised team where players know their jobs in most eventualities, But are also allowed to play and express themselves within a structure.

In short, good or great players don't need tactics. They instinctively know what to do or where to be to win the ball back.

 

Your post is a great read never the less and very educational for all young fans who are trying to learn the game. 

Keep up the good work.

[H.a.r.r.y]