Does 5 at the back really work?

[Whitestone]

It's definitely working as far as not conceding is concerned. The formation is fine. I think the issue is more about personnel, particularly the forwards. Recruit into weak areas, utilise Mitro, replace Cavaleiro and I'd be confident about scoring goals and climbing the table.

[toshes mate]

I thought we were surprisingly effective against United last night, and although there was occasional sloppiness, Anguissa had a better game than he did last weekend.  Our biggest problem is taking chances when they occur and whether tinkering to be more lethal in attack might upset the resilience of our defence.  However, I think we are turning the corner from being pipped at the post in games to being a team who more often wins than it doesn't.  I am expecting regular wins to appear over the next handful of games.

[filham]

I much prefer to see us playing 4-4-2 or something similar but this five at the back set up has worked, given us a few clean sheets and made us hard to beat. Lets not tinker with it now and go into trial mode for critical games at West Brom and Brighton. It has to be more of the same until we are mid table at least.

[Matt10]

Anguissa has gone on plenty of runs in this formation. He even had a chance to shoot against Chelsea (right before Robinson was sent off) and tried to dribble all the way into the box. The Cav mis-dribble in United's box tonight was also from Anguissa's runs.

Think the formation and tactics are spot on. It's the personnel, specifically Cav, that needs a significant upgrade.

but that's tonight. In the games against the saints and Brighton where they didn't attack in numbers we were toothless. It's got to be horses for courses.

Whether it's a 3 or 5 back, it doesn't matter, it interchanges. We use our RCB, Aina, that covers someone like a number 9 - such as when we played against Leicester, basically trapping Maddison from getting advanced.

I agree, it's game-by-game and whatever demand. A better example would be the likes of our match against Newcastle, where we set up in a 3-4-2-1, with Mitro up front. Swap in RLC or BDR for Cairney - and we're in good shape. Not only did the creativity come from Anguissa, but also from Lemina.

The important takeaway is that the quality starting lineup does not include Cav. We simply do not have the threshold any longer to wish for him to come into his own.

[fulhamben]

Anguissa has gone on plenty of runs in this formation. He even had a chance to shoot against Chelsea (right before Robinson was sent off) and tried to dribble all the way into the box. The Cav mis-dribble in United's box tonight was also from Anguissa's runs.

Think the formation and tactics are spot on. It's the personnel, specifically Cav, that needs a significant upgrade.

but that's tonight. In the games against the saints and Brighton where they didn't attack in numbers we were toothless. It's got to be horses for courses.

Whether it's a 3 or 5 back, it doesn't matter, it interchanges. We use our RCB, Aina, that covers someone like a number 9 - such as when we played against Leicester, basically trapping Maddison from getting advanced.

I agree, it's game-by-game and whatever demand. A better example would be the likes of our match against Newcastle, where we set up in a 3-4-2-1, with Mitro up front. Swap in RLC or BDR for Cairney - and we're in good shape. Not only did the creativity come from Anguissa, but also from Lemina.

The important takeaway is that the quality starting lineup does not include Cav. We simply do not have the threshold any longer to wish for him to come into his own.

3 or 5 is still too negative for my liking. tosin and anderson are one of the best pairings we've  had in a long time. they are good enough imo to not need an extra defender in there with them

[Black, White and Fred]

I think the 3-4-3 only looks lightweight in midfield with no Lemina. He offers a physical presence Reed can't

[Matt10]

Anguissa has gone on plenty of runs in this formation. He even had a chance to shoot against Chelsea (right before Robinson was sent off) and tried to dribble all the way into the box. The Cav mis-dribble in United's box tonight was also from Anguissa's runs.

Think the formation and tactics are spot on. It's the personnel, specifically Cav, that needs a significant upgrade.

but that's tonight. In the games against the saints and Brighton where they didn't attack in numbers we were toothless. It's got to be horses for courses.

Whether it's a 3 or 5 back, it doesn't matter, it interchanges. We use our RCB, Aina, that covers someone like a number 9 - such as when we played against Leicester, basically trapping Maddison from getting advanced.

I agree, it's game-by-game and whatever demand. A better example would be the likes of our match against Newcastle, where we set up in a 3-4-2-1, with Mitro up front. Swap in RLC or BDR for Cairney - and we're in good shape. Not only did the creativity come from Anguissa, but also from Lemina.

The important takeaway is that the quality starting lineup does not include Cav. We simply do not have the threshold any longer to wish for him to come into his own.

3 or 5 is still too negative for my liking. tosin and anderson are one of the best pairings we've  had in a long time. they are good enough imo to not need an extra defender in there with them

In the most generic terms, it's naturally appearing negative. In context of how we play, I can't see how it is negative. It's based on who we face and absorb attacks by. In addition, something we are seeing more often, is the liberties it brings to allow one of those central defenders - in particular Andersen, to push forward up the pitch at times.

When most teams are playing with big numbers in the midfield, or overlapping wingbacks, we need to combat it by being equally spread out and advanced. The 3 and 5 do this. A good example is seeing the way Everton completely dominated the first half at CC because Digne kept Aina pushed further back. The second half, they sat back, and we were able to produce more attacks as a result because Digne stayed home more often. I mentioned it before, but the Leicsester match was the turning point because we were able to utilize Aina in the RCB role to shift from defensive line to a libero-type position with ease. He basically had Maddison in his back-pocket all match.