Playing styles and tactics....why it went wrong this seaso

[FulhamStu]

In the championship, we had better players than most teams.  Slav developed a playing style that suited our players and starved the opposition of the ball, dominating possession and running our opponents into submission.

Where Slav got it wrong was simply the belief that he could continue this style and tactic into the Premier League.   We now don't have the best players and we have been well and truly found out.

Premiership players are quicker, more organised and our tactics and playing style are easy to overcome by pressing high then quickly exploiting the space we leave in defence, this is caused by our attacking mentality of starting with 3 strikers with full backs that push forward at every opportunity.  Basically we have been easy pickings and play far too openly with little regard for defence.

The above is also difficult to coach.  It takes new players who may not have great communication skills or even speak English a long time to adapt.

What Ranieri will do I suspect is go back to basics.  The first back line he picks will be fascinating.  It will also be very interesting to see if he goes with 3 strikers and whether he will find room in the team for Cairney and Seri.   My guess is that he will be pragmatic, he will try to get a clean sheet asap and will take a 0-0 if that happens.

I agree with many posts that our current squad is not built to play in the way I expect Ranieri will favour.   So how he uses the talent at his disposal will be very interesting. he has little time to turn things around, this will be one of his biggest ever challenges.    He will need a bit of luck for sure but I also expect Tony Khan will need to do some wheeling and dealing in January to change the shape of our current playing staff.

[RaySmith]

Ranieri needs to turn it round quickly - how long will he get if he doesn't  get results straightaway?

I think most of  the players  will/can adapt - well, most of the new ones haven't played in a Fulham side where Slavisa's methods were successful anyway.

Firstly, I think he will be looking at our defending options, and will want all the players to be able to defend.
Interesting to se  which players make his team. Will he carry on with Slavisa's team for the moment, or will we see new faces who haven't been regular starters?

At least he has the break to work with the players. He knows  his team needs to hit the ground running.

[SG]

i'd be staggered if Mawson is not one of the first names on his team sheet

[Snibbo]

I heard them say on the Fulhamish podcast I think that we've used 26 different players this season.  Did I hear that right ? 26? Whereas Wolves have used 13. That's madness.

Ranieri will have to settle on his best 11 quickly,  and yes it will be fascinating to see who they are

[FulhamStu]

I agree Mawson will be his no1 choice and rightly so.   It would surprise me if Chamber is also given a go at centre back.

[colinwhite]

As slavisa mentioned on several occassions ,we lack pace and powerad strength. Kamara who looked extremely quick in the championship cant go past people with pure pace now ,thats the difference. Trying to press low and have lots of posession doesnt work(you have to press high).
A short passing style means you always have players close to the ball if possession is lost.
We tried to press Arsenal high (got a goal out of it ) and then were outnumbered for each of their goals apart from the 4th.The signs were there last season in the cup when Tottenham gave us a lesson in possession with high press to win the ball back ,and stuffed us 3-0.

[Bassey the warrior]

I think the way we were setup against Liverpool is the way to go. Protects our vulnerable defence and gives Sess the chance to bomb forward. The main thing is for us to defend and attack as a team and support Mitro.

[Statto]

You have said this before.

My opinion remains that, whereas in the Championship we were aiming to finish 1st or 2nd, in the PL we are aiming to finish somewhere from 11th to 17th.  So whereas in the Championship Jokanovic's tactics required us to have one of the best midfields in the league, all we need in the PL is a better midfield than Huddersfield, Cardiff and Burnley. We have a more talented squad than them so I don't see why we can't try to play the same way.

Also, Ranieri has been brought in with the same mandate as Jokanovic: he will have to work with our current players, and any other players chosen by Tony Khan going forward, so will have limited control over the tactics we play.

[alfie]

You have said this before.

My opinion remains that, whereas in the Championship we were aiming to finish 1st or 2nd, in the PL we are aiming to finish somewhere from 11th to 17th.  So whereas in the Championship Jokanovic's tactics required us to have one of the best midfields in the league, all we need in the PL is a better midfield than Huddersfield, Cardiff and Burnley. We have a more talented squad than them so I don't see why we can't try to play the same way.

Also, Ranieri has been brought in with the same mandate as Jokanovic: he will have to work with our current players, and any other players chosen by Tony Khan going forward, so will have limited control over the tactics we play.

Do you really think that Ranieri would have accepted the job if he did not have a large input on ins/outs, the statement made by Khan Snr was that Khan Jnr would retain overall control working closely with Ranieri.

[KJS]

Also, Ranieri has been brought in with the same mandate as Jokanovic: he will have to work with our current players, and any other players chosen by Tony Khan going forward, so will have limited control over the tactics we play.

And you know that is true because??

[Statto]

Also, Ranieri has been brought in with the same mandate as Jokanovic: he will have to work with our current players, and any other players chosen by Tony Khan going forward, so will have limited control over the tactics we play.

And you know that is true because??

"Tony Khan and his staff will continue to oversee First Team player recruitment"

From the announcement of his appointment on the official. You might want to read it