What a nicely written piece. I can see that boy staying a long time and becoming a bit of a hero. especially if he keeps scoring
The comment on the 3-5-2 and the fact that the Udine players are familiar with it is interesting. I think it's no news to any of us that our form improved after we changed to that formation. It would appear that familiarity worked to our benefit with only a few players familiar with the system (primarily Vydra, Forestieri, Abdi, Pudil). Once all of our squad are familiar with the formation and each other, I think we could be rather frightening to play against.
thanks guys, was just interested because when (being optimistic) we go up i was wondering how many teams we'd be simular to. I think if you get the correct players to play the roles it can be a deadly system Vs everyone.
Interesting that Leeds played 3-5-2 on Saturday. Not sure if they have done this in previous games but its always a good sign when teams (especially home teams) change their tactics to try and match yours.
Good shout, used it in the latter stages v Everton too. 3 at the back is uses by plenty of strictly possession-based sides/ managers. Guardiola, Tito, Martinez, Rodgers, Mancini.
And the article it wa taken from. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1391041-4-2-3-1-is-the-new-normal-but-is-serie-as-3-5-2-the-antidote
Almen Abdi's thoughts... I've been reading Almen Abdi's blog for the past 3 weeks now. And, to be fair, it makes for good reading.... http://www.almenabdi.com/en/#/news
That's not Abdi writing the reports, that'll be his management company. He does write his own piece every 6 weeks or so though.
So Abdi was born in Kosovo, which was part of Yugoslavia before the break up. Yugoslavia used to be quite a strong footballing nation before the breakup, which goes a long way to explaining why he is such a good player, as Switzerland has never really been a hot bed of footballing talent.
Abdi I'm definitely not a regular starter of debate here, but just a thought. Of all of our players for the remaining games, the one player I feel we cannot afford to be without for the majority of these games is Abdi. He is key to what we do under GFZ, and is a class above the Championship. That is all Much love
We coped without him for a bit when he dislocated his shoulder, and although he is a massive miss I think we would still perform well without him, aslong as Chalobah and Battocchio are fit
I reckon a midfield of Chalobah, Battochio and Forestieri would suffice. Abdi is the better player I just think his replacements are better than Chalobah's replacements.
C+P from Official Site: -“Nathaniel Chalobah should be available, but unfortunately Almen Abdi won’t be ready for Barnsley, but he won’t be long. He should be back after the international break. See above; according to Zola, he most likely will be OK for the Burnley game".
Apparently he was feeling his groin in the warm up before the Blackpool game. He really shouldn't be doing that before a game IMO!
