Agreed.

Imagine if we went 3 at the back last season with the centre backs we had.

Thiago Silva was ideal as sweeper, with Nesta and Mexes on his sides, at times Yepes instead, that's quality. Bonera will do well as side-central defender for sure too.

At the same time Van Bommel was a very good man to have in front of an excellent central defense pair though. Now things have changed.

Allegri will never go for a 3-4-3, too dynamic for his stale tastes me thinks

Besides, we do not have strong enough CBs to pull it off anyways. You want to let the likes of Bonera, Acerbi, Yepes try to handle the discipline it takes to play in a 3 man defence?

You forget to mention Zapata and Mexes. Zapata would be a perfect fit for the three man defense.

And yes, that's what I want. Three central defenders supported by two wingbacks and two DM/CMs would be in our case stronger than two central defenders supported by two fullbacks and that midfield. And don't forget the wingforwards, while El Shaarawy for example tracks back very well.

A 3 man defence is a completely different concept than a flat back 4.

There are very good reasons as to why most teams don't do this. And just because it worked decently for Inter in 2 of their games does not mean that it's a long term solution for them and their problems.

That's exactly why I want it. The four man defense is a bad choice for our current squad.


Many Serie A teams play with three central defenders. Inter has nothing to do with this.

You want it just because it's different?

I know we need radical changes but you have to look at things objectively. Personally, I think our best solution is a 4-2-1-3 or a 4-2-3-1 depending on how you want to look at it when we're in attack or defence.

Just because some Serie A teams use it doesn't mean we should as well. We'll see how long Inter can sustain a good run, it's only been 2 games FFS and now we're looking at a 3 man defence as if it's the holy grail of football.

Mexes and Zapata are our only really good central defenders, we have 2 good FBs. The only person that would benefit from a 3 man defence is Urby, he's the only wingback in our team and we have no other good position for him

No, not 'just because'. I think I've explained before. And Yepes is a good central defender too.


Why play with a trequarista if we don't have anyone who fits in well there, same goes for not having a proper leftback. Right now we play with two central defenders that need help from fullbacks, but ours go forward offering nothing to the attack (bar De Sciglio) just to return too late in defense, so that our central defenders are exposed, facing too many opponents. Three central defenders instead of two is having MORE DEFENDERS in REALITY than what we have now, really. And just because I put players like De Sciglio more advanced, doesn't mean they are no defenders anymore. The whole midfield four will contribute a lot in defending, and also the wingforwards will contribute to that, they showed it already. I added some alternatives into the line-up, not all are mentioned.

De Sciglio really isn't up to it for now. Abate though is; it's absurd you'd bench a real RM for a young teen who's never even been tested there. But I don't think it would work either. I'm not sure we'd get any significant change with that line-up other then defensive instability.

One other question bothers me. Why don't we try using Constant more often. Even on the famous Boateng AM position. I find it ridiculous that Allegri tried out Traore more then Constant and gave him the nod against Cagliari.

And playing 4-2-3-1 wouldn't lead to defensive instability? Come on now! It's a gambe we must take in order to strengthen our offensive game, and playing a 3-man defense with wingers would be the safest bet in that regard. I'm up for either formation, really, as long as we stop playing whatever Allegri has been playing in these past few weeks.

Better? Though in that case, why not just swap Nocerino for Ambro and play a pure 4-3-3 instead:



There are many options to chose from here, Allegri just has to pick one. We must start playing an offensive formation ASAP, otherwise we'll never score more than 1-2 goals per game with the players we have at disposal.

I like this one when facing a strong opponent.

Defensive instability is more likely to come from a 3-man defence than a back 4. Also, playing with wingers would imply that we have decent ones, when we simply don't. Abate's biggest strnegth is his defensive capabilities imo, sure he can bomb up and down but he's great at being a RB, on the other hand, only Urby can pull off a left wingback position on the left.

On the other hand we have players that could potentially work great in a proper 4-2-3-1 setup.

Yes there has to be a huge change made from our current system but this is not rocket science. The team currently doesn't even have any shape on the pitch when we're playing. I've spent the last 2 games trying to figure out wat formation we were playing and couldn't see any clear shape out there. The formation max posted in the match thread depicts the mess perfectly.

All the forwards were lumped on the left side, Ambro, De Jong and Nocerino were all getting in each other's way so Nocerino then ended up playing on the right wing which is stupid in and of itself. Also, unless you play a pure 4-2-3-1, you simply cannot play Ambro and De Jong together in a flat midfield 3. Just doesn't make any sense as they always end up trying to occupy the same areas.


The bolded part being the key point.

We don't need 2 DMs against regular Serie A sides, yet Allegri plays 2 or 3 in every game! Look at other teams around Europe, no one plays with 2 DMs simply because it's not a smart tactic, instead of looking defensively sound, we end up looking disjointed and inept on the ball.

Look at Real for example, they play Alonso and Khedira on most occasions. Alonso is not a DM and Khedira is a very forward thinking player even though at the roots he is a DM.

The point is, none of these guys are one dimensional players like Ambro and De Jong. And that's our problem. We can't have 2 of these guys in the midfield because instead of being defensively stable we end up giving the opposition more opportunites to come at us than we would when playing players who are good on the ball

Exactly. Usually we should play only two from Ambrosini, De Jong and Montolivo. Ideally one of them is Montolivo, because he is the most creative. Hopefully he won't disappoint for us, while the great Allegri didn't find more creative midfielders necessary in our squad, making Ambrosini the alternative not only for De Jong (or vice versa) but also for Montolivo. Even though Ambrosini has done well, you'd wish we had someone like Aquilani or Merkel as well.

I can live with a rotation between those three for those two spots, but if only we had more creativity, like in attacking midfield. Now without Ibrahimovic, Boateng has become a much lesser option for that position. I actually wouldn't mind either to try out someone else there, like Constant as Fillipo mentioned, or maybe Carmona or Valoti.

Constant behind the strikers?

Nah, I think what Filippo meant was that Allegri actually played the noob that is Traore over a seasoned Serie A player, who is arguably much better. Constant can play behind the strikers as much as Urby can. It's not even an option.

At this point we shouldn't even HAVE a position behind the strikers, simply because we have no one to fill it. Prince should either be played as part of a 3-man midfield in a 4-3-3 os as part of the 3 behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1. Playing in the hole without a creative striker ahead of him renders Prince useless for us in that position

Agreed. Just saying that if Allegri would continue playing with a trequarista, I wouldn't mind someone else given the chance. I am not that familair with Constant, so I wouldn't really know what to expect, but nor I think he offers what we need there. Therefore I mentioned Carmona and Valoti as well. At least Carmona is a real attacking midfielder with creativity, and he has proven to have at least some talent.

Ideally we do play without a trequarista, yes, that's one of the reasons I opt for a 3-4-3. Just saying that if we keep playing with one, there's no harm in trying out a prospect that actually fits that position when in our first team squad we have no one for that position (actually, both are listed in our first team squad), and we get to see someone like Boateng failing there and having a team that lacks creativity during its attacks.

http://www.acmilan.com/en/news/breaking_news_show/28818

Why not give him a shot? He seems like someone who would fit the trequarista role well, actually I know that from the little I've seen him. At the same time hard to say what to expect from him, but you never know until given the chance anyway. At least the team would have more creativity, and that's what we need.

I don't know, I've only seen little of both Valoti and Carmona, but they just don't even seem remotely ready to step into such a huge role. And it is a huge role to fill in the team considering the system we play.

I'd rather go for something with wingers (not wingbacks which is why I don't agree with the 3-4-3 aside from the instability of the 3-man defence)

Wingers is a must, yes. El Shaarawy on the left is a given. Robinho should play on the right if he gets back to his usual self. I hope that would be the case and not that he also is sad and leaving or so, else Bojan can play.

Still like the idea of having both wingers and wingbacks though. Which means no trequarista.

Also, any creative young midfielder we have. I hope one or more is ready enough to bring more of that into our team.

Well? I'd say it looks good enough. It just needs practice and dedication from each player.

You can play without a trequartista and not play a 3-man defence.

My biggest problem is that we do not have 3 really strong CBs like we did last season, we have 2 good ones and 3 average ones.


I like that one

Abate and DeS given the flanks, with no muscle to cover? Although an 3-man front line is spectacular on paper, I still think a little tweaking to allow cover for the FBs and support to the flanks by ball winners and runners.

De Jong is not muscle for you?

The way I see it, the midfield is not strong enough. And to answer your question, yes he is muscle but not enough to cover. As if he drifts wide to cover, he will expose the backline.

Two holding midfielders would be more effective. Principle idea being to provide cover for the back-line and flanks, hence at least two muscle players.

Yes, two defensive runners is one philosophy, but the modern midfielder can be more than just "hustle".

Montolivo De Jong Boateng can work in a midfield 3 as both De Jong and Boateng are combative players. No matter how attacking minded Boateng is, there is no doubt he is plenty muscle and running. With Montolivo adding dynamism and a touch of intelligent creativity to the trio.

We've used:



To great effect before and does takes good tactics and team cohesion to pull it off. Which brings me to our current state. It doesn't matter what formation we use or how we use any players at this point, the team lacks an identity and plays with no real plan on the field. It's painful to watch and Allegri seems oblivious or powerless to change. Whereas Ibrahimovic saved the day last season, El Shaarawy's flare is pulling the weight this time. Not entirely successfully and not without reason. Something more fundamental is at play here and it's not player Y or player X.

Great post ... Yes team lacks identity, but I believe we need to reinforce protection on our defensive line.

That midfield of Kaka, Seedorf, Gattuso and Pirlo had a backline of Nesta, Costacurta, Maldini, Cafu, Stam, etc ... Compared to our current defense, Mexes/Zapata ... I think you get my point here.


On paper, X-Off's formation looks very interesting. But I beg to question, how effective is it on the field of play?

Good point about the weaker defence. However adding more DMs does not mean that you add defensive stability, I think this fact has been exacerbated and demonstrated a million times over under Allegri, who not only plays 2 DMs but also went as far as to play 3 DMs on some occasions.

Do you know what adding an extra DM means? It means that we're going to lose the ball more often because of the terrible propensity for bad passing in midfield. We need more technique in our midfield not more headless chicken running.

Thus, by NOT including that extra DM, we'll keep possession better and make good use of the ball when we have it, thus not putting our defenders under constand pressure because we're constantly losing the ball in dangerous areas.

No big European team plas with 2 DMs, some of them don't even deploy a proper DM!

Our DMs are not headless running chickens. We actually have a bunch of them, and them are the ones who lose possession of terrible passing. Ambrosini DM, Nocerino runner, who's more likely to lose possession? Nocerino.

Lol, your dislike of Nocerino is too funny!

ALL of our DMs aren't good on the ball. Ambrosini is as much likely to make a terrible pass as Nocerino, same for Flamini, De Jong and the list goes on. We don't have dynamic DMs on this team, and that's why it causes us a huge headache when we play 2 or 3 of them

For what's worth it, De Jong can be a dynamic DM.


I'm waiting for the next lol.

Not from me.

But De Jong isn't all that hot atm

Doesn't mean it can't work though. Inter won the CL using 2/3 DMs fairly recently. But they had Milito/Eto'o/Sneijder winning them games.

You say having 1 DM is fine and it is, so long as he has hard working players around him. You can't play just 1 midfielder with defensive responsibilities though. Montolivo may as well not be there when we don't have possession, so Boateng simply has to track back and work hard for the team. Otherwise playing Boateng/De Jong/Montolivo won't work.

Funny how people obsessively dislike DM's. Me and Kurt are in for De Jong, han always for Ambro, Chu for Nocerino.

Nocerino is not a DM.

Anyhow.

Yup, he's a striker.

Irony?

Aye.

http://football-italia.net/25759/no-10-shirt-downsized

Very true.

The biggest blunder was assigning it to Gallas in the EPL. I think it was at Arsenal if IIRC.

Yep. Arsenal. Wenger had the logic that giving the #10 worn by Bergkamp to another forward would be too much pressure.

And then he let Walcott have #14?

True. And Milan also praticipating with Boateng taking the #10.

Well technically he was playing in the position which traditionally is occupied by a #10...

Which makes this travesty even bigger.

Well Allegri placed him there, and he is a travesty to football himself so his decisions would be as such as well one would think

Sienna equalize by a calaio header!1-1(vs Juve..pirlo scored a freekick)

Wake me up when Juventus taste defeat.

I can't see anyone in this league capable of that tbh.

The traditional big clubs are in the cr@pper while the good teams like Napoli don't have what it takes to go all the way.

This Scudetto is Juve's 100%.

All that's left to be decided for the season is the CL spots. Serie A's darkest times ahead I'm afraid

True, but then again, who cares about the Scuedtto (at least not the management). I actually want to see their ugly bums when they lose, and fingers crossed lose bad enough to go on their little media show. I do agree about dark times ahead, they certainly are. The end of last decade was pure bliss, even with Inter winning.

Siena playing really good and attaining a well-deserved draw at the end of the first half.