I was at the game on Tuesday night and it got me thinking, how successful have we been when playing 3 central defenders at the back. The first half was bloody awful, with so many long balls over the top. The wing backs were not being utilised to their full effect.
I’ve been looking at Pompey’s results and formations since the start of the season. We have played 33 matches in all competitions. 17 of those have had us playing 3 at the back. This has yielded 5 wins, 7 losses and 5 draws.
Conversely, we have played 16 games with a flat back 4. The return is 8 wins; 5 losses and 3 draws. So my question is, why is Cowley persisting with a 3-5-2 formation when it clearly isn’t working???
The stats don’t lie.
(21-01-2022, 10:28 AM)BigSmokeBlue Wrote: [ -> ]I was at the game on Tuesday night and it got me thinking, how successful have we been when playing 3 central defenders at the back. The first half was bloody awful, with so many long balls over the top. The wing backs were not being utilised to their full effect.
I’ve been looking at Pompey’s results and formations since the start of the season. We have played 33 matches in all competitions. 17 of those have had us playing 3 at the back. This has yielded 5 wins, 7 losses and 5 draws.
Conversely, we have played 16 games with a flat back 4. The return is 8 wins; 5 losses and 3 draws. So my question is, why is Cowley persisting with a 3-5-2 formation when it clearly isn’t working???
The stats don’t lie.
I don't think Cowley likes any formation above any other (unlike Jackett who was wedded to 4231). Going to three at the back was forced by the injuries to defenders, and after the first couple of games it yielded a much better defensive record than the back 4 had been doing. It also played to Romeo's strengths as a wing back, even if we did not have an equivalent on the left, and it meant we were playing two up front.
The stats do not mean that much unless the games were against the same sides, and they ignore other factors like who else was injured in midfield or up front.
He will always play whichever formation he thinks suits the players he has available, and with Robertson back I suspect it will not be long before we see a back 4 again.
On the contrary, he seems wedded to a back three. He could have switched at the weekend, but didn't. Two nil down by half time.
(21-01-2022, 11:06 AM)TBP Wrote: [ -> ]On the contrary, he seems wedded to a back three. He could have switched at the weekend, but didn't. Two nil down by half time.
16 back four v 17 back three doesn't look like wedded to me.
As I said he picks what he thinks is best with what he has available. It's ridiculous to say conceding two goals means he was wrong, who's to say we wouldnt have conceded more with a back four ?
With Raggett the only proper centre back available for weeks it made sense to play a back three, now we have signed Carter and Robertson is nearly ready, it is far more likely we will see a back four soon.
Personally I'd rather stick to three at the back as it is defensively solid, but we need a left wing back and better strikers to make it work.
not sure he had time to switch formations. with a little time to bed in the new palyers, I would think we will be back to 4 at the back. Although did he talk about bringing in a left wing back or was that paper talk?
We’ll sign the Sunderland lad once this weekend’s game is over, followed by another striker
(21-01-2022, 11:28 AM)DeepBlue Wrote: [ -> ] (21-01-2022, 11:06 AM)TBP Wrote: [ -> ]On the contrary, he seems wedded to a back three. He could have switched at the weekend, but didn't. Two nil down by half time.
16 back four v 17 back three doesn't look like wedded to me.
As I said he picks what he thinks is best with what he has available. It's ridiculous to say conceding two goals means he was wrong, who's to say we wouldnt have conceded more with a back four ?
With Raggett the only proper centre back available for weeks it made sense to play a back three, now we have signed Carter and Robertson is nearly ready, it is far more likely we will see a back four soon.
Personally I'd rather stick to three at the back as it is defensively solid, but we need a left wing back and better strikers to make it work.
Let's see tomorrow shall we. The News is predicting three at the back.
I'd expect three at the back to continue until Robertson returns able to last 90 mins.
Maybe even longer as on the evidence of Tuesday night it looks like Carter is ideally suited for RCB in a three.
Whoever plays,Patrick Roberts will be a hand full
Carter looked the absolute dogs bollox against Wimbledon. Very impressive debut.
(21-01-2022, 04:44 PM)Pedalo_menders Wrote: [ -> ]Carter looked the absolute dogs bollox against Wimbledon. Very impressive debut.
And it was he who was trying to place balls behind the Wimbledon defense. It very nearly worked.
Let's see what formation he plays tomorrow but I bet very defensive to start the game playing for a draw.
Keep it tight for the first 20 minutes & if we're not 2-0 down at H.T. look to hit them on the break 2nd half.
I wonder if this type of opponent will play into our hands. We like to try and counter as we don't have the creativity to break teams down. There will be opportunities, let's hope they can take them.