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1 hour ago, bairn88 said:

Think that's harsh, when he has any sort of confidence I think he's an effective player for us. When he's low in confidence however (like the last few months) his game goes to pot

He has pace and the ability to beat a man. What comes after that is the ability to deliver a good cross. That is why won't move onto anything better than us.

If Telfer got his act together and was more influential further up the park he would go much further than Morrison.

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44 minutes ago, 18BAIRN76 said:

When the line-up is announced tonight, the clearest thing I want to see from it that the 3 CB’s idea has been firmly booted. I really, really want Rennie to succeed, but it won’t say a lot for his judgement if he persists with something that isn’t working. Also want to see Griff, Kabia and Dowds all starting. 

I kind of understand why folk want to go to a back four but you need two fullbacks who can defend. I think it is fair to say neither of those who play there are the greatest defenders. So unless you play Dixon/ATS or Watson/MIlls there I don’t see us doing that.

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12 minutes ago, latapythelegend said:

He has pace and the ability to beat a man. What comes after that is the ability to deliver a good cross. That is why won't move onto anything better than us.

If Telfer got his act together and was more influential further up the park he would go much further than Morrison.

Folk still talking about Telfer 'potentially ' being a good player ' if he had decent players round about him ' etc etc.  He's 27 this year for gods sake. Been overran by part time players and struggles to defend. Id move him on in summer  we've seen enough.

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25 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:

I kind of understand why folk want to go to a back four but you need two fullbacks who can defend. I think it is fair to say neither of those who play there are the greatest defenders. So unless you play Dixon/ATS or Watson/MIlls there I don’t see us doing that.

Are you suggesting all 3 centre halves can defend ?

We had a back 5 on Saturday and that makes it mission impossible for the midfield.

I thought I was watching Andy Nicol on Saturday"Thou must not cross the halfway line"

We are in league 3 and if our full time full backs can't cope in a back 4 then we are in a worse state than I thought.

We may get two results tonight and Saturday playing 3 or 5 at the back but we will come a cropper playing teams above us, it's a long way from working.

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36 minutes ago, Back Post Misses said:

I kind of understand why folk want to go to a back four but you need two fullbacks who can defend. I think it is fair to say neither of those who play there are the greatest defenders. So unless you play Dixon/ATS or Watson/MIlls there I don’t see us doing that.

Agreed.

We could maybe get away with a back 4 of Williamson, Watson, Dixon and ATS with McCann played on the left of a 3 with Telfer and Jacobs (assuming we play all 3 strikers) but that then gives us Williamson, who is a poor defender and a very weak midfield, meaning that there will be less service to the front 3 overall.

I'd rather we played Mills, Watson and Dixon with Williamson and McCann in their usual roles and Kabia and Dowds up front. Jacobs and Telfer in the middle with another. Who that would be is a big question though.

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38 minutes ago, Syd Puddefoot said:

Folk still talking about Telfer 'potentially ' being a good player ' if he had decent players round about him ' etc etc.  He's 27 this year for gods sake. Been overran by part time players and struggles to defend. Id move him on in summer  we've seen enough.

Disagree, he's our most creative player but drops to within 10 yards of our centre half's every time he looks for the ball because we simply don't have the players capable of getting the ball to him further up the field. That has been clear as day for 2 years now.

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I'd be tempted to go with Williamson and ATS high as the wingbacks and use them as the out ball for the back 3, got to make sure you had a midfielder and striker close to pick up the second ball. You'd like to think that the majority of the time they would win an aerial duel with a full back/winger. 

 

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1 minute ago, Bairney The Dinosaur said:

I'd be tempted to go with Williamson and ATS high as the wingbacks and use them as the out ball for the back 3, got to make sure you had a midfielder and striker close to pick up the second ball. You'd like to think that the majority of the time they would win an aerial duel with a full back/winger. 

 

ATS instead of McCann? 

ATS looks terrified of the ball and has no pace about him whatsoever. McCann is ideal for that role if we can get the ball out to him quickly so he has the opportunity to run into space. At Alloa last week, ATS was that so slow to take a touch and find McCann out wide that by the time the ball got here, he was already on the back foot and being closed down.

If we were hypothetically to go 4 at the back. I'd much rather see McCann - Dixon - Watson - Williamson. McCann has a lot to learn at full back but with Dixon inside him and covering for when he gets caught out, i think we would be a lot more solid. Similar for Williamson and Watson on the right side. 

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35 minutes ago, MrDust said:

Are you suggesting all 3 centre halves can defend ?

We had a back 5 on Saturday and that makes it mission impossible for the midfield.

I thought I was watching Andy Nicol on Saturday"Thou must not cross the halfway line"

We are in league 3 and if our full time full backs can't cope in a back 4 then we are in a worse state than I thought.

We may get two results tonight and Saturday playing 3 or 5 at the back but we will come a cropper playing teams above us, it's a long way from working.

I am suggesting the two full backs can’t 

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32 minutes ago, ShaggerG said:

Agreed.

We could maybe get away with a back 4 of Williamson, Watson, Dixon and ATS with McCann played on the left of a 3 with Telfer and Jacobs (assuming we play all 3 strikers) but that then gives us Williamson, who is a poor defender and a very weak midfield, meaning that there will be less service to the front 3 overall.

I'd rather we played Mills, Watson and Dixon with Williamson and McCann in their usual roles and Kabia and Dowds up front. Jacobs and Telfer in the middle with another. Who that would be is a big question though.

I want to see all three strikers playing 

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Having 5 at the back with the 2 wing backs is perfectly feasible if they actually could defend when we dont have possession. Effectively it turns into a back 4 and a middle 4 dependent on what side of the pitch the play is on. The problem with our lot is that they are continually thinking either as a defender (both useless) or an attacker (both reasonable). However, they dont have the guile to understand how the play is progressing, ultimately being out of position half the time. Essentially we play as a 5-3-2 or 3-3-5 formation.

Our big issue in reality is the midfield. Made up of midgets and no real "Baptie" type player to mix it when it comes to to the rough and tumble. The number of second balls won by the opposing team and space given to them as we track back (slowly) is ridiculous. This is the real area of concern as it effects both forwards and defence, as there is no real ball winner in there or a link between back to front. 

On that basis and with the players we have, I would go for a 4-4-2 to try and shore up the middle. Nothing fancy, just get the job done.  A diamond in the middle with either Kabia or Dowds supporting the front 2, Telfer on one side of the diamond and A.N.Other on the other side. The last point of the diamond in front of defence is where we need someone half decent that we currently don't have.

I think with that we would give the other teams defences something to consider and they wouldnt push up so high on us, due to the possibility of Kabia getting in behind with his pace. 

My only concern is that our defence like to throw the ball in the net with hoofs over the top !

In saying that, I think MR will stick with the formation he has used in past weeks. It's OK against teams who like to sit back and allow us to play, but absolutley useless against teams who have figured out how crap we are.

Edited by Zbairn
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53 minutes ago, latapythelegend said:

ATS instead of McCann? 

ATS looks terrified of the ball and has no pace about him whatsoever. McCann is ideal for that role if we can get the ball out to him quickly so he has the opportunity to run into space. At Alloa last week, ATS was that so slow to take a touch and find McCann out wide that by the time the ball got here, he was already on the back foot and being closed down. 

McCann is the better player absolutely no doubt about that and if we were a team always playing on the front foot I'd prefer him in there. My thinking is right now we are really struggling if a team has any sort of competent press and we need to have more reliable outballs. 

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1 hour ago, latapythelegend said:

ATS instead of McCann? 

ATS looks terrified of the ball and has no pace about him whatsoever. McCann is ideal for that role if we can get the ball out to him quickly so he has the opportunity to run into space. At Alloa last week, ATS was that so slow to take a touch and find McCann out wide that by the time the ball got here, he was already on the back foot and being closed down.

If we were hypothetically to go 4 at the back. I'd much rather see McCann - Dixon - Watson - Williamson. McCann has a lot to learn at full back but with Dixon inside him and covering for when he gets caught out, i think we would be a lot more solid. Similar for Williamson and Watson on the right side. 

Aye, I said that at the time. He had the ball in space, with McCann totally open to his left, yet he wasted several seconds looking for other options before inevitably giving it to McCann who, as you say, was being closed down by that point.

Must have happened 5 or 6 times.

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FWIW, Ryan Williamson always played right back for us in a back 4 and was perfectly adequate defensively, even in the Championship. Indeed many Pars fans thought he was better there than as a wingback or right midfielder, since running from deep let him get a run on the left back when providing an overlap.

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10 minutes ago, Salvo Montalbano said:

FWIW, Ryan Williamson always played right back for us in a back 4 and was perfectly adequate defensively, even in the Championship. Indeed many Pars fans thought he was better there than as a wingback or right midfielder, since running from deep let him get a run on the left back when providing an overlap.

Not sure where this opinion that he is no use as a full back originated as he has always played as a wingback with us.

I would think he should be more than able to play a more defensive role.

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16 minutes ago, Sarcastic Bairn said:

I can see a four working, it just needs to be a different four that he’s playing just now in  that back line eg Dixon back in there.

Think I’m on my own with I don’t think 3 up front can work for us though with the midfield we have.

 

I think a front 3 would work if they are given the freedom to do their own thing. The problem is getting ball to them. 

Allowing Dowds, Kabia and Griffiths loose to play to their own strengths and comforts will give us some reward. Dowds can receive and hold the ball up well and with Griffiths and Kabia making their own space will get goals. Just allow them the freedom to do it themselves.

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FWIW, Ryan Williamson always played right back for us in a back 4 and was perfectly adequate defensively, even in the Championship. Indeed many Pars fans thought he was better there than as a wingback or right midfielder, since running from deep let him get a run on the left back when providing an overlap.

I made a similar comment a few weeks ago that Williamson is far more effective as a right back than a right wing back. He looks very uncomfortable playing wing-back, his positioning is all over the place and he doesn’t get forward anywhere near as much or as effectively as he does when played in a 4.
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