Park Life

Aye, they often play with two disciplined DM's. As you say though, where would Owen (or indeed Martins) fit into that. Martins could play out on the left or through the middle, he's the same type of player as Eto'o and he often cuts in from the left for Barcelona. Rijkaard has stuck to this iirc from the word go. ................Eto'o................. Ronny........Xavi...........Messi

At home this is def worth ago against average sides. But not sure unless they are Italian or Dutch CD's really know how to play 3 at the back.

That's exactly it Baggio. 4231. Well then why not have Martins further forward than Owen. Or is that tearing up the handbook?

........I know I'm kinda losing track on what I'm trying to say...I'm sure I had it a few minutes ago! But I would play all three of the buggers and as insurance have two 'propa' DM's.

I agree with Baggio. Owen's problem (for me) would be that in that formation his lack of ability to play with his back to goal/hold the ball up would mean the support would be wasting their time trying to get there. Owen just isn't strong enough. An alternative would be Dyer in a free role in behind him and Martins/Shola. You're struggling for width then with a narrow midfield (unless we buy two full-backs). Also, if we play three up or one behind the front (and assuming it's Dyer, Owen and Martins) where does that leave the likes of N'Zogbia, Milner and Duff? I would keep Zoggy who likes playing in the middle and get rid of Duff and Milner. This system is based on imagining where the player wants to be rather than passing 'to him'. The mf '3' interlock and rotate out or back into the middle depending on where the forwards (Martins and Owen) have drawn the Cd's. Martins make a run wide and out to the left (as he often does and Owen moves towards the ball) the cd are caught in 2 minds.......

Where's the width coming from though? Milan used to play for space rather than width. Move into available space rather than going for conventional positions. The CMF/AMF....would be combinations of Zoggy,Emre.Dyer. If there was space wide they would move into that, if there was space 'in the hole' (Martins moving toward the ball) they move into this and rotate with the forward vacating. It's all about space ......The theory is based around playing where the opp aren't and making them uncomfortable by not giving them simple targets for marking. The beauty of having Owen/Dyer and Martins is that at last we can play interchanging football at pace on the ground. Well that's the idea anyway.

I feel it's well deserved Well done to him. But take it easy KD.

It should really be what Milan used to play a few years ago: 2...........4............5............3 .............DM...........DM............. .............CMF...........AMF............. ...................FOR..................... ...................STR.....................

The resistence to this thread is admirable I must say.

I was thinking along similar lines, to play real counter attacking football we would want the mf to drop off a bit...(To suck teams in)...So perhaps no 442.

Putting aside our obvious woes, I'm beginning to get excited at the prospect of this trio rampaging through opposition defences at pace. But how do we play them together? ......Dyer..............Martins..... ..............Owen........... Is probably how the purists see it.

Rafa has made Raul his primary target strangely.

O RLY?

.....On its way it beats three defenders and nutmegs the keeper.

He'll be at Real next year apparently.

To be quite honest when a player comes back from long term injury it has 99% to do with the player and his willpower.

Roeder is an absolute loon I'm sure of it now.

the outfit bombed today had some dodgy business dealing in the Channel Islands - maybe Capita were also involved as well Is this what they call 'direct action'?

Good stuff...Bloke in the pub style.

You haven't seen Alexander the Great then. Oim emperor of the world to be sure. Agreed, Alexander was terrible. It was incredibly dull and the decision to make the Macedonians speak with Irish accents (i'm guessing on the basis that Farrell couldn't do anything else) was ludicrous! Farrell's popularity is still a mystery to me. The man has 0 charisma.

There is an apathy towards everything in this country that still completely astounds me. It's not just kids and it doesn't just apply to teachers, it's everyone. I'm not saying this as an attack against the British public but everything is just far too difficult for anyone to even try it seems. I don't know what it is, is it a lack of pride in their jobs? Is it that they've given up and feel as though no matter what they do nothing changes? Or is it just a general laziness? The English public just don't seem to give a stuff. I could site examples of what it's like where I work but I don't want any of the high-falootin' nurses around here getting shitty at me. You should try Germany for apathy.

That's me told.

What I should have said earlier is that Spurs look rubbish atm, because they are changing their style fundamentally to last year and some games it doensn't really come of. But in the long term when the get into it, it will be more beneficial for them as against our knocking it into a channel and hoping Oba or Kieron will run onto it lark.

Well a number of Spurs fans aren't happy with the setup: http://www.gg-chat.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=70196 Personally, I'm not convinced by the Chairman - DoF - Coach setup and would rather have the more traditional Chairman - Manager - Chief Scout heirarchy (while still recognising the importance of the latter). If Spurs want to get rid of Jol (they should) then which top class managers are going to want the job knowing they wont have control over which players the club buys and sells (even more so than just the chairman having a say)? Even if they get someone, with that system there are now 3 big egos to potentialy clash and fall out rather than the normal 2. Christ reading that forum you've got to laugh really. What an ungrateful fickle bunch! To an extent I agree with you Spurs have bought some distinctly average players, but have also unearthed or acquired some gems. I think Zokora, Berbatov and even Murphy (if used correctly) are good signings. The left back Lee is average and not good enough on the left foot and they also have no winger who can go wide. Last year this didn't matter as they mainly played through the middle with Carrick controlling the tempo and Mido knocking down balls for Keane/Defoe. This year they are trying to play more 'Dutch' football, but don't have enough true class to carry it off. Hence why Mido and in turn Keane have sufferred, neither with the nouse to really understand how and what Jol wants. I think Jol is really hadicapped cause atm he doesn't really have a commander in the field in the key compartments of def and mf without King and Carrick. JOL needs to make his mind up as to whether he is going back to the first phase attack he played last year or the veiled attack they are playing now with forwards rotating and dragging the def out and wide. Man Utd use to play a variation when they had the Horse, but with veiled attack they are more flexible now as opposition def aren't sure where the real attack is coming from as Rooney, Saha and Ronaldo all rotate deep and the mf overlap. This is very much Quiroz doing and the type of thing seen in Portugal and Spain. JOL is playing safe with the mf and the attack compressing only to release when say Lennon or Defoe (wandering wide left get the ball). This is a middle ground between first phase (knock it wide - attackers behave like attackers) or veiled rotate and triangle pass to the edge of the area and 4/5 players 'behave' like 'the attacker'. None of their strikers really like 'playing right up' and all seem to want to drop off. Spurs are sufferring a little like us as neither of us have a true 'fox in the box' type player (Owen's new game withstanding). Coming back to what we were saying I think both systems have merits and it really comes down to the personalities and qualifications involved. It is fair to say that if Spurs do buy a duff player, let's say Tainio, the contract is such that they can get rid of him pretty sharpish. Buying players as a descision by committee which is what happens at Spurs is good to the extent is cuts dowm the percentage of buying a real drongo in the Luque/Boumsong style. I agree some top managers would be put off by this and not want to move to Spurs.

Why can't we let a fashion designer have a crack at this boring football top lark?