New system?

Originally Posted by Henrik

I have advocated the 3-4-1-2 system in here since 2000, but I am not convinced that it is the right move at this point in time. The question is whether or not to fix something that is not broken.

Actually it is now with the arrival of Stam that we DO have the players for a 3-man defence, back then in 2000 it would have been a suicide to practice that, as Zak showed that in the CL.

I think it could have worked back then with Desailly-Costacurta-Maldini, but it is obviously not as strong as Stam-Nesta-Maldini

i think we played with 3 at the back for all the 30 mins of extra time in Istanbul.

the intention, i think, is to play an unpredictable game. our 4-3-1-2 system, while very good and original, has become known by now. so we need to have players who can adapt to a changing tactic as the game proceeds. by doing this, we can surprise our opponents.

i think the more options we have during the game, the better. the 3-4-1-2 system (which can turn to a 3-4-3 system very easily) is especially convenient when playing against a closed team or when having to recover from one down.

and changing from 4-3-1-2 to 3-4-1-2 does not need so much radical change in the players per se. one of the defenders becomes a winger. this task is in the DNA of players like cafu, sergingo and jankulovski

the second half of the fiorentina vs milan game was also played with the 3-4-1-2 system.

I think if we play a three man defense, then a lot of our current starters are going to need to get used to sitting on the bench. More often than not! We will need players who are super at ball possesion and basically superb in passing. Along with these traits, we will need midfielders who are strong defensively too. Boy that's hard to come by! So I'm thinking players with Donadoni's skill combined with Gattuso type defensive determination. I'm clueless to know any kind of player like that. You will end up running both our midfield and defense into the ground, especially with a lot of people yapping about a 20 team league and saying ohhhh they're tired. Just think how it can be with a 3 man D in the back.
It would be nice if we can at least debate the strength and weaknesses of a 3 man D in a more honest way. Right now, myself included has just given a mere 2 cents worth of opinion. Let's have someone explain the plus's versus the minus's of such a tactic.

I read recently on the official web-site that Milan will be using a 3 back formation? I thought about it and it makes sense given the players they already have and players they have brought in. The way I see it:

Stam – Nesta – Maldini

Cafu – Gattusso- Pirlo – Jankolovski

Kaka

Gilardino ** - Shevchenko

I believe the small adjustment will give more playing opportunity for Ambrosini in the middle and Kaldze on the wing.

if we could constantly switch formation during matches to surprise the opponents......
thats what we do in attack(sorta), we always attack in a different way-destroying our opponents.
with the formation above (calarcog) cafu or jankulovski would have to alternate on who stays back who attacks.
it would be nice to play that way, yet it seems there is a lack of a real midfielder-rui, ambro, seedorf, vogel... but then how does it work- then we can only attack one wing; cause the midfielders mentioned arent wingers.
in one way we lack passes in the other balanced winged play.
yet even with 3 defenders i believe carlo could come up with something....

well as long as we play a good game & win!

im up for 3man defence. its the best formation for us.

nope...
4 back much better..
so balance in defense, and give more chance to play posession and maintain the tempo of game..

IMO, carletto will use the back-4 pattern again

----------vieri
---------------------sheva

----------------kaka

jankulovski

-------------------gattuso
--------pirlo
----------------------------cafu

-----maldini - stam - nesta

---------------dida

hope u guys can understand my formation. this is what i play in my PS 2 Winning Eleven 7.
i get fed up that my CBs always gets caught out by through passes.
so i decided to move maldini closer to e center.
it worked for my game cos my defence became more stable now with 3 CBs, though e left side might be a little weak in.
that's why i've moved pirlo more to the left
i've also moved gattuso further back in midfield and cafu further up, closer to midfield.
this way he has more freedom to attack since there is 3 CBs and he can act as an extra defender.
kinda like a free role between midfield n defence

not sure if this will work in real life though...

well i would like to say that i support using a 3 man defence cos its a waste for any 1 of maldini, stam or nesta to sit on the bench.
and not effective for maldini to play as a LB running up and down the flank considering his age.
i think at his age it is wise to be a little cautious about his stamina.

i have criticised a 3 man defence on many occasion HOWEVER if it makes milan less predictable than last year and enables us to succeed then fair enough, i have crticised ancelotti for not introducing different tactics so i`ll bite my tongue and applaud him for trying.......

i would go for the 3 Man Def we have tried that and its been pretty good mostly with small teams and i am lookin forward to it we can change during the game so no problems with it

Trust ME..
IF a team use 3 back and 2 wing backs, the awesome performance would be less...
The 2 wing backs would divide the balance between attack and defence as much..

ANCELOTTI: 'Meditating on something new'
7/19/2005
MILANELLO - Carlo Ancelotti announced that one of the players could be fielded in a new position: 'I have been thinking for some time and meditating over the possibility of inventing a new position for one out players. I could be a midfielder but I have spoken to him yet. I will do it soon, everything will naturally depend on whether he wants to do it.'

now we got the best strike force in the entire world with the capture of gilardino and vieri. In order to maximise it, i suggest we change to three men defence to bolster the midfield which means more ball supplies to the strikers. Most likely our defence might be a bit vulnerable but it is worth it since our side is built for attacking football!

i assume that our transfer campaign is closed, and i notice our right wing is stagnant in terms of contributing to strikers. yes we have cafu, but it is just too much responsibility for him to overlap and also to defend. there are some occasions when our right side is exploited by the opponents because cafu is too late to cover. Gattuso , as we all know, is not a winger and his passing and crossing are awful.

i suggest seedorf should be located on the right side, instead of his usual left midfield position, since on the left we already have lots of left footed players: serginho,jankulovski,kaladze.

come on ancelotti, this is the best for us!!! what do u guys think??

my formation: 3-4-1-2 == dida-stam nesta maldini-cafu pirlo seedorf serginho-kaka-sheva gilardino

subs: eleftheropoulos, kaladze, jankulovski, ambrosini, vogel, ruicosta, vieri