The replacement for MON...?

[MaxVillain]

It's gonna be Houllier ladies. Get your bets on.

[garyshawsknee]

I'm warming to the idea of Maradonna.

[SoccerHQ]

I'm still pretty cool over this. Sven, Houllier, Curbs are all short term appointments, if not I'm quiet happy to have a bet with someone who thinks they'll last longer than O'Runner.

Give them an 18 month contract, pay them off next summer and then have a good crack at getting Jol or Moyes in as it's near impossible to get either right at this minute.

[stevenjos]

Id be up for maradona, it would be a laugh at least..........

[midnite]

Pleased you're joshing, John, because I don't like two up front because it's actually defensive! If you have two up front you have to make up for the huge short fall in midfield, so you are forced to sit deep and counter-attack. It can work, but me no like. I also don't really like specialist defensive midfielders, because if you just pack the place with defensive specialists then your ball retention will be poor.

Besides, Donadoni is attack-minded. His mentor was Arrigo Sacchi, one of the greatest attacking tacticians of all time in any sport.

like i said mate, only joshing, got to have a bit of a laugh or we'd all be crying

funny thing is with Italian coaches, England have got the only one who only seems  to know just one formation

we will always differ on this formation lark. for me its still more about the players and there abilities rather than where they play,
for instance take Barca, they may only play with one up front, but when you have Iniesta, Messi,Xabi etc, it doesnt really matter because they will always cause massive problems going forward,
its a bit different when you have Petrov, NRC etc

Wasn't it ferguson who said formation only needs to come into play when you haven't got the ball.
When attacking you just let your players play?

Granted it's a bit different when you have the likes of giggs, scholes, Rooney and nani in your team compared to sidwell, NRC and petrov but I can see his point.

[sfx412]

Am I imagining an increase in 'leaks' in the last few days?

Is it an attempt by the club to see fan reaction or just coincidence ?

[Small Rodent]

Am I imagining an increase in 'leaks' in the last few days?

Is it an attempt by the club to see fan reaction or just coincidence ?

If it was for fan reaction it would show us to be exactly what every fanbase is; a dysfunctional family with multi-personalities.

[Monty]

Wasn't it ferguson who said formation only needs to come into play when you haven't got the ball.
When attacking you just let your players play?

Granted it's a bit different when you have the likes of giggs, scholes, Rooney and nani in your team compared to sidwell, NRC and petrov but I can see his point.

He was exaggerating a little bit, because you've still got to have people covering the counter-attack and so on, but the ideal is absolutely right. If you have two up front, you tend to be telling players where to stand when you have the ball, meaning there is less movement and you inevitably become more direct. If you give the players a little license to move into space if there is some, you will keep the ball better and also be more dangerous and unpredictable.

The most common way to manifest this tactic these days is to have a central defensive midfielder and a centre forward as reference points, or 'pivots' as they are actually known (and not just by me, Hilts!), with the rest of the players having a bit more freedom to play their more natural games. So for Arsenal, Song is the holding midfielder, Van Persie the centre forward and the other players play in areas of the pitch which suit them (Diaby quite deep, Fabregas less so but deeper than Nasri and Arshavin). The trick here is to make sure that all the players' natural games correspond to covering bases on the pitch, as it were. K Mac tried to do a similar thing with Petrov holding and Carew as centre-forward, but neither are really mobile enough to play these roles on their own.

[ktvillan]

For me, our best current formation is a 4-2-3-1 with Petrov and NRC holding, but it must be improved upon. We'll never be Barca, who have that amazing fluidity from a combination of amazing talent, brilliant tactical intelligence great coaching and just playing together for ages, but we can be more fluid than we are. The key player to be improved upon there is NRC, as his lack of ability on the ball constantly loses momentum in attacks. A more well-rounded player is needed.

If you are talking about loss of attacking momentium, surely one of the biggest culprits is Petrov with his backwards and sideways passing?  We may keep the ball, but the momentum is often lost.

As for Donadoni, he may have all the attribuites you mention on paper, but his management record is pretty mediocre from what I can see.

I've decided all this interviewing mularkey is just bollocks. I don't see why we can't go for someone already in a job unless Randy is trying to avoid compensation.  Hodgson was in a job when Liverpool took him, Fulham tried to get Jol who was in a job, Bolton got Coyle off Burnely etc.  everyone does it.  Whether it's down to some kind of "integrity" or tight fistedness I think we are limiting our options unnecessarilly and shooting and ourselves in the foot massively.   And making ourselves look a bit daft and amatuerish into the bargain. Identify the man you want and bust a gut to get him.  If it doesn't work, go on to second choice - simples.

[Toronto Villa]

Isn't the job of Director of Football to change the way we play, the type of players we bring in, the tactics we use? KM used the players he had at his disposal in a period of uncertainty.

Granted Houllier isn't a flashy name like Klinsmann, but he's had success here and on the continent. Despite what anyone says those are facts. His job will be to sit down with the coach and say this is the way we are going to play from now on. I'm sure he is different to the man he was at Liverpool. Experience shapes that. Experience with Lyon and with the French technical committee that have helped produce, and are still producing some really excellent players. Why don't we give him a chance to show us what he has learnt before throwing stones at him?

[jonzy85]

The thoughts of Houllier make me wince.

All the complaints people made about MON e.g. bad football, bad signings, falling out with players...you can multiply, no square and you get Houllier.

And that's without all the qualities that i think are universally accepted MON brought.

In summary:

(MON - all the good things) X (MON - all the good things) = Houllier.

[jonzy85]

Also he is 62/63....hardly a long term replacement.

[Proposition Joe]

For me, our best current formation is a 4-2-3-1 with Petrov and NRC holding, but it must be improved upon. We'll never be Barca, who have that amazing fluidity from a combination of amazing talent, brilliant tactical intelligence great coaching and just playing together for ages, but we can be more fluid than we are. The key player to be improved upon there is NRC, as his lack of ability on the ball constantly loses momentum in attacks. A more well-rounded player is needed.

If you are talking about loss of attacking momentium, surely one of the biggest culprits is Petrov with his backwards and sideways passing?  We may keep the ball, but the momentum is often lost.

I was going to write the exact same thing.  It's like a computer game when too much appears on the screen and the game slows down or grinds to a halt, Petrov does the same to our attacking moves. 

[dave.woodhall]

The thoughts of Houllier make me wince.

All the complaints people made about MON e.g. bad football, bad signings, falling out with players...you can multiply, no square and you get Houllier.

And that's without all the qualities that i think are universally accepted MON brought.

In summary:

(MON - all the good things) X (MON - all the good things) = Houllier.

How about trophies won - trophes won?

[pablopicasso_10]

if houllier can come in and do a short term job, and at the same time, help re-establish us with some european scouting, especially with his work at the clairefontaine academy to pass knowledge onto our own youth setup, then i wouldnt be unhappy with the appointment...

i wouldnt be extatic by any stretch, but, we could do worse and his technical knowledge and scouting contacts could help benefit us for the long term benefit of the club...