Our Best Formation?

I would like to see Lennon try a 4-5-1 (defending) / 4-3-3 (Attacking) formation, similar to formations used by Barcelona and Chelsea. I think that in big games, recent Hun game apart, our midfield has been too lightweight with the 2 wide players and 2 centre-mids and we tend to lose the midfield battle too easily with not enough players willing to put in a tackle in midfield.

This would also allow us plenty of width going forward, and Sammy has shown that he can play the lone striker role to good effect, he also does it well for Greece.

My formation:
Forster
Cha Majstorovic Rogne Izaguirre
Kayal Ki Ledley
Forrest McCourt
Samaras

Your Thoughts?

 

I'd like to see us build the team around paddy..like lubo put him in the hole and the rest just give him the ball let the magic happen..I'd go for the barca formation..Fraser hinkel Dan rogne izzy crosas/ki kayal McCourt Forrest hooper mcginn

 

Forgot about Crosas, I think he's a decent player who was never really given a chance. We have so many players at the moment it's difficult to decide. I was just picking from current form, basically.

 

4 2 3 1 formation for me with emilio maj rogne wilson in defence,kayal ki,ledley brown mccourt/lunjberg and hooper up front when fit. we destroyed hearts t parkhead with that formation but with the confidence we are playing with and all our players being fit again we will be even stronger

 

4-4-1-1 no doubt, we control matches very well with it

 

-----------Forster-------------
Cha---Rogne---Hooiveld---Izzy
-----Juarez-------Ledley------
------------Kayal-------------
Forrest------------------Paddy
-----------Hooper-------------

I'd probably play that way, even though there are a few players who I feel are better on the bench.

The reason is that Juarez and Ledley can both fill in at fullback when Cha/Izzy bomb forward. I'd personally rather have Ki in than Ledley/Juarez and possibly even Crosas in a 3 man midfield but feel that this would be the best team rather than group of individuals we could put out.

 

looks wuite good mate , but think about brooney and dan .Also take into consideration of freddie being here now

 

I personally rate Hooiveld much higher than big Danny, have since day 1. Still think that Dan is a bit of a lightweight when going for headers considering his size and also think he has cost us a few goals. He seems to be forming a good partnership with Rogne just now, so I dont know if I'd drop him just now, just that I personally feel Hooiveld is a much better defender who hasn't been given a fair run in the team.

As for Brown, I think a midfield like what I've put would be the best for him (3 in midfield, like at Hibs, Scotland and some of his best Celtic performances) however i still think that Juarez, Ledley, Ki, Kayal and Crosas are all better players who offer more for the team and are more reliable (both in terms of injuries and suspensions) which I think is very important.

Ljungberg is the only one I really have to think about, but based on performances this season I cannot really justify dropping Kayal, McCourt or Forrest to fit him into the team.

Only issuse I can see with my formation is the lack of a natural leader. Hooiveld is probably the only person who could fill in that role, either him or Ledley, but they don't really seem like captain material to me.

 

Did hooiveld not get exposed as having a complete lack of pace though?

 

Depends on who is fit and also who we are playing mate :icon_mrgreen:

 

The thing is that Barca have played 4-3-3 for years and use it through every youth team and never change it. Player roles change and it becomes fluid, such as just now where Messi is playing in the centre of the front 3 but drops deep to make it more of a midfield diamond.

Celtic however have always played a 4-4-2 variant (including 4-4-1-1) and this is down to having a similar philosophy. The Barca way involves possession football, fluid attack and a high defensive line, based on the Dutch model. The Celtic way (created by Stein) is a pressing game built on attacking wing play, utilising attacking full-backs and a progressive passing midfield to service the wide areas and the deeper lying forward. Copying Barcelona is only suggested due to their success but that is down to using the same model for decades and every manager committing to it. Perhaps Celtic should take on board that ideal rather than use a copycat tactical approach.

 

Hooiveld wasn't fully fit last season when he played or at the start of the season in Europe.

He is not the fastest player in the world by a long shot, but hes no slower than Majstorovic. With a good partner beside him with a bit of pace (Misun would be perfect if he wasnt left sided imo) I think we'd have a solid defense.

Saying that, we do have the best record in the league, so as much as I think Hooiveld is better than Maj I'd struggle to justify putting him in the team just now.

 

That would explain why they have been so dominant (or maybe they play without goalkeeper) ...
Otherwise great post

 

To be fair half the time they might as well play without one!