The Poolie Bunker

First of all what fucking formation are we playing these days? I get the impression the players have no idea themselves never mind me. I get the impression Wilson is alteriong things to fit certain personal in. Ie making a role for Ben Clark in front of back 2. Id prefer to see us stick with the 4-4-2 we know and if players cant get a game then so be it.

Elliott looked dodgy, was about as much use with the ball as Brackstone was and positioning wasnt too hot either.
Mccunnie looks a neat and tidy player, good footwork and likes to keep the ball on the deck, definitly not a right back though.
Antwi solid as a rock.
Moore. What is he? I cant work it out. He dont seem especially quick and his passing was woeful. Reminded me a bit of Proctor and Henderson-ran about like a headless chicken a lot.
Budtz did well, brilliant save when guy was one on one and will give the defence confidence as they know he doesnt mind coming for crosses. Kicking no too good mind.
Porter impressed as did Ben Clark and if Brown learnt when to release the ball then we might have a player on our hands.

Didnt understand the positioning of the subs. Humps in centre mid, Foley on left wing, Gibb at right back, Porter moved to the right, Robson at left back.

Overall i enjoyed the game, the football AZ played was a joy to behold and we faired well against them. Would just like to see us playing players in position and a formation that works. I really hope Wilson hasnt fell in the trap that Scotty did and have too many players and no idea what his best team/formation was.

I wasn't there tonight but if Boland isn't fully fit we are struggling a bit for a decent central midfielder to play alongside Liddle. I know people on here think I have a vendetta against Tony Sweeney but whenever he plays as a central midfielder in a 4-4-2 formation the midfield seems to get over run. At least if Clark protects the back 4 with Liddle in there as well it doesn't leave things so exposed. Like I say though I wasn't there tonight I'm just trying to guess Danny's thoughts.......

if the manager tries to keep all the players happy then it could well be to the detriment of fielding a settled side, with a settled formation.
We want cover in all positions, but chopping and changing once the League season starts will disrupt any pattern in the side.
It's not a bad idea to try out different formations in friendlies, but I would hope DW has his mind made up on which personnel he wants at Luton, and how they are going to be set out.

He didn't fook about much with the formation last season once the team settled down so I don't really see why he should do it again this time round. In friendlies on the other hand you more or less HAVE to fook around with the formation. It's the only free go you get.
Remember last season had already started before any new players came.

A few games where Liddle and Sweeney played together together in the centre of midfield last season;

Peterborugh 3-5 Pools
Swindon 0-1 Pools
Pools 3-1 Walsall
Darlington 0-3 Pools

In fact at one stage during the unbeaten run they played 11 consectutive games together in the centre of midfield with us in winning nine and drawing two. In fact on further inspection we actually haven't lost a single game when the Liddle/Sweeney combination has played in the centre of park together. I think i'd take the midfield being 'over run' every week if we can keep up those results.

Do you still stand by those comments?

Do you still when I give you the full record with those two in middle in a 4-4-2 from last season?

P14 W11 D3 L0* F33 A13

*We did lose at Hull on penners, and Sweeney did go off injured before half time in win at Grimsby.

So its fair to say you only made those comments because you don't rate Sweeney as a player because your opinion based on those stats doesn't have much going for it

Never let the facts get in the way of a good whinge.

Have to agree PJ,
Sweeney & Liddle does seem to work well and the stats dont lie on that front, Shocking that we lost to Hull on Penners after being over run in Midfield I must admit!!

Clark in a sense last night was doing similar to what Boland would do in the Central Midfield role, I think we coped really well in defence when Alkmaar attacked us

and for someone to say "What formation do we have" Its not the season yet is it? A good time to try different things and see how players fair in those positions

PJ - Of course I didn't go digging up through stats, and you know I don't rate Sweeney as a player. Most of last season we were also playing rubbish teams, Sweeney had the odd decent game but the majority of time he is anonymous. He doesn't control games. At times last season the midfield was over run but the defence held up or Dimi helped us out. We will see whether he is up to the task this season, I hope he is.

Jesus wept Jonny

Neither did I Jonny but on reading your comment that we get 'over run' when Liddle and Sweeney play together in midfield as I didn't feel this was the case I looked at the results and the results speak for themselves.

In that run we beat the both teams who went up automatically with us, were they 'rubbish?'

This could be discussed forever, when Willie Boland was fit alongside Liddle in the centre, Pools weren't even conceding shots. We were solid. In some of those games Sweeney played on the right and did ok. Liddle and Boland are excellent players with intellegent distribution, Sweeney is not up to that level yet. Hopefully Willie and Gary will teach him how to boss games.......

Lets see how Antony does this season.....

It could be discussed forever!! All the games I have listed are when Liddle and Sweeney played in the middle together. Sweeney played on the right in the period before and after Christmas when he had come back from injury and Boland was in top form. Notice how Wilson found a role for him in the team though? He rates him and has said so. I have a feeling if we played 4-4-2 and everyone was fit DW would go for Sweeney and Liddle, even though I rate Boland highly thats the way I think he would go.