Does O'Hara Need to Play in a Midfield 3?

[stephenFFC]

Firstly let me just say I'm not having a go at O'Hara. He's been our best player this season but .......

Does he need to play with 2 others in central midfield?

Last night we were over-run all over the park and Wolves dominated us in central midfield. We all know Jamie is a great ball player but he doesn't offer a huge amount of protection to the back 4 and he's not going to be breaking into the opposition box nicking goals and causing problems.

All our play goes through him. He starts any attack we have and is great for wanting the ball, even in tight situations. I think in addition to this we need a player to sit back and protect the back 4 and another to help in attack who will also create.

That's my view but I wonder if it has even crossed Kit's mind.

[westcliff white]

First time he has looked out of sorts for me, so for me no keep him in a two with Tunni.

[MJG]

I think the question is not should O'hara play in a CM of 3, but should we play with a CM of three anyway?

I really believe its where we are losing games and personally would go to 3 CB's, 2 wing backs, 3 in midfield and two up top.Think that formation suits the players we have in the squad now.

[alexbishop]

I think the question is not should O'hara play in a CM of 3, but should we play with a CM of three anyway?

I really believe its where we are losing games and personally would go to 3 CB's, 2 wing backs, 3 in midfield and two up top.Think that formation suits the players we have in the squad now.

We would need a manager/coach good enough to facilitate that system. Quite a complex one and has failed more times than its succeeded.

[MJG]

I think the question is not should O'hara play in a CM of 3, but should we play with a CM of three anyway?

I really believe its where we are losing games and personally would go to 3 CB's, 2 wing backs, 3 in midfield and two up top.Think that formation suits the players we have in the squad now.

We would need a manager/coach good enough to facilitate that system. Quite a complex one and has failed more times than its succeeded.

You mean like 442? 

[stephenFFC]

First time he has looked out of sorts for me, so for me no keep him in a two with Tunni.

I suppose this is actually a formation/system question and how to get the best out of O'Hara for the good of the team.  He's the first name on the team sheet without a doubt. I don't rate tunnicliffe but in the last few weeks he has been proving me wrong. I still don't think he's a top 6 team centre mid though.

I'm of the view that if you dominate in centre mid and dictate the pace of the game you have a better chance of winning. We're lucky to have a player like O'Hara but he needs someone to protect the back 4 so he doesn't have to worry too much about that and he needs someone ahead of him to play the ball to and that person will also be breaking into the box when we have it out wide.

If we take the QPR game an an exception rather than the rule, our attacks are soooo slow. We give teams so much time to re-set it's hard to break them down. I think if you give Jamie another option for the forward pass (between their midfield & defence) we can make these attacks a lot quicker.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

Yesterday the team in general were below par, giving the ball away by not clearing well and with inaccurate passes and there wasn't enough speed and movement to create outlets.

If O'Hara looked less effective it was because we try to start all moves via O'Hara (as we often did with Murphy) and Wolves marked him tightly. Other players need to take more responsibility in making themselves available and for starting moves.

It is unreasonable to make a judgement on O'Hara or the formation when we were down to 10 men for the majority of the game and McCormack was playing in right midfield, a position that does not suit him.

[filham]

Tunni and O'Hara were looking good together until last night and I thought they were the best CM we had seen for a while.

The whole team were dreadful last night, stick with Tunni and O'Hara for a while it could take a long time and a lot of experimentation to find something better.

[FPT]

That's sort of our plan, but in Ross we have a striker (like Rooney) not really capable of leading the line, so the start of the season he was pulling off into the midfield and creating that 3 structure - which coincided with Ross' invisibility at the start of the season. Ross doesn't have the positional discipline to play wide either.

I'd love to see Jamie sitting deep with Ryan Tunnicliffe and Lasse Vigen Christensen being the legs for him - that'd work great in away games. In a midfield five of: Fredericks, Christensen, O'Hara, Tunnicliffe and Cairney, you have a great team to dig in deep away from home and counter.

That said, I don't think O'Hara has done badly as part of a midfield four, but I can see your logic for bringing the discussion up. I do like the half return of three central midfielders, because that way you can facilitate a midfield three and two strikers. Drilled properly, you don't feel the loss of wide-men either.

[stephenFFC]

Yesterday the team in general were below par, giving the ball away by not clearing well and with in accurate passes and there wasn't enough speed and movement to create outlets.

If O'Hara looked less effective it was because we try to start all moves via O'Hara (as we often did with Murphy) and Wolves marked him tightly. Other players need to take more responsibility in making themselves available and for starting moves.

It is unreasonable to make a judgement on O'Hara or the formation when we were down to 10 men for the majority of the game and McCormack was playing in right midfield, a position that does not suit him.

I'm not judging him. If anything I'm trying to find a way of building this team around him. I've been thinking this for a while and it is not based on last night (we were poor with 11 last night also). With the exception of QPR and the first 30mins of Blackburn I think we get over run in the middle of the park. (maybe add Rotherham to that list, can't really remember)

[stephenFFC]

That's sort of our plan, but in Ross we have a striker (like Rooney) not really capable of leading the line, so the start of the season he was pulling off into the midfield and creating that 3 structure - which coincided with Ross' invisibility at the start of the season. Ross doesn't have the positional discipline to play wide either.

I'd love to see Jamie sitting deep with Ryan Tunnicliffe and Lasse Vigen Christensen being the legs for him - that'd work great in away games. In a midfield five of: Fredericks, Christensen, O'Hara, Tunnicliffe and Cairney, you have a great team to dig in deep away from home and counter.

That said, I don't think O'Hara has done badly as part of a midfield four, but I can see your logic for bringing the discussion up. I do like the half return of three central midfielders, because that way you can facilitate a midfield three and two strikers. Drilled properly, you don't feel the loss of wide-men either.

I agree finding the best position for Ross is proving tricky. I disagree about the wide men though. I think they are essential. Unfortunately we don't really have the players to play these positions. Maybe Fredricks, maybe Lasse? Other than Fredricks we really lack pace. Cole is obviously out on loan.

I'd like to see us play 4-3-3. O'Hara, Tunni (sitting in front of the back 4) and Cairney in the middle of the pitch. The two wide men in the front 3 would need to drop to make it 5 in midfield when defending.

But as filham says, is this the right time to be experimenting.

[Carborundum]

Wouldn't change anything yet.  Jamie has been a revelation this season and his partnership with Tunnicliffe is blossoming.  Last night he struggled.  His passing lines were second guessed, his runs neutralised and the opposition were one step ahead of him.  It was almost as if they had played with him in training many times and worked him out.

Might be a one-off.  Let's see.

[H4usuallysitting]

I like that Matilla fellow....done a good job against Stoke

[hovewhite]

Tunni and O'Hara complimented by mattila as the holding player backed by wing backs and 3CBs I have long liked that system,if you add to that now with good CBs stearman and ream either side of burn that could be good!