The key to 4-2-3-1 is to defend a high line and press the opposition - Roy's teams do neither, never have and never will. We also see a holding midfielder in the hole when we bought Cole to perform that job. The wings and man in the hole are there to prevent the striker being isolated - they achieve this by pressing the opposition while we defend a high line, with one or more people to break up opposition play. But we're not deployed in that way: we sit back and don't press, which forces the attacking players deeper and leaves Torres on his own.
It's important to remember that Gerrard's goal vs Sunderland came from Torres beating a man against the touchline and crossing from the byline. I'm sure you can count in one hand the number of times any other player in the squad has done that this season so far.
The reason N'Gog has been effective as a substitute (particularly vs Man U) was because we established Gerrard, Poulsen and Meireles in the middle of the pitch [for a brief period], at which time we actually looked like we might have a clue about playing this game. Cole also drifted infield during that game (planned or otherwise), setting up a pseudo-diamond 4-4-2. We weren't good because of N'Gog; we were good because suddenly everyone was playing in a natural position. Football is a team sport, and you live or die as a team.
I agree with House MD. For me, 4-3-3 is the shape we best aspire to, and especially with his choice of Pacheco. But Roy isn't going to pick that formation. Ever. Unless we can change to Roy's style in a hurry, the players are going to lose interest in playing for him, just as they lost interest in Rafa (though for different reasons), and then he'll be on a hiding to nothing.
