4-2-3-1, High Press, Relentless Pressure for 90 minutes, Yates playing like Dickov and the '3' being wholly interchangeable.

L

LA1 Seasider

Well-known member
It's clear what's happening. We're going for the jugular.

I said it on another thread a few days ago, Yates is going to be a pest - chasing down each and every ball and forcing mistakes, the 3 behind will be completely interchangeable and will swap positions at will and Critchley won't let them stop running, and from the bench will be another 3 attackers, all able to play across the '3' and who also won't stop running.
With the players we've brought in it appears we have a plan A and a plan A alone. Steam roll the opposition and crush their spirits.

We'll get games where we won't get the rub of the green and where hoof ball tactics and time wasting frustrates and ultimately defeats us - but I can see a few 5-0 and 6-0 wins this season both home and away. Back like under McMahon we'll probably lose to the teams at the bottom and absolutely annihilate those who try play football against us.

I can't bloody wait.
 
LA1 Seasider said:
It's clear what's happening. We're going for the jugular.

I said it on another thread a few days ago, Yates is going to be a pest - chasing down each and every ball and forcing mistakes, the 3 behind will be completely interchangeable and will swap positions at will and Critchley won't let them stop running, and from the bench will be another 3 attackers, all able to play across the '3' and who also won't stop running.
With the players we've brought in it appears we have a plan A and a plan A alone. Steam roll the opposition and crush their spirits.

We'll get games where we won't get the rub of the green and where hoof ball tactics and time wasting frustrates and ultimately defeats us - but I can see a few 5-0 and 6-0 wins this season both home and away. Back like under McMahon we'll probably lose to the teams at the bottom and absolutely annihilate those who try play football against us.

I can't bloody wait.
Click to expand...
i said yesterday on another thread that the only way i could see us integrating the best players was a weird 3-2-4-1 formation, But i dont think LA1 is far from the truth with the steam rollering, the players look much fitter and much more like athletes than i have seen blackpool players for a long time
 
Still haven't really got a clue how we will get on tbh! Is the defence good enough? Will we strengthen that area so at least we have some cover? Will Yates ever score apart from penalties? Will CJ's pace deliver enough? Will Kaikai just have occasional moments again? Is there enough fight in midfield? What if Maxwell gets injured? Can a side made up of League Two players take League One by storm? Can Critchley take the league by storm in his first ever season as a manager with a team of under 25s?

We are about to find out!
 
I agree with this, and full backs aside, it looks like Critch has the players he needs at his disposal for this to work.

Robson & Virtue (or Williams) will probably form a double pivot, with Anderson in front of them and Bez (or Kaikai) & CJ out wide.

We need another centre forward to replace Madine coming off the bench, and the fullback recruitment appears to already be in full swing.
 
Let’s hope so, as that defence could be extremely leaky through the season if no one else is brought it.

looks like we’re definitely going for the we’ll just score one more than you approach.

Perhaps money is earmarked for 12 months to sign quality defenders. Needed much more in the Championship 😉
 
LA1 Seasider said:
It's clear what's happening. We're going for the jugular.

I said it on another thread a few days ago, Yates is going to be a pest - chasing down each and every ball and forcing mistakes, the 3 behind will be completely interchangeable and will swap positions at will and Critchley won't let them stop running, and from the bench will be another 3 attackers, all able to play across the '3' and who also won't stop running.
With the players we've brought in it appears we have a plan A and a plan A alone. Steam roll the opposition and crush their spirits.

We'll get games where we won't get the rub of the green and where hoof ball tactics and time wasting frustrates and ultimately defeats us - but I can see a few 5-0 and 6-0 wins this season both home and away. Back like under McMahon we'll probably lose to the teams at the bottom and absolutely annihilate those who try play football against us.

I can't bloody wait.
Click to expand...


Sounds a bit like Oxford from last season. Looked like Barcelona at Bloomfield but left empty handed. Came good in the end though and made the play-offs. I would be happy to see us as a hard working technically gifted, pacey team even if we left ourselves open from time to time.
 
Rektseasider said:
Let’s hope so, as that defence could be extremely leaky through the season if no one else is brought it.

looks like we’re definitely going for the we’ll just score one more than you approach.

Perhaps money is earmarked for 12 months to sign quality defenders. Needed much more in the Championship 😉
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I'm wondering if the plan is to strengthen more in January rather than going all in now. That's what other clubs do. It's just were not used to investment at any time😂
 
voyeur said:
Still haven't really got a clue how we will get on tbh! Is the defence good enough? Will we strengthen that area so at least we have some cover? Will Yates ever score apart from penalties? Will CJ's pace deliver enough? Will Kaikai just have occasional moments again? Is there enough fight in midfield? What if Maxwell gets injured? Can a side made up of League Two players take League One by storm? Can Critchley take the league by storm in his first ever season as a manager with a team of under 25s?

We are about to find out!
Click to expand...

As pessimistic as some may find this, they are all very very good points. I’m still however extremely excited for the season ahead and probably overly optimistic. The result clearly matters but if the footy on offer is exciting then we’ll all be getting our money’s worth!
 
Wizaard said:
I'm wondering if the plan is to strengthen more in January rather than going all in now. That's what other clubs do. It's just were not used to investment at any time😂
Click to expand...

If we’re close in Jan I can see us pushing the boat out as much as the caps will let us.

I know this is crazy for us, but it looks as thought his is the new norm for us. Hallelujah.
 
LA1 Seasider said:
It's clear what's happening. We're going for the jugular.

I said it on another thread a few days ago, Yates is going to be a pest - chasing down each and every ball and forcing mistakes, the 3 behind will be completely interchangeable and will swap positions at will and Critchley won't let them stop running, and from the bench will be another 3 attackers, all able to play across the '3' and who also won't stop running.
With the players we've brought in it appears we have a plan A and a plan A alone. Steam roll the opposition and crush their spirits.

We'll get games where we won't get the rub of the green and where hoof ball tactics and time wasting frustrates and ultimately defeats us - but I can see a few 5-0 and 6-0 wins this season both home and away. Back like under McMahon we'll probably lose to the teams at the bottom and absolutely annihilate those who try play football against us.

I can't bloody wait.
Click to expand...
Sounds like exactly the tactics Klopp employed at Dortmund and for the first few seasons at Liverpool. Heavy metal football he described it as. I can remember watching Dortmund beat Real Madrid 4-1 in the CL. They swarmed all over them, pressed the life out of them, and eventually wore them down. Very similar to how Liverpool beat Barcelona 4-0.
It takes incredibly fit players to employ those tactics. If NC is going down that road, we're in for some entertainment.
 
I think future recruitment (January) will be a time to bring in the very best youngsters from the Premier League on loan who haven't quite broken into their clubs first team plans (KDH etc.). In terms of permanent signings I can see a much more targeted approach with players identified months/years in advance for very specific positions / roles. When they're available or their contract is running down we'll target them. I can't see us making signings for the sake of making signings. It's been done very effectively at Liverpool and I imagine it's a tactic likely to be used here too - hence the long term contracts (3+1) for players clearly identified as 'key' signings - whether that be for immediate first team starters or future prospects. I can also see us looking to bring players in from abroad and players in from academies and clubs at our level and below with the view to loaning them out and developing them with an eye on the future - and future planning won't be 'I can sell for £200k extra in 12 months time' like the Oystons but more likely 'this kid could play 200+ games for us over the next 6/7 seasons'
 
Is there room for a couple of experienced players many are craving for? Would they be able to play the very high tempo game we are expecting?
 
Klopp's a Maiden fan, so he's fine in my book!

Great thread this, good points made and some speculation that, if proved correct, will mean a great season. I just hope that if it doesn't gel immediately, or if we struggle to break down a determined bunch of spoilers, folk don't panic and go into meltdown.

I don't think Sadler will, he's obviously identified NC as the man to take us where he wants it to go, and I think he'll stick with it for the long haul.

I hope everyone does. I know this is getting back into giddy land, as someone else mentioned recently, but I feel we could really buck a modern trend here. The last time I felt like that was mid term Holloway, once it was obvious what he was trying to build, give him the long term security and the backing to achieve it. Sadly back then, although some had already cottoned on, it was a couple of years too early for me to realise why that was never going to happen.

But now... If everyone involved - us, management, players, owners, all realise and accept what's being done and are prepared to live with it regardless of immediate results, then I'm really starting to think the club can build something here that will last and recycle itself for a long time. I hope that's what Simon has in mind in NCs appointment, and that Neil feels he wants to hang around for the long term too.
 
I've always thought that attack is the best form of defence, and watching sides managed by Ian Holloway and previously by Stan Mortensen being the most exciting football we have played since the late 50s, when I started watching 'The Mighty Pool'. I can imagine us pasting most League One teams up to Christmas, especially if we have a central defender who can marshal the defence and a good ball player in midfield, allowing our forwards to run riot at defences. A problem could be caused by teams trying to grab our star players in the January transfer window, because of our salary cap. We mustn't ever allow ourselves to become a feeder club like Crewe have been over the years. One way to try and ward that off could be to offer the players a huge promotion bonus. Then we can all strap ourselves in for a new successful ride up the leagues.
 
Henshman said:
A problem could be caused by teams trying to grab our star players in the January transfer window, because of our salary cap. We mustn't ever allow ourselves to become a feeder club like Crewe have been over the years. One way to try and ward that off could be to offer the players a huge promotion bonus. Then we can all strap ourselves in for a new successful ride up the leagues.
Click to expand...
I think our long term model will be exactly that, improving players and then cashing in on them.
The money will then be used to strengthen the team again.
Very few clubs in the whole of football, barring the ultra elite, are able to keep hold of their prize assets, we won't be any different.

The difference now from in the past is that the money generated will be put back in to the club.
 
It's the system the nobbers play.
Apparently it works if you have a striker who is big, mobile, good in the air and can hold the ball up ( which my nobber colleague says they haven't side losing Hugill).
Works better against good teams but very easy to defend against if a poor team (coming from a nobber lol) come to shut shop.
Also plays havoc with hamstrings.
 
BlackpoolsFinest said:
I think our long term model will be exactly that, improving players and then cashing in on them.
The money will then be used to strengthen the team again.
Very few clubs in the whole of football, barring the ultra elite, are able to keep hold of their prize assets, we won't be any different.

The difference now from in the past is that the money generated will be put back in to the club.
Click to expand...
After years of missing home matches protesting against the Oystons, I honestly don't think that Simon Sadler would have bought BFC, for our long term future to be a League One feeder club. That would be a nightmare for all concerned. The way forward is 'at the very least,' a Championship future with the odd foray into The Premiership.
 
MilitaryPool said:
As pessimistic as some may find this, they are all very very good points. I’m still however extremely excited for the season ahead and probably overly optimistic. The result clearly matters but if the footy on offer is exciting then we’ll all be getting our money’s worth!
Click to expand...
My gut feeling is that the positivity and the energy will overcome the weaknesses. Some teams might out muscle us, but we should be able to give most sides a lot of problems to keep them on the back foot. We also could strengthen defensively yet. I wonder about our midfield being strong enough, but we looked surprisingly ok against Everton and Stoke. Might be different in the heat of a League One battle? Maybe we are thinking in old money too much. Wanting big unit centre halves, somebody aggressive in midfield etc. Maybe we will just out football the opposition!

Big question is how Critchley handles management - it's a different job to youth coaching. He seems to have what it takes but time will tell.
 
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Tangojoe said:
Sounds a bit like Oxford from last season. Looked like Barcelona at Bloomfield but left empty handed. Came good in the end though and made the play-offs. I would be happy to see us as a hard working technically gifted, pacey team even if we left ourselves open from time to time.
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Remember that game very well, Oxford absolutely battered us playing some great football. Memory serves me right they had about 70% possession but came away with nothing!
 
BlackpoolsFinest said:
I think our long term model will be exactly that, improving players and then cashing in on them.
The money will then be used to strengthen the team again.
Very few clubs in the whole of football, barring the ultra elite, are able to keep hold of their prize assets, we won't be any different.

The difference now from in the past is that the money generated will be put back in to the club.
Click to expand...
If our lads shine to the point that EPL clubs with more money than sense start throwing shed-loads of cash our way, that's fine by me.
 
Henshman said:
After years of missing home matches protesting against the Oystons, I honestly don't think that Simon Sadler would have bought BFC, for our long term future to be a League One feeder club. That would be a nightmare for all concerned. The way forward is 'at the very least,' a Championship future with the odd foray into The Premiership.
Click to expand...
Who said anything about being a League One feeder club?
We are well on the way to having a team capable of getting out of this division, but, to use Yates as an example, if he manages to score 20+ goals this season and a top Championship club/low Premier League team make a multi million pound bid for him, it is extremely naive to think we won't cash in and use the money towards strengthening the squad.
We did this exact same thing with Bola last year.
As per my previous point, barring maybe 5 teams or so on the planet, every other team plays by these rules...... to use a high profile example Liverpool were able to sign Allison and VVD by cashing in on Coutinho, why would we be any different?
We are signing young players who should improve and increase their market value, it is a very sound business model.
 
Henshman said:
After years of missing home matches protesting against the Oystons, I honestly don't think that Simon Sadler would have bought BFC, for our long term future to be a League One feeder club. That would be a nightmare for all concerned. The way forward is 'at the very least,' a Championship future with the odd foray into The Premiership.
Click to expand...

That last sentence is exactly where I've thought our ambitions should be. If we can get to a settled Championship state in the next 3-4 seasons I think that would be an excellent achievement.

The occasional go at the Prem then becomes about 2 key elements. First, getting some luck with a set of young players coming through and staying injury free into a core squad reaching it's peak under a decent manager. Second, having the right on and off pitch management framework in place to ensure the first part can happen and be fully taken advantage of. Football is not just about making your own luck but as much about having everything in place with a plan to take advantage of all the stars aligning when it happens.

Sadler looks like he understands this and is putting the plans in place - in a way that our previous owners never did, or were even capable of.
 
BlackpoolsFinest said:
Who said anything about being a League One feeder club?
We are well on the way to having a team capable of getting out of this division, but, to use Yates as an example, if he manages to score 20+ goals this season and a top Championship club/low Premier League team make a multi million pound bid for him, it is extremely naive to think we won't cash in and use the money towards strengthening the squad.
We did this exact same thing with Bola last year.
As per my previous point, barring maybe 5 teams or so on the planet, every other team plays by these rules...... to use a high profile example Liverpool were able to sign Allison and VVD by cashing in on Coutinho, why would we be any different?
We are signing young players who should improve and increase their market value, it is a very sound business model.
Click to expand...
I think you slightly missed my point. Your example, Yates, scoring 20 goals in the season.
My comment was he gets his first 10, when we are playing superb, someone buys him in January, along with another couple of our better players going too. The salary cap means that we could only attract youngsters again, making it difficult to have a brilliant second half of the season in order to achieve the promotion. We mustn't entrench ourselves in League One. If we went up, it is a different ball-game entirely, with no salary cap in the Championship. Your comments then become the best model we could hope for.
 
Henshman said:
I think you slightly missed my point. Your example, Yates, scoring 20 goals in the season.
My comment was he gets his first 10, when we are playing superb, someone buys him in January, along with another couple of our better players going too. The salary cap means that we could only attract youngsters again, making it difficult to have a brilliant second half of the season in order to achieve the promotion. We mustn't entrench ourselves in League One. If we went up, it is a different ball-game entirely, with no salary cap in the Championship. Your comments then become the best model we could hope for.
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Hensh, we actually don't have to sell unless we want to.
And if the possible buyers insist, it just puts the price up.
'Simples'.
.
 
Henshman said:
I think you slightly missed my point. Your example, Yates, scoring 20 goals in the season.
My comment was he gets his first 10, when we are playing superb, someone buys him in January, along with another couple of our better players going too. The salary cap means that we could only attract youngsters again, making it difficult to have a brilliant second half of the season in order to achieve the promotion. We mustn't entrench ourselves in League One. If we went up, it is a different ball-game entirely, with no salary cap in the Championship. Your comments then become the best model we could hope for.
Click to expand...
All of the players are being signed on longer deals than we have ever seen before, so should someone come knocking in January inquiring about someone who still has 2 1/2 years on his deal, they would have to pay the inflated fee that we will be in a strong position to request.
Let's say it takes a £5m bid for Yates from Norwich before we accept it; that alone would quite easily cover the transfer fees spent on the current entire rebuild that is underway, with plenty to spare.
We would then be able to spend that money on further team strengthening.

I don't see any other way a club of our size can progress long term without using this model.
 
BlackpoolsFinest said:
All of the players are being signed on longer deals than we have ever seen before, so should someone come knocking in January inquiring about someone who still has 2 1/2 years on his deal, they would have to pay the inflated fee that we will be in a strong position to request.
Let's say it takes a £5m bid for Yates from Norwich before we accept it; that alone would quite easily cover the transfer fees spent on the current entire rebuild that is underway, with plenty to spare.
We would then be able to spend that money on further team strengthening.

I don't see any other way a club of our size can progress long term without using this model.
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Right, so we get, as per your example, £5M for Yates in January. However much we spend on the replacement, we can only pay them what Yates was on because we would already be paying the salary cap. What good player would suddenly come here for between two and three grand per week. It would be the salary cap and our maximum squad restraints that could cock up our promotion dream.
As I said earlier, we must provide enough of a promotion bonus to help us keep our star players for the second half of this season.
 
Henshman said:
Right, so we get, as per your example, £5M for Yates in January. However much we spend on the replacement, we can only pay them what Yates was on because we would already be paying the salary cap. What good player would suddenly come here for between two and three grand per week. It would be the salary cap and our maximum squad restraints that could cock up our promotion dream.
As I said earlier, we must provide enough of a promotion bonus to help us keep our star players for the second half of this season.
Click to expand...

That would depend, the salary cap is per season. So if we aren't right up against it after the window closes in October then that "dead" space would build up and mean you could offer more to a player for the second half of the year.

Will be interesting to see how teams approach it, although we as fans won't have any visibility of it. So maybe it isn't that interesting for us 🤣
 
Hensh , we probably wouldn't even be able to pay what Yates is on , he was signed before the wage cap was introduced, and will almost certainly be on a higher wage than what is now " allowed "
 
Henshman said:
Right, so we get, as per your example, £5M for Yates in January. However much we spend on the replacement, we can only pay them what Yates was on because we would already be paying the salary cap. What good player would suddenly come here for between two and three grand per week. It would be the salary cap and our maximum squad restraints that could cock up our promotion dream.
As I said earlier, we must provide enough of a promotion bonus to help us keep our star players for the second half of this season.
Click to expand...

We don't appear to be struggling to sign players currently whilst under the salary cap constraints.

Would a promotion bonus really keep a League One player should a Premier League come knocking? Especially when the new contract offer would dwarf any bonus we could afford. Premier League wages nowadays are utterly ludicrous.

In all fairness, looking at it logically, how often do players sign for a team then leave within 6 months?
They don't, because they're only 6 months in to a new contract which protects clubs from it happening. Meaning the only way it could happen would be for the sum offered to be massively over inflated..... see my initial point. If a club is willing to pay such a fee over the odds, we aren't going to turn it down.

These are extreme circumstances that are highly unlikely to happen.
 
Henshman said:
Right, so we get, as per your example, £5M for Yates in January. However much we spend on the replacement, we can only pay them what Yates was on because we would already be paying the salary cap. What good player would suddenly come here for between two and three grand per week. It would be the salary cap and our maximum squad restraints that could cock up our promotion dream.
As I said earlier, we must provide enough of a promotion bonus to help us keep our star players for the second half of this season.
Click to expand...

Teams above us won’t be offering large sums for our best players as they won’t have to. They will Simply dangle the carrot on wages and unsettle the player and give the club a modest offer of a fee. The player will do the rest, if you make me stay I’ll do a Devitt will be common place.
 
Chopper_5 said:
That would depend, the salary cap is per season. So if we aren't right up against it after the window closes in October then that "dead" space would build up and mean you could offer more to a player for the second half of the year.

Will be interesting to see how teams approach it, although we as fans won't have any visibility of it. So maybe it isn't that interesting for us 🤣
Click to expand...
We also have no idea where we are concerning the salary cap at present. I'd be amazed if there is the lack of foresight to max out the cap at the start of the season, which would seriously hamper us should injuries hit.
 
All of this is encouraging but people need to show some patients, and when we finally get back into the stadium it needs to be a positive atmosphere. Moaning and groaning at every misplaced pass, singling players out for constant criticism doesn't help.

As long as i can see an actual game plan, or style of play developing and they are all giving it everything then i'm happy. It might be that next season is the one where we hit the ground running.

All i ever want is for the club to try to be the best that it can be, we have an owner who looks like he wants the same, i just hope we don't expect too much too quickly, steady progress would be a good thing.
 
clappers said:
Teams above us won’t be offering large sums for our best players as they won’t have to. They will Simply dangle the carrot on wages and unsettle the player and give the club a modest offer of a fee. The player will do the rest, if you make me stay I’ll do a Devitt will be common place.
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That's been a problem with football for years, but the current situation is making it far worse with such a massive wage gap between Championship and League One, and it's even worse for League Two clubs.
 
How will Critchley handle man management......
Totally different than under 23 boy management.....
Keeping happy men not even making the bench could decide what he’s made of.....
 
I've long been an advocate of high press football because I always thought it could mask other weaknesses although hopefully that won't be necessary.
The other thing we seem to be focusing on is pace, at least in the forward line. You don't tend to find pacy defenders in League 1 so provided we use that pace wisely that is another real positive.
And we also have the flexibility for players to interchange positions.
So all these are positives BUT the final piece of the jigsaw for me is still an experienced CB with a RB as a bonus.
I would however leave a space in the squad until the transfer window is about to close for emergencies.
 
clappers said:
Teams above us won’t be offering large sums for our best players as they won’t have to. They will Simply dangle the carrot on wages and unsettle the player and give the club a modest offer of a fee. The player will do the rest, if you make me stay I’ll do a Devitt will be common place.
Click to expand...
Do a Devitt? He's willing to play for us as far as I can tell, it's the club that marginalised him shortly after signing him.
 
voyeur said:
Do a Devitt? He's willing to play for us as far as I can tell, it's the club that marginalised him shortly after signing him.
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not having a pop in particular...but plenty will do what he appears to have done which is say no to any and all attempts to move him off the salary capped wage bill and be prepared to be isolated from the squad as a result. I agree that a contract is a contract and he’s entitled to sit it out.
 
Spider29 said:
One question.....
Could Danny Kemp threaten Yates place in the team
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As far as I’m aware, Kemp is a winger or attacking mid. Can’t see him threatening the strikers spot in the team.

More realistic threats to Yates spot are Madine, Lubala and Sarkic (potentially Hamilton too).
 
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