After playing the last friendly match for the team, I was just wondering what is the best formation for the team. Below are my views on this. Please feel free to agree/diagree and maybe give your own views.

I personally feel that 4-4-2 suits the team better. Reason being, its a more balanced set up and we have 2 striokers who can defend from the front and also be a focal point of attack. Rather than leaving a lone man upfront which can be frustrating for him (no support) and the rest (unable to make a decent attack). That said, it all depends on opponent. What I think we lack is a midfield hardman and a big target man, someone who can hold the ball up.

I totally agree wit the big targetman part who can hold up the ball. I often see our team just pumping balls over the defence for our striker to chase. Personally i feel that a targetman can hold the ball and bring others(wingers,centre or even a through ball for a fellow striker) into play rather than just pumping long ball over.

my stand is 4-5-1....

simply becoz almost all the time....it's our midfield are being overrun..... perhap 1 of the mid play as AM....tat will be gd....

defence wise....general...it's okay.....

I understand the part wanting 5 man midfield to prevent our engine room from being over run but that also leaves the striker isolated on his own upfront. A 2 man strike force can stretch the opposition defence slightly allowing the midfield to go into spaces created by the two strikers. Plus 4 midfielders is more balanced in my opinion. 5 man midfield works wonders if the midfielders can switch from defend to attack mode swiftly and effectively. Otherwise, it will be the same frustrating session for the lone striker.  

hmmmm well i think both have their advantage and disadvantage.Just have to see which formation suits us best. If u say the midfield is being overrunned then you have to also find out why. Is our midfield not keeping possession enough or simply chasing after the ball  too many times or lack of players to pass to?

Man utd and Chelsea plays a 4-4-2 with composed players like scholes or lampard to distribute balls to the wings or straight to strikers like berbatov/drogba/rooney/anelka. They dont seem overrunned in fact because rooney or anelka drops deep at times.

Whereas Barcelona and Arsenal plays a 4-5-1 when it comes to defence but a 4-3-3 when it attacks. Midfield domination in the middle with players with superb technical skills like fabraegas/xavi/inesta/busquests/denilson/song. So you often see these three CM often playing in the middle among themselves and suddenly split opposition defence wit a through ball to the wingers running thru the center(messi/arshavin are very gd examples)

So it really depends what kind of players you have in the team. Do we have a drogba/berbatov player type of mould? Do we have a fabragas or xavi? How abt a messi or nani? well,end of the day its up to the coach really. Just listen 100% and try not to doubt your coach.we all have our own opinions true but sometimes the way we see it is not the same as how others would see it.

Not saying we cant have our opinion sounded out,no harm in doing that and mayb others get to learn smth too.

 Being the lone striker in many of the aformentioned situations, I think the main problem is the lack of vision. I have noticed often times that when we attack, we are very narrow-minded. Example would be if we win the ball down the left flank, more often than not we will try to build the attack down the left. Very rarely do we actually pass the ball from one flank to another. Our attacking mostly consists of balls down the flank for runners to chase. What we need is some variation, one-twos in the middle etc.

That being said, another problem is the lack of quality finishing. This is more directed at myself than towards anyone else, as in the last couple of matches I just haven't been finishing anywhere near my capablilities. Unfortunately when we play at bukit merah, our time is limited to just 2 hours, so we cannot afford to dedicate too much time to drills, so it is down to the players themselves to practice on their own if they can. 

Don't know if anyone is keen or not, but there are a few free to play fields around singapore that we can use to conduct drills on off days, or even just head over to Gan Eng Seng sec before or after training to work on some drills. Again, it all comes down to player commitment. Playing practise matches can against the same opponents week in week out can only get you so far.

Allow me to corrrect we do not squeeze 5 players in midfield. The favour formation has been 4-2-3-1.

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Originally posted by Lione Yeo:
 Being the lone striker in many of the aformentioned situations, I think the main problem is the lack of vision. I have noticed often times that when we attack, we are very narrow-minded. Example would be if we win the ball down the left flank, more often than not we will try to build the attack down the left. Very rarely do we actually pass the ball from one flank to another. Our attacking mostly consists of balls down the flank for runners to chase. What we need is some variation, one-twos in the middle etc.

That being said, another problem is the lack of quality finishing. This is more directed at myself than towards anyone else, as in the last couple of matches I just haven't been finishing anywhere near my capablilities. Unfortunately when we play at bukit merah, our time is limited to just 2 hours, so we cannot afford to dedicate too much time to drills, so it is down to the players themselves to practice on their own if they can. 

Don't know if anyone is keen or not, but there are a few free to play fields around singapore that we can use to conduct drills on off days, or even just head over to Gan Eng Seng sec before or after training to work on some drills. Again, it all comes down to player commitment. Playing practise matches can against the same opponents week in week out can only get you so far.

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i agree! don't keep focusing on the left side....=) the team should spread the plays equally among and across the middle of the park.....

i know myself too well......i ain't tat type of creativity player who could do wonders like cristiano rooooonaldooooo............at times my brain will freeze out of ideas.....
i only works at best when my teammates send in thru passes for me to run & cut......for myself...i kinda know wat are my weakness and strengths( though i would't want to list out my weakness here) HAHA!......
where many times myself as a left winger...by right i should be supplying all the passes and crosses in for the strikers......anyway...i think tat the duty of both side wingers....
which i felt i didn't really did quite a gd job for recent games.....at times i felt suffocated & lost for ideas.......
i understand the needs for a winger to supply in.......but the winger also have their own "needs" coming in from their teammates......
all in all.....it's a 2-way thing to really create an impact.......  

tat why...recent training....i would let whoever want to give left wing a try a go...and i will take up other position......i believe by trying out different roles could help us to have better understand......
 and also believe everyone else should be given a chance to play left wing....not only me.....=)
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Pumping balls up front isn't always seen as a lost cause. Having strong runners has always been our forte and we should always make full use of it. One way of this strat is to have the striker choosing where to run when possesion are with the midfielders. A FW staying in the center normally hasn't much chance vs 2 CB...however if the FW is able to pick a weaker side or off the shoulder of a stray up front LB or RB for the Midfield to pump towards and hold the ball..it allows our strong runners to get into far more better positions up front. It is an exhausting strat, but if we have the strong running midfield (in which we absouletly do), oppenents more often than not cannot tahan till 2nd half to cope with the running. It creates a situation where 4 midfielders can shoot vs 1 FW.

Not every team has a scholes or zidane to dicate play. Play to our strengths and it still is a strong strat.

 <--- Scholes. 

I personally suggest a 4-3-1-2 if u guys dont mind me being extra.Normallly when u guys play , the mid-field always seem to lack something .Its lke nobody in mid-field.My formation just suggest tat there is a fair amount of mid-field and 1 center forward which can support the mid-field and the strikers.

Given a choice i would rather keep the ball on the ground cos long ball forward are easy to defend against if the defenders are good enough. It is also exhausting for the wingers & forward to chase after a lost cause if the long ball are clear away easily by the defenders. However of cos if we're facing weaker opponent who couldn't handle long ball into the area...why not? By all means turn it into our advantage.

Main problem i felt and still feels is....our mindset is too direct. Meaning once we have the ball...we only thought of moving the ball forward fast, launching attack immediately. I mean if its a counter- attacking scenario i can understand but no...it happens always. Even if theres a brick wall in front...some of us will still try to blindly bulldoze thru instead of checking back, move the ball around, bring teammates into play to support. As a result, procession was lost unnecessarily, energy wasted, everyone chasing around aimlessly. We should let the opponent chase around aimlessly...not the other way round..so in that sense..we don't need to rush an attack...we need more control and this control can't work with just one player holding the ball no matter how highly skilled he is. The ball needs to circulated around among the team...esp so when danger is approaching the player in procession of the ball.

Until we managed to do that. No matter what formation used is pointless. Guess i'm the sort who don't believe in a so called "best formation". The play needs to evolve, formations and tactics needs to be changed and adjusted during the course of the game, opponent faced and according to the situation. What works against 1 opponent might not work against another and also.

Whats important is we learn to keep the ball and learn to move as a team...thats the basic and if we manage to do that...we can handle and switch into different formations comfortably. Our mindset must be that the ball is so precious that we should not lose it so easily....if anyone wants the ball from us...we better make sure they work damn hard for it. Even if we doesn't manage to score or win the match...at least we have the procession...the opponent can't score either without the ball....but at least we've made them run around so much that they foamed in their mouth and collapse after the game. Sometimes...even if you don't score in a match..u can still have fun...of cos scoring is a bonus...but making the opponent suffer during the game is also not that bad..

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Originally posted by David Tan:
Given a choice i would rather keep the ball on the ground cos long ball forward are easy to defend against if the defenders are good enough. It is also exhausting for the wingers & forward to chase after a lost cause if the long ball are clear away easily by the defenders. However of cos if we're facing weaker opponent who couldn't handle long ball into the area...why not? By all means turn it into our advantage.

Main problem i felt and still feels is....our mindset is too direct. Meaning once we have the ball...we only thought of moving the ball forward fast, launching attack immediately. I mean if its a counter- attacking scenario i can understand but no...it happens always. Even if theres a brick wall in front...some of us will still try to blindly bulldoze thru instead of checking back, move the ball around, bring teammates into play to support. As a result, procession was lost unnecessarily, energy wasted, everyone chasing around aimlessly. We should let the opponent chase around aimlessly...not the other way round..so in that sense..we don't need to rush an attack...we need more control and this control can't work with just one player holding the ball no matter how highly skilled he is. The ball needs to circulated around among the team...esp so when danger is approaching the player in procession of the ball.

Until we managed to do that. No matter what formation used is pointless. Guess i'm the sort who don't believe in a so called "best formation". The play needs to evolve, formations and tactics needs to be changed and adjusted during the course of the game, opponent faced and according to the situation. What works against 1 opponent might not work against another and also.

Whats important is we learn to keep the ball and learn to move as a team...thats the basic and if we manage to do that...we can handle and switch into different formations comfortably. Our mindset must be that the ball is so precious that we should not lose it so easily....if anyone wants the ball from us...we better make sure they work damn hard for it. Even if we doesn't manage to score or win the match...at least we have the procession...the opponent can't score either without the ball....but at least we've made them run around so much that they foamed in their mouth and collapse after the game. Sometimes...even if you don't score in a match..u can still have fun...of cos scoring is a bonus...but making the opponent suffer during the game is also not that bad..

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Originally posted by Ting Fu:

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Originally posted by David Tan:
Given a choice i would rather keep the ball on the ground cos long ball forward are easy to defend against if the defenders are good enough. It is also exhausting for the wingers & forward to chase after a lost cause if the long ball are clear away easily by the defenders. However of cos if we're facing weaker opponent who couldn't handle long ball into the area...why not? By all means turn it into our advantage.

Main problem i felt and still feels is....our mindset is too direct. Meaning once we have the ball...we only thought of moving the ball forward fast, launching attack immediately. I mean if its a counter- attacking scenario i can understand but no...it happens always. Even if theres a brick wall in front...some of us will still try to blindly bulldoze thru instead of checking back, move the ball around, bring teammates into play to support. As a result, procession was lost unnecessarily, energy wasted, everyone chasing around aimlessly. We should let the opponent chase around aimlessly...not the other way round..so in that sense..we don't need to rush an attack...we need more control and this control can't work with just one player holding the ball no matter how highly skilled he is. The ball needs to circulated around among the team...esp so when danger is approaching the player in procession of the ball.

Until we managed to do that. No matter what formation used is pointless. Guess i'm the sort who don't believe in a so called "best formation". The play needs to evolve, formations and tactics needs to be changed and adjusted during the course of the game, opponent faced and according to the situation. What works against 1 opponent might not work against another and also.

Whats important is we learn to keep the ball and learn to move as a team...thats the basic and if we manage to do that...we can handle and switch into different formations comfortably. Our mindset must be that the ball is so precious that we should not lose it so easily....if anyone wants the ball from us...we better make sure they work damn hard for it. Even if we doesn't manage to score or win the match...at least we have the procession...the opponent can't score either without the ball....but at least we've made them run around so much that they foamed in their mouth and collapse after the game. Sometimes...even if you don't score in a match..u can still have fun...of cos scoring is a bonus...but making the opponent suffer during the game is also not that bad..

agree agree for me i still got alot of thing to learn n importantly to improve my steminal n my skill i dun like long ball, i like short passes but must be fast n accurate n i like 4-3-3 as mid really nd to be very gd as like fabregas as a gd playmaker a gd passes n a gd shooter n even score goals so maybe we shld work on our mid

food for thoughts....

learned something today......

no matter wat formation we say is useless.....coz we don't have the skills to execute the strategy out......

learning, watching or reading online stuffs will only teaches us so much.....wat we really need....is someone to find our mistake & correct it......
(e.g) like how i learned to swim freestyle.....by just watching youtube, going to pool....dive deep looking around for other swimmer who swim using freestyle.....yes...i eventually learned how to swim.....oh well...at least quite decent.....but i was never fast....in fact till now....my strokes are still actually wrong...but then i can still swim.....tat the thing! there's no one to spot my mistake and correct them.....so till now...my swim became stagnant.... 

also...it's a fact tat the older we gets...the harder for us to learn a new skill......agree=)? at my age of 24......i already finding it hard to absorb new skills......i truly understand... we all want to learn the correct stuffs too.....everybody wants....but everyone of us has our own limits.....
it's about maximuming our own limits....making full use of wat our own body can do.....

everyone of us...will have some basic skills......but do we acutally know tat the skills are acutally correct?

do we, ourself know wat type of energy system do our own body use when we play our games/sports? this is important.....as this determine how well we will excel in tat sport.....

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Originally posted by Ting Fu:

....it's a fact tat the older we gets...the harder for us to learn a new skill......agree=)? at my age of 24......i already finding it hard to absorb new skills......i truly understand... we all want to learn the correct stuffs too.....everybody wants....but everyone of us has our own limits.....
it's about maximuming our own limits....making full use of wat our own body can do.....

everyone of us...will have some basic skills......but do we acutally know tat the skills are acutally correct?

do we, ourself know wat type of energy system do our own body use when we play our games/sports? this is important.....as this determine how well we will excel in tat sport.....

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Firstly, I might be a loud mouth on the field...and i know my temper sometimes get myself into bad books of referees, opponents and even teammates. But similarly, my passion for football - The Beautiful Game, never seem to cease, no matter much i try to lay off.

So, let's talk football...

Tingfu has brought up very important points. But what do you mean by "energy system"? If you are referring to stamina and speed; Yes, of course we'll need both. We need to moderate our "style of play" according to our stamina & speed, and this is in relative to your opponents and teammates too. As an individual, one might be fast enough to beat one marker, but the rest of your teammates may not be able to keep up. Hence, the entire team needs to play at the same/similar level & pace because it's a team sport. But a sparkle is always welcomed in any team.

Speed; quoting Ryan Giggs (from Manchester United) - "there's general speed and"Explosive Speed!" There's the "burst of speed" when we skip past a defender, which we only require to beat him by half a second and 1 yard of space to make a good pass or shot. We don't always need to outsprint him by a mile. We need to know what speed we have in relative to the opposing member or team.

Using Giggs and Scholes as examples, we can see how they adapt their playing styles and strengths in their same positions for MUFC. Especially, Giggs who still gives the defenders plentiful trouble with his wit & excellent balance, but let Evra's overlapping run compensate for the winger's by-line tactics. On the other hand, Scholes has sat deeper and influenced the team with his patience and accurate ranged passing/shooting.

SKILLS
It is difficult to breakdown what are the different aspects of it, and personally, i think everything goes hand-in-hand.

1) Control (receiving the ball)
Do not underestimate this basic!  You can't play the ball if you can't receive the ball properly.
Low pass - we need to receive the ball at different speeds and sometimes a little off target. A slightly unfocused player may end up stepping/tripping on the ball and loose the possession to your opponent easily.
We also have to know where the nearby players (teammates & opponents) are, so that we can receive (stop/control) the ball safely, swiftly and to our stronger side for the next pass. Not stopping the ball behind our striding step, but generally about 45 deg & half a stride to our right for a right-footer.

High ball - a suitably weighted high pass even at various heights can make a difference to whether the recipient can bring it under control effectively with a single touch. Secondly, the recipient needs to understand that under control means you have to "cushion" the ball and swiftly prepare for an oncoming tackle or the next pass. Tips - start with using the upper thigh (near where it joins the crotch) for cushioning high looping passes. The area is relatively soft and large enough to contact the ball without bouncing off, and if it does it usually bounces off and hits your stomach gently and still drop to your feet. This is most effective when you don't have to stretch to receive the high pass, but you can take short steps back or forth based on your judgement of the flight of the pass. Sidetrack: Control is about coordinating your eyes and moving your body, and thinking quick.

Next easier part of body to muster is using the instep to control a hard & swerving pass. The posture is liken playing chatek or sepak takraw, where you bend your receiving leg at the knee and keeping the standing leg firmly balanced. Use the inside/instep of the boot (the soft area just below the ankle bone) to cushion the ball. Relax your receiving leg, position the contact area of your foot almost perpendicular to the incoming flight(trajectory) of the ball. I said "almost perpendicular" because it depends on the spin/flight/pace of the ball and how/where you wish to 'drop' the ball around you. Do not lock the receiving leg or contact area, let it catch the ball gently and not try to stop it abruptly.

The more difficult variation is to use the top part of the foot because the contact area is hard and slim, hence a slight mis-alignment of your touch will mis-control the ball. You can either use the 'valley' where the toes join the rest of the foot, or, arch your foot slightly and utilise the entire top of the foot. This variation is exceptionally important to strikers or attacking roles where the incoming high pass often comes from behind you while trying to beat the defence line, and you'll need to bring the ball under control swiftly without breaking your stride. Also, this technique can easily control the ball down and turn the marker (if he is behind you) at the same instance - without revealing your intented direction to turn or advance.

Once, you have grasped the idea of cushioning the ball into AND without breaking your stride, you will be able to control the incoming pass with any part of your body and in any situation. However, you need to tune your body balance to be able to control the ball well - while receiving the ball or moving & dribbling with the ball.

I wish to stress again the importance of Control...bcos Power is nothing without Control

good post from Joesph...  I especially like this section of his post:

" We need to moderate our "style of play" according to our stamina & speed, and this is in relative to your opponents and teammates too. As an individual, one might be fast enough to beat one marker, but the rest of your teammates may not be able to keep up. Hence, the entire team needs to play at the same/similar level & pace because it's a team sport. But a sparkle is always welcomed in any team. "

Besides improving individual's attributes, it is important to remember to play and support each other as a team. One example is yesterday's Barcelone vs Real Madrid's game. How the hell did Barcelona win by such a big margin? The difference between the 2 teams is the level of TEAMWORK.

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Originally posted by Jason Hee:

good post from Joesph...  I especially like this section of his post:

" We need to moderate our "style of play" according to our stamina & speed, and this is in relative to your opponents and teammates too. As an individual, one might be fast enough to beat one marker, but the rest of your teammates may not be able to keep up. Hence, the entire team needs to play at the same/similar level & pace because it's a team sport. But a sparkle is always welcomed in any team. "

Besides improving individual's attributes, it is important to remember to play and support each other as a team. One example is yesterday's Barcelone vs Real Madrid's game. How the hell did Barcelona win by such a big margin? The difference between the 2 teams is the level of TEAMWORK.

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Thank you Jason for your comments. At least i know our postings are read and whether it's helpful or not when somebody replies to the posting.
Guys, please give your feedback - positive or otherwise - so that we know the effort to share is being reciprocated.
I hope the Beatlehood can share their views, knowledge and maybe even their techniques so others may be able to benefit from you.
Especially the tangible knowledge that books or videos don't TEACH you. You may own the recipe, but you may not be able to master the dish!