Grovers Tactical Manifesto: Special Edition As you may have recognised, I have a mild passion for all things tactical, so today I would like to address you all and put forward my ideas as to a game plan that we will hopefully see in the not to distant future. I will also use this opportunity to point out areas where we are currently not operating to maximum efficiency, what exactly these players are doing, and what should really be doing in an ideal world. I must remind you all that the latter point especially is mere conjecture and opinion with the aim of inspiring some debate through the guide of useful insight. (if this is not worthy of a thread, I understand and would encourage the relevant person to move it to the relevant space). I have constructed an appropriate image to refer to throughout my short piece. Points of Interest 1. Formation - As you will no doubt gather from the above diagrammatic representation involving a green background, red dots and yellow lines, my discussion shall focus upon the 4231 formation. There are numerous reasons as to why this is the formation of choice in my ideal world of cookies and nice scenery. Firstly, the fluidity it provides cannot be underestimated, as each player essentially offers more than he would were he playing in a traditional 442 system. It could perhaps be stated that each player is required to play the roles of two different players, even though 11 players still remain as the maximum number of participants in the team. I believe such a formation also gives an unprecendented balance between defence and attack, producing a base more solid than an overcooked flan, whilst offering numerous foci of attacking intent. 2. Attack - The attack in such a formation is relatively interesting, given the multi-faceted approach with which it can operate. It is not simply a formation that allows one mode of operation, nor is it one that encourages any forward player to more influential than any other. As such, attacking foci can be noted (in some instances via the yellow arrows) from not only the front three, but also the full backs and furthermost attacking midfielder. Whilst obviouslt producing a useful attacking outlook for the team, it also increases the pressure upon any opposition as it forces them to think harder than they may wish to think - it is inevitably more difficult to defend against a team that can attack usefully from numerous different routes. 3. Defence - The defence is, in my thoughts at the very least, just as interesting as the attack. As noted before, such a formation produces a strong base that offers defensively stability. It must be noted that this will not arise solely from sheer numbers, however two defensive minded midfielder would surely help in this regard, but also from the function of intelligent positional play employed by the chosen players. The diagram above indicates the "worst" case scenario, in that both full backs have progressed far up the pitch leaving wide deep spaces. In such an instance the ideal solution would see the remaining centre backs split, allowing a defensive minded midfielder to drop deep and essentially permit the formation of a defensive three shielded by another midfielder. Conversely, if one full back was wary and such was the atmosphere in the Britannia stadium, and fear of long balls hit with more ferocity than a mating lion, that he wished to stay at home, the defensive minded midfielder should possess the intelligence to posses the relevant gap and not just position himself willy nor nilly across the pitch. The Play In this section I shall focus upon the units, and briefly compare the needed attributes to the possessed players for educational purposes. As with any formation for any potentially successful team, as aspiring able forward line is needed. Referring once again to my handily placed diagram, one will notice the inclusion of two inside forwards, a central striker, and an attacking midfielder of sorts. As was briefly touched upon with regards to the defence, the implementation of these players as a unit is perhaps more intriguing and relevant that examining them as individual pieces. Indeed, it is often noted that if trained and instructed in the correct manner that the sum of pieces can often be greater than the simple worth of the individuals. The central striker should be thought of as the focus point of the attack, as he should ideally offer certain attributes that can enable the other players in and around him to act more efficiently and proficiently. As such, the requirement of certain attributes certainly exists, be it physical prowess in the form of great strength or pace, or technical ability the interchange and interlink with the supporting cast. Whatever the attributes present, the key aspect is the transformation of these abilities into tactical manoeuvre. For example, if great pace was present the ideal tactical manoeuvre would see clever runs being made into the channels behind the defenders, allowing both the team to advance and the supporting players to fill the cleverly made space. To further probe methods, if the central striker was less quick and possessed technical ability, one would expect him to play slightly deeper, offering his body as a waypoint to attract the ball and allow other supporting players to run off him. To translate this to real life, recent inclusion of both Andy Carroll and Dirk Kuyt as lone striker has been ineffectual at producing either of these tactical manoeuvres, and this can demonstrably be a cause for concern given the ratio between possession, which has been reasonable as of late, and actual attacking threat. The inside forwards and attacking midfielder should provide the creative, supporting force that compliment any central striker. The inside forwards themselves are possibly the most influential players in such a formation, as they personally dictate whether they are positioned wide and make clever runs in behind the defence from out to in, or whether they present their starting position as closer to the central striker and aim to play off him in the true sense of an attacking partnership. The potential for development of a partnership with on-rushing full backs should not be disregarded in any case. Either way, the requirement of intelligent, willing and creative players cannot be underestimated, and if these roles are carried out with the efficiency of a volkswagen factory labourer, the enhancement to the team can be manyfold. Ideally, one would wish to see an equal measure of wide play and link play between the inside forward and other players in their unit, but as mentioned before ultimately the play should dictate behaviour, with the hope and uderstanding that the players are intelligent enough to realise when is the correct moment for the correct manoeuvre. The attacking midfielder cannot be forgotten about but given that position is likely to be held by Gerrard, I feel it would be patronising to pay too much analytical attention to this position. I would state, for the purposes of completeness, that such a position requires great drive and energy as well as offering the required level of technical threat. He must also enable the movement of both the inside forwards and central striker, and encourage their contribution by possessing both the ability to, and vision to undertake, passing manoeuvres that allow the clever runs of the previously mentioned players to be made use of. The defensive unit should be considered equally as important as the attacking brother. I will once again examine the unit largely a a unit. Without the ball, correct positioning is essential to nullify any potential counter attack. Whilst I must point out that my diagram is not a gif and therefore cannot offer any insight into defensive lines, I can assure you that the defensive line would be appropriate to the position of the other players within the team. It must also be noted that such manoeuvres are dependent on who exactly is attacking, and as such the action and position employed by the full defensive unit is reliant on said full defensive unit. For example, if one full back pushed further up the pitch, the intelligent tackling midfielder would recognise this gap and place his body plumply in and around the full back position, perhaps slightly higher up the pitch. The above diagram examines the most extreme example - that with both full backs holding advanced positions. In this scenario, it is my personal belief that the centre backs are best splitting, with the deepest tackling midfielder offering central cover and essentially forming a three man defense ably protected by the remaining tackling midfielder. Once again I must endeavour to point out that such positional changes should be fluid and in line with the actions of the entire defensive unit, but is undoubtedly the interest of each of these defensive players to plug any gaps with the endeavour of a Vernon Tutbury plugpiece. The attacking potential of full backs should be ignored at ones peril, particularly when the likes of Johnson and Enrique are valid options to attend to the bespoke positions. They can provide both width and energy to the attack, offering intelligent link play with the inside forwards, and ultimately present themselves as alternative attacking options that can be used to distract the opposition. Indeed, they should not be disregarded as attacking threats in their own right, and the recent contributions of both Johnson and Enrique demonstrate the ability of a usefully employed full back. The two defensive midfielders should ultimately, whilst operating on a larger scale in the defensive unit, complete their duties as a twosome. That is to say, that they should recognise each others difficulties and make relevant movements to help their troubled friend, all the while ensuring that they have no exposed another player. Intelligence is once more the key, and it is useful in more than the aforementioned aspect of defensive duty. These players are responsible for providing a link between the defensive unit and attacking unit, and thus need to present themselves in a fashion conducive to carrying out such duties in a useful manner. Not only does this require good positional play and tenacity, but it also requires useful technical ability. In some instances, for example Spearing, the ability it limited so that he feels that he must pass the ball onto a more technically gifted player. This may be frowned upon as a lack of contribution, but in essence is highlights both intelligence and maturity as it shows he recognises what he is good at and what areas he is limited within. Lucas is obviously the star of the show, our very own Paul Daniels, as he seems to possess all the relevant attributes to successfully play such a position. Overall I feel that no matter what formation is utilised, certain aspects will shine through. In a basic sense it is key for any good team to maintain an appropriate defensive line, press the ball i appropriate situations and work hard for one another whilst employing a style of play that both produces and encourages direct, sharp, precise passing intertwined with clever movement. The (over)use of words in this piece, such as intelligence, and fluid, can be inspirational in obtaining the correct player that will enable a club to play a certain style of football, all the while ensuring a solid base. Intelligence itself should not be overlooked, because even with technical ability, the player lacking in intelligence will be unable to play the position well, choose the correct option of play, make the correct run or ultimately use his gifted ability to the maximum of potential. This has been a laterally constructed useful insight in my thoughts on recent times, both from observing games and reading comments, and I hope it is of interest. Grover and out
