ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Playing through midfield

Amazing! The last two games Everton didn't bypass the midfield (who must all feel a little lonely not being passed to) and we won. I'm not saying that the last two oppositions were anything to shout about but we scored goals and won matches. Will there be more of this to come or will Moyes revert back to long ball football again?
Trevor Thompson, Croydon Posted 29/10/2007 at 21:00:17

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Mark Pendleton
1 Posted 29/10/2007 at 21:21:15

Have to admit i read an interview with Jagz today who was saying how good it is to play behind Mikel as he always shows for a pass. Bainsey also seems to look for a pass before a punt too. I honestly think Moyes wants to play good passing football. Slowly but surely we’re getting more players of that kind. Lescott seems to enjoy surging runs and playing one two’s. Another quality defender and midfielder and we’re almost there in my view. Lovely to see the Yak and Arteta on the same wavelength for the first goal yesterday. And good to see the reaction of the other players when Yak scored. He looks better each game as does Pienaar. Tommy G is right in that this squad just needs to gel a bit more as effectively almost a third of the team is new.

Kevin C
2 Posted 30/10/2007 at 00:30:21

Anybody noticed we are a better (and winning) team when we play 4-5-1? Like few seasons ago when we finished 4th using this system?

I know and I can remember Moyes receiving a lot of sticks from Evertonian (fans I supposed) who say 4-5-1 is boring and how we should have 4-4-2 and make it a 2 man attack, etc... But we havent done particularly well with that system now have we?

But once we revert back to 4-5-1 (whether it being Yak, McFadden, Victor, AJ, James V), I believe we will still be a better outfit.... I dunno, maybe that’s just my opinion

ian tunny
3 Posted 30/10/2007 at 01:29:19

its not moyes’s fault if players hoof the ball up and dnt pass it, its the players who cant pass and the lack of a propper midfield to take control of a game, now that our midfield is coming back from injury cahil grav etc who can pass we now dnt have to by-pass the midfield and we are actually playing football which is what moyes wants and with a fully fit squad that is what he will get.

Gavin G
4 Posted 30/10/2007 at 05:10:59

The reason why we don’t do well when we play 4-4-2 is bec we don’t have quality central midfielders.

We need people in the centre who can dictate the game and spread passes with accuracy.

Adding that, they need to be strong in the tackles and breakdown any moves the opposing teams have.

Anyone in the current squad comes to mind?? I think the only one with good potential is Anderson Da Silva....

Per Stumo
5 Posted 30/10/2007 at 09:10:50

Everyone loves to hate the 4-5-1 formation (or the 4-1-4-1 which is more like our version of it), but when you’ve got the right kind of players there is hardly anything that separates a 4-5-1 from a 4-3-3. And we’d all love to play the 4-3-3 effectively, wouldn’t we? :-)

Chris Masey
6 Posted 30/10/2007 at 13:40:48

Good point Per, I think if you have enough attacking minded players on the pitch (in our case Cahill, Arteta, Osman Pienaar and the striker) it doesn’t matter what system we play. It suits us perfectly, its not like we haven’t created chances!

The only concern I have is Yakubu’s work-rate, because I think he would be better in a 4-4-2. Oh well, feed the yak and he will score!

Per Stumo
7 Posted 30/10/2007 at 13:44:41

My thoughts exactly Chris.

Another good thing about the 4-5-1 is that it allows us to specifically assign a player to be a defensive midfielder and nothing but a defensive midfielder. This enables our full backs to go forward without having to worry quite as much about the space they leave behind them, while also offering extra protection versus counter attacks. So even though it’s in no way a perfect formation, it really is one that suits the team and most of our players quite well.

It’s also one of my favourite formations (if used correctly). After all, it was that formation that once put tiny Norway up to 2nd place on the FIFA world ranking! :-)

Allan Hobbs
8 Posted 30/10/2007 at 15:09:02

4-5-1 has served Man Utd pretty well in recent years. I seem to remember them winning something called the P...rem.....ier......somethingorother?

John Lloyd
9 Posted 30/10/2007 at 17:15:18

If Norway have ever been second in the Fifa rankings I will personally eat my own ass!!!

Brendan McLaughlin
10 Posted 30/10/2007 at 23:00:23

John Lloyd

Just googled "FIFA Norway Best Ever Ranking" & guess where they were in 1993?

Enjoy!