7th with Stoke City...Grand olde 3-4-3

[Guv'nor]

Just a brief synopsis to incite more plentiful discussion.

Took a flat 3-4-3, with wide strikers, as was the original intention of this tactical masterpiece, to the Britannia. On first glance, the squad was lacking in all the prerequisites to succeed with such a strategy and so the thinking cap, became one's home.

The defence was presumed 'good enough'. Huth, Shawcross, Faye...Not quite Puyol, Pique and Ferdinand, but good enough for the matter at hand. That matter being: Avoid relegation

The midfield was lacking in everything, lots of graft no craft. The intended strategy was to play a narrow 4 across the middle of the park, with wide-midfielders as opposed to wingers at MR and ML. Though both Etherington and Lawrence were partial to cutting inside, their ability in-field is fairly limited. Poor tackling, passing and not average naturals! The conclusion: 'On yer' bikes lads'. In: Viktor Elm, Magne Hoseth, Shalrie Joseph, Geert Rooarda, Marcelo Gallardo. In keeping with the Pulis Philosophy, 'size matters'.

The attack lacked mobility. Barring Fuller, the rest had average or no pace, with not much in the way of, off the ball and positional awarenesss. The remedy: Marco Ruben (on loan), Dimitry Sychev (on loan), Kikin Fonseca and "Polark" Gosicki sp.

In addition to playing a narrow game, one didnt want to walk beyond the borders of reality. Many have walked on water with lesser clubs, keeping cleansheets with barely a centreback on the pitch! Hall of Fame stuff without doubt, but for want of a more true-to-life experience, one tried to emulate Pullis' approach. Direct style, lots of closing down, over aggressive tackling and tireless running.

7th! A considerable achievement, given the season's expectations! Yes, it falls way short of the Derren Brown exploits of many a forumer here, 'league titles won with Harchester Utd', but its a little less fairytale. Last 5 games of the season, the wheels started to wobble, injuries, suspensions etc, so started to pick up the defeats then. Had been a point off Liverpool for 30 odd games, then Fuller was out for a 6 weeks, Tuncay 4 weeks and Sychev out for the rest of the season. Had to call on the reserves to get us over the line. That said, the achievements on home soil are there for all to see, only United (i think, such was the manner in which we bulldozed all-comers) came away with all 3 points! Took Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool to town!

[Guv'nor]

[Guv'nor]

[Guv'nor]

The Bubble Burster...The formation is shown above, there wont be no plug and play with this thread, for the style, strategy etc depends very much on the players you have and your own philosophies. This game was intended to recreate Pullis' style under a different formation. The passing was very direct, a few notches off longball, sometimes longball even! The defensive line varied depending on the opposition, so too the tempo. One of the key tenets to the success of this system was the use of the counterattack and time-wasting vs. the Bigger Boys! Liverpool had no answer to it!

Bracing ourselves for the 2nd season now and will be trying a different style of play, with the intention to bring some better passers of the ball in.

The layout is there, just fill in the gaps in accordance with whats best for your side if you wish.