...and Bradford City

[out0lunch]

I'm still trying to get my head around Mike's 5 forwards, What was the formation then 5 0 5 or 4 1 5

I am still trying to figure it out. Mike pray tell and put me out of my misery

[MeForCrewe]

OED definition of claptrap is … absurd or nonsensical talk or ideas.
Can’t see the reason for the opprobrium.
But no more rising to the bait for me, it’s tedious on all levels.

I think we've all been sucked in again on a thread that the subject is the Bradford City game.

[MikeSB]

I think we've all been sucked in again on a thread that the subject is the Bradford City game.

I did it again....

No, you are right, thread hijacked again...but its a football forum and so its better than not having one at all I suppose..

We all love this club and we should try and find the best we can no matter what the situation is..I thought we would lose against BC and we got a point and think listening to AM he is coming across in a great way actually and think we could do better than I thought and hope we can get a settled team going. I forgot how bad this team was and really was in some decades past but the club is still a professional club despite all that has happened. Its a surprise Barrow being second in this league and if I get time I will post on the last time I went there around 1960 and I never saw another Crewe fan there that very foggy day when we won 4-3 or 3-2 and I never saw any of the goals lol..I went on the train and went to the pictures in Preston on the way back as no trains for 3 hours...

Just to add that when we had 5 forwards I cannot recall where they stood but there were 5...I know we have 3 forwards now sometime and two flying wing halfs and that makes the same 5 hey?

I have to say that I cannot stand defensive football since that Don Revie was alive and ruined the game...

It was a wonder seeing Frank Lord getting the ball from Ron Smith the winger and Frank just headed the ball into the net for 8 hat tricks and that takes some doing...Must have been playing teams with 10 forwards...

[out0lunch]

I did it again....

No, you are right, thread hijacked again...but its a football forum and so its better than not having one at all I suppose..

We all love this club and we should try and find the best we can no matter what the situation is..I thought we would lose against BC and we got a point and think listening to AM he is coming across in a great way actually and think we could do better than I thought and hope we can get a settled team going. I forgot how bad this team was and really was in some decades past but the club is still a professional club despite all that has happened. Its a surprise Barrow being second in this league and if I get time I will post on the last time I went there around 1960 and I never saw another Crewe fan there that very foggy day when we won 4-3 or 3-2 and I never saw any of the goals lol..I went on the train and went to the pictures in Preston on the way back as no trains for 3 hours...

Just to add that when we had 5 forwards I cannot recall where they stood but there were 5...I know we have 3 forwards now sometime and two flying wing halfs and that makes the same 5 hey?

I have to say that I cannot stand defensive football since that Don Revie was alive and ruined the game...

It was a wonder seeing Frank Lord getting the ball from Ron Smith the winger and Frank just headed the ball into the net for 8 hat tricks and that takes some doing...Must have been playing teams with 10 forwards...

I see so there were not 5 forwards, so why say it when it is not fact.

[Timmy58]

I see so there were not 5 forwards, so why say it when it is not fact.

Being fairly ancient myself I can recall there was a left winger, right winger, inside left, inside right and centre forward. Behind that there was a right half, left half, centre half and a right back and left back. Emphasis was on attack but probably because the defensive set up wasn't terribly effective.

[MikeSB]

Being fairly ancient myself I can recall there was a left winger, right winger, inside left, inside right and centre forward. Behind that there was a right half, left half, centre half and a right back and left back. Emphasis was on attack but probably because the defensive set up wasn't terribly effective.

Thanks for confirming the situation and the emphasis was on attack as that was the ethos of football back then. Most of the play now is central midfield and lobbing the ball up to a lone striker who rarely gets the ball and it comes back again. With inside forwards and wingers AND a Centre Forward the game was more flowing and more chances of goals created. You are right in that Frank Lord would have found it impossible to score a hat trick in todays football. Its why I don't enjoy watching the game as I used to but that could be age as well..I played right half in my day and scored a hat trick in the first half of one game and was always looking to create chances for others...wing halves today spend most time in their own half defending etc..

Clubs decided it was better to defend and get a point rather than outward attack but it has to be boring to watch and why the attendances are so low and then the cost? Its ourageous that some players are on hundreds of thousands per week...That was the day the game died...Just my opinion of course..

[MikeSB]

I see so there were not 5 forwards, so why say it when it is not fact.

Actually it was fact as Timmy has just explained. It was so long ago now..

[gazan]

Groan.....! On matchday programmes the teams were often shown as having 5 forwards but in reality inside forwards played just ahead of wing-halves. So a sort of 3-4-3 but not so much emphasis on 'shape'.
I note MSB, that you are persisting with the idea of low crowd turnout but you are not answering my point mentioned earlier.

[MikeSB]

Groan.....! On matchday programmes the teams were often shown as having 5 forwards but in reality inside forwards played just ahead of wing-halves. So a sort of 3-4-3 but not so much emphasis on 'shape'.
I note MSB, that you are persisting with the idea of low crowd turnout but you are not answering my point mentioned earlier.

Sorry, the age I was thinking was the sixties and not the seventies...I was referring to the fifties when crowds were up to 15000 here at Gresty Road, I was there in 1960 among 20,000 fans when we had a draw with the PL Champions and won away at Chelsea in the cup, something our club has never achieved since that time. We gained promotion in that decade too and I was just young and innocent, just like now but slightly older... No, just having the stadium a third full isn't very good...and unless you buy a ST the attendance fee is very expensive..

[Timmy58]

Thanks for confirming the situation and the emphasis was on attack as that was the ethos of football back then. Most of the play now is central midfield and lobbing the ball up to a lone striker who rarely gets the ball and it comes back again. With inside forwards and wingers AND a Centre Forward the game was more flowing and more chances of goals created. You are right in that Frank Lord would have found it impossible to score a hat trick in todays football. Its why I don't enjoy watching the game as I used to but that could be age as well..I played right half in my day and scored a hat trick in the first half of one game and was always looking to create chances for others...wing halves today spend most time in their own half defending etc..

Clubs decided it was better to defend and get a point rather than outward attack but it has to be boring to watch and why the attendances are so low and then the cost? Its ourageous that some players are on hundreds of thousands per week...That was the day the game died...Just my opinion of course..

To conclude this trip down memory lane, the reason the game changed is because defences were coached to be more effective and efficient and it became less easy to score goals and was reckless to be over committed to attack. Well that is my thought anyway. Crux of the matter is, that the game changed because of education about the styles of play. Or put another way, coaching. Maybe Mike, if you watched some Premier league games you would find them very entertaining. We can't live in the past