Do you really think, our midfield, as it’s performing currently, is protecting us from losing by more goals each week? I think it’s by far our weakest link. Changing it to try and make us more potent as an attacking force, won’t necessarily translate in an decrease in defensive cover.
Better/stronger defences are much more than just increasing the numbers a formation deploys in defensive positions. Our lack of attacking threat makes us more defensively vulnerable, as teams are stepping onto us, without worrying about what’s behind them. Our lack of athleticism in the central has led to every team this season continually bypassing and penetrating any midfield cover and driving straight at our defence.
We were promoted playing a 10, and had the second best defensive record. Similar story when we won L1. Even if I agreed that removing the 10 has made us more solid (which I don’t), the detrimental impact that has had on us as an attacking force has completely wiped away any advantage we might have gained.
Absolutely, the midfield, the way the whole team is set up, the measures we've taken to be more solid, has enabled us to stay in games without being outclassed and punished (too severly - as in heavy defeats) for having player for player less quality than the opposition. The management is not perfect but I do feel they've made sure the team has had a decent chance of a result in every game so far.
We've lost some key players and I think a number of players in the squad have probably peaked. Recruitment have been difficult, and ridiculously expensive. It's been necessary to look for younger players, but they're not proven and it's not ideal to throw them in at the same time. So we're trying to get by with some players that know our style and a gradual introduction of the new ones.
We won the two promotions with a lot of players at their peak age, and at Championship level they were very good players. Coupled with a playing style that really suited them we used our momentum and rhythm from League One, but our individual players were also very good. We dominated games and had the quality to beat most of them. There was a vulnerability in our formation, but League One and Championship lacked the quality to take advantage. Duffy was also key to making it work, often switching from ACM to RCM during games.
Compared to teams in the Premiership it's a different story. Our players are not as good as most other teams. Last season though we had momentum, rhythm and confidence. We made a formation tweak that we felt was necessary and it was hugely successful. The players knew each other and their individual roles well and we knew there were stuff that we were good at. Things that other teams underestimated and failed to prepare for, failed to deal with. That changed towards the end of the season.
So before this season, we had no momentum, other teams have realised there's effective measures to deal with our unusual style and we had a mix of players that are not going to improve and some new/young ones that are trying to learn our style. Unfortunately, our individual players are still not as good as most other teams.
I think a lot of Blades fans have been overestimating our players as individuals because of the success we've had. I still think we have a chance of staying up, but it'll be tough and being defensively solid is going to be key - as it was last season. Wilder said he sacrificed the number 10 to "stay alive in games". David McGoldrick recently said it would be suicidal to play a number 10 behind two strikers.
Looking at Fulham's goal this weekend this (image below) was how we were set up. I don't mean to analyse this particular goal, but use it to illustrate the difference between the current formation and what it would look like with a midfielder sacrificed for a number 10.
Our wing backs have been pinned pack by wide players, which prevents them helping out in midfield. This happens all the time now and we are effectively turning into a 5-3-2, i.e. 3 men across midfield. At this time we're in control, our midfield is behind the ball, the man on the ball is closed down and we have cover behind him, and inside.
It's very hard to create a goal from this situation, meaning the management has done a good job in making sure we've set up solidly. From a defending's perspective, it's what we can ask them for. Don't be naive, don't set the team up in a way that's going to routinely put them in struggling situations. Let it at least take some brilliance, or/and a real mix up, or more than one individual mistake, to score against us.
In a 3-4-1-2 you allow the number 10 to be a bit more relaxed when it comes to getting behind the ball when the opposition go forward. I think we'd have more situations looking like below:
In this edited version there's effectively a two man midfield trying to protect the same defence. The man on the ball can run freely at Basham. If Norwood does manage to push across, Lundstram will be left with two opposition midfielders, with a third looking to get forward as well. Routinely we'd struggle to cover enough space in midfield and leave the defence exposed. It would take less brilliance, often just one mix up/mistake to see them get openings.
Again, I don't think it's something that's realistic for us to try at this level. We're not good enough.
