Robbie Keane at AM?

[B Rock]

This discussion seems to be breaking out all over the board in small pockets catalyzed by the fact that:
1) Spurs now possess four international caliber forwards.
2) Spurs' central midfield contributions have been garbage.
i) Specifically Jenas is absolute pants
ii) Davids and Zokora offer very little in attack
3) Keane has been drifting into midfield trying to pickup possession from a line of distribution which has broken down through the loss of Carrick.

With this in mind how about this for a formation:

Chim/YPL---Dawson---King---Ekotto
---------Zokora--------------------
-------------------------Davids/Tainio
Lennon----------Keane---------------
-------Defoe/Mido--------Berbatov----

I think it would suit the talents of Davids at this point in his career perfectly, allowing him to get stuck in all over the pitch with Zokora there to cleanup behind him. It would also alow Jenas to be dropped finally as he looks like absolute garbage.

[Mort09]

That's certainly one possibility and anything that gets Jenas out of the picture has to be an improvement.

I'm sure Jol will play 3 strikers if we need to go for it in a game. Probably with Mido on the left of Keane and Berbatov. Keane plays well in the hole and with Lennon supplying crosses for Mido and Berbatov we're gonna definitely score plenty of goals. Problem is we may lose a bit defensively though Mido did give us some strength at defensive set piece situations last year.

[PoshSpur]

This is how I would pick the team and the formation. I've based it on Jose Morinho's 4-1-2-2-1/4-3-3 formation:

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/1581/howiwouldlineupfv3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[ox utd]

That's a pretty good looking lineup, Posh. With Defoe and Mido ready to come in as needed for offense, and Davids if we need someone to do some dirty defensive work. I haven't seen enough of Jabba the Hud to know how much quality he has, but it seems that people who have seen a bit of him rate him. I like it - I'll go ahead and put in a call to MJ and tell him to use your squad!

[B Rock]

This is how I would pick the team and the formation. I've based it on Jose Morinho's 4-1-2-2-1/4-3-3 formation:

http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/3871/howiwouldlineupkb8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Lennon on the left? Keane on a wing? I know Jol tried it out in some friendlies, but I still don't think it solves anything for the club.

The key to Chelsea's success in that formation isn't their forwards and wingers, its the ability of the DM (Makelele) to destroy everything and allow the two more advanced CMs to boss the centre of the park.

I just don't see where the service would come from and certainly don't think that the trio of Huddlestone, Jenas, and Zokora would be able to sufficently provide it.

Look no further then Manchester United's experiment with the 4-3-3 last season where they exuded class in the top three (RVN/Saha, Ronaldo, and Rooney) much like Tottenham's top three would but their weakness in midfield starved their attack of service and resulted in the likes of Fletcher, Smith, O'Shea, Giggs and an aging Keane being overrun on a regular basis.

Quite simply not enough quality in the middle of the park for this formation in my opinion.

[PoshSpur]

That's a pretty good looking lineup, Posh. With Defoe and Mido ready to come in as needed for offense, and Davids if we need someone to do some dirty defensive work. I haven't seen enough of Jabba the Hud to know how much quality he has, but it seems that people who have seen a bit of him rate him. I like it - I'll go ahead and put in a call to MJ and tell him to use your squad!




...Mark my words and mark them well....Tom Huddlestone will be the benchmark player Spurs will build their team on within the next 3 seasons.

[PoshSpur]

Lennon on the left? Keane on a wing? I know Jol tried it out in some friendlies, but I still don't think it solves anything for the club.

The key to Chelsea's success in that formation isn't their forwards and wingers, its the ability of the DM (Makelele) to destroy everything and allow the two more advanced CMs to boss the centre of the park.

I just don't see where the service would come from and certainly don't think that the trio of Huddlestone, Jenas, and Zokora would be able to sufficently provide it.

Look no further then Manchester United's experiment with the 4-3-3 last season where they exuded class in the top three (RVN/Saha, Ronaldo, and Rooney) much like Tottenham's top three would but their weakness in midfield starved their attack of service and resulted in the likes of Fletcher, Smith, O'Shea, Giggs and an aging Keane being overrun on a regular basis.

Quite simply not enough quality in the middle of the park for this formation in my opinion.


....they wouldn't be wingers. If you watch Chelsea play, you will notice that the two players that play in the hole behind the target man switch sides during the game on many occasions. The same would happen between Keane and Lennon.

I switched Jenas for Tainio.

[tapper]

This is how I would pick the team and the formation. I've based it on Jose Morinho's 4-1-2-2-1/4-3-3 formation:

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/1581/howiwouldlineupfv3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
I think that midfield is far too negative. And Keane is going to want to drift to the center, clogging up the field for Lennon when he cuts in on his right foot.

I more like the idea of...

-------------Berbatov
Defoe--------------------Lennon
Jenas/Tainio/Zokora--Keane
---------Davids/Zokora
Benoit---Dawson---King--Lee
------------Robbo

3 man midfields in this shape like Mourinho's 4-3-3 or Barcelona's 4-3-3...you need a destroyer, a linking player who can be involved in attack and defense, and a real central creative player with a good engine.

For instance, destroyer: Edmilson, linking: Xavi, creative:Deco Destroyer: Makalele, linking: Essien, attacking: Lampard.

Can Zokora become the destroyer? Hope so. Davids can probably play this role best of all for now. Carrick would have been great in the linking role (Murphy could play here too?). And then the attack. Jenas can't be counted on unfortunately, so we move keane central to give us that playmaker.

[KHowe]

Signs indicate Lee is going to Roma, however.

[tomas_brolin]

if robbie is attacking midfielder this is what i would like to see if it's a 4-4-2

....................................Robinson

..............Lee..........Dawson..........King.........Assou-Ekotto

.....Lennon.............................Zokora/Davids...........Tanio
.......................Keane
..............................Defoe...........Berbatov