THE Ardley In/Out Thread [Multiple threads merged]

[BigFatPie]

I agree. I’ve also noticed that even though we rarely commit large numbers forward it always amazes me how easy and how often the opposing team can hit us on the break or just bypass our entire midfield and run at our defence....there always seems to be more space for the opposition than when we have the ball, possibly because we don’t move the bloody thing quick enough.

Doyle....

[ncfcog]

Doyle....

I know this won't be popular with many on here but I'm going to have to stand up for Doyle. I disagree that he is the problem, if anything he is usually the one player who is always looking for the quick forward ball, the reason he get's slated is because he rarely has the opportunity to get that quick ball up to the feet of the forward players because quite frankly they very rarely provide him with the opportunity. This results in him having to back track and recycle by which time the opposition are sat with two banks of 5 players and it takes us ages to then find/work an opening.

Secondly Doyle is now finding himself having to sit deeper and deeper because of this and our lack of a genuine box to box midfielder. Also, having him side by side with Reeves doesn't actually suit either of them unless we have a CAM in front of them. This should be either Ruben or Enzio but neither of them really know how to play that position effectively.

The only time we have actually been successful in this respect is when we started playing the 4-2-3-1 formation but this was actually a manifestation of the players' inability to come to terms with the diamond. It worked for a while but then the players appear to have forgotten how to execute it properly.

The central player in the advanced 3 behind the striker should basically own the advanced midfield area with the likes of Doyle and Reeves sat in behind them. Instead they are more interested in being a #10 which leaves a big gap between them and the two defensive CM's which is where we get exposed quite frequently by the high press or a breakaway.

So, to summarise I think blaming Doyle for our slow build up play is not really fair. Yes, he makes a few misplaced passes but why chastise him for trying to be proactive? Same goes for Reeves. Maybe the brave thing to do is drop either Enzio or Ruben and throw Wolfe into that CAM position as he did show signs against Oxford that he is more than capable of patrolling that area of the pitch as well as having an attacking threat to his game.

[laddo]

Excellent post driller.

[TSANHO]

I know this won't be popular with many on here but I'm going to have to stand up for Doyle. I disagree that he is the problem, if anything he is usually the one player who is always looking for the quick forward ball, the reason he get's slated is because he rarely has the opportunity to get that quick ball up to the feet of the forward players because quite frankly they very rarely provide him with the opportunity. This results in him having to back track and recycle by which time the opposition are sat with two banks of 5 players and it takes us ages to then find/work an opening.

Secondly Doyle is now finding himself having to sit deeper and deeper because of this and our lack of a genuine box to box midfielder. Also, having him side by side with Reeves doesn't actually suit either of them unless we have a CAM in front of them. This should be either Ruben or Enzio but neither of them really know how to play that position effectively.

The only time we have actually been successful in this respect is when we started playing the 4-2-3-1 formation but this was actually a manifestation of the players' inability to come to terms with the diamond. It worked for a while but then the players appear to have forgotten how to execute it properly.

The central player in the advanced 3 behind the striker should basically own the advanced midfield area with the likes of Doyle and Reeves sat in behind them. Instead they are more interested in being a #10 which leaves a big gap between them and the two defensive CM's which is where we get exposed quite frequently by the high press or a breakaway.

So, to summarise I think blaming Doyle for our slow build up play is not really fair. Yes, he makes a few misplaced passes but why chastise him for trying to be proactive? Same goes for Reeves. Maybe the brave thing to do is drop either Enzio or Ruben and throw Wolfe into that CAM position as he did show signs against Oxford that he is more than capable of patrolling that area of the pitch as well as having an attacking threat to his game.

Another good post! I agree that Doyle is often let down by a lack of forward movement and that he has good vision for an early pass but it just looks to me like his legs have gone.

I think you’re right in suggesting other players to play alongside him in midfield....I think if he sat in front of the front 4 and didn’t venture beyond the half way line and play both Wolfe/Reeves and Miller more either side in a more advanced position in a midfield three we would be a bit more robust.

Are we just trying to fit all our individually talented people into a starting 11 when they aren’t necessarily the best players for the team. We need less fancy dans and more bite...I think Miller could be an important player for us if we play him as part of the midfield.

[ncfcog]

Another good post! I agree that Doyle is often let down by a lack of forward movement and that he has good vision for an early pass but it just looks to me like his legs have gone.

I think you’re right in suggesting other players to play alongside him in midfield....I think if he sat in front of the front 4 and didn’t venture beyond the half way line and play both Wolfe/Reeves and Miller more either side in a more advanced position in a midfield three we would be a bit more robust.

Are we just trying to fit all our individually talented people into a starting 11 when they aren’t necessarily the best players for the team. We need less fancy dans and more bite...I think Miller could be an important player for us if we play him as part of the midfield.

I think you could be right about trying to fit players in because of their individual talents rather than looking at the whole team dynamic.

Firstly despite my support of Doyle we really shouldn't be trying to build a team around him at his age but I just feel some of the comments towards him are unfair.

However, he will be a regular part of this team this season so we have to consider how best to work that for the next 22 games. Your point about Doyle sat in front of the back 4 I can understand but then it becomes quite defensive, but I suppose with Reeves and Wolfe just in front of him that fills that big hole we always leave in the middle of the pitch.

Either way we have to sacrifice an attacking mid and this will cause more problems when Roberts is back from injury.

Maybe the dynamic 4-3-3 is the way forward, this can become a 4-2-1-2-1 with a CAM sat in front of the two CDM's or of course the 4-2-3-1 we have seen before.

We are at home to Halifax on Tuesday night, they just held Hartlepool to a draw so will probably make it difficult for us to break them down. Probably should be on another thread but how about . .

...................Slocombe

DKE.....Connell.......Lacey.......Barnett

.........Doyle.................Reeves

...................Wolfe

Enzio..................................Ruben

................Wootton

Wolfe patrols the area between the CDM's and Wootton, Enzio and Ruben can then be more adventurous going forward because the CDM's off the cover for advancing full backs . . . or something like that

[i961pie]

............Slocombe...........

Brindley. Lacey. Rawlinson. DKE

......... Doyle.............

Wolfe........... Reuben

Enzio.............. ..........Cal
........... Wooton...........

If Brindley can't play then swap DKE over to right back and bring in Barnett and play Sam or Knowles if Cal doesn't recover.

[nw6pie]

I agree. I’ve also noticed that even though we rarely commit large numbers forward it always amazes me how easy and how often the opposing team can hit us on the break or just bypass our entire midfield and run at our defence....there always seems to be more space for the opposition than when we have the ball, possibly because we don’t move the bloody thing quick enough.

There were two moments that stood out for me on Tuesday re that huge gap in the centre of the park. The first was their first goal, where one King’s Lynn player seemingly miscontrols the ball on the right and it goes to the goalscorer a couple of yards ahead of him, with nary a Notts player in sight.

The second was when King’s Lynn clear a ball and it comes out to the centre of the park, where there are three King’s Lynn midfielders to pick up the ball and there’s not a Notts player within camera shot.

Halfway through the season, Ardley doesn’t know the best formation to get the best out of us in an attacking sense. All he knows is that Darby and Joan have to start in midfield, reducing our mobility and ability to get up and down the pitch. Personally, I would play Reeves in the holding role, bench Doyle, and get more pace in the midfield - maybe try a 4-1-4-1 with Reeves acting as shield and quarterback.

Many talked about the craziness of not giving Sam any game time on Tuesday, but I also thought Miller was unlucky to miss out after his lively second half performance.

Such is the addiction of football, I swore I never wanted to see us again after Tuesday’s game, and now I’m gutted the game is off tomorrow.

[BigFatPie]

I know this won't be popular with many on here but I'm going to have to stand up for Doyle. I disagree that he is the problem, if anything he is usually the one player who is always looking for the quick forward ball, the reason he get's slated is because he rarely has the opportunity to get that quick ball up to the feet of the forward players because quite frankly they very rarely provide him with the opportunity. This results in him having to back track and recycle by which time the opposition are sat with two banks of 5 players and it takes us ages to then find/work an opening.

Secondly Doyle is now finding himself having to sit deeper and deeper because of this and our lack of a genuine box to box midfielder. Also, having him side by side with Reeves doesn't actually suit either of them unless we have a CAM in front of them. This should be either Ruben or Enzio but neither of them really know how to play that position effectively.

The only time we have actually been successful in this respect is when we started playing the 4-2-3-1 formation but this was actually a manifestation of the players' inability to come to terms with the diamond. It worked for a while but then the players appear to have forgotten how to execute it properly.

The central player in the advanced 3 behind the striker should basically own the advanced midfield area with the likes of Doyle and Reeves sat in behind them. Instead they are more interested in being a #10 which leaves a big gap between them and the two defensive CM's which is where we get exposed quite frequently by the high press or a breakaway.

So, to summarise I think blaming Doyle for our slow build up play is not really fair. Yes, he makes a few misplaced passes but why chastise him for trying to be proactive? Same goes for Reeves. Maybe the brave thing to do is drop either Enzio or Ruben and throw Wolfe into that CAM position as he did show signs against Oxford that he is more than capable of patrolling that area of the pitch as well as having an attacking threat to his game.

My issue with Doyle isn’t his passing, it’s the fact he can’t run anymore. If he was coming on with 15/20 minutes left to try to tie up a game like Alan Smith used to do, fair enough. He plays week in, week out and we get over run by poor teams week in, week out.

I just don’t believe it’s a coincidence that by far our best performance lately was when he decided to go in goal!

[TSANHO]

There were two moments that stood out for me on Tuesday re that huge gap in the centre of the park. The first was their first goal, where one King’s Lynn player seemingly miscontrols the ball on the right and it goes to the goalscorer a couple of yards ahead of him, with nary a Notts player in sight.

The second was when King’s Lynn clear a ball and it comes out to the centre of the park, where there are three King’s Lynn midfielders to pick up the ball and there’s not a Notts player within camera shot.

Halfway through the season, Ardley doesn’t know the best formation to get the best out of us in an attacking sense. All he knows is that Darby and Joan have to start in midfield, reducing our mobility and ability to get up and down the pitch. Personally, I would play Reeves in the holding role, bench Doyle, and get more pace in the midfield - maybe try a 4-1-4-1 with Reeves acting as shield and quarterback.

Many talked about the craziness of not giving Sam any game time on Tuesday, but I also thought Miller was unlucky to miss out after his lively second half performance.

Such is the addiction of football, I swore I never wanted to see us again after Tuesday’s game, and now I’m gutted the game is off tomorrow.

😂 I’m exactly the same...I was adamant I wasn’t going to buy the match, who was I trying to kid!

I like the above line up from 1961 pie, and some of the others. If Brindley is fit I’d definitely put DKE at LB over anyone else we have at the club. I definitely agree about Miller, he was one of our best players in our previous match....id go with something like this....

...................Slocombe

Brindley.....Rawlo....Lacey.....DKE

.....................Reeves.......

.........Miller....................Wolfe

Roberts.......Wootton......Ruben
(If fit)
Enzio

[Jampie]

Gotta say as a mostly-lurker I find discussions about tactics and how to improve our offence to be a LOT more interesting than the endless debate about removing the manager or not.