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Post by buddha on Oct 16, 2010 7:26:18 GMT 8
The midfield diamond is a very narrow formation and lacks natural width. Your fullbacks will need to push high up the pitch in order to provide width. At the sides of the diamond you will need carilleros or shuttlers, players who constantly shuffle up and down and side to side. They will need to be fantastically fit.
Thus,
-------------------STRIKER----------------STRIKER---------------------
---------------------------ATTACKING MID------------------------------
-----------CARILLERO----------------------CARILLERO----------------
--------------------------DEFENSIVE MID------------------------------
----WINGBACKS------------------------------------WINGBACKS------
----------------CENTERBACK-------CENTERBACK---------------------
----------------------------------GK--------------------------------------
Teams playing narrow diamond formations tend to struggle with playing against teams who play wide and like switching balls side to side.
The Azkals have two good wingers in Chieffy and James who gives us natural wideth (Chieffy does tend to cut in towards the goal while James is more comfortable putting in crosses).
So my opinion is that any narrow formation, such as a midfield diamond, would not maximize the strengths of Chieffy and James.
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Post by Usapang Football on Oct 16, 2010 9:46:30 GMT 8
Who would fit in that position?
I'm thinking maybe:
Araneta-Younghusband
de Jong
Caligdong-Ott
James Younghusband
Gier-Jonsson
Borromeo-del Rosario
Etheridge
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Post by badleftfoot on Oct 16, 2010 10:25:18 GMT 8
Change the formation by putting the diamond in fornt of the front two: -------------------------------------- STRIKER ------------------------------------------ ------------- WINGER ---------------------------------------------- WINGER ----------- ------------------------------------- CENTER MIDFIELDER ------------------------------ ---------------------HOLDING MF ---------------------- HOLDING MF --------------- ------DF ---------------------DF--------------------DF ---------------------DF ---------- ---------------------------------------- GK ------------------------------------------------- That way, mas solid sa defense ....
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Post by booblehead on Oct 16, 2010 12:53:02 GMT 8
what kind of strategy is best suited for a team like ours? we have tall defenders... ok na siguro 4 DF and maybe a holding midfielder.
and another thing... what kind of football does Imperial Manila want to see? if we are going to sell the sport to Manila, what do you reckon will make our football exciting, and at the same time get the results that we need? and with result i mean a win... imperial manila will not understand that a DRAW is a good result. it has to be a WIN. dont make it too complicated for Imperial Manila. Those starstruck ignoramuses.
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Post by buddha on Oct 16, 2010 18:19:37 GMT 8
Any narrow formation (such as a midfield diamond) would not work with the Azkals because, 1. we are more comfortable with long balls 2. we have wide players who can deal with long balls
So I think any tweaking in the formation should consider this.
--- BADLEFTFOOT is describing a 4-2-3-1 formation. If there is any formation out there that might best suit our national team I think it's the 4-2-3-1.
Thus, ---------------------------ST--------------------------------- ----AML----------------------------------------AMR--------- ----------------------AMC------------------------------------ ---------DMC---------------------DMC----------------------
---DL--------DC-----------DC---------------DR------------
-----------------------GK-------------------------------------
The two defensive mids (DMCs) are what is known as a double pivot. They basically hold their position and break up the oppositions attacks. They provide a solid base for the team to build their attacks on.
The arrival of Manny Ott would be a great opportunity to try this formation. Manny Ott would slot in very nicely into the DMC role... is there anybody who can partner him as the second DMC?
Chieffy and James stay up wide with a central midfielder between them... Jason de Jong, perhaps?
You can have Philip Younghusband as the lone striker/targetman. (What a targetman does is that he is the focal point of the attack but that he doesn't necessarily go all out to score... he HOLDS the ball and waits for his midfield to push up into the penalty box with him.)
Thus,
---------------------------------Phillip------------------------------ -----Chieffy----------------------------------------James--------- -------------------------------Jason-------------------------------- --------------Manny Ott---------------- ? ------------------------
----Ray Jonsson-----------------------------------WBR--------- .....(wingbacks)...............................................................
-----------------DC---------------------DC------------------------
------------------------------GK------------------------------------
__ [@ BOOBLEHEAD] as you just mentioned, the general public might not appreciate a DRAW and will expect the Azkals to WIN all the time.
That's why I suggest playing with a very defensive mindset, not in all games, but in games against top opposition. Let the team defend and counter-attack. There's no use trying to go all out to score against a strong team like Malaysia, Thailand, or even Vietnam. If you do so, you will end up at the wrong end of a massacre. If you play on the break (defend and counter) you have a bigger chance of creating an upset.
The problem we fans have is our mindset. We think our boys can go all out and attack all of the time. In my heart that's what I want to see happen... but it's not realistic and it's unfair on our players.
What do you guys think?
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Post by badleftfoot on Oct 17, 2010 1:32:46 GMT 8
buddha, tama basa mo sa formation ko ... na-mention na din na si chieffy at si james mahilig maglaro sa wideout ... it suits them perfectly ... tapos lagyan mo ng dalawang 'enforcers' ala rudy distrito ... sa harap ng back-4 ... para kakatok palang sila sa pintuan, dalawang asong kalye, este, azkal pala, na kaagad ang sasalubong sa kanila ... hindi rin defensive and formation na yan ... when in attack, it shifts quickly to 4-3-3 actually ... requires a lot of soccer intelligence though ... pero puro naman genuis mga players natin eh ... hehehe ... it also works on 'over the top' english style game ... o siya mga kabayan ... laro na!
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Post by booblehead on Oct 17, 2010 20:10:20 GMT 8
Yehehey masubukan na. Set up tayo friendly vs australia hehe
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Post by buddha on Oct 24, 2010 1:20:37 GMT 8
Philippines 5-0 East Timor ____________________
So it's clearly a 4-4-2 and it looks like it's clicking very nicely! I haven't seen the full match although I'd like to comment on what I've seen on these YouTube clips:
1. 2.
(I know, I know, you can't analyze a whole game based on a few minutes of highlights but that's all I have for now).
-- DOWN THE FLANKS Most of our chances were created from crosses coming from the wing. But there are differences in the wing play of James and Chieffy.
Notice how James tends to cross early balls into the box with his brother Phil looking to knock them down. Those early crosses have been quality ones so far.
Chieffy on the other hand provides us with a more exciting option by 1. crossing from the byline, 2. cutting inside towards the goal. At 1:06 he takes the ball to the byline and neatly crosses a high ball into the edge of the box which lead to a goal. You will also notice that Chieffy tries to get in front of the goal by cutting in. The movement of Phil is excellent in that it opens up a channel for Chieffy to move into. Chieffy is a real goal threat aside from being a provider of goals.
-- LONG BALLS DOES IT Obviously we have a height advantage with Phil and James, Ali and Anton, (anybody else?) but even our "tiny" striker, Ian, enjoys aerial battles! The Timorese appeared to be very timid and hesitant in the air which is why this direct, long ball approach worked very well.
How we fare in aerial battles against stronger opposition remains to be seen.
-- GOOD MOVEMENT IN THE FINAL THIRD Those of you spoiled by watching too much tiqui-taca might be wondering "where's the entertainment here?" It's time to face the fact that the Azkals are out to win and not entertain. Winning is their immediate concern, not fancy football. The football illiterate masses are going to be enticed by wins that are trumpeted in the media not by "yeah, we haven't won anything but hey! we played very pretty football!"
That said, I have absolutely enjoyed watching our movement and decisiveness in the final third. It's not just the crisp, short passing that our Azkals are making, it's also about their intelligent movement off the ball. It shows a confidence, decisiveness, and ruthlessness that wasn't there in our national team before.
I am more excited by how we have approached the game than by the goals scored. The goals are just the icing but our tactical approach and the quality of our play IS THE CAKE.
It speaks volumes of the communication among the players and the hard work done by the coaching staff.
-- A FLAT BACK FOUR AND A HIGH DEFENSIVE LINE Head coach McMenemy puts out a disciplined flat four at the back although it during the actual match it tended to look lopsided as the Left Back (Jonsson?) enjoys pushing up. If I'm not mistaken, it was his long cross that led to the fifth goal. A bit disturbing was the part when our leftback neglected to mark the man behind him allowing a Timorese player to chip a ball over our leftback's head to the unmarked player. This however appears to be an isolated incident which I'm sure the coach and the player involved would be professional enough to recognize it, correct it, and move on.
Coach McMenemy was right in his post match interview; East Timor never breached our defense. They took shots yes, but on a closer look those shots were poorly taken, had no real goal threat, the goalkeeper had them covered, and most important of all, the through-pass that COULD have led to a one-on-one with the keeper was well covered by our alert keeper and he appears to have communicated this with his defenders. There was no sense of panic. (Look carefully at the video clip again.) Our defense was never really tested and East Timor's shots were very poor.
--Concerns The first has to do with space. We appeared to be competent enough in closing down our opponent's space (East Timor gave us way too much space to move into!) but as the match went on it appears that our energy level took a drop and as a result we now were giving East Timor too much space and time on the ball. If this happens against a top Asian national team we would surely get punished.
Chieffy could have added another goal as he had time and space in front of the goal to place his shot. Instead he failed to connect with the ball properly which saw the ball rebound into a diving Ian Araneta. A bit more composure is needed from Chieffy especially as he seems to have a knack for ending in front of the goal mouth.
The foul on James leading to the penalty kick seemed awkward. However it appears that James went down rather easily. Not necessarily a dive but he was just too willing to go down. Funny thing is, we're happy he won that penalty but on the other hand, if it had happened to us we'd be steaming mad! What I'm saying is that the referee made a dubious decision that was in our favor.
-- CONCLUSION A fantastic end to a one-sided match. Two successive wins will be a huge boost to the Azkals confidence especially as they face the Laos home crowd. It still remains to be seen if we can maintain consistency and play well against bigger teams.
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Post by locotes on Oct 24, 2010 3:19:38 GMT 8
Well said Buddha
But Im a little disappointed with chippys game, not that he missed that easy chance. I was looking forward for more creativity and more forward runs from him, well maybe its not his fault, his teammates shouldve gave him the ball more.
Im lookinng forward on todays game, wont miss that game ;D
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Post by buddha on Oct 25, 2010 5:52:20 GMT 8
AZKALS 2-2 LAOS ______________
Again, I missed the live match.
While it was a pretty dismal 1st Half, can somebody comment on the 2nd Half? Where there any tactical changes made?
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Post by Usapang Football on Oct 25, 2010 12:46:55 GMT 8
The Azkals were awake in the 2nd half, but in the opening 20 minutes Laos still had more chances than us.
We won several direct free-kicks which were either blocked by a Laotian wall or were off-target, our best chance came in the 67th minute when a deflected strike by Araneta(?) forced the Laotian keeper to make a reflex save.
A similar chance happened in the 86th minute, Araneta made a header that was narrowly saved by the Laos keeper.
Of course, we scored a goal from Phil's penalty. And James' last minute header was the equalizer.
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Post by booblehead on Oct 28, 2010 19:16:50 GMT 8
hey buddha im looking forward to your commentary on the match against LAOS and CAMBODIA.
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Post by booblehead on Oct 28, 2010 19:20:28 GMT 8
curious that coach mcmenemy did not make any substitutions (except for the injured caligdong in the 30+ minute of the 1st half) in the game. an indication that we do not have quality on the bench?
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Post by don on Oct 29, 2010 22:07:17 GMT 8
the azkals should improve in all aspects, camcam and pascual should rise to the occassion.
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Post by buddha on Oct 31, 2010 15:16:15 GMT 8
I just got back from a week at the beach with my wife and little boys. There's so much optimism in the air I can hardly wait for the Suzuki Cup to begin!
I haven't watched the Cambodia match so I can't give my two centavos on the match.
One thing does bother me and that is how badly lacking in depth our squad is! We have a paper thin squad which is really asking for trouble if key players start getting injuries. Either the coach is putting a lot of faith in his first eleven or he just doesn't have the quantity and quality of players to choose from.
I think it's the latter. We simply lack a pool of players to choose from. We may have many hidden talents lurking in the local leagues and college teams but if we are to make a good showing at the Suzuki Cup we need to find good back-up players as soon as possible. December is just around the corner.
I just hope those other foreign born players who have made noises about playing for the Azkals will really come and play.
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