3-5-2

[scarkev 3,540]

Been thinking about this for a while now but with the players currently available to us what do you think about changing to a 3-5-2 for our next few league games.

I don't think I'm the only one who has noticed over the past few weeks our biggest problem in an attacking sense has been down our right. Little is good at coming in and supporting the striker but he doesn't maintain his width or offer an option on the right hand side...added to this with hegarty shoehorned in at rb who isn't comfortable in possession he doesn't tend to get forward much which invariably leads to our attacks breaking down or resulting in our play being funnelled through the centre. This means we have tended to rely of Wallace and Templeton to create something down the left.

Now until such times as we have players capable of fulfilling the full role on the right I think we should give 3-5-2 a try.

Yes our back 3 lack pace and I certainly wouldn't try it vs utd but in sfl3 there is no team or player with blistering pace to take advantage. This would also give us far more attacking options both to start with and to change.

You could line up with a midfield of Wallace and little as wing backs and Hutton or black with Macleod centrally. In a more advanced role you could have sheils with Templeton playing off Sandaza. Sheils and Templeton could interchange and an easy change fron the bench would be to bring on McKay for sheils and go with a front 3.

It may not be the best formation but at times I feel we often pick our players first and then the formation/strategy is an after thought. One of the big criticisms labeled at Coisty has been his inability to change things before and during a game. And I feel this issue down the right has been very obvious yet hasn't been addressed.

[docspiderman 1,310]

A terrible system loved by managers who have no experience of being winners, managers who are frightened, and whiteboard gurus who think that what is on the board actually happens on the pitch.

[scarkev 3,540]

A terrible system loved by managers who have no experience of being winners, managers who are frightened, and whiteboard gurus who think that what is on the board actually happens on the pitch.

Absolute nonsense....that system was used with great success for years...outdated perhaps but sometimes you have to play to your strengths and the players available! Well unfortunately what has been happening on the pitch has been painful to watch at times so why not try something different!

[ready1873 3,952]

I love the idea of 3 man defences on paper...but quite often you see it fail in real life.

Although some Italian teams have been using it to varied success. Napoli have been a force for a couple of years now using it, Udinese have had great patches with 3 men att he back and Inter also deploy it just now.

[docspiderman 1,310]

Absolute nonsense....that system was used with great success for years...outdated perhaps but sometimes you have to play to your strengths and the players available! Well unfortunately what has been happening on the pitch has been painful to watch at times so why not try something different!

Do not remember any consistent success apart from Martin O Neill but he had no real challenge at that time.Almost every successful teams played and play a back 4,all top managers played and play a back 4.Losers like Craig Brown and his clones like Levein,Ian McCall etc played a 3-5-2 which invariably turned into a 5-3-2 because they did not have the speedy wing backs with power and marathon stamina that the system requires..

[BlueSuedeSambas 56,429]

I'm not a fan of three man defences, but if we went there then Wigan play a good version of a 3-4-3 which I feel could work for us.

Boyce & Belsajour typically play as wing backs, they have two centre midfielders and then Maloney plays in the hole knitting Di Santo & Kone to the midfield.

It takes a lot of discipline, energy and hard work all over the park though.

[TMB 14,167]

Ally McCoist loves playing with a lone striker and a back 4. I doubt that'll ever change while he's in charge. I don't think the 3 central midfielders either but we persist with it.

[Creampuff 22,630]

3 man defences

[californiadreamin52 339]

Now is not the time to experiment after the league is won would be the appropreate time

[BlueSuedeSambas 56,429]

Now is not the time to experiment after the league is won would be the appropreate time

The league is won. We aren't going to throw away a 19 point lead regardless of how much we experiment.

[cushynumber 25,178]

Played this systems a lot at amateur level and you really, really need a left mid and right mid who are fit and perpared to work there bollocks off to get up and down the park. If you dont have that its a struggle.

Playing against a team with 2 up front it is actually effective, but as soon as a winger is introduced your fucked or you really end up shifting to a 4 - 4- 2

[scarkev 3,540]

Do not remember any consistent success apart from Martin O Neill but he had no real challenge at that time.Almost every successful teams played and play a back 4,all top managers played and play a back 4.Losers like Craig Brown and his clones like Levein,Ian McCall etc played a 3-5-2 which invariably turned into a 5-3-2 because they did not have the speedy wing backs with power and marathon stamina that the system requires..

Well juve have been pretty consistent and successful under conte playing 3-5-2.

You are right though, many managers use it with unsuitable players and it becomes ultra defensive and can cause for issues than it solves.

I'm not saying it is a perfect system or that we should use it long term. I'm just suggesting that with the players we currently have available and the obvious deficiencies that causes using our current system it may be an idea to try it.

[scarkev 3,540]

Played this systems a lot at amateur level and you really, really need a left mid and right mid who are fit and perpared to work there bollocks off to get up and down the park. If you dont have that its a struggle.

Playing against a team with 2 up front it is actually effective, but as soon as a winger is introduced your fucked or you really end up shifting to a 4 - 4- 2

I've played it myself in the wide right role so I know the physical demands...but with our available players I'd say little and Wallace have excellent energy and would probably suit Wallace and allow him to get forward even more....also little works hard and if you could get him to keep his width I think he would be good in that position.

[cushynumber 25,178]

I've played it myself in the wide right role so I know the physical demands...but with our available players I'd say little and Wallace have excellent energy and would probably suit Wallace and allow him to get forward even more....also little works hard and if you could get him to keep his width I think he would be good in that position.

I think in this league its well worth a shout. If we cant experiment when we are 19 points clear, then when can you?

[Dave Mack 0]

Three man defences are only suitable when playing against two out and out attackers, allowing for 1 of the defenders to be the "spare man". Rarely when playing at home do we play against two out and out attackers so you would have three men marking one attacker whilst we are in possession. In my option this already happens as hegearty rarely offers anything when we are in possession

[Marco Negri's Beard 1,423]

There's already complaints, valid or not, about us often playing only 1 striker in the SFL3. I can't quite imagine the reaction if we played 3 centre halfs against 1 forward. As it is, our full backs tend to spend a lot of time attacking. Our main problem at this moment in time is surely just that the personnel on the right side of the pitch aren't particularly adept to a capable attacking game.

No offence but two of our centre halfs on a pitch at once is plenty for me, I don't want to see any more. Feel the system would only work with an equivalent of Lee Wallace on the right and a ball playing centre half, neither of which we possess

[TMB 14,167]

I think in this league its well worth a shout. If we cant experiment when we are 19 points clear, then when can you?

It doesn't matter where we finish in the league this season as we'll be thrown in to the lowest Division again next season. We're playing for nothing. It's a fucking joke.

[dexiboy 157]

That's where all the problems lie.playing 4 defenders against 1 attacker every week.the other team floods the midfied with 5 players against our 4 with no space to play so we start going long up to 1 striker he can't really do much bcoz he's against 4 defenders If its played over the top and if its to his feet there midfielders are rite on top of him.when we are at home play 3 centre backs 4 in midfield with a player either temps or shields in the hole in front of the 2 up front and teams won't live with us.when away from home same back 3 with 1 player sitting in front of defenders black or Hutton 4 midfielders and 2 up front.thats how you play this league.

[Creampuff 22,630]

Now is not the time to experiment after the league is won would be the appropreate time

We could play me as centre forward every week and still win the league.

[cushynumber 25,178]

There's already complaints, valid or not, about us often playing only 1 striker in the SFL3. I can't quite imagine the reaction if we played 3 centre halfs against 1 forward. As it is, our full backs tend to spend a lot of time attacking. Our main problem at this moment in time is surely just that the personnel on the right side of the pitch aren't particularly adept to a capable attacking game.

No offence but two of our centre halfs on a pitch at once is plenty for me, I don't want to see any more. Feel the system would only work with an equivalent of Lee Wallace on the right and a ball playing centre half, neither of which we possess

when i played it it was 2 centre halfs and a more mobile sweeper

[cushynumber 25,178]

4-2-3-1 would always be my system and if possible play this 11 as much as possible.

Alexander

Argyriou Perry Cribari* Wallace

Hutton** McLeod

Templeton Shiels McKay

Sandaza***

*Boca or new CB for next season

** New DM beside McLeod

*** Could play Little instead

2 holding midfield players? i would play that system in the Dundee utd game - but against 3rd div players, i think we can be more expansive personally.

[scarkev 3,540]

4-2-3-1 would always be my system and if possible play this 11 as much as possible.

Alexander

Argyriou Perry Cribari* Wallace

Hutton** MacLeod

Templeton Shiels McKay

Sandaza***

*Boca or new CB for next season

** New DM beside MacLeod

*** Could play Little instead

That would be the team and system I would play as well mate but at the moment the Greek seems to be either bombed out or coming back from injury....instead of fitting square pegs in round holes with hegarty at rb I was thinking the 3-5-2 may allow us to basically allow 6/7 players to attack and let the back 3 keep it simple.

[MikeBlue 136]

That would be the team and system I would play as well mate but at the moment the Greek seems to be either bombed out or coming back from injury....instead of fitting square pegs in round holes with hegarty at rb I was thinking the 3-5-2 may allow us to basically allow 6/7 players to attack and let the back 3 keep it simple.

The fact that so few top teams use 3-5-2 should tell you it isn't a good system. It either ends up 5 strung across the back and the midfield outnumbered so the ball keeps coming back, or the opposition starts dropping the ball into the space for wingers to run onto.

Does anyone really think we'll use it when we are back in the top div or playing in Europe? No - so why bother with it now. 4-4-2, 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 are our options and we should try to play one system throughout the club , Ajax style. I'd go for 4-2-3-1 personally as it is the most flexible. People complain about not playing two strikers, but the middle of the three should do that when you are in an attacking mode. There's a bit of an obsession with 4-4-2 on here, but unless the two CMs are extremely good they either get overrun, or the wide midfielders move in and you've got no width

[Big Al 55 9,526]

I think in this league its well worth a shout. If we cant experiment when we are 19 points clear, then when can you?

The demands of the fans don't allow for 'experiments' unfortunately. Comments on here make that clear for all to see anyone who says anything different are deluded.

The formation, personnel and playing style will be interesting to see once we have had a couple of transfer windows free from embargo.

[Jimfanciesthedude 25,624]

Need a sweeper that is quick and can read the game well, we dont have one of them