Mourinho's preferred formation

[Claud601]

 

[ChrissyWaddleShares]

GLC good as DM today when needed. He’s a very good player indeed.

 

[Tomo]

Winks has the passing range to play DM easily but it’s the positional that’s is the issue. He sometimes gets attracted to the ball or just generally flys out to confront leaving a gap. If he is to play that role he needs to learn when to come out and when to drop off more.

When Carrick played for us in the early days he was like Winks, lovely passer but positionally all over the shop without the ball, he used to drive England fans nuts at the lack of protection he gave during national games.

Then after going to United he started to develop a great positional sense and became a sort of English Busquets. Winks has a lovely passing range and great mobility but it takes a lot of work to get the positional and without the positional you can’t play DM as well as needed.

 

[deadleyledley]

I don't think you can have Ndombele and Lo Celso playing DM.

We'd get run over

 

[reachingforthestars]

Any educated guesses about our set up going forward?

The man quite stubbornly set us up in a 5-2-3 in the last 2 games despite the early signs against Burnley, and the formation change at half time.

The allegedly prefered formation by Mourinho is 4-2-3-1, which also looked to work in the early days. Since then we've been figured out, the "new manager bounce" wore off and the rebirth of Dele Alli has become an urban myth.

I would prefer a 4-3-3 as I feel it would complement our current squad in the best manner. Wouldn't suit Dele in particular, but he would have to adapt or be a super sub. No more 5atb for me please. The extra defender doesn't seem to up the quality of our defending.

 

[ShutUpPatrik]

All of his best teams played 4-3-3 with a brute up front and goal scoring wide forwards. If we can give him the tools for that formation I think he will do well for us. Those wide players are hard to come by though. We have Son who is perfect but finding another will be tough. I rate Lucas but he isn’t that type of player, more of a traditional winger

Perhaps most important is the DM though, his successful teams all had amazing players there, Makelele, Matic etc

I assume that Bergwijn was bought with him being that other winger in mind.

 

[MouraThat]

Surely our best formation is a 4-3-3
Lo Celso DM Ndombele as a 3 and Then Son , Bergwijn/Moura and Kane upfront

 

[Blanchflower]

My 2 cents:

Mourinho is manager who has a clear formation and style of play in mind. While he may compromise in the short term, he will keep working towards transforming his squad into what he wants. Thus, Mourinho is more suited to big clubs where he can acquire the players he needs/wants. I think Mourinho is good in identifying the needs of his team, but has questionable judgment on transfer targets and their valuations.

Mourinho is very good coaching the defensive and organizational side but less so on the offensive side. He can make average defenders look solid, but his teams attack depends heavily on the talent and creativity of the players at his disposal.

His base formation (>70% of matches) is a modified 4-2-3-1 (LWF/RWF on one side with RM/LM on the other, and an advanced CM instead of a true #10 or trequartista), while his backup formation is 4-3-3. Key difference is that he swaps a box2box midfielder in exchange for one of the four attacking players. Essentially 4-2-3-1 if he expects to dominate the game and 4-3-3 when he wants to pack the midfield and rely more on counter attacking. The most he has come close to having his ideal squad was at real madrid.

In terms of specific roles and players:

GK- beyond shot stopping ability, ability to control the box against crosses and kick accurate long ball. Cech was probably his best fit. Lloris is ok but at 34, he is probably needing replacement soon.

CBs - Physically and aerially dominant, both offensively and defensively. Needs at least one of them to have great pace to recover when playing a highline and one has the ability to bring the ball out of the defence. Mourinho has had a lot of great CB pairings (Ramos+Pepe/Varane, Lucio+Samuel, Terry+Carvalho). Unfortunately, the current options fall short and its probably one of his targets for the summer. Prime Toby would have been a good fit.

RB/LB - solid defensively but able to get forward and provide width for the attack. Should have good height for set pieces. Zanetti is prime example. Reguilon is a good fit (though a bit light on the physical side) but think Madrid will likely buy him back. Aurier and Doherty are good on paper but neither has been convincing. Aurier would be a good fit if he could improve his delivery and stop having brain farts. Doherty might deliver if he could keep himself in the lineup long enough to get in form.

DM+CM (dual pivot) - Apart from their defensive duties in shielding the defence, he requires one of them to be a metronome i.e. playmaker who can dictate the pace of the game, and one of them must be able to join the attack/get into the box. So it could be a DLP+ B2B or a pure DM+ playmaker CM. At madrid, Alonso was the DLP while Khedira was B2B. Currently Hojbjerg is the DM and Winks the CM. Hojbjerg is a good fit but Winks is not good enough for his role both defensively and offensively. Lo Celso doesnt have the range and vision but may be a better option than Winks

*B2B (2nd CM for the 4-3-3) - high work rate, physical CM, capable of man-marking a star player. It was lassana diara at Madrid. Sissoko fits the role almost perfectly

AM - Mourinho himself describes his ideal player as not a #8 and not a #10 but a #8.5. Essentiallly a CM with great creativity in the final 3rd (able to provide the defence splitting pass). Sneijder is probably the best he has had, while the current De Bruyne would also fit the bill. Ndombele and Lo Celso are the current choices, with the former being ahead.

RM/LM - Expected to be more of a midfielder/winger (like in a 4-4-2) than a forward i.e. more assists than goals, and helps with creativity in the midfield. Di Maria is probably the best example. Bergwin seems to top the list currently but he is not really the right fit. Lo Celso doesnt have the pace and is more suited centrally but might be the short term fix.

LWF/RWF - Expected to be more of a second striker that gets a lot of goals. CR is the archetype, but Son is a very good fit.

CF - physical, comfortable playing his back to goal, great hold-up play and clinical. I think Kane and Ibrahimovic are the best he has had. He can have no complaints (no coach can)

Kane doesn't play like that anymore though, and any tactic has to accommodate him, he's dropping back into the AM role.

This means we only have Son making runs beyond the opposition defence, its too easy to defend against.

We need to play either a 433 or 523 with the front 3 looking like
........Kane
Xxx...........Son

 

[Blanchflower]

But according to Mourinho Alli is the childish one who can't accept criticism

 

[Chelmsford Spurs]

As much as I hated the diamond under poch I actually think we are well suited to playing it now with hoijberg, ndombele sissoko and lo celso in the diamond, reggie and aurier providing the width and kane and son up top

 

[deadleyledley]

Now that the window has closed. How are we thinking JM will setup if everyone was fit.

Traditionally 4231 has been the best formation for us.

More and more now I am seeing 433 being played.

I think a team like this is what JM would like

Lloris
Aurier Alde Jan Davies
Dele Ndombele Lo Celso
Bergwijn Kane Son

Personally that team is too attacking.

I'd like to see a 4141

Lloris
Aurier Alde Jan Davies
Dier
Bergwijn Ndombele Lo Celso Son
Kane

But we will have to massively upgrade at DM to do it.

 

[Ciro]

Mourinho said yesterday that he sees Winks as Tottenham future CDM. And Winks is changing his game after Mou. I like the prospect.

 

[Tomo]

I tend to think right now Mourinho has little option but to train Winks for the number 6 and Dele for the striker role if he wants a target man, we are quite limited there.

 

[Ciro]

Winks has the passing range to play DM easily but it’s the positional that’s is the issue. He sometimes gets attracted to the ball or just generally flys out to confront leaving a gap. If he is to play that role he needs to learn when to come out and when to drop off more.

When Carrick played for us in the early days he was like Winks, lovely passer but positionally all over the shop without the ball, he used to drive England fans nuts at the lack of protection he gave during national games.

Then after going to United he started to develop a great positional sense and became a sort of English Busquets. Winks has a lovely passing range and great mobility but it takes a lot of work to get the positional and without the positional you can’t play DM as well as needed.

I agree with everything you said. Just saying it could work.
Also, it´s better than the idea of not knowing who to stick with for the number 6 role: him or Dier. Jose clearly made his choice, witch will affect the way we play - starting now.

 

[Tomo]

[FORMATION=4231,Lloris,Aurier,Toby,Sanchez,Tanganga,Winks,Lo Celso,Lucas,Ndombele,Bergwijn,Son][/FORMATION]

Think the Winks-Lo Celso combo really works. Ndombele is such a talent but maybe he’d be better further forward, he will never give the greatest defensive contribution but his skill level is insane and he can pick the lock of opposition teams.

I used to think Lo Celso would be forward and Ndombele deeper but maybe not. Only issue for me is Lucas and Lamela, both seem best off the bench so I guess revolve between them.

 

[VoiceOfThePoshSeats]

[FORMATION=4231,Lloris,Aurier,Toby,Sanchez,Tanganga,Winks,Lo Celso,Lucas,Ndombele,Bergwijn,Son][/FORMATION]

Think the Winks-Lo Celso combo really works. Ndombele is such a talent but maybe he’d be better further forward, he will never give the greatest defensive contribution but his skill level is insane and he can pick the lock of opposition teams.

I used to think Lo Celso would be forward and Ndombele deeper but maybe not. Only issue for me is Lucas and Lamela, both seem best off the bench so I guess revolve between them.

Good as it gets at the moment.

We need a winks upgrade in the shape of the new Carrick/Modric. And a LB, then shift Tanganga inside.

 

[skywalker68]

I'm not sure.

Today was amazing, but once the buzz wears off, I think we'll have to admit that we got away with one today. Winks runs his absolute bollocks off, but I don't think he has anything near what it takes to play in a 2. Looked better in the second half, but they were down to 10.

Great to see him bringing the ball out, but I just don't think he's big enough for that role.

Winks was exceptional today as was the calming influence of Hugo but we badly need a DM.

 

[Steve73]

I'd play Alli up top and play Lucas/Lam/Berg/Son wide (2/4) until Kane is back.

Drop Ndom in with Winks and Lo Celsius...Fernandes if any of them are unfit or need resting.

 

[Airfixx]

[FORMATION=4231,Lloris,Aurier,Toby,Sanchez,Tanganga,Winks,Lo Celso,Lucas,Ndombele,Bergwijn,Son][/FORMATION]

Think the Winks-Lo Celso combo really works. Ndombele is such a talent but maybe he’d be better further forward, he will never give the greatest defensive contribution but his skill level is insane and he can pick the lock of opposition teams.

I used to think Lo Celso would be forward and Ndombele deeper but maybe not. Only issue for me is Lucas and Lamela, both seem best off the bench so I guess revolve between them.

Agreed about Ndombele....

Back 4
GLC / DM / Ndombele
RW / Kane / LW

or

Back 4
DM / GLC
RW / Ndombele / LW
Kane
​

......I'd prefer the 433

I think Tanguy struggles with 90 minutes and will this season. It wouldn't surprise me to see him continue as a bench option but the class is there for all to see.

I'm cool with that... Perhaps give him the first hour vs Saints on Wednesday and build him up bit by bit.

 

[Coops40]

When we had Dembele and Wanyama, 4-2-3-1 was a great formation for us.