What formation will Adkins use next season?

[Bergen Blade]

Great, another poll, etc.. But surely this one is very relevant?

 

[Barney]

Just waiting for all the 'not another poll!' comments.

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

Great, another poll, etc.. But surely this one is very relevant?

Keep it simple . All we want is a winning formation , whatever it is .

UTB

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Flexible, I reckon. He tended to play a high tempo pressing game at Southampton, which means the formation changes, certainly it needs quick, hard working full-backs and central midfielders.

 

[Pinchy]

What formation has he preferred at previous clubs? I don't know but one or two more studious than I, will.

 

[Bladesman]

Four Four Fucking Two!

 

[blade too long]

1.1,8
all out attack

 

[alcoblade]

Clough reminded me to put very little faith in numerical formations.

What he described as three up front was one to me. He chose Coutts over JCR. That's 1 for 1 with one yvery different outcome (front to goal / back to goal etc).

It's the mentality, ability and instruction of any 1 of the 10 that matters most - not that these discussions aren't relevant or interesting.

UTB

 

[FTPE]

Heard he changes formation a lot, but saints fans say he likes utilising wingers too.

 

[SandyMcBlade]

Will he bend his players to suit a formation or bend a formation to suit his players to start with ?

 

[HighfieldBlade]

All I know is that we'll all be the 12th man.

 

[Bladebri]

Beat me to it I was going to say
442 + 20,000ish home
451 + + 8,000ish away

 

[SandyMcBlade]

The majority of his team has to be made up of players we already have so his formation could well be similar to Cloughs with more emphasis on attack.
Definitely need those C/Half's in early doors then..

 

[Bergen Blade]

Heard he changes formation a lot, but saints fans say he likes utilising wingers too.

Yes, he seems to change formations quite often, so I haven't quite found out if he has one personal preference, or if he decides from the squad he has available.


At Scunthorpe I think he preferred 4-4-2 at home, but often switched to 4-3-3 (not sure if 4-1-4-1 or 4-2-3-1 variants) for away games.



At Southampton, found this from a fan:

First season (League One promotion):

Adkins had proven to be extremely adaptable in his first season at St Marys, adopting a number of different formations over the course of the campaign (4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 were all used at some point) but more often than not he settled on using a diamond midfield.

Second season (Championship promotion):

Mostly 4-4-2 (league), wide men apparently cut inside a lot, so width came from full backs and some maintain they played a diamond a lot. For cup games they rotated a lot and played 4-2-3-1.

Third season (Premiership):

4-3-3, started the season conceding a lot of goals with a too attacking 4-2-3-1, then improved defensively with 4-1-4-1.



Reading

Started with 4-2-3-1. Kept that for the first season back in the Championship. Struggled, then tried a "back to basics" 4-4-2 which helped temporarily. Also tried 4-1-4-1, but in the end nothing seemed to work for him there.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

Great, another poll, etc.. But surely this one is very relevant?

Think 11 aside will be used most of the time

 

[BushBlade]

4411 which becomes more like a 4231 in possession. Probably Flynn and Murphy wide, Bash and Coutts (if he can get him playing, or Wallace if he can get fit) in the middle with a deeper lying striker to play off the main striker.

 

[Foxy]

My prediction is that whatever it is, a percentage of fans won't be able to correctly identify it and if we're losing, whatever it is will be wrong

 

[Sirius]

Great, another poll, etc.. But surely this one is very relevant?

Provided that the players are good enough, i would
Like to see formations change during play.

 

[sheffielder]

I think he played 442 at Scunthorpe, Keogh and Sharp were the potent partnership.
Not sure about Southampton, think it was similar until the premiership.
Didn't he play 4-2-3-1 at Reading with Blackman a wide striker?

 

[AnonymousBlade1995]

think he will alternate between 442 and 451

 

[blader]

I hope the old-guard aren't obsessing over 4-4-2 again. It's such an outdated system, which every manager has sussed out how to defend against.

None of the top sides play 4-4-2 any more, and even the majority of the best league 1 sides last year didn't play 4-4-2.

4-2-3-1 is the 'basic' formation now, and provides so much more flexibility and is conjusive to playing good, passing football. Pretty much the only top side who played 4-4-2 in League 1 last year was Preston, and that's because they are a long-ball side who play the 'big man, small/quick man' combination up front. Which is fine, and it can e successful but at a cost of good football. People who think 4-4-2 is the answer to our problems is very sadly mistaken.

 

[Esablade]

It's this one lad's UTB!

 

[Dnblade]

I think he generally goes 4-4-2 from what I've read,often in a Diamond,but changes it about during games or plays other formations like 4-2-3-1.Think he likes to get the Full Backs pushed on...I was reading one of the Reading forums,and they had mixed views..he tends to reveal quite a lot in his after match views,which I don't mind,but some might see it as rambling on a bit,
In the link below he's on about a 3-0 win at Millwall...it sounds like he played Le Fondre and Pagrebynak(what ever his name is) up top,but had Le Fondre dropping off to make up the numbers in midfield.

http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article/adkins-on-monday-030214-1337121.aspx#1dWmZkbVtqiFLtgt.99

 

[Pinchy]

Provided that the players are good enough, i would
Like to see formations change during play.

 

[blade too long]

some very tight marking there and looks to be some holding
looks like a diamond formation
Steve Quinn on far right I see

 

[Blade56]

10 up front huddle round the ball and run it into net

 

[FrankfurtBlades]

I believe 4-2-3-1, the 2 being a defensive midfielder and a box to box midfielder, while the 3 being two wide players and a attacking midfielder.

 

[Bladeloyal]

I'm sure someone once said football is a simple game ,if you can't win a game playing 442 then the players you have got ain't really good enough ,if your two banks of four can't defend change the personnel .what the most important whatever the formation ,is that the spine of the team is athletic and strong and when it needs to be have a bit of savvy

 

[RedandWhite]

I think he generally goes 4-4-2 from what I've read,often in a Diamond,but changes it about during games or plays other formations like 4-2-3-1.Think he likes to get the Full Backs pushed on...I was reading one of the Reading forums,and they had mixed views..he tends to reveal quite a lot in his after match views,which I don't mind,but some might see it as rambling on a bit,
In the link below he's on about a 3-0 win at Millwall...it sounds like he played Le Fondre and Pagrebynak(what ever his name is) up top,but had Le Fondre dropping off to make up the numbers in midfield.

http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article/adkins-on-monday-030214-1337121.aspx#1dWmZkbVtqiFLtgt.99

I've just watched the highlights of the Millwall game, and all I saw was Hoofball, I really hope that's not what is going to be done with us.

 

[Rusty view]

Surely the formation would be driven by who we are playing? I.e attacking their weaker areas / nullifying their strengths. The key being to adapt to a different formation without the need for a sub.

A simple 4-4-2, with the ability to move to 3-5-2, if we're getting mullered in the centre of the park. Equally push to 433 if we want to go for the 5-0 vicotry rather than settling for a simple 4-0.