formation

formation

what do u reckon will be the prime formation in the season heres mine

oh god not this agen!

here i go...

haha here we go.

                                             Moss
Lia                           Durante             Mckain                Lochhead
                                             dodd
               Bertos                     Ferrante                Daniel
                                                          Kwasnic
                                             Smeltz
Bench:
paston
hearfield
Gao
Costa
siggy
brown

Muso, I'd like to say your selection would be the ideal starting line up.

                            Moss

Lia         Durante      McKain         Lochhead

                            Dodd

         Ferrante

Bertos                     Gao                     Daniel

                            Smeltz

Bench:
Barbarouses
Sigmund
Kwasnik
Christie

cheers LGM, just read the sub rules, only allowed 4 including a goalkeeper, i'm not very impressed by that really.. u'd think they would change and be more in line with how leagues like the EPL do it, 6 would be more approriate, means people like costa won't get as much time.

Yeah and that's sad. Still an incentive for Costa to get on with his game and prove he's worthy of a first team place and force his way into the team. Age doesn't mean a thing.

yeah i'd probably still have him on the bench, but coveny is gonna hold down the bench striker spot i would think, and with dodd starting the other 2 would probably go to gao (providing he doesnt start) and hearfield.

Gao will not be on the bench

chuck Johnson on the bench

the team is looking strong whoever starts.

I think Gao will be starting given his pre-season form so far.
I envisage something like LG suggested, only with Kwasnik on for either Bertos or Daniel.

Oska2008-06-29 18:38:02

oops frgot the bench: Oska2008-06-29 18:42:56

Four-man bench is nothing, considering football is a very tiring game and goes for 90 minutes not 80 like others. It definetly needs at least 6 on the bench. I also think that you should be able to use 4-5 subs during a game. Rugby could draw back on the number of substitutes. Players coming on with 2 minutes to play is plain stupid (look at the All Blacks), yet it still counts as a test cap or game.simon_hampton2008-06-29 19:36:24

With three BLOODY good defenders, I was thinking maybe a 3-5-2 could be tried or something around those lines... havn't thought much about this but;

If we play 3-5-2 this season i'm throwing my season pass in the harbour.

No Wingbacks then ?

3 - 5 - 2, worked ok for the latter part of the season, I'm happy with whatever formation Ricki comes up with, as long as we play attacking footy and score heaps of goals.

we will not be playing 3-5-2, end of, if we do one of our best attacking weapons is neutralized, and lochhead will be lucky to make the bench. the 3 defenders have to be centre backs, so it would have to be durante, mckain and dodd, and as we found out, lochhead is an outstanding left back, but not a left midfielder. 

The reason our defence was bad with 3 at the back last year is because we had sh*t defenders (apart from Dodd). This year is a lot different. Not saying we should use 3-5-2 - we have better options (4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 is my pick) - but I know for sure it wouldn't work as bad as last year.

The 3-5-2 does kind of make sense because we dont have any true right backs and we have 3 very good central defenders. Just bad memories from last year


valeo2008-06-30 16:41:03

I'd love to see this as a starting lineup, where we basically have 5 defenders and 5 attackers, plenty of goals to be had I think



                                             Moss
Lia                           Durante             McKain                Lochhead
                                             Dodd
               Bertos              Kwasnic       Gao      Daniel
                                                        
                                             Smeltz

We have 3 quality wingers in Bertos, Gao and Daniel, and Kwasnik can also play out wide. Playing 3-5-2 would not suit them as they are all attack minded and will not track back much.

That formation may have worked in the 1950s. We'd get killed with it now.

Lol?

But be honest I highly doubt Ricki would turn to 3-5-2 after last seasons effort. Also we turned to 352 because of a lack of quality defenders and this year that isn't a problem. I personally think we will go 4-4-2 but the players will be rotated a lot especially Gao, Bertos and Daniel.

yeah i think yo'll find a solid 4 at the back, but the attacking area will be quite free, i.e. players like daniel gao kwasnik bertos and even smeltz will have a starting position, but will roam around a lot

hmm thought it would be ionteresting to comare ast seasons formation with this year
phoenix 1.

                                       Moss
                          Rees        Dodd    Old
                               Brown    Aloisi/ferrante
               El**ch              Felipe          Daniel
                         Smeltz          Coveny
to possible phoenix 2

                                  Moss
 Lia                 Durante    Mckain           Lochhead
                             Dodd
     Bertos               Ferrante              Daniel
                                     Kwanik
                           Smeltz

what a change lol      
                  

whys old at left back in the first formation, what about lochhead

because we played 3-5-2 and lochy was probably on the bench or at left mid, neither of which was terribly good for him, and he's where he rightfully should be in no.2

What im finding hilarious is the prospect of Dodd playing in front of the defence.
It would be way better for McKain to fill that spot (as it is his specialist position and Dodd is a centre back)
I think Gao will also definetely be a starter!
Phoenix have great depth this year and we   prob have 18 players who are realisiticly fighting for 11 spots.
Great for the club

Gah,it really annoys me when people say this.

1) McKain is a specialist CB who has played DM a little bit.
2)McKain is taller than Dodd
3) McKain is faster than Dodd
4) McKain is better than Dodd ( has international caps)
5) Dodd also has experience at DM (I believe from his time in Scotland)
6) Ricki has been playing Dodd at DM frequently in the preseason games while McKain and Durante have clearly been his first choice starting CB pairing

Now, height and pace are far more important attributes for a CB then they are for a defensive midfielder. At DM the most important qualities are the ability to read the game well, being physically strong (basically so you can push players off the ball, the dark arts as it were) and to be solid at marking and tackling, aerial ability is not as important.

Also, if you think back to last season there were a few instances where Dodd brought the ball out of central defense and looked quite effective when he moved into a midfield position. He seems to have fairly good distribution and he is probably one of the most physically strong players in the squad. You want a bruiser in the midfield, and Dodd strikes me as the ideal candidate to batter some of the less physically tough players (Zullo, Cruse etc) with less risk of giving up a penalty as he will be further away from the box. So long as he can  demonstrate an ability to read the game well and break up attacks he should prove to be an ideal candidate for the DM position. In short, Dodd will add some (in my view) much needed mongrel to our midfield, and should give Ferrante some good protection to orchestrate our attacking moves.

As for McKain, he has the perfect attributes for a CB, and with all due respect to Dodd, his lack of pace and height were exposed several times last season. McKain and Durante have the potential to be THE best CB pairing in the league, why you would waste that possibility by playing McKain at DM is just completely beyond me!

However, I do share your optimism, and agree that Gao should be a starter. My XI would be:

            Moss
Lia McKain Durante Lochhead
    Dodd Ferrante
Bertos Daniel Gao
           Smeltz
KTBW2008-07-02 10:54:21

right on the money there KTBW, and the team tat i put thee is jst the same one i put up as my starting 11 on the first page, and it is quite changeable, the only reason i have gao on the bench (im a big fan of his) is the we need someone to be an impact attacker off the bench in the second half, and this has made me realise we could prob use kwasnik and hearfild in this role if daniel bertos and gao all start, and it a testment to how much quality we have in the attacking 3rd