Food for thought

[Aesthetic Relic 301]

I wasnt online for the game so I dont know if this was discussed in the match thread.

Carlo Ancelotti is not a foolish man. He would have been well aware of the 4-3-3 formation and its effectiveness with the current squad. Its been tried and tested and brought us plenty of success prior to his arrival. We could easily have played the diamond formation and ground out another professional result, but we went 4-3-3 and pissed all over Sunderland. Ok they were shit, but you can only beat whats in front of you.

So with that in mind it got me thinking what his motives were for changing things around. (I dont know if he's mentioned this in an interview or not as Its only just popped into my head. I'm a bit random like that )

Yes we have Drogba, Essien, Mikel and Kalou away on ACON duty, but with the squad we have we dont really need to change that much due to their short stint away. Sturridge, J.Cole, Malouda and Borrini are all capable of playing in a forward position for one game here or there and keep to his "tried and tested" formation, Belletti can play the holding role as hes shown on many occasions. Ballack & Lampard either side of the midfield and someone at the point.

Is this something we're going to be seeing more of in the future ?

I for one would love to see us batter teams every week, but its good to know that if need be we can switch formation with ease. We know he (Ancelotti) loves the Champions League and with the knock out phase coming close, I suspect he's trying a few things now to prepare us for the tougher games that lie ahead. Its better to try things now so that when it matters you dont make a panic decision and throw a game away.

Which brings me back to my first point. Carlo Ancelotti is not a foolish man. Anyone who had any doubts about him, put them to bed now. He knows exactly what he is doing.

[EskWeston 696]

Technically it wasn't a 4-3-3. It was a 4-3-2-1 we are led to believe. The difference being the 2 behind the forwards are not out and out wingers and will move around more over the pitch. I take your point though that it certainly has seemed more effective in recent games, but the diamond was equally effective at the start of the season.

It is hard, was December just a bad patch we needed to get out of or did we NEED to tweak our formation to get out of it? The most important thing is that we have both available (also the 4-3-3 if ever needed) which means we can mix it up to win a game.

I agree Carlo is a clever man, tactically he is usually spot on and i have no concerns about how he is taking us forward. The question with him is, is how he is going to build his own team over the next few seasons with a lot of our top players getting older.

[boshman 1,073]

I don't think it's any coincidence that after reverting back to the 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1, whatever is was, Lampard scores two goals. He also scored against Watford in the cup in the same formation. Now he hasn't exactly been scoring freely this year has he. I think this formation unlocks Lampard and gives him the licence to arrive late in the box and score the sort of goals he has done thoughout his career, both of his goals against Sunderland were because of this.

Now on the flip side if we do go back to the 4-3-3 then Anelka will inevitably be pushed out wide once Drogba returns from Africa. Is this wise considering the form Anelka has been in this season?

I agree with EskWeston, The good thing about this is that we can play both formations. I guess the solution is whatever Ancelotti feels the best formation is to take on the opposition. If it doesn't work out it can easily be switched. There are pro's and con's for each formation. Its just a judgement call.

[warnie_666 1,081]

Technically it wasn't a 4-3-3. It was a 4-3-2-1 we are led to believe. The difference being the 2 behind the forwards are not out and out wingers and will move around more over the pitch. I take your point though that it certainly has seemed more effective in recent games, but the diamond was equally effective at the start of the season.

It is hard, was December just a bad patch we needed to get out of or did we NEED to tweak our formation to get out of it? The most important thing is that we have both available (also the 4-3-3 if ever needed) which means we can mix it up to win a game.

I agree Carlo is a clever man, tactically he is usually spot on and i have no concerns about how he is taking us forward. The question with him is, is how he is going to build his own team over the next few seasons with a lot of our top players getting older.

That was exactly my thought. It was a fluid Christmas Tree formation hence you could see Malouda in the middle of the pitch when he scored that goal else he would have been operating on the left wing. Same with Joe Cole, playing behind Anelka.

[EskWeston 696]

I don't think it's any coincidence that after reverting back to the 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1, whatever is was, Lampard scores two goals. He also scored against Watford in the cup in the same formation. Now he hasn't exactly been scoring freely this year has he. I think this formation unlocks Lampard and gives him the licence to arrive late in the box and score the sort of goals he has done thoughout his career, both of his goals against Sunderland were because of this.

Now on the flip side if we do go back to the 4-3-3 then Anelka will inevitably be pushed out wide once Drogba returns from Africa. Is this wise considering the form Anelka has been in this season?

I agree with EskWeston, The good thing about this is that we can play both formations. I guess the solution is whatever Ancelotti feels the best formation is to take on the opposition. If it doesn't work out it can easily be switched. There are pro's and con's for each formation. Its just a judgement call.

Well Anelka has played with Drogs in the Christmas tree formation, Anelka seems to really like the free role behind Drogba too, so i don't see it as a problem.

That was exactly my thought. It was a fluid Christmas Tree formation hence you could see Malouda in the middle of the pitch when he scored that goal else he would have been operating on the left wing. Same with Joe Cole, playing behind Anelka.

Yes agree, it is a nice formation and works well because we don't have any out and out wingers anyway. Malouda, J.Cole and Kalou are all converted to wingers.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

4-3-3 and any of its variants get the bets out of Lampard in my opinion. With more attacking players to get mark, the defenders allow him more space. He's scored three in two since we switched back to 4-3-3. That speaks volumes.

[warnie_666 1,081]

I am glad, Ancelloti is flexible in his formation. We play 4-3-3 in attck and 4-3-2-1 in defense. Also, we can play the Diamond which i think will be used in Champions League Games. Last season the reason for Scolari's boot was his unwillingness to change the formation or tweak things and no men on posts.

Also, the fact that Ancelloti enjoys a good rapport with our players is something worth taking note of specially when we had a string of bad results in december.

[Rambo 1,729]

Ashley was also brilliant up front, but I think as soon as Drogba come's back we'll revisit the diamond once again.

[zolayes 14,489]

not sure we have a fixed formation ,,,seems more like the dutch model of total football ..

when played well impossible to counter,,, heep it rolling blues

[warnie_666 1,081]

Ashley was also brilliant up front, but I think as soon as Drogba come's back we'll revisit the diamond once again.

When Drogba comes back, We will have This.

-----------------------------------Cech--------------------------------------

Ivanovic-------------Carvalho---------Terry-------------------------A.Cole

-------------Ballack-----------Mikel/Belleti----------Lampard

-----------------------Joe Cole---------Anelka

---------------------------------Drogba

Joe Cole and Anelka will operate in the hole might go wide to make it 4-3-3 or operater through the middle. If Not for Joe Cole then Malouda takes the place behind Drogba along with Anelka.

[Badboy 1,526]

4-3-3 and any of its variants get the bets out of Lampard in my opinion. With more attacking players to get mark, the defenders allow him more space. He's scored three in two since we switched back to 4-3-3. That speaks volumes.

drogba likes to play upfront with a striker though ?

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Playing with a second striker does get the best out of Drogba... playing in a 4-3-2-1, with essentially two forwards behind him should as well.