Portsmouth Football Club News

It was a massive talking point last season and it continues to be so today. 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 – whatever you want to call it, it’s the formation that Tony Adams has adopted for the last two matches. It almost worked against Arsenal at the end of 2008 when only a late William Gallas goal ended Pompey’s brave resistance. And it worked to an extent on Saturday, as the Blues began their defence of the FA Cup with a goalless draw against Bristol City. Some would argue that playing one central striker is too negative, especially when playing at home. But Tony Adams disagrees, pointing to two other sides who use the same formation. Chelsea, currently second in the Premier League, and Barcelona, table-toppers in Spain, both employ a lone front man supported by wide players – and both are top scorers in their respective leagues. The Blues boss said: “If it’s good enough for Barcelona and Chelsea, then why isn’t it good enough for us? “We can play it as a 4-3-3 and even get more players forward. “If you want to get on the ball and play and you’ve got an extra man in midfield then you can destroy teams. We did that at Fulham last season when Sean Davis got on the ball a lot for us. “When we played Arsenal, they had to change their system to play us. There are a lot of teams out there playing that way. It’s a good system. “When we’ve played two up front in recent weeks we’ve got done. We’ve been committing suicide in a few games, especially at home. “Every time I’ve played 4-4-2, we’ve conceded at least two goals. The system’s just not working for us. “It’s difficult to get a midfield four that’s strong enough and creative enough to play with the two centre-forwards. “We got some good results last season playing the 4-3-3. “Those who went to Arsenal the other week would have seen a disciplined, organised and strong performance. “We passed the ball really well and I thought those guys deserved another run against Bristol City, although I had to make two changes because of the injuries picked up by Papa Bouba Diop and Richard Hughes. “There were times when I was tempted to make it two up front and bring Kanu on, play David Nugent through the middle or bring on Glen Little on the right-hand side. “But would that have left us strong enough? Would we have been open to another counter-attack? We needed to stay balanced.” Pompey go into Saturday’s match with Manchester City looking for a first Premier League triumph since the end of November. And Adams is looking for a repeat of the resilience shown against Arsenal and Bristol City to get a result against Mark Hughes’ men. He said: “We’ve looked a lot stronger lately and it’s important to be strong and tough to beat against Manchester City as well. “We’ve got something now to build on and that’s what I’ll be doing. I’ll build on the clean sheet. I’ll be looking for another strong defensive display. “I’ve been encouraged with the performances of players like Sean Davis lately. He wouldn’t let you down in any position. “The results haven’t been great recently but I can’t fault the application and work-rate of my players.”

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