2-6-2 Lippi Mentality for the TOON

[nicholls]

Playing as Newcastle as you have probably guest. Played maybe 10 games in the league.

Using the 2-6-2 Lippi mentality from TT&F. Thought I'd give it a go.

6th in Premier so not doing to badly.

I did get a right good kicking from Man City though away. They we all over me and just couldn't keep the ball. Tried slowing down the tempo, going more narrow, but still no luck.

Beaten Arsenal and drawn with Man U and Liverpool, then lost 1 nil to Sunderland (That hurt and fans not happy). Was all over them as well. The one shot they have on goal .

Can anyone who has played as Newcastle advise which players they kept / sold first season, as thinking of cutting some of the weaker links?

Mostly concerned with my defence at the minute.

 

[Ma-Li]

I tend to get rid of the more injury prone players from the squad (except Owen), so the likes of Duff, ****, Cacapa and Viduka get the boot... also I hate having controversial players who may upset the harmony of the squad so (yes, you guessed it) Joey Barton gets the big Cheerio, Bye, Ta-ta and he's sent packing too! You'll notice that these are all generally on a massive wage, so that will free up loads of cash to invest back into the team...

My advice is for the first couple of seasons, invest in quality, young players that you can pick up on the cheap, which will set the foundations for the team, and hopefully after that, you'll be able to set your sights on world class players from then on!

 

[nicholls]

I tend to get rid of the more injury prone players from the squad (except Owen), so the likes of Duff, ****, Cacapa and Viduka get the boot... also I hate having controversial players who may upset the harmony of the squad so (yes, you guessed it) Joey Barton gets the big Cheerio, Bye, Ta-ta and he's sent packing too! You'll notice that these are all generally on a massive wage, so that will free up loads of cash to invest back into the team...

My advice is for the first couple of seasons, invest in quality, young players that you can pick up on the cheap, which will set the foundations for the team, and hopefully after that, you'll be able to set your sights on world class players from then on!

Thanks for that. What about the right back Beye? He's playing rubbish for me at the minute.

Anybody have an opinion of the Lippi mentality? Any one used it before? Any tips? My sides seems to be struggling a little bit now away, and also against the lower league clubs in cup matches who always take me all the way to penalties, though so far managed to win the shoot outs.

 

[Ma-Li]

I can't say I've ever had a problem with Beye, he's always been a consistant performer for me, he may be under-performing due to your tatics... Lippi's 2-6-2 is more suited to the Italian leagues, where the play is a lot slower and players have a lot longer on the ball, not every tactic you come across will be suited to the Premier League, you just gotta look at Liverpool in real life, does well in Europe but struggles domestically, I mean anyone who can't get the best out of Robbie Keane REALLY needs to have a rethink about how they play!!!

It's obvious your clued up on TT&F, I've tried 2 different styles of play with the Toon, Bands of Two & Role Theory... the latter of the two worked really well and the team took to it pretty much straight away!

But back to Beye, he's the only decent natural RB in your squad (unless you've bought someone), he's settled and experienced, so he's worth keeping for as long as possible (until his stats start to drop dramatically), just to keep the harmony of the squad at a good level... Personally I believe if you don't need a player, then don't buy one, stick with the ones you've got as long as they can do a half decent job!

As for the rest of your defence, Enrique becomes a solid LB, Coloccini and Taylor become awsome, however they are both aggresive and dirty players and always pick up a lot of bookings, so I tend to split them up by bringing in another CB (one that's less likely to pick up bookings), and play either one or the other alongside the new boy...

If you started with an earlier patch, stick with Given, his stats might not become world class level, but he pulls off a lot of match winning saves, if you don't have him, QUICKLY find a replacement as Harper just can't cut it!

 

[nicholls]

I did try the O'Neil rule of one for a couple of matches, but didn't seem to work and didn't want my players getting tactically confused so went back to Lippi.

I like the idea of the Lippi tactic, seems to be a control formation just not sure my team have the required level of passing ability for it. Keep getting - our passing is shocking.

I'll have a go at either the rule of two or role theory (one or other not both as don't wnat players confused) for 6-8 matches, see how we do.

Hopefully Beyes form will improve before January transfer window.

9.3 patch so got Harper. Thought I'd give him a go, but looking to replace in January.