Too many changes in our system or just a complete lack of one?????

[NorthernWhite]

I'm really struggling to see a real "system" the players have been asked to adhere to at the moment. I think the players are confused of their role and hence, we look like a team of headless chickens.

Hughes tried to change things too soon and then went back to basics and started to introduce his philosophy gradually and that worked. Jol seems to have gone with a scatter gun approach and I and the players seem to be struggling of what's being asked of them.

Most of the 1st team players have been here a while and have worked best when following a system and set passages of play. To throw that out of the window with the same players is suicide. Our set pieces also seem to lack any variation now and what was a regular source of goals for us last year under Hughes, it now involves Riise hitting it into the wall. I coach under 10's football and the golden rule is clear the 1st man. You then put the ball into the danger areas and it's up to the players to make a run into the danger area and take a chance to get onto the end of it. You can vary with short corners etc but there's no excuse for not being able to deliver a threat from 11 corners, especially when your CF is taking them at the end. Murphy and Duff can deliver from corners and should have been the main 2 yesterday in digger's absence.

I felt for Ruiz yesterday as well, thrown into his 1st game at RM where he had no chance to settle. At least if he was playing from the beginning behind Bobby, any mistakes would not be punished so quickly as they wouldn't be in front of our back 4. I've watched Ruiz a fair bit and I think he will come good, especially if he's played behind the main striker as a no. 10. It will take him time to acclimatise but I'm sure he will turn into an very good player, just not overnight.

Friends of mine who support Ajax said they lacked any shape under Jol but I put that to the back of my mind as you have to give managers a chance. So far, I've yet to see any solid performances for 90 minutes that convince me they were wrong about Jol's lack of tactical nous.

This also has me wondering if the performances would have been different if Chris Hughton had joined as Jol's assistant rather than join Birmingham? Hughton seems to be a very good coach and maybe would have delivered Jol's philosophy better.

I'm hoping that maybe Jol reverts back to what we've done so well in the past and like Hughes, swallows his pride a little and make any changes gradually. So far, I've got to say I'm worried about what I've seen.....

[Lighthouse]

Mark Hughes I thought found it hard to make the players go forward in numbers. Under Roy they were used to playing on the break with a set routine. Hughes in the end made his ideas clear and the side acted on it. But we lacked a 'cutting edge' before Christmas as we had no forwards.

Jol has a different philosophy in as much he likes players swapping positions in midfield and up front. We had Murphy out wide at some points and Sidwell doing the same. Then the wide players cutting in. All this is great. But asking a new player to come in and fit into that system was odd. Ruiz didn't seem to know where his team mates were and held onto the ball too long. Dembele looks to have the same problem. Bz wanders out wide crosses the ball for..........nobody because they are all on plan B which means Duff is the only player in the area.

Hughes tried to make the team play a different way to Hodgsons set way. Jol seems to want the players to look around to see where the other members of the team are so they can run and fill the gap. Oh the ball? Where the hell is the ball? Or I have the ball and will pass it out to the wing. No I cannot because nobody is there.

A system is there it is just too complicated to understand. For fan and player alike.

Oh and we lack a 'cutting edge'. Still

[ClarksOriginal]

I would tend to agree with you, we did look at times like we were headless chickens.

The main thing I'm worrying about is the total lack of creativity from our midfield and our forward line. Now, I know Murphy is a wonderful passer of the ball and he can do some tremendous things with it BUT what is the point of having him being the main hub of our midfield if we have no movement from others?

There was a time yesterday when Zamora gave the ball to Duff, who was promptly surrounded by three players, and instead of BZ moving for Duff he just stood there and watched him have the ball taken off him. I noticed many times as well where Zamora and Ruiz/Demps could make runs in to the channel for DM/SS but didn't. I think Jol needs to emphasise that we need more movement up front to score goals. The one time BZ did get into the channel we scored.


Also, I don't think we use our full backs enough, the times we did use Kelly or Riise we looked dangerous, good crosses (although they come to nothing) and we stretched Blackburn.

I'd like us to use this formation:


                                      M.Schwarzer

Grygera/Baird          Hughes            Hangeland          Riise

                     
                                Sidwell             Murphy

              Ruiz                       Dempsey                     Dembele

                                            Zamora


The three up top should play narrow, therefore allowing our Full backs to overlap & then the three can get in the box, they are tall so we have good arial prowess. Murphy and Sidwell can shield H&H and distribute out the the wing backs or into the Midfield with one of them advancing and one staying deep to help out the defence.

I think the system would work well, we could interchange Dembele for Duffer, even use Baird at CDM. The system is flexible too and whilst we are potent upfront we are also shielded at the back.

:003:

[ClarksOriginal]

Thoughts?

[MJG]

I would tend to agree with you, we did look at times like we were headless chickens.

The main thing I'm worrying about is the total lack of creativity from our midfield and our forward line. Now, I know Murphy is a wonderful passer of the ball and he can do some tremendous things with it BUT what is the point of having him being the main hub of our midfield if we have no movement from others?

There was a time yesterday when Zamora gave the ball to Duff, who was promptly surrounded by three players, and instead of BZ moving for Duff he just stood there and watched him have the ball taken off him. I noticed many times as well where Zamora and Ruiz/Demps could make runs in to the channel for DM/SS but didn't. I think Jol needs to emphasise that we need more movement up front to score goals. The one time BZ did get into the channel we scored.


Also, I don't think we use our full backs enough, the times we did use Kelly or Riise we looked dangerous, good crosses (although they come to nothing) and we stretched Blackburn.

I'd like us to use this formation:


                                       M.Schwarzer

Grygera/Baird          Hughes            Hangeland          Riise

                     
                                 Sidwell             Murphy

               Ruiz                       Dempsey                     Dembele

                                             Zamora


The three up top should play narrow, therefore allowing our Full backs to overlap & then the three can get in the box, they are tall so we have good arial prowess. Murphy and Sidwell can shield H&H and distribute out the the wing backs or into the Midfield with one of them advancing and one staying deep to help out the defence.

I think the system would work well, we could interchange Dembele for Duffer, even use Baird at CDM. The system is flexible too and whilst we are potent upfront we are also shielded at the back.

:003:

Thoughts?

Ok, the three up top or is that 4 should be narrow. Well yesterday when you had the 3 D's on the pitch, all cutting inside you could have almost thrown a blanket over them they were so close to each other. So should we get narrower, then the answer to that one is no.

[aFFCn_Fan]

I think Jol has suffered the same delusion that Hughes did. You can't change a system overnight with a team that has been drilled the same way for a long time. Once he wakes up, changes back to the Hughes/Hodgson hybrid, then he can look to tinker more.

Yesterday, I got the impression that all the "Free flowing" football Jol has been banging on about was expected to be played. Especially by the front four. Duff in the centre at times, BZ out wide a couple of times. There seemed to be a deal of positional swapping. My initial thought was he was trying to throw Blackburn off the scent with Ruiz, as they would expect him as second striker, and he'd then switch back in later on to cause havoc. Oh well, maybe next time, and based on yesterday's debut I don't think any opposition will be too worried by him playing.

Ultimately, I think we need BZ in a central hold up role, then you can run Dempsey, Ruiz and Duff (or Dembele, Johnson and/or Davies) as an interchanging three behind. Dempsey seems to be the only second option as a hold up man for the time being, so could arguably swap with BZ.  

The problems yesterday were that no one seemed to know the system or what to do in it, Ruiz was having his first game so not quite what anyone expected, not sharp at all. There was no off the ball movement. The set pieces were terrible.

I've started taking an interest in the rugby WC in New Zealand. Please Mr Jol, don't let that become more interesting to watch than Fulham. I know even less about rugby than I do football, and it's taken me years to know this little.  

[ClarksOriginal]

Yeah definitely MJG, I can see what you mean.

They were too close together round the edge of the box though, if we use the overlapping wingers then the three/four get into the box. Once the fullbacks progress past the imaginary line of the 3 behind BZ then they can spread, i.e MD - Front post, CD - Back, Ruiz - Edge.

Could work well?

[jarv]

Duff! Why omit him. He has been the best attacking player so far this season. I watched the game late last night and there were a few occasions when Fulham had 4, yes FOUR players in the opponents box.
I agree the team looks a shambles however. Not sure what the best team is. One thing still missing....PACE.

[MJG]

Yeah definitely MJG, I can see what you mean.

They were too close together round the edge of the box though, if we use the overlapping wingers then the three/four get into the box. Once the fullbacks progress past the imaginary line of the 3 behind BZ then they can spread, i.e MD - Front post, CD - Back, Ruiz - Edge.

Could work well?

I understand the logic but a problem we have is getting those 3 players in the box. We lack pace thats a given, I also think apart from Dempsey the other midfielders (Ruiz..too early to tell) are not goalscorers and I think lack the desire to get on the end of a cross and score, who has had more headers this season in the box?..i think your find Sidwell has had quite a few and look at how deep he must be coming from.
Dembele for all his skill (and yesterday was the best he has played this season) has yet to convince me he can deliver that killer ball or even find time to get the ball from under his feet and shoot.

I like the system/formation 4-2-3-1 and hope it works, but it needs especally the 3 behind the striker to know exactly what they are meant to be doing, yesterday it looked like two days worth of training had been put into it and really that's all the timne they have had.