• The change in our out of possession approach
• Attacking Dynamics improving
• Norris situational CB in build up
• Utilising width really well with wide triangles
• Duff Assessment

THE CHANGE IN OUT OF POSSESSION APPROACH:

In recent games we’ve seen Michael Duff revert back to the man to man press from opposition goal kicks along with a 4-4-2 mid block which becomes man to man higher up the pitch, yesterday however we saw him adapt with him shifting to a different approach having Luke Harris and Cauley Woodrow press against their CB’s with one of them screening the pass into the pivot + our wingers on their full backs.

Now I’ve been a bit critical of our press when we haven’t gone man for man in games such as against Luton Town as I felt we were getting played through too easily and the press wasn’t blocking central progression enough with one of our eight’s split between the oppositions sixes, yesterday we did also see moments where they would bypass our press early on in the game but thankfully we weren’t punished. I’m glad they only played one DM instead of a double pivot as if they did we probably would have seen the return of the press I was critical of with one of our eights split between both of their sixes..

The idea behind this was to create a +1 on the defensive line to be more competitive in duels and to deal with their long passes better, the coordination and organisation of our high press did get better throughout the game but that’s only when we saw Duff adapt to be a bit more aggressive with his positioning of one of the eights to stop their DM from receiving so easily as seen below.

We see below their +1 out wide, it’s clear we were looking to force them wide and trap them against the touchline forcing them long, but to do this you have to be super compact centrally (something which we haven’t been when pressing in this structure)

Example below from the second half, Duff noticed the press was being too easily bypassed centrally and adapted again making us more aggressive.

One thing I did notice in the pressing shape we started the game with was some space being free between the lines if one of our CB’s didn’t fully commit to jumping and marking a man between the lines, it didn’t happen too often as there is a clear emphasis from the coaching team for the defenders to be aggressive but was something to be aware of.

Picture one below is an example from yesterday’s game and picture two is from a previous game against Wigan Athletic a while back showcasing Anders being aggressive with his positioning.

ATTACKING DYNAMICS:

The attacking dynamics were similar to the pressing situation in regards to for the first 15-20 minutes it was carbon copy of what we’ve seen previously with too many players wanting the ball to feet with no one there to stretch the opposition vertically and run in behind, we know that’s not Woodrow’s profile so brining in Nathan Lowe who can run in behind along with maintaining a top physical stature to be able to play OVER teams press instead of always having to play through was vital.

We did start to see some movement in behind often coming from one of the wingers dropping (ball side dependent) which then dragged out a full back leaving space for Woodrow to run the channel.

Another time we saw someone run in behind it created a chance with Luke Leahy passing forwards and then continuing his run.

Continuing with our attacking dynamics I thought we utilised the width really well with our wide triangles working really well in particular on the right, on the left it was more receive and cross focussed with Dan Harvie holding the width high on the left allowing Fred Onyedinma to invert into the half space in our 3-1-6 build up shape.

We saw a lot of what’s called ‘up back through’ patterns in wide areas throughout the game, we see this at the elite level a lot usually with PSG with Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, it’s were a full back plays a straight pass into a winger with the full back then bursting forwards inside the pitch ready to receive again from the winger.

IN POSSESSION

3-1-6 We frequently set up in a 3-1-7 build up shape which often consisted of Norris moving up to become a situational CB, with Norris (GK) being part of the back three it meant we could push Niall Huggins higher. One crucial detail was the fluidity of the midfield, Aaron Morley as the lone six and would rarely move (apart from very occasionally dropping into the backline) the eights dropping was crucial to maintain connection between defensive and attacking lines, Doncaster pressed with 1 in their frontline so it gave us a 2v1 or 3v1 overload on our backline which we used really well, the eights would start high before dropping to receive and play a bounce pass to the spare centre back who could then either retain the ball and control the tempo or look to progress play forwards if the pass was on.

Obviously Will Norris couldn’t always play in the backline if we were sustaining pressure pretty high you can’t expect the goalkeeper to occupy a silly position, if Norris wasn’t involved we’d be in a 3-1-6 with often Huggins tucked in with Harvie remaining high and wide on the left.

Another thing I noticed was Woodrow pinning both of their CB’s and they didn’t look too comfortable jumping to mark players between the lines, when we had the ball deep if one of their centre backs didn’t want to jump then it meant their six was split between two, by shifting the ball side to side quickly we could try and tire out their six as he had a lot of ground to cover, we could then attempt to play into the spare man between the lines with Woodrow pinning both centre backs not allowing them to jump and press. (Pic below)

MID BLOCK

Our mid block I thought was great, a compact 4-4-2 limiting space between the lines by having a high backline but ready to defend the space behind our defence if necessary. Harris (good presser) played alongside Woodrow in the front 2 to support him getting pressure on the ball. A 4-4-2 for me is the best shape to play in a mid block as it gets equal coverage of the pitch and you’re not vulnerable to being pinned in as you are when in a back five.

We did see Junior Quitirna drop into the backline when necessary usually in our low block to help defend the box, this is good as most teams attack with five so it stops us being overloaded, plus the fact it helps his full back when defending. Junior really struggled regarding tracking back against Cardiff City so it’s great to see he’s developing in that regard and taking his defensive responsibilities just as seriously as his attacking ones.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT:

I was really pleased with what I saw, in possession the dynamics are improving and you can tell that only having 1 midweek game in the last seven games has given Duff and his coaching team valuable time on the training pitch. He quickly realised after the early scare that the more passive press wasn’t particularly working as well as it could have and he made the change to become more aggressive with the positioning of our eights off the ball.

Overall it was a very enjoyable watch, as far as playoffs go we’ve been tactically top and we’re getting players such as Ewan Henderson and soon Josh Scowen back from injury, the squad depth has improved brining in Lowe, Vidigal, Harris and Morley and we look a very hard side to beat at this moment in time. This is with Lowe not even playing a game yet who will really improve the balance of the attack with him able to stretch teams’ backline vertically. In previous weeks I’ve been thinking we have to be more ruthless and clinical in front of goal and yesterday in the second half we were which was great to see. Whether it’s this season or not I’m very confident Duff and his team will take us to the next level!

Trust the Gaffer!