Time to ditch 4-3-3?

Or should we call it 4-6-0 ? Yeah that's probably another argument......

ANyway IIRC, 4-3-3 started when AW decided to experiment with 4-5-1 to see if it could be the panacea to our underwhelming results in Europe. It worked like a charm (we reached our first and only CL final largely because of that formation) and AW went further to see if 4-5-1 would work in the EPL. Anyway post-Henry it morphed to its final form of 4-3-3 and that brings us to today.

Now it’s been utterly woeful (both result wise and visually) Post-Fab with this formation. I mean some will say the rot in this formation started even while Fab was here, but again that's not the crux of this post- the question is what do we do now?
Do we persist with this formation, wait till January, buy some new players :chuckle: more suited to this formation; or do we ditch it and go to the trusted but less Euro friendly 4-4-2 ?

Now if we do go back to 4-4-2, is it another sign of retrogression on our part seeing as almost all the big boys in Europe play some form of 4-3-3/4-5-1 (especially as we pioneered it among the big boys in the EPL)?

BTW nice to be back

...um does this pubic poll thingy mean everyone can see exactly whom voted for what? cause if it does could the mods please change it to just a regular poll.

We are only making up the numbers in Europe and we are not very competitive in England either. So any feelings that there's a trade-off between doing well in England and doing well in Europe should go out the window.

I think most teams are not playing 4-4-2 in England now. What is noticeable is that top teams (Man Utd, Chelsea and, now, Man City) seem very comfortable in switching between systems to counter opponents. I don't think we have ever set out to do that.

So I think the issue is - should we have a set system at all or should we be looking to switch between 4-4-1-1/4-3-3/4-5-1 etc. depending on the opponent and the players we have available.

I suspect most on here will be fully in favour of 'ditching' the 4-3-3 but what they actually want is a change of playing style. By the simple action of switching to 4-4-1-1, we are not necessarily going to change the painfully indirect approach. But I am still of the opinion that forcing every little change possible is likely to eventually have an impact on the pitch.

I can forgive trying something different and failing, but I can't forgive keeping a failed approach.

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Originally Posted by Syn

I think most teams are not playing 4-4-2 in England now. What is noticeable is that top teams (Man Utd, Chelsea and, now, Man City) seem very comfortable in switching between systems to counter opponents. I don't think we have ever set out to do that.

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Agreed. It's well documented that we will set out our stall exactly the same whether we're facing Wigan or Barcelona.

No plan B etc.

Been a talking point for years but nothing will change under Wenger.

The problem isn't the formation. Wenger is the problem. Even if we played 4-4-2, he'd still do something stupid like play Arteta on the flanks, Benayoun on the flanks, or still persist with Arshavin and Walcott on the flanks which takes them further away from the edge of the box where they're both most deadly.

We have the players to play a 4-5-1 or a 4-3-3. He just doesn't know how to get the best out of the players he has. I say we should switch to a 4-4-2 sometimes, but if we do that, where will Arteta and Wilshere fit into that? I don't want to see them wasted on the wings or playing behind the striker just so he can fit them into the squad. He should be able to adjust this formation to make it work. If Mancini can fit Aguero into his team along with Tevez without playing him on the flanks, then Wenger should be able to tweak things in our squad. If Wenger was coaching this Man City team, Aguero would probably be playing on the flanks.

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Originally Posted by Marc Overmars

Agreed. It's well documented that we will set out our stall exactly the same whether we're facing Wigan or Barcelona.

No plan B etc.

Been a talking point for years but nothing will change under Wenger.

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Right on the money.

This lack of tactics from Wenger is ridiculous and the reason why alot of players end up leaving us, or not playing to their full ability.

Why would we EVER play 4141 (our 433 wanabee) at home to Swansea

Welcome back - for a fee, no-one can see how you've voted

If we are to play 4-4-2, it would help to have two "all round" central midfielders in there, capable of providing enough defensive cover when we lose the ball and when we are in possession, to have the technical ability to link up with the attackers and offer creativity going forward. Perhaps Song and Wilshere could do a decent job in there, with Song the defensive player and Wilshere the offensive player but even then, I'd worry about us being a bit light in there. Moreover, you know that Wenger would probably end up playing players like Arteta out wide just to accommodate them, which will simply make it a disjointed system. In that system you want either pace or real goalscoring threat down the wings, and although Arteta's a good player he's not suited to playing wide IMO.

I think when Wilshere comes back, a central 3 of Wilshere, Arteta and Song is the best we can do. Out wide, Gervinho looks comfortable. The main problem seems to be the centre forward role, and the other wide position. If I was the manager, I'd say if RVP and Walcott are unable to perform in that system, they have to be dropped IMO. We can't adapt our play just to suit two players, because if we go to a 4-4-2 other problems start appearing (we become defensively more unstable IMO, and may have to fit square pegs in round holes again)

So, I'd retain the 4-3-3 system, and if RVP and Walcott can't hack it in this system, I'd remove them from the team and give Young and Oxlade a chance.

Arsh or Theo in the middle behind RvP and just boot the fucker right over the top and into space from time to time. Just for a bit of variation and something to watch.

Please.

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

The problem isn't the formation. Wenger is the problem. Even if we played 4-4-2, he'd still do something stupid like play Arteta on the flanks, Benayoun on the flanks, or still persist with Arshavin and Walcott on the flanks which takes them further away from the edge of the box where they're both most deadly.

We have the players to play a 4-5-1 or a 4-3-3. He just doesn't know how to get the best out of the players he has. I say we should switch to a 4-4-2 sometimes, but if we do that, where will Arteta and Wilshere fit into that? I don't want to see them wasted on the wings or playing behind the striker just so he can fit them into the squad. He should be able to adjust this formation to make it work. If Mancini can fit Aguero into his team along with Tevez without playing him on the flanks, then Wenger should be able to tweak things in our squad. If Wenger was coaching this Man City team, Aguero would probably be playing on the flanks.

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This. Wenger needs to learn how to swtich between the too when needed. We look like we don't even have a plan A neve mind a plan b