[Tennie]

(from acmilan.com's english page)

OFFICIAL A.C. MILAN PRESS RELEASE
7/20/2010
MILAN - A.C. Milan communicate that they have signed the player SOKRATIS PAPASTATHOPOULOS outright from Genoa and have sold NNAMDI ODUAMADI, RODNEY STRASSER and GIANMARCO ZIGONI on a co-ownership deal to the same club.

Welcome to Sokratis! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/96.gif)

[Bluesummers]

I was thinking, if our fullbacks are so strained, perhaps it might not be outside the realm of possibility to play a 3 man defence with Nesta, Silva and Sokratis.

No its not a bad idea either, though they say its suicidal in the italian league.



I've read the Italian league is suited for slow-tempo possession formations. Since most teams prefer to play counter attack, it seems one team will always dominate possession while the other will be content to counter. Rarely will both teams fight for who has possession.


favorable formations:

4-3-1-2
4-3-3
4-5-1
4-2-3-1

----------------

3-X-X

is usually an attacking formation where they attack with 7 and then have 2 stoppers and a sweeper to soak up pressure till the fullbacks arrive.


This would be heaven for teams who sit back and then counter with 3 fast players.


-------


the reason 4-possession works well in italy is because the defensive line is deep and usually plays man to man marking, which means they don't worry about the space just where the man moves. The midfield plays zonal, which means they sit in front of the defence and worry about the space they are to hold.



--------x---------x-------x---------x
[space]-----x--------x--------x--[space]

[space..........space........space..........]


This gives time for the fullbacks to arrive and provide the needed with in order to penetrate a deep defensive system.


Also by holding the majority of the possesion and one line of defense playing man to man and the other playing zonal, you will see small gaps open in the middle of the defence from time to time as the ball moves from one side to another.

This is also why players like pato/ronaldinho/kaka dominate in italian league and spanish leagues vs english. Once you beat your man marker, your virtually free to have a shot at net or a cross. While in the english league you have to beat players by using the channels in between defenders via passes because all defenders and midfielders have cover, so you'll run into trouble as soon as you beat your guy.

Arsenal worked us pretty well on the channels this weekend. Had we say 6 months under allegri, that would never have worked. Then the only thing they could have hoped for would be beating us via speed and physique and hoping for luck; like they did in 08.



Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2evhC89YPZI

Watch fio's defence and you'll see how many times the middle is left wide open.
-----


If it worked though, this would look damn good.



-------abbiati------

---sokratis-nesta-silva


abate-flamini---pirlo---antonini

pato------borriello----dinho

This post has been edited by Bluesummers: Aug 2 2010, 11:30 AM

[Jack Sparrow]

No its not a bad idea either, though they say its suicidal in the italian league.



I've read the Italian league is suited for slow-tempo possession formations. Since most teams prefer to play counter attack, it seems one team will always dominate possession while the other will be content to counter. Rarely will both teams fight for who has possession.


favorable formations:

4-3-1-2
4-3-3
4-5-1
4-2-3-1

----------------

3-X-X

is usually an attacking formation where they attack with 7 and then have 2 stoppers and a sweeper to soak up pressure till the fullbacks arrive.


This would be heaven for teams who sit back and then counter with 3 fast players.


-------


the reason 4-possession works well in italy is because the defensive line is deep and usually plays man to man marking, which means they don't worry about the space just where the man moves. The midfield plays zonal, which means they sit in front of the defence and worry about the space they are to hold.



--------x---------x-------x---------x
[space]-----x--------x--------x--[space]

[space..........space........space..........]


This gives time for the fullbacks to arrive and provide the needed with in order to penetrate a deep defensive system.


Also by holding the majority of the possesion and one line of defense playing man to man and the other playing zonal, you will see small gaps open in the middle of the defence from time to time as the ball moves from one side to another.

This is also why players like pato/ronaldinho/kaka dominate in italian league and spanish leagues vs english. Once you beat your man marker, your virtually free to have a shot at net or a cross. While in the english league you have to beat players by using the channels in between defenders via passes because all defenders and midfielders have cover, so you'll run into trouble as soon as you beat your guy.

Arsenal worked us pretty well on the channels this weekend. Had we say 6 months under allegri, that would never have worked. Then the only thing they could have hoped for would be beating us via speed and physique and hoping for luck; like they did in 08.



Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2evhC89YPZI

Watch fio's defence and you'll see how many times the middle is left wide open.
-----


If it worked though, this would look damn good.



-------abbiati------

---sokratis-nesta-silva


abate-flamini---pirlo---antonini

pato------borriello----dinho

Thank you. Am so glad we can actually discuss football instead of just harping on about how we're gonna suck coz we don't have Player X or Player Y and instead have to do with A, B, C. It gets boring after a while. These kind of posts lets me think.

Obviously a pure 3-man defence is kinda dangerous..though I believe Genoa does play like that (?). They're famous for their 3-4-3.

I have something a little more fluid in mind.

My base formation would be...the same backline as yours..except..

---Sok---Silva---Nesta--- [Silva makes some good runs from the middle]
------Pirlo----Flam---Ambro---Zambro
--------Pato/Zee-------R80/Zee/Pato
-----------Marco---------

It's a little slow...but I think it offers better cover against the counter...while having enough technical players to keep possession.

Ambro would just sit/cover for Silva when the latter brings the ball out of possession. I think Zambro and R80 overlapping would be great..plus Zambro can cut onto his strong side and shoot. Pato and Pirlo are free...while Flamini does what he does best. Run like a mad dog.

We'd be able to counter with 3 too..and defend with at least 5.

Widthwise, we suffer on the right a bit..too much depends on Pato, though it's conceivable for Ambro to drop in during the game to cover for Sok..while he brings the ball out of defence to spark a counter with Pato down the right.

I have a feeling, that my thinking is wrong and the balance is all f@cked, but I can't quite place it.

I dont' know, lately I've been playing around a lot with the idea of the CBs being used effectively to spark attacks. I think we have Silva and Sok, who're two of the brightest in the league in playing with the ball. I think Lucio is number one though. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)