The 442 diamond may be the way forward

[Supermonkey92 1,428]

Unless we upgrade our supposed WB, i can't see the 343 lasting much longer. In fact, it shouldn't be called a 343. We play with a back 5 and fullbacks which get forward at the same right normal fullbacks do. They dont make a midfield 4, they make a back 5 and then get forward to make a front 5. 

We literally just play with 2 in midfield. We all agree that is suicide. Sure, willian and Hazard are expected to come back and make a midfield 4 without the ball, essentially a 541, but Hazard plays more like a wide SS and Willian doesn't make up much to give even a 3 man midfield stability. 

Switching to a 352 puts MORE emphasis on the WBs. Our squad simply isn't set for a 352. We would probably have to bench both Willian and Pedro. 

However, the 442 diamond isn't as dissimilar to the 343 as you think. That's why RM utilised it against Juventus. The anchor at the bottom of the diamond, for all purposes, drops back in front of the 2 cbs. The fullbacks are depended on for width. 2 cms are box to box and then there are 3 attackers, the no.10 and 2 strikers. 

We could accommodate that now. Drop Moses (thank God) and play Azpi rb. Luiz Rudiger CBs and Alonso lb. Bakayoko as the anchor  (he has played as a deep sitting cm for Monaco last season and looked very good) Kante in the Gattuso destroyer position on the RCM and Fabregas on the LCM. 

You could have Hazard behind Bats and Morata. Hazard behind Pedro and Morata with pedro dropping back to help fabregas. It would be more 2 no.10 and one striker but that should allow another man to drop back in midfield without the ball. 

It's flexible, we can have a 451 when sitting deep. We have more men in midfield and we keep Hazard &Pedro/willian on the field. Azpi will still offer the same sort of width as Moses (who wouldn't even be on the field!)

If we get no more signings, id hope we ditch the 343 and Moses from the xi. We can do it!

[Supermonkey92 1,428]

Compare: 

 

        Azpi                Luiz             Cahill

Moses                                                Alonso

                     Kante        Bakayoko 

             Pedro                        Hazard

                                Morata

With: 

  Azpi           Rudiger        Luiz        Alonso

                               Bakayoko

               Kante                     Fabregas

                                        Hazard

                    Pedro

                                   Morata

 

We could even play Luiz in front of the 2 cbs with a monstrous midfield: 

 

Azpi       Rudiger     Christensen    Alonso

                            Luiz 

                Kante           Bakayoko

                                    Hazard

                   Pedro

                          Morata

 

 

[Zolan025 21]

Sorry!! but Alonso as an out and out LB isn't my idea of security . Plus the idea of playing Fabregas on the left with Alonso is pure madness. Back to the drawing board with that formation.. We would be exposed by teams with pacy widemen.  

[communicate 2,703]

On 7/30/2017 at 6:40 PM, Supermonkey92 said:

 

  Azpi           Rudiger        Luiz        Alonso

                               Bakayoko

               Kante                     Fabregas

                                        Hazard

                    Pedro

                                   Morata

 

 

 

Azpi       Rudiger     Christensen    Alonso

                            Luiz 

                Kante           Bakayoko

                                    Hazard

                   Pedro

                          Morata

 

 

1st tactic. Hmm Alonso as lb, with hazard supporting, that is a disaster waiting to happen 

2nd tactic, I don't see any different between that and our usual 343

[Adnane 1,101]

That's basically a 4-3-3, because Hazard will be close to the SS spot than the MO one. 

The real diamond is applied when you have 4 to 5 high quality central midfielders.

You can do that with a squad of Essien, Mikel, Ballack, Deco and Lampard with people like Belletti as options, you can't do it with midfield options as thin as ours.

One injury to Fabregas/Kanté/Bakayoko and it's pretty much doomsday.

That's why I don't see us playing 4-4-2 diamond, 4-3-3 or even 3-5-2 for that matter ( when we have our full squad ), we don't have enough midfielders for that.