Wycombe Wanderers 3-0 Huddersfield Town – Tactical match analysis

KEY POINTS:

• Positive high press from restarts.
• Huddersfield’s poor build up structure
• M2M mid-block approach rather than zonal.
• 4-2-4 deep build up shape with the midfield in closer proximity allowing better ball circulation.
• Still room to improve in duel winning.
• How important a goal in the 1st half was.

HIGH PRESS:

One thing which really impressed me yesterday was our intensity off the ball, Huddersfield built out in a sub-optimal system as they split the CB’s (good), but higher up the pitch they narrowed their wingers and advanced the FB’s high on the last line.

This led to when one of the CB’s received the ball from the GK it was very easy for us to cut off passing lanes as the FB was so high up the pitch he couldn’t receive the ball.

Now this would make sense if their philosophy was to bait the press then play long as they’d have narrow wingers to duel & pounce on 2nd balls, plus outlets out wide in the full backs, plus 2 midfielders high to support the counter press.

The problem here though is Lee Grant’s idea is to build out from the back. The structure contradicts the philosophy.

Anyway back on with our press… We’d lock on man to man with Alex Lowry moving high alongside Cauley Woodrow, if the ball went to Joe Low then Lowry would jump to press, if the ball went to Josh Feeney Woodrow would jump to press, what was most impressive and the most important factor about our press was how it was compact and backed up centrally.

Lowry has to leave their 6 to press Low, in previous games we would have seen the 6 become a free man or maybe one of our 6’s be half and half on pressing them and holding their position.

Not yesterday though, Luke Leahy would immediately step up and mark their lone pivot, Connor Taylor who had an excellent game would then step up and mark the man Leahy had just left.

SO MUCH BETTER THAN PREVIOUS GAMES! The fluidity and speed within the transition of adapting our press was also very impressive.

MID BLOCK:

We’ve often seen both Mike Dodds and Michael Duff implement a zonal mid block which has lacked compactness when being shifted side to side, yesterday we saw a more aggressive approach from Duff as we went man to man in the mid block.

You can get caught out with third man runs when M2M rather than zonal as remember, zonal = defending space/zones, M2M = defending individual players.

Thankfully for us we weren’t pinned back for long enough spells in the game due to our intense high pressing so that wasn’t really a worry.

Alfie May then got sent off which leads to us naturally gaining control and more of the ball. If you re-watch the game at any point then make sure to look at Leahy when we’re in a block, his communication is top and is always telling people where to be and who they should be marking, he coordinates A LOT on the pitch.

I know I say it a lot, but he really is like having an actual coach on the pitch. Impressed with the intensity and compactness overall off the ball!

IN POSSESSION 4-2-4:

In possession we built in a 4-2-4 shape from goal kicks with Leahy and Ewan Henderson as the double pivot, a structure which I’ve always preferred instead of building with a lone six as it offers more bodies to circulate the ball deep.

Aan extra body deep to defend a potential transition should the opposition win the ball back high, prevents disconnection between the defensive and attacking lines (Something we’ve seen regularly under Duff, great adaptation from him to change to a double pivot).

Along with this, it is also freeing up space high up the pitch for players to duel in as usually teams lock on man to man meaning they have to push an extra midfielder from deep to high to match up against our 2 players in the pivot rather than 1.

I’ve frequently tweeted in the past saying the 8’s are too high and don’t drop enough to support build up and it leads to us struggling to progress the ball forwards, a double pivot fixes a lot of those problems. Higher up the pitch we transitioned into a 3-2-5 which at times became a 3-1-6 but with players dropping deep to get on the ball and prevent disconnection from happening.

I was very happy with the control factor in the game, once Huddersfield went down to 10 men they dropped into a 4-4-1, this allowed us to have a 2v1 overload in the 1st phase with our 2 CB’s against their ST, you could even say a 2v0 as the lone 9 was focussed on blocking passes into Leahy and stopping central progression more than pressing the CB’s. We also created a 5v4 overload against their backline, sometimes a 6v4 if both FB’s were attacking the box.

DUEL WINNING:

One thing which has been concerning me is the lack of physicality in duels, this will probably be one of the last times I mention it in an article because I feel like a broken record mentioning it and it’s primarily down to the recruitment so we can’t address it until January.

If Bradley Fink, Magnus Westergaard and Anders Hagelskjaer start regularly playing and can build up match sharpness, that will naturally improve the physicality issues due to the profiles of the players.

Nearly every single chance for them came from us losing a duel in the counterpress which then led to a transition for them.

If we can be stronger in duels in the counterpress not only does it prevent a transition for them, but it also means we win the ball back quickly so we can build another attack and start to sustain pressure high up the pitch pinning in the opposition.

HOW IMPORTANT THE GOAL BEFORE HALF-TIME WAS

With Huddersfield down to 10 men we knew we’d have control of the tempo, I was very interested when the red card came out to see how we were when breaking down a low block, I was impressed overall, we sustained pressure really well.

The most important factor for me was getting a goal before half time, if we go in 0-0, Grant probably changes to a 5-3-1 with a 6 dropping in to make it a 6-2-2 when we were in possession deep into their half, as time goes on their mentality would have got stronger and they would have won more and more 2nd balls as they try and hold on to get something out the game.

Thankfully for us Huddersfield aren’t used to ‘suffering’ this is a modern day requirement in football no matter how good you are compared to the rest of the league.

Every team needs to be prepared to suffer at some stage in a game. Grant being a very possession based manager, along with him not being there very long, hasn’t drilled that into his side. The goal before the break was vital!

OVERALL

Overall I saw numerous tactical changes which were all positive, we’ve seen Duff produce great tactical displays already such as Wigan in the cup which comes to mind along with the Northampton game, you can also add the Huddersfield game to the collection.

So much better in possession, from having the players in close proximity in deep build up to support ball progression, to sustaining pressure high with frequent double movements to create space to receive the ball. Also top tempo dictation too.

Out of possession we were the best I’ve seen us this season, backing up the press centrally from opposition restarts, forcing them wide and not allowing access back into the middle of the pitch, a well drilled mid block, solid box defending throughout, being proactive rather than reactive.

It was an all round great tactical performance even before the red card. Consistency with the tactics is the key now, we saw Dodds have a few great games (only a few), then he’d go back to either a back 5 which lacked natural width and was passive or a back 4 with no movement off the ball and was also passive off the ball.

Lets hope Duff is consistent with this style!