Moyes does tell us play the long ball, I distinctly heard through the mic last night "hit it long" from Moyes.
First off I was pretty angry when I first seen the formation last night, then I looked at who was actually playing and seen our midfield had attack written all over it (thankfully). That was the best I've seen us play for a good while (still not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination though). I think in part, though, the crowd stopped us playing hoofball because for the first quarter we hoofed and didn't want to keep hold of the ball but the crowd got quickly frustrated and it stopped (to a degree). The FOOTBALL in the second half was very nice to watch, and shows what we can do when we take time on the ball.
McFudge was hung out to dry by Moyes IMO. He is not a player who should be upfront with a player who is not match fit (Cahill), meaning Faddy had to chase everything instead of being were he should be. And we knocked too many high balls up to him when he needs it at his feet. The entire defence was better tonight (still no cleansheet though), although, Hibbert was a weak link with his positional play but played better than he usually does. The midfield looked good for a change as well, why is that? Probably because we actually gave them the ball and didn't miss them out like usual. Carsley had a decent game, but he can only play in this formation and it's not a formation that should be played week in week out. Osman and Arteta were superb and did everything asked of them, brilliant build up play and finish for our second goal too. How good is it to have Timmy back? He was a little off pace at times but he brought a spark to our side that's been missing.
Overall, good performance and 451 worked but should not be seen as our first choice formation.