Minority Report v Luton (a)

Once again, watching via TV means that I am very uncertain about my analysis, especially away from the ball. I will do my best, but please expect mistakes.


Firstly, the game. The final score of 1-1 will have suited neither team. Luton led from the 13th minute after an excellent strike from ex-Red, Luke Berry after the ball came to him off the post. The first chance came when a through ball caught the Barnsley defence unprepared, and we were not helped by a slight deflection, which also unbalanced Jordan Williams leaving the Luton player through on goal. That was virtually the last touch that Luton had in that first half. The Reds exerted enormous pressure on the Luton defence, but created few clear cut chances to score. At half-time, I was confident that we would get something from the game, if only our powder puff forward line could convert at least one of our chances.


However, the second half began in a different fashion to the way that the first half ended. There were few chances, the game was more even, and the battle was mostly conducted in mid-field. The Coach had to change something, if only to give uton a different problem. He had to try to make something happen. The first to go was a tiring Mike Bahre, who was replaced by Simoes. Simoes brought more pace and played higher up the park, but we found it harder to win enough ball in midfield to allow him to make a difference in areas closer to their goal area. I found it hard to understand why the right footed Jordan Williams was picked on the left side of the back three, and there will be more on that later, but his replacement was Callum Styles which suggested that the formation had changed. What the new formation was is anyone’s guess, but I think that it is called desperation. The final changes underlined the Coach’s desperation as Schmidt replaced an ineffective Woodrow and Halme replaced Chaplin at Centre Forward. We needed to get the ball forward quicker in those final minutes, and in order to win that direct ball we needed a big man to win the first ball. The fact that Halme scored our equaliser in a scramble was a bonus. Many voices on the BBS have called for a return of old-fashioned formations and old-fashioned values, and that is exactly what we got until the end of the game.


In fairness to Luton, they could have been the team to get the late winner, were is not for a brave save by Jack Walton at the feet of Luton sub Cornick. The Reds also had their chances and a driven cross by Callum Styles was very nearly converted firstly by Halme and then by Brown at the far post. In the end the spoils were shared, underlining the fact that both teams are likely to be relegated at the end of this month.


Minority report is about analysis usually, but as I say, I am really struggling to read the game through the TV coverage, so today I intend to talk about playing players away from their best positions. Gerhard Struber inherited a team that had been assembled to play a pressing game in either 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 formations. He has tried to convert that team to his formations, which are very similar looking 3-4-1-2 or 4-diamond-2. There are bound to be a few players who have been asked to play outside their comfort zones as a result. Many, including myself, find it frustrating to watch a player who is doing his best, but who just does not quite have the game for the demands of his new position. It happens all the time, but let us have a look at the players, and the positions that they played tonight.



I have already mentioned it, but why was a right full back asked to play on the left side of a back three, a back three player who becomes a left wing back when we have the ball. Williams was clearly in unfamiliar territory, and I get the feeling that his unfamiliarity may have contributed to the first goal. On the bench, we had Ben Williams and we had Clarke Oduor. Both those players are more familiar with the requirements of the position, and playing the ball with their better foot to the outside, and yet neither player was called upon. When Williams was eventually replaced, it was a left side midfield player who was asked to be his substitute in an all or nothing gamble.


I was surprised to see Bahre playing as deep as he was in that first half. Bahre is at his best with the ball at his feet at the edge of the box, because then he can used his close control and passing skills to thread the needle. He is not great in deep positions, doing a lot of running, a lot of covering and a lot of reading an opposition player’s intentions. Bahre is better behind the front two, and there are others who are better in that deep position, trying to win the ball back.


Jacob Brown is not a striker, because he does not have the temperament for it. He is an unbelievably hard worker who will work up and down the right flank, protecting the right full back when we do not have the ball, and trying to go outside the opposition full back and get dangerous crosses in from close to the goal line when we attack. Jacob Brown is probably the most obvious misuse of talent in our team at the moment.


Cauley Woodrow is not a good footballer. He is not quick and he does not have a good engine. What he is good at is this. He scores goals. Now it could be argued that because Woodrow is arriving in the box late, he is more difficult to mark, but that is only true if we have the players out wide who can find him on his late runs into the box, and currently we do not because the width is provided by the wing backs from deeper and not wide midfield players from higher up the park. Furthermore, because Woodrow is becoming involved in build-up play, he slows things down and cannot be on the end of the pass when it is finally sent into the box. He looks like a fish out of water.


I know that Halme scored tonight, but he was playing out of position. On Saturday, I was mortified that Halme was not picked to deal with the height that Stoke threatened us with. I asked for him to be picked in either the back three, or in a centre midfield defensive role in order to act as a defensive pivot, yet still be available for dead ball kicks at both ends. Tonight he showed once again how valuable his height can be in those situations.


That is five players that were, in my opinion, playing outside their comfort zones, and to me, that is just too many. There will be those who disagree with me, there always are. There will be some who argue about the effect that those players had. I can assure those doubters that the machine would function a lot better if all the parts were working in unison. Simply, it is just like re-tuning an engine.




Minority Report player of the match


Mowatt led by example once more, and he is my only candidate.

 

Thanks for this. What did you make of Gary Lineker - good footballer or just someone who scored goals? Genuinely interested to know!

 

Bang on with brown analysis imo

 

I disagree with your continued analysis that Woodrow isn't a good footballer. I will always disagree, because I think it's obvious that he is. That said, other than that, can't fault the rest of your assessment.

 

Not much use rearranging the deckchairs if the ship is not good enough to float.

Still, we must be patient!

 

Woodrow works hard, has good control, is skilful and scores goals. He’d score even more if played as a striker alongside another striker - preferably one with a bit of physical presence and pace. I’ll take that in someone who’s not a good footballer.

Oh, and to help with all this I’d take a couple of wide players to provide his supply. The narrow diamond doesn’t allow you to break down a packed defence by stretching it. Though Voldemort seems to think it does.

 

Lineker is a great example he was an awful footballer even in comparison to Woodrow, what Lineker was excellent at was leading the line, making runs and of course scoring goals. His touch, tackling and link up play was poor.
The only time he was asked not to play to his strengths was at Barcelona and I don’t think it’s a coincidence his time there was short lived and limited.

 

Spot on that.

Most of his goals for us are playing in a 4-4-2 next to a big man. Wide players getting balls into the box along the floor and he finishes first time. He's deadly.

But hey, he's got to stay in midfield.

Struber is pathetic.

 

Browns best work comes from the right playing balls in too but no he's now our centre forward.

Odours best work comes from being on the pitch but no he's had to go to make way for a lad from Austria

 

Clearing the ball out of defence is fine but lumping it up front, with our forward line, is not.
Woodrow, Chaplin and when playing, Thomas, is a hapless combination.
Woodrow seems to have lost interest, the others are way, way too small. There's absolutely no point in putting Chaplin as centre forward. The only one capable of winning a header is Brown ... on the right wing !
We must get this sorted.
Did I read, or am I imagining it, that these issues will be addressed? Was it Dane or Conway some months ago that acknowledged that we would look at the physical size of incoming players as it was realised we were not up to the size and strength of our competitors.

 

I don't believe you've ever seen Gary Lineker play if that's your assessment of him.

BTW, that short lived and limited time at Barcelona was 3 seasons where he scored 52 goals.

 

Okay.

 

I think we’d all prefer to have a natural target man striker up top with Woodrow alongside him but we didn’t sign one after selling Moore so there’s not a lot Struber can do about that.

Brown’s the only forward who can win a header & he’s the only one that makes runs behind the defence. He has to start up front. Struber was playing Woodrow as a striker but he was playing worse than he did as a number 10, Chaplin then came on & scored a brilliant header & earned a start so Woodrow went back to been a number 10. Let’s not forget Woodrow has had plenty of good games as a number 10 this season. There’s plenty of reasons to criticise Struber (Halme, Dougall, Oduor, Ritzmaier) but I don’t think he’s done a bad job with Woodrow.

Woodrow & Chaplin look ineffective together up top. They both want to play off another forward, dropping deep. I really don’t see what we can do other than play Brown with one of them two. You can’t put Halme up there for 90 minutes & Schmidt doesn’t look good enough to start.

I think it’s also pretty unfair that Brown’s getting a load of stick. How much service does he actually get? Other than Mowatt the service from our midfield is dreadful & we’ve not had great service from full back / wing back areas all season either.

If you look at the stats the two most creative players are Mowatt who’s now been asked to sit in front of the back 4 & Brown who obviously can’t create chances for himself. His goal tally is poor but at least he’s set up a lot of goals & works his ******** off. He’s been more effective than most of the squad.

 

As I said in my report, the problem as I see it is this, the majority of the squad was signed to play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. That is not Struber's system, so he is trying to shoe horn players into different areas. That is why I tried to suggest what positions suit each player in my report, the idea being that if we at least play players in their natural positions, then at least we are not playing so many of them in positions that are outside their comfort zones. In that case, let us argue that the team plays the sort of 4-3-3 that becomes 4-5-1 when we do not have the ball. What is the team that best fits that structure?

Well, a back 3 of Halme, Andersen and Sollbauer give us more height and stability on dead ball situations at either end of the field, and with defensive stability, we can pick our best two attacking full backs. In my view they are Jordan Williams (right) and Clarke Oduor left. The central midfield 3 play very narrow in this system because the wide players drop back to support them when we lose the ball. Therefore, we are looking for 3 midfield players who play down the centre. Mowatt is the first and most obvious choice, and I would chose Bahre and Styles to his right and left. In this system, the wide players in the front 3 are required to support midfield when we do not have the ball. They should also cut in to support the front player when the ball is wide on the opposite side. Clearly, that is a lot of work and that leaves just one choice on the right (Jacob Brown). The other side is a more difficult choice, because we do not have a left sided player with the endurance for the job. My choice would be Luke Thomas. Of course, our lone forward is Cauley Woodrow, and that is not ideal either, because he is not great without a tall strike partner. There is no such player at the club and therefore the ball has to be worked forward on the ground.

Will that team save us? Probably not, but I have more confidence when players are playing within their comfort zones than I have when they are not.

 

Here's a controversial suggestion, regarding the big man alongside Woodrow question.

He's scored four goals this season and has not played enough times for me.
He's tall and a good header of the ball.
He's actually a decent footballer and is young and still improving.
He saved us a point on Tuesday night.

Why not give Aapo Halme a go up front? If he looks lost change it at half time. What have we to lose?

It wouldn't be the first time a defender had been converted to a forward with some success. The Oldham/Everton player Ian Marshall was a good example. Didn't Jonny Parkin start as a defender as well?

 

Dont mind that at all RR. Love the midfield 3 (as im a big bahre fan) , my only reservation would be we need someone to do the running and tackling but with those 3, at least we would create and keep the ball better.
Our shooting is a big worry to me at the moment (as well as other things), it just seems woody is not here, Mowatt cant be everywhere, Brown cant shoot, so we kinda over rely on Chaplin.

 

Chris Sutton.

 

Some interesting stuff as always, @Red Rain.

Two wins, two draws and a defeat isn't bad going since the restart. We've shaved four points off the deficit from June 20th at 3pm. Just a shame the two victories weren't against Luton and Stoke, if you get my point.

But yeah, to still be in with a chance is commendable work from the players and staff over this last three weeks, with Struber's form since appointed seeing us 12th. Unfortunately, what came before that appointment in November sees us fighting an almost impossible task.

We can all throw out potential scenarios, but we genuinely could get three points from the last four games and stay up. So who knows.

Also, the Wigan deduction (if unsuccessfully appealed) comes into play, and any potential sanction at SWFC.

It's nice to be in with a chance. I'm happily surprised to be able to say that with four games left of what has been the longest, most arduous of seasons. I hope when I get some time off after all this, I can do so celebrating the greatest of escapes.

 

Paul Warhurst.

 

Oh yes, forgot about him.

John Charles as well, or was that the other way round going from CF to CH for Leeds?