Dundee gaffer can switch his set-up

[News Bot]

Dundee’s game against Aberdeen brought to light the many and varying formations there are in modern-day football.

Systems can be determined by the opposition and what their strengths are.

DEFENSIVE

On Sunday, Paul Hartley deployed a 4-5-1 formation which, in large spells, worked.

It can be looked upon as defensive but, if you have the right players, this system can be used with good effect in counter-attacking.

Aberdeen are probably one of the strongest teams in the league and have very dangerous wide players.

Going with 4-5-1 stopped the Dons’ wide men from having a lot of freedom and it took some disciplined defensive performances from Mark O’Hara and Danny Williams for this to work.

Those two, along with Dundee’s full-backs, Kevin Holt and Cammy Kerr, probably prevented Aberdeen’s two wide players from doing as much attacking as they would have liked.

But, having seen the Dons in full flow, it was probably worth it as they could easily have given Dundee’s defence a very hard time if given any kind of space.

Both teams were limited to seven shots on goal and that was down to a good performance defensively by the whole team from a Dundee perspective.

However, the negative for the 4-5-1 set-up is if you don’t get support to the striker quickly, he can become isolated.

On Sunday, a huge gap developed between the midfield and lone front man Faissal El Bakhtaoui in the first half.

In the second 45, it looked like the Dundee players had been urged to press in midfield a lot higher.

When they won the ball or forced Aberdeen to make errors, they were then closer to the attacker and the opposing goal.

Aberdeen are a formidable team going forward but, other than a couple of mistakes, the game could quite easily have been drawn.

There will be many other systems deployed by Paul Hartley throughout the season, depending on what players are available and which team is in opposition.

ATTACKING

Most formations, when defending, are 4-4-2 but, when you are attacking, the system can quickly change to 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-2-1-2, which is basically a diamond in the central area of the park.

These two set-ups are attack-minded.

The 4-2-3-1 can be used offensively by having your two full-backs pushing high to give width to the game.

You will have two holding midfielders, who sit in front of the back four.

The other four players can interchange at any given time when attacking as long as you have a willing runner or someone who can link up like Rory Loy in the central position.

This can give overloads in the central areas and players who are difficult to pick up if their movement is good.

The negative to this formation is when the attack breaks down, there can be spaces for the opposition to exploit.

The diamond system is very good if you want to play out from the back.

This formation gives you an overload in the midfield and is very effective if you have attacking full-backs who get forward and deliver good crosses.

If the two strikers plus the player who is at the top of the diamond, a position suited to someone like Craig Wighton, have good movement, then one of them should get on the ball whether it is short or in behind the defenders.

The downside of this set-up is with the full-backs playing so high, the defence can become exposed in the wider areas.

Formations are open to different interpretations and there will always be a reason for playing in a certain style whether it be offensive or defensive.

But the options are there if the Dundee boss wants to change his strategy.

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[Gedee]

Eh remember weel, playing five a side fitba on the streets.

Or sometimes FIFTY a side depending on wha' turned up.

There was no pre-match talk, on systems, or team tactics

Jist a 100 bairns chasing the ba' We went whar it went

[Prince Buster]

2 hours ago, Gedee said:

Eh remember weel, playing five a side fitba on the streets.

Or sometimes FIFTY a side depending on wha' turned up.

There was no pre-match talk, on systems, or team tactics

Jist a 100 bairns chasing the ba' We went whar it went

I believe United are trying that approach this season.

[Gedee]

12 minutes ago, Prince Buster said:

I believe United are trying that approach this season.

I find today's systems over-complicate, what is really a simple game.

But even eh wid accept Prince it's time to move on.Their new mannie

of coorse is still finding how to get the best oot o' his top players. But

knowing he has the full backing of a world class fan base, weel....