System and Formation vs Man Utd

Rory Fitzgerald · October 11, 2006

Right, gents - as Blackburn doesnt always inspire me, I thought I would think of our our line up against Utd and our team. I know people are not in favour of changing the system but just play along.

I am first assuming a Man Utd team along the lines of

Van Der Saar

Neville Ferdinand Brown Heinze

Ronaldo Scholes Carrick Giggs

Rooney Saha

Keep that in mind.

------------------------------------------------------

I was thinking that if we went 442, our left side would be weak with Neville and Ronaldo getting at Riise. To give him protection we would have to play Aurelio or Gerrard left midfield and that would put a focus on helping Riise out rather than getting forward.

I also thought that Utd's strenghts come down the flanks and in the centre of midfield they are not the strongest in the world.

I was thinking along the following lines

Reina

......Carra Hyypia Agger.......

Finnan.............................Riise

.....Gerrard Alonso Sissoko......

............Crouch Bellamy...........

Indulge me further by listening to the merits of such system

Agger - Playing 442 we need him alongside Carra given Utd's threat on the ground.

Back 3 Carra can support Finnan and still have Hyppia and Agger in the centre if Utd come down the right whilst Riise will have Agger behind him when Utd come down the left with Hyypia and Carra in the box.

Gerrard He was crucial in my thinking. Putting him down either flank puts the reigns on him given Utd's attacking abilities as he would have responsibility to track Giggs or Ronaldo. Also, Utd have strenght in Neville and Heinze so he may not get as much joy or support going against them in the attack. Also, putting him on the wing reduces his overall effectiveness for a game like this.

Counter-attacking through the centre - United's strenght is coming down the wings with Ronaldo and Giggs stretching the play with Neville supporting and Rooney wandering. By playing with the wing backs we have cover behind them. But when we get the ball, we have Gerrard and Bellamy supporting Crouch and going directly through the middle where I believe Utd may be softer. If we attack the flanks then we have to get past Neville and Heinze first and then get the ball into the box and get infront of Ferdinand and Brown next. Maybe if we hit them 1st through the middle, their players would be stretched given the wingers they have. I would fancy Alonso and Sissoko bossing Scholes and Carrick whilst Gerrard's pace and Bellamy's acceleration supporting Crouch would give us some joy through the centre. If you also think of the effect it will have on Utd players. When they attack, they go wide. When they defend they will have to try and tuck in - what if something goes a miss. Lets exploit them using the wings by driving through their centre.

If we use 4-4-2, Gerrard could get lost out on the wings and I dont want that to happen. If we play him in the centre then we lose out on Sissoko or Alonso and I dont want that either whilst I dont want Bellamy dropped for him to support Crouch alone from deep.

Basically, I dont want us to stand 4-4-2 away from home against Utd with our best player on the wing trying to counter act their talent on the wings. They are better than in terms of wing play, maybe there is a chance to tweak the system like against Newcastle and let Gerrard drive to the center with not as much defensive responsibility, where he great instead of putting the reigns on him and trying to stem the flow of their attacks

*Agreed, Man Utd away is more difficult than playing a sh*t team dressed as barcodes

Koller49 · October 11, 2006

This post is not viewable to guests.

You can sign in to your account at the login page here