Aw Formation

The idea of just 3 at the back gives me the willys. Sincerely hope it's a Ricki smokescreen and that whoever's at the back there on the day there are 4 of them.

Hope you are wrong with this formation. The one thing they have is pace, and if Sigmund is playing there, he will be done like a dinner.

please be wrong with that formaton please

Yeah I'm not happy with 3-4-3 at home.

It has two advantages- it gets the best players on the pitch- and it gets McGlinchey into the centre  rather than out on the right.

Disadvantages- no Elliot and Leo and Lochead are back defending for much of the game. Leo can't get forward. Sigmund, Nelsen and Vicelich would play as centre backs under this formation (not a disadvantage IMO!) with Leo and Lochead covering the wide runners.

433 would be smarter imo

I understabd what you are saying, but we have to score, and we won't with that fommation.

Because we won't have enought width on attack?

4-4-2 diamond. A back 4 with Bertos and mcglinchey on the wings,Elliot in defensive mid,killen in as an attacking mid in behind our finishers Smeltz and Fallon who should be told to be in the box as much as possible.

As much as i'm sure people on here wish posting there formation is gonna change Ricki's mind unfortunately no. 3-4-3 is a gamble for sure but I just hope we can Bertos & Lochead forward enough to knock in some crosses or its going to be a long night of long ball.

Didnt exactly work well in Bahrain in that respect. having the extra man at the back would give us more attacking options oddly,Bertos could safely push forward and put those crosses in,and Mcglinchey will be starting this game to do the same. please please please go 4-4-2

4 this, 4 that... where we going to naturalise a Right Back in two days ?

Yes well,there lies the problem i guess. Was going with the flow in that people seem to think Scott can do the job? I wouldnt have a clue if he can or not.

siggy will get destroyed by anyone with a yard of pace

3-4-3.

If the weather is going to turn out into about 11 degrees with a change of wind and wet underground. I think that the 3-4-3 can serves us well.

Of course the conditions in Wellington is much different than Mamara. The ball does not dribble as quick on the ground here as it does over there. Our three central defenders will have enough freedom pass the ball out as the Bahrainites would have to keep their shape in defence or they can lose control on marking our three up front. Their back four has to stay put because none of our three strikers will drop into the midfield on defence this time but rather interchanging to which side they will be on. This opens up space in the midfield that would allow McGlinchey, Brown/Elliot with either Lochhead or Bertos more space to move up with the ball. The Bahrainites would not have the same attacking freedom as they had in their home game but they will still have trust their counterattack game with their pacy wide players as it serve them well in the last game. However the softer ground should slow the ball down while dribbling. The accelerating from 0 will be slower because of the soft underfoot. The wet ground will have any bouncing ball skidding off it and so they would have to use extra careful control in their first touch and the passes on the ground may not reach some of their players in first half because of the different weight of pass that they have to adjust to. Basically their technical abilities will be tested but their time on the ball is a bit longer here than they would have like in the middle east and therefore their players would be prone to extra pressure on the ball.

They would find that NZ players would not be tried as they were in the last game because the heat difference and so they would have to last the whole 90 minutes or more. So the pressure mounts up for them.

The first half is most likely for us to take total control. The creative attacking midfield in McGlinchley/Bertos with Brown/Elliot (+Loochhead) for the defensive midfield will be moving the ball better and more controlled for us in the centre. Our attack will be from the centre as well as from the wide.

I actually don't mind not having the specific wings as long as there is someone who would do the overlap, because, McGlinchey can overlap either side and any of three strikers can move into the wingers area and cross the ball. this allows Bertos and Lochhead to move more central to cover any gaps in the midfield if say, McGlinchey moves up to cross a ball on either side to any of the three strikers or Brown moves up to go into the box if any one of the three strikers are crossing the ball. This ensure that there are three in the midfield to allow any set long shots or to prevent an counterattack from starting up.

Bertos and Lochhead can technically do some deep crosses as well as some straight balls through the centre but they should be able to sit back a bit and set McGlinchey or any one of the three strikers into a wingers area and then provide them support and the occasional overlap or be in a supporting position receive the ball for a deep cross or be in a supporting position to knock the ball to someone central going for a run into the box. Bertos and Lochhead passing ability and position becomes important to the ebb and flow of the game. This is our attacking control.

Effectively, it means that while we attack, we are basically doing a 3-3-4 formation. creating pressure on them. The Bahrains will stick with the 4-4-2 formation but in defence, they will be forced to drop one of their midfield into the defence or just in front of the defence (if we are able to get a few long shots) and theoretically, it means that one of their forwards will go deep early to the midfield to increase their chances for a counterattack from their box.

Although, we have Bertos to cover their speedy left winger, Siggy would be able to move across from the centre right better than the last game and Bertos would not have to drop down on the right as much from the last game. If the AWs has it right, then the shift across to the threat on the right will see Lochhead drop into the left back region (creating a 4-3-3) without Bertos having to drop too deep to cover the left winger but leave it to Siggy coming across to their left winger and Bertos to pick/mark the player in support, cutting down their attacking options. This also means that Bertos will be in an advance position than the last game and allows for him to attack more. vice versa for the other side as well. Don't worry, I don't think we see that us dropping into the 5-2-1-2 that we had in Marama. I don't believe that he would have to drop as deep because he would only be there to pressure him from behind. This way, Siggy would only have to face the front of the attacker coming out from the centre defence with less space for the attacker to turn him. If the attacker is facing to the centre a bit and to Siggy then, if he slows down, he loses tempo and can be closed down by Bertos behind him, or if he trys to take Siggy on, then he will lose space and run out of room. I think we should just cut his space and room and passing options by simply sandwiching him at the right place. It worked a number of times in the last game.

Our long balls we had been doing should be less this time more as we should have a bit more time on the ball than they would, with Bertos and Lochhead working up the line with pass exchanges with Brown/Elliot and McGlinchley in the centre. Bertos would have a chance to risk a dribble further up the field which he couldn't do in the last game. Lochhead would have to work an exchange with Fallon or the other two in setting the left side for an attack move. I see that we will always have three across the midfield during the game more so than the last game and therefore obtain more control of the game.

Key to this game is how solid and in control McGlinchey and Brown/Elliot would be in the centre and whether they will be easily spotted by our back three defenders for passes through the centre. If not then Bertos and Lochhead has to receive the balls from the backs and they would have to try and find Brown/Elliot or McGlinchey. This will provide the team with their own game tempo. I hope that Elliot starts with McGlinchey with Brown on the bench. I would like Wood to get on the field sooner in the second half with at least 30 minutes.

tl;dr

I watched training yesterday when they lined up 3 - 4 - 3. Mossy2009-11-12 09:59:25

343 would work if one of the three strikers was a speedster who could beat players out wide and get crosses in....someone like Costa maybe. Problem is none of them are particularly quick....

Can anyone else smell smoke?

If that's what they've been practicing, then probably not.

I too fear we would not be putting our best foot forward if we go again with 3-4-3.

i aint the most excited about this 3-4-3 business either. Are we doing it just because we have no decent RBs or Left wingers?

3 - 4 - 3makes sense if they have lochy doing more of the defensive work instead of leo dropping into the backs.....if leao and mcglinchy provide the front three with enough chances we'll score easily enough....my one concern is if their attackers get any space we could be sunk.

Wish that we had Elliott and McGlinchey playing together instead of Brown. Sounds like Elliott wont be fit, though.

3-1-2-1-3

4-4-2. Leave one of our strikers on the bench - As a plan B. If Elliot is unfit then McGlinchey