So, after the stunning victory at Spurs, the big question is, 'What does Allardyce do now?' After decades of playing one way, he has suddenly discovered that you don't need to hit long balls forward to an immobile forward and that players can actually interchange positions over the course of a game. Talk about a conversion on the road to Green Lanescus!
The transformation on Sunday was so spectacular and the result so sensational that Doctor Evil may have painted himself into a corner. He was clearly loving the adulation post performance, and all that Alliardicci clap trap only confirmed what we already knew, that the English Jose really does think he is God's gift to football management.
So what does he do now? Does he revert to Plan A and court ridicule if Man City rip us to shreds as we pump long balls up to no one - alias Mogadon Maiga - or does he bid for immortality by turning the club into the Premiership's very own False Number Nine Barcelona?
If anything, the return of Joe Cole makes the fluid formation even more tempting. Diame or Cole to alternate with Vaz Te? On paper it sounds like a non contest. Indeed, the prospect of Nolan, Morrison, Cole, Vaz Te and Downing all interchanging positions, means that the attacking permutations could be very exciting.
There is a Plan P of course, with Petric expected to be fit, and to be fair, he is not a totem pole either. And with Morrison away on England duty, there's always a risk of Sod's Law striking and Ravel being injured.
What's great for now is that, for the first time in a long time, we really don't know how Allardyce will play it. And if we don't know, what hope have the opposition of knowing? I admitted at half time that I was struggling to work out the formation, so just imagine what it was like for the Tottenham defenders who would have been drilled on how to deal with long balls up to a big number 9.
Fingers crossed that Allardyce decides to give it another go and that the players pull off another miracle against Unreal City. Because then we might actually have a chance of watching football at Upton Park for the first time in ages!
8 comments:
were now for hardcore westhamutdonceproudclub viewer?..........i know one thing for sure it will not be a trip to watch his team.
Don't you mean "where" you illiterate bell-end?
kevin in manchester writes..
He'll do what he always does; look at who he has available; who we are playing next and think on performances in recent games and the training pitch and decide on the tactics that give the best probability of avoiding defeat ( in the case of the likes of City) ..and then trust to the Gods.
Why always so negative, even when we perform so brilliantly? We did well beyond imagination on Sunday at White Hart Lane. Now we get to torment Man City. We have the intelligence and depth to do it. Can you possibly be more positive about the club you follow and love?
I think you're bigging up the importance of the change in tactics. We didn't win because we changed tactics. We won because we were solid in defense, as we always are, and going forwards we took our chances with a bit of luck going our way. Oh and Spurs were awful.
I don't think Sam's under any pressure to change his tactics, because whatever changes there were against Spurs (there weren't many), it wasn't what won us the game.
14:21 love? he doesn't know the meaning of the word, suspect he wasn't cuddled as a child.....
Anon 17:37 - Wins stupidest comment of the season so far. "Weren't many changes" Well yes there was. The tactics were completely overhauled and tottenham werent awful, Allardyce overhauled his tactics in away where we nullified tottenhams threats and broke forward and countered with purpose. Our passing and our movement was the best its ever been since sam signed.
17:37 it's spelt defence, unless of course you're a yank and that would explain your ridiculous post that tactics weren't changed #idiot
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