It seems to me that without this formation we wouldn't be fortunate enough to be where we currently stand.
Last year we struggled, until the 3-5-2 popped out as a formation and we put a good run together around Christmas I believe. Then Lavery, came into the team and we might of reverted to a 4-4-2 but it worked for a bit but as soon as we lost him the team did not function that well again.
The mistake Sheridan has made is that he is brought forwards who are better equipped to play centrally but he persists on playing them out wide. Alessendra, Smalley, Morgan (although you could debate that one~) and Banton.
As Sheridan neglected the full back position at times, last year and this year with the left hand side it has meant, with not having real actually wingers, that Argyle have played many formations and have no real width to their play.
Playing the 3-5-2 over the course of the past two seasons has meant we have had width and a lot of the better performances over the past two years has come when we played this formation. I believe Sheridan has recruited well in some areas. Hartley is been very impressive and finally now McHugh is playing CB we see exactly what the Bradford fans pointed out. A much better CB than LB and suddenly with probably the best keeper in the league we have a great defence.
I still believe though we have got to this position more in luck than judgement. From this run the home performances against Hartlepool and Shrewsbury were abysmal at times and it was only because they were as bad as us that we got 6 points. Tranmere we played well for 45mins but against a struggling team in the second half we almost through it away again.
Whilst others are looking at the table and how high we sit. I am looking at the performances. Today, against a very physical team on a run where there confidence is high, I thought we played very well at times. Sometimes we sat too deep but I remember Sturrocks team in this league and we would do the same and that didn't do us any harm.
I just believe its too early to see this team as a promotion team. When we play 3-5-2 we can spread the play and we look good on the eye. When we revert to another formation we aren't so clever. My other issue is that second half Curle reacted by making changes got in the driving seat for 15 mins of the start of the second half. I'm not sure Sheridan reacts quick enough at times to tactical changes and as managers will soon see us playing 3-5-2 more regularly I do wonder if he can change a formation and yet make us function as a team.
To me the squad is lop-sided. All these players who are better centrally, whether that be in defence (.e.g. McHugh) or Attack (e.g. Alessendra) and the 3-5-2 helps us putting people in better positions. I believe that we have a lot of good players and so this has definitely helped when playing poorly. Yet I am reserving judgement because I still believe along with this formation issue we have other issues that if not corrected will stop us from staying high up the league. One for example, is coming back from behind in game after being a goal down.
3-5-2 is the way forward because I believe Sheridan has signed a quality spine of the team (McCormick, Hartley, Cox, Reid) but has forgotten just exactly how important width is for a team in terms of creating space and chances. So this formation is the only option until we get a LM and RM, like Bryan of Bristol City, who is prepared to play the unselfish wide role.
Last year we struggled, until the 3-5-2 popped out as a formation and we put a good run together around Christmas I believe. Then Lavery, came into the team and we might of reverted to a 4-4-2 but it worked for a bit but as soon as we lost him the team did not function that well again.
The mistake Sheridan has made is that he is brought forwards who are better equipped to play centrally but he persists on playing them out wide. Alessendra, Smalley, Morgan (although you could debate that one~) and Banton.
As Sheridan neglected the full back position at times, last year and this year with the left hand side it has meant, with not having real actually wingers, that Argyle have played many formations and have no real width to their play.
Playing the 3-5-2 over the course of the past two seasons has meant we have had width and a lot of the better performances over the past two years has come when we played this formation. I believe Sheridan has recruited well in some areas. Hartley is been very impressive and finally now McHugh is playing CB we see exactly what the Bradford fans pointed out. A much better CB than LB and suddenly with probably the best keeper in the league we have a great defence.
I still believe though we have got to this position more in luck than judgement. From this run the home performances against Hartlepool and Shrewsbury were abysmal at times and it was only because they were as bad as us that we got 6 points. Tranmere we played well for 45mins but against a struggling team in the second half we almost through it away again.
Whilst others are looking at the table and how high we sit. I am looking at the performances. Today, against a very physical team on a run where there confidence is high, I thought we played very well at times. Sometimes we sat too deep but I remember Sturrocks team in this league and we would do the same and that didn't do us any harm.
I just believe its too early to see this team as a promotion team. When we play 3-5-2 we can spread the play and we look good on the eye. When we revert to another formation we aren't so clever. My other issue is that second half Curle reacted by making changes got in the driving seat for 15 mins of the start of the second half. I'm not sure Sheridan reacts quick enough at times to tactical changes and as managers will soon see us playing 3-5-2 more regularly I do wonder if he can change a formation and yet make us function as a team.
To me the squad is lop-sided. All these players who are better centrally, whether that be in defence (.e.g. McHugh) or Attack (e.g. Alessendra) and the 3-5-2 helps us putting people in better positions. I believe that we have a lot of good players and so this has definitely helped when playing poorly. Yet I am reserving judgement because I still believe along with this formation issue we have other issues that if not corrected will stop us from staying high up the league. One for example, is coming back from behind in game after being a goal down.
3-5-2 is the way forward because I believe Sheridan has signed a quality spine of the team (McCormick, Hartley, Cox, Reid) but has forgotten just exactly how important width is for a team in terms of creating space and chances. So this formation is the only option until we get a LM and RM, like Bryan of Bristol City, who is prepared to play the unselfish wide role.
