Thursday 22 September 2011

Nolan the obstacle to 4-4-2

With Doctor Evil apparently contemplating a switch to 4-4-2, the thorny issue of what to do with Captain Kev resurfaces. Just as Parker posed selection problems because managers refused to use him in his best role - as a holding midfielder instead of a midfield general - so Nolan has now emerged as our star player who potentially stands in the way of playing the best "shape".

To play 4-4-2, using Baldock up top alongside Cole, we need two wide men in midfield. That would presumably be Taylor on the left and either Faubert or Bentley on the right. So we come down to two midfield berths to fill. One of those has to be a holding midfielder which would come down to a straight fight between Noble and Diop, unless Allardyce fancies Collison in that role all of a sudden. So now there is only one place to fill and three players chasing it - Nolan, Lansbury and Collison.

Now, if you are looking for a mobile, box to box player with good vision and a great passing range, would that man be Nolan? There will be a Lansbury lobby based on his flair and a Collison lobby based on his energy and drive, but who would be in the Nolan camp? His strength is in and around the opposition box, it is not in covering acres of ground and pinging passes all over the park. Yes you want Nolan arriving onto pulled back crosses from the flank, poking through balls from the edge of the penalty area and poaching in and around the six yard box, but is his game really opening up the opposition defence from deeper positions? If so, he hasn't shown it since he donned the Claret & Blue.

It seems to me that we are still trying to blend ingredients that don't truly compliment each other. Playing Baldock logically means dropping Nolan, but Allardyce aint going to do that in a hurry. Play Nolan, and the situation cries out for 4-3-3 but, outside of set pieces, our wide men do not offer enough of a goal threat when that formation is played. How many of Taylor's 23 goals for Bolton came from open play? Bentley, meanwhile, has only scored 18 league goals in his entire career! And Faubert? Well he pushes Bentley close with a paltry 14.

Now, given Cole isn't exactly a goal machine, you start to wonder where the goals will come from when we set up 4-3-3 if Nolan is misfiring. Nolan's 12 in the Prem last season and 29 from 85 games for Newcastle overall show why you need him in the opposition penalty area, but will 4-4-2 allow this without leaving us horribly exposed when the opposition get the ball? You solve one problem by drafting Baldock into the team and you create another because then Nolan is either left out or withdrawn from the area where he is most effective.

Doctor Evil is on the horns of a dilemma. It will be intriguing to see how he tries to resolve it!

25 comments:

Hammered said...

Stop looking at things with the 'glass is half empty' view... The glass has been empty for some time now, so you should be looking at it as a 'glass half full' view instead. Another thing you should be saying is at least he is trying things, unlike our former pratt at the helm!!! We're seven games in and in the top 5 (only just, but it's better than 6th). I know you want top two... no, you want the top! But we were shite last season, so even on that we are still improving... Yes IMPROVING. This takes time and from what I've seen Sam has done more in the time he's been here than Grant or Zola did combined. We're in a decent position now to push on. We're not a premier club, we weren't even that last season. That's why we got relegated!
Sam having these positional dilemas is a good thing. It would be worse for him to be wondering who he can put into the positions due to lack of players...

Sav said...

Isn't a holding midfielder one that can keep the ball, not lose it often or go missing in the middle of the field, not too mention to provide extra cover for the defence? So, how come Noble is a holding midfielder then? In which of all the above is he any good?

Hammersfan said...

Are we improving though? We won ALL of our games against Championship sides last season remember. Barnsley, Forest and Burnley all put to the sword. So where is the EVIDENCE of improvement?

Hammersfan said...

Sav, I would prefer Parker as a holding midfielder but he has gone, and when he was there, Allardyce prefered Noble. So that means either his judgement is flawed or Noble must have something about him that you can't see. Zola, Grant and Allardyce have all had Noble as a fixture in the team. Why if he is as crap as you and Stani maintain?

Hammersfan said...

Actually, so did Curbishley!

Anonymous said...

Nolan has done a decent job right behind the striker for us and Newcastle for ages, and I believe they occasionally played him up front at Newcastle, so instead of dropping Lansbury they should either play a 4-4-1-1 with Nolan linking the play or play a straight-up 4-4-2 with Nolan alongside Cole, we all know how good a finisher he is, so why not?

Hammersfan said...

Well the idea, as I read it, is to fit Baldock into the team. 4-4-2 with Nolan alongside Cole is fine by me.

Anonymous said...

17:42, 18:29 and 18:30 - you're the only blogger I know who has conversations with himself - it's slightly unnerving and a little weird if you don't mind me saying.

Hammersfan said...

WITH MYSELF? What a weird notion. I have the courtesy to reply.

Anonymous said...

It seems as though you've found your new nemesis. Out with the Parker and in with the Nolan.

HF, you really are the most nauseatingly, miserable bastard.

After years of non-football, competing in a league where mid-table was as good as it was ever going to get we're now winning more games than losing and competing well. Quite frankly I could care less that it's at a lower level and am enjoying the ride. Maybe it's because I hate the Premier League and the race to best of the also-rans.

But you HF are ruining it for me, so, for christ's sake lighten up!

Sav said...

Maybe that has something to do with us struggling at the foot of the Premier League Table and finally getting relegated!

But it is fantastic to finally hear you say "I would prefer Parker as a holding midfielder but he has gone". It almost brings tears to my eyes...

Hammersfan said...

Don't you agree its a problem 2036? I'm enjoying it by the way, but I won't enjoy it if we end up in mid table!

Of course Parker is a better holding midfielder than Noble Sav. But he didn't hold in a West Ham shirt!

fred149 said...

Sav were we struggling at the foot of the table under curbs and were we a the foot of the table under zola's first season noble is not the problem and its about time you stopped singling him out game after game

ChalkyWhite said...

Parker as a holding midfielder, Parker is the anchor, Curbishley is Rubbish, Zola was worse but Grant was better...... your glass is half empty - and more than 50% of the posters disagree with all that ou say. Some things just never change on this blog.

Hammersfan said...

LOL You've listed aload of things that have changed Chalky!

ChalkyWhite said...

Sorry HF but all this was being said last year and year before... it's boring mate. I haven't visited since last season and it's the same old same old - I dare say it will be the same 6 months from now when I visit again.

Hammersfan said...

Maybe not if we start performing Chalky. The critics of this site have spent 30 months objecting to my views because I am so "negative". Well where are we? In the Championship. So who was right? All you guys who want to pretend everything is hunky dory, or this realist who saw the writing on the wall and read it out loud whilst the mugs put their fingers in their ears and sang "La la la, not listening, not listening, everything will be fine"?

Anonymous said...

Hammered(17:27) has hit the nail on the head.

Just as the sun begins to shine HF racks his brains to come up with more doom and gloom.

At last we have a manager that knows what he is doing. It was a big mistake not to replace Grant last January. By Championship standards we have a very strong squad and plenty of options. Expect ongoing improvement as the season progresses and the team gels.

I suspecr BFS will perservere with a 4-5-1, 4-3-3, 4-4-1-1 system or whatever it is for the time being.

If he wants to play 2 strikers with Nolan behind them then another possibility is a diamond system with Nolan at the top of the diamond and Faubert and Taylor as wing backs. Away from home this could be tweaked to a 5-3-2 system.

Hammersfan said...

I hope you are right 0009, but to play the diamond, we need Diop at the base and not Noble, somebody with the discipline to stay put and screen the centre backs.

T.I.S said...

Well I did ask in pre-season what Collison actually does in the team, and I'll ask again? Makes me laugh when people like yourself say he impressed against England. Did he really? What did he do? No doubt I want him to succeed but for the life of me I don't know what type of player he is, and none of you could accurately tell me either.

Stani said...

Dear God.

Why can you not see what the problem is HF? What is the one thing...the one common denominator here? YES! Mark Noble! Parker has gone, yet the problem still exists because of Mark Noble! Until the guy is dropped, we will not be able to play 4-4-2 without worrying about the weakness of our midfield. I argued this from day one.

I'm astonished that for a intelligent guy, you fail to accept this fact. Spend less time rummaging through Iain Dale's personal photo albums and think about it a little, for God's sake. Sav is right. What the hell does Noble do? He's not good at anything. Sorry, but that's a fact. So if we can't see what he's good at, why don't you and Fred tell us? No bullshit insults or whatever...tell us straight....because I wish he was as good as you think he is, because I'd see our team benefiting!

I think Nolan is intelligent enough to play the holding role. Yes we may lose out on his attacking side (not completely, eg set pieces) but that would be more then compensated for by the fact we have two strikers up front now! In fact, it's an unwritten rule, that when you have two forwards, the midfielders' responsibilities as a whole slightly shift from attacking to more defending. And until you're allowed to have 12 men on the pitch, this will have to be the case in football.

I think the question here is do you think Nolan can play a holding role? I think he can.

.....Cole...Baldock
Tayl....Lansb...Nolan...Bentley
McCart...Tomk...Reid...O'Brien
..........Green

With Nolan holding, this is our strongest 4-4-2 team at the moment. Simple as that.

Sav said...

I think Sam did well to get rid of many of the problem players (no need to name them, we all know who these were). But there is still one big weak link in the centre of the team that is Mark Noble. It is not as easy to fix as the other problems because he is a local hero, one of our home grown boys and he is so good in public relations. Everybody wants him to do well badly.

If Sam can identify the problem and field a team like Stani suggests, I would take my hat off to him. Then, we can begin of thinking and hoping that with the additional personnel we now have, we can finally fulfill our potential.

West Ham can be promoted to the Premier League with the current squad and with Sam in charge. But Noble has to sit on the bench for that to happen.

Hammersfan said...

I will devote a thread to Noble guys. For now, I will say that Nolan may be able to hold but that's like playing parker as a midfield general - you are not playing to his strengths. The guy is mustard around the opposition box when on form and that's where we need him!

Stani said...

Absolutely Sav. Public relations are a big part of Noble's footballing talents.

HF, I agree Nolan is very good in the box but there are two stronger arguments that mean he should have to settle for the holding role. Those two arguments are Baldock and Lansbury being in the side. It is possible this can be a home team/formation. Away from home we can consider going with either Cole or Baldock on their own up top and Nolan behind them. The holding role can then be taken by Diop or someone else with Taylor, Lansbury and Bentley making up the rest of the midfield.

Logic dictates that our best team has to have Nolan and Lansbury in the line up. Now if we must play 4-4-2, because of Lansbury's abilities, Nolan has to settle for the holding role. Lansbury will only be here for a season anyway and if Pam plays the home and away team like I suggested above, Nolan would be able to play his attacking role for half the games (home games). Let's not forget that he'd be able to go forward at set pieces even when he's playing the holding role, and leave someone else to cover.

Stani said...

*sorry, I meant Nolan would be able to play his attacking role in away games.