Post Match Leicester 3 Southampton 2

[Blue Maniac]

Unless I had missed it nobody has mentioned the Schlupp penalty appeal. From my view which was not great I thought it was a penalty.

I thought it was, but someone who was sitting in a better position than me told me after the game that it definitely wasn't - he felt it was a perfectly timed challenge.

 

[Profondo Rosso]

It definitely wasn't a penalty, it was a cracking challenge by the Saints' defender.

 

[David Gwilliam]

I thought it was, but someone who was sitting in a better position than me told me after the game that it definitely wasn't - he felt it was a perfectly timed challenge.

In that case I want to say something not said often enough in football - well done the referee.

 

[Filthy Rich]

Man Utd 8 (4-4-2) Arsenal 2 (4-3-3)

Man U winning 3-1 at half-time (just like us) but kept the same formation in the second half. I don't want to get into a 433 v 442 argument but surely Sven. if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

[Hazzman]

But we played 4-1-2-1-2 in the first half....

 

[Matt_B]

Man Utd 8 (4-4-2) Arsenal 2 (4-3-3)

Man U winning 3-1 at half-time (just like us) but kept the same formation in the second half. I don't want to get into a 433 v 442 argument but surely Sven. if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Oh ffs.

 

[Profondo Rosso]

Man Utd 8 (4-4-2) Arsenal 2 (4-3-3)

Man U winning 3-1 at half-time (just like us) but kept the same formation in the second half. I don't want to get into a 433 v 442 argument but surely Sven. if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Southampton were also in incredible form (10 straight league wins) and came out flying. Arsenal were in miserable form and came out like a bunch of zombies.

edit: What is the collective noun for zombies?

 

[fitz]

Man Utd 8 (4-4-2) Arsenal 2 (4-3-3)

Man U winning 3-1 at half-time (just like us) but kept the same formation in the second half. I don't want to get into a 433 v 442 argument but surely Sven. if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Having Manure's squad would also help.

FFS Sven sort it out!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Scarby]

Also had a quid on a five fold

Liverpool, ipswich, chelsea, stoke to win and the palace/b'pool draw.

So fingers crossed for a liverpool and stoke win

 

[RHYDAL]

edit: What is the collective noun for zombies?

I believe it is a 'stagger'.

 

[Hammond Organ]

I believe it is a 'stagger'.

I'd heard it was a Thriller...

 

[David Gwilliam]

Having Manure's squad would also help.

FFS Sven sort it out!!!!!!!!!!

Sven does need to sort it out and more exclamation marks are needed to help sort out this crisis.
Can somebody remind me what was the score when we lost to Southampton?

 

[DesertFox]

Man Utd 8 (4-4-2) Arsenal 2 (4-3-3)

Man U winning 3-1 at half-time (just like us) but kept the same formation in the second half. I don't want to get into a 433 v 442 argument but surely Sven. if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I've tried to stay away from this whole 'formation' debate but **** it, why not? :icon_bigg

If you're going to put it in such simplistic terms...

Man U 1 (4-4-2) Barcelona 3 (4-3-3)

Ultimately, 4-3-3 wins.

Which, of course, it doesn't. The point that you are absolutely missing is that, in modern football, if you are going to be successful, you have to be adaptable and play different formations (or, you have to be Barcelona). Never mind over the course of a whole season, you have to be able to change multiple times throughout each game. In 2011 the idea of playing one system all the time is ridiculous in my opinion. Anyone who suggests we should "go back to a 4-4-2 and stick to it" is a footballing dinosaur and hasn't been paying any attention for the past decade. Yes, 4-4-2 is fine, for a certain time and place. But so is 4-3-3, or as many teams line up at the start, 4-2-3-1. Or anything else - it's a fluid thing.

Using Man U to point to 4-4-2 being the only way is especially misleading as they have interchangeably been playing 4-3-3 for many seasons. Liverpool won a game last season playing 3-5-2, but they didn't spend the rest of the season doing it. Dalglish saw it as a one off occasion to surprise the opposition and it worked. If they did it every week they'd get pummeled.

I agree with the idea that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But the best we've played under Sven was definitely the period between him arriving and about March, after which things tailed off. During that period we almost exclusively played variations on 4-3-3, 4-5-1 and 4-2-3-1.

And anyway, all this formation talk is bollocks in this day and age as there is no way to describe the way football is now, with fullbacks bombing forward as wingers, some midfielders dropping behind the defence while others are ahead of the attackers, etc. Far more important than putting numbers to banks of defenders, midfielders and attackers, the big question is: how did we play? Did we pick the right players in the right positions? And did we win?

People never seem to take into account what the other team does. If and when they change the way they play, do we react and make a change or do we keep plugging away as we were? These are decisions a manager faces multiple times during a game and there's never a simple answer.

Final point: I think most people who call for a "good, solid 4-4-2" are really asking for a tighter defence, which means less attacking football. Most people wanting a 4-3-3 want to see more expansive football and have to accept we will concede a few. Anyone wanting 4-4-2 because two central strikers means more attacking football than one central striker, doesn't understand basic football tactics! :icon_razz

Anyway, whatever. Basically, I agree with whatever Prof says so he can carry on beating the drum :icon_lol:

And I know it's been mentioned before but anyone interested in football tactics should read Jonathan Wilson's excellent book 'Inverting the Pyramid' to see how shapes and approaches have been constantly evolving for more than a century. Jeff may be able to provide a link... :icon_wink

Rant over. Anyone who made it this far needs to get out more.

 

[Billyjof]

In that case I want to say something not said often enough in football - well done the referee.

Just watched the highlights, he had a shocker on our third goal though:icon_lol:

 

[Lako42]

3 points of a team who will be in the Premier League next season, not bad.

 

[Lako42]

"A heavy downpour prior to kick-off failed to dampen the atmosphere inside the ground though, with the 3,000 strong visiting supporters easily drowning out an expectant Leicester fanbase, who had yet to see their side pick up a point at their home so far this term"


Surprise, surprise.

 

[Blue Maniac]

"A heavy downpour prior to kick-off failed to dampen the atmosphere inside the ground though, with the 3,000 strong visiting supporters easily drowning out an expectant Leicester fanbase, who had yet to see their side pick up a point at their home so far this term"


Surprise, surprise.

"Lako gave a brief mention to the positive of winning the game, which most people felt was the main thing, before searching as thoroughly as possible for a negative to moan about."

Surprise, surprise.

 

[Matt_B]

"Lako gave a brief mention to the positive of winning the game, which most people felt was the main thing, before searching as thoroughly as possible for a negative to moan about."

Surprise, surprise.

:icon_bigg

I didn't hear the Southampton fans once during the game, yet heard lots of singing around me in the Kop. 'Spose it depends where you sit really.

 

[Filthy Rich]

I agree with the idea that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

That is my only point. I have no formation preference, that's up to the manager and he can change it as often as he see's fit during a game.

It just seems that we were playing well in the first half but were very lucky not to lose the game in the second.

I enjoyed reading the whole of your well thought out post and I do get out quite a lot!

 

[Matt_B]

That is my only point. I have no formation preference, that's up to the manager and he can change it as often as he see's fit during a game.

It just seems that we were playing well in the first half but were very lucky not to lose the game in the second.

I enjoyed reading the whole of your well thought out post and I do get out quite a lot!

Do you not think though, a lot of the decode half was down the the fact that they turned up? For the first half, they never really looked like a team on the form they are, but second half they played much more like I expected, like they'd had a rollocking at half time.