Minority Report - Swindon Town

When I was much younger, I used to stand in front of the scoreboard. It was a terrible place to stand, with an awful view but I didn’t know any better. I would watch the games with my emotions firmly in change, which meant that if we won I was happy because the team had played well, and If we lost I was unhappy and the team had played poorly. Later, I grew older and more mature, but I still stood, because I am working class, and that is what we do. But I stood on the terraces. As a result of Hillsborough, they were closed, and we were required to move to the brand new East Stand. I chose to sit in the upper tier and it was an eye opener. For the first time, I was able to see the game properly. The game was laid out below me as if it was being played on an enormous Subbuteo table. My education began, and I put aside my emotions in order to try to grasp and understand the way the game is played. I am still learning.

My elevated position, my emotional control and my improved grasp of the sport enable me to analyse the game differently to others, and as a result, my analysis is also sometimes at odds with what I read elsewhere on here. This is why I call these pieces “Minority Report”. I do not seek to be different just for the sake of it, and neither do I seek to court controversy. I simply report what I have seen and what I think, right or wrong. Once again I disagree with most of the people whose accounts of the game I have read.

I had hoped, before the game, that we would play a diamond. LJ played a 4-5-1 system in various forms and with an assortment of individuals and he was absolutely right to do so. Swindon would have to torn a diamond to shreds. I was very impressed with them. I liked the fact that their defensive players were comfortable with the ball at their feet. I liked the fact that they were not afraid to carry the ball forward, or run into space in order to play a 1:2 with a colleague. I liked how the 26 (Rodgers) was able to get between our midfield and defensive lines. I liked how Ajose put Wabara under pressure, especially in the first half. I especially liked the way they were patient in possession, how they attempted to impose their style of play upon us, how they kept the ball on the ground, how their movement was good and how they made angles to slip the ball through the gaps that they created. Mark Cooper deserves tremendous credit for getting them to play with this control, although it would ultimately prove to be their downfall.

The Barnsley side in contrast was poor in possession and inaccurate in their passing. Barnsley’s goalkeeper (Townsend) was a liability and Williams was clearly not ready for a return to first team action as a starter. I could see a heavy defeat coming and I wondered how LJ would cope with the criticism of leaving Winnall on the bench. The Swindon goal was a mess of the goalies making and I could see no way back. The equaliser was a great surprise, resulting from them overplaying and getting caught on the ball, but I still had no great hope for a positive result. LJ took off the hapless Williams and put Winnall up front with Watkins restored to his wide midfield role to give us a shape that had been tried and tested against far poorer teams than Swindon, and found wanting. However the game began to even out and we at least managed to share possession more evenly. The strike that gave us a half time lead was still totally unexpected though.

The talk at half time revolved around our disbelief at the score line. Swindon did not deserve to be behind after dominating possession for most of the half. A change of tactics was immediately obvious at the start of the second half. The players concentrated more on keeping their shape and cutting down the space between the lines. They allowed Swindon to keep the ball, refusing to be drawn forward and relying on them to make mistakes in their passing through frustration, and when they did, they broke very quickly. Swindon were caught, over and over again as our quick breaks caught them with too many players too far up field. If only other teams would commit so many players to attacking us on our own patch, games as Oakwell would be more rewarding. Nyatanga scored from a set piece, just one of many excellent deliveries by Hourihane and Swindon were caught on the ball again for the fourth. However, Swindon also continued to make and miss a hatful of chances, at least as many as we created. It was just not their day.

Supporters should not read too much into this result. On another day, the game could have easily gone against us, and we will not find many opponents with the confidence and ability to attack us at Oakwell. There are going to be more bad days before we will be able to say with confidence that the corner has been turned.

 

Pompous report.

 

Few questions that I would be interested to hear your views on:

Do you think we are heading in the right direction under LJ?
What would you do differently to improve our performances?
What formation would you play, or would you switch it depending on who we are playing?

 

Yep!

Agree with RR's last sentence, but like LeeJay, he complicates the game too much. I don't think we have a squad of deep thinkers!

 

Ive noticed that this week in order to fill your customary 10000 word posts, you have resorted to waxing lyrical (almost whimsical) rather than sticking to the facts.

Generally I like reading you views but sometimes you can put down something that doesnt have to be the opposite of everyone else, and sometimes less is more

 

I thought in the first half we weren't great but neither were they. It wasn't a surprise we were ahead. They had a lot of possession of which a fair bit was harmless although we didn't press high enough

Also I thought the majority of their chances in the 2nd half came after we were 4-1 up and seemingly eased off a little

 

I think I pretty much covered all that yesterday when I said we were cack 1st half, much improved 2nd half. It's a minority that thought we were really good throughout from what I've read.

 

I don't understand why you think this is a minority report.

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I've only 70% battery life on my phone so I'll read it later

 

A forum of opinions, thats red rain's thoughts. Fair enough dont agree with some of it but i enjoy reading his reports as i do with anybody who has been to the match. Some people still seem to have an issue with differing views from their own.

 

All about opinions this footy lark just like life.
Red rain is deeper in his thought and report than most....I like that.....then u get people on here who want to post about "getting stuck in" etc ....all points are valid.
We as posters need to be grown enough to discuss people's observations and concerns....it's what separates us from errr neadathols!

 

Do you think we are heading in the right direction under LJ?

LJ talks very well and is meticulous in his explanations. He does not fear the adverse reaction from the fans if he exposes his thought processes for review, criticism and even ridicule. I feel that this shows him to be confident in his ability and in his grasp of his job. I feel that, if I knew him, I would like him. Of course, the ability to talk well does not go very far in a losing cause. I probably take a different view of this than most football fans. I am fed up of the constant changes we have had over the last 15 years, and I hold that it is these changes of direction that have been a major reason for our lack of success over the period. The merry-go-round has to stop somewhere, and it may as well be with LJ. That means that the fans and the club management must be patient, and must accept the odd poor performance or bad decision. LJ will go through good spells and bad spells, they all do, but he will have my support for as long as he does the job. I think that we are going in the right direction, but only time will tell and LJ's is not the only hand on the tiller.

What would you do differently to improve our performances?

Like most on here, I do not know enough about the game to make that sort of suggestion with any confidence. I am an amateur in a world of professionals. My comments address the decisions that have been made by those professionals and seek to provide some insight into why that decision may have been taken, what the effects of that decision may have been and what alternative strategies might have been used. However, I am not required to stare at a blank sheet of paper that needs filling with names to form a team that will win the next game. I do not have to devise a strategy that will thwart the intentions of an opposition professional manager. I have never made a motivational speech to a group of young footballers. I have never had to analyse what is going wrong and devise a solution when under pressure. Frankly, the things that I have not done, that a professional footballer has is endless. Whatever others might think of me, I am only too aware of the limitations of my knowledge. That is why I am such a keen student of the game, and such a willing learner.

What formation would you play, or would you switch it depending on who we are playing?

On Saturday, I would have played a diamond of Pearson, Hourihane, Scowen and Williams with two wing backs (Bree and Smith). I would have played Davies in goal with Mawson and Nyatanga in front of him. My front two would have been Winnall and Jackson. I was quite happy with that team on Friday night. I thought it had a good balance, but that it might have been short of height.

Although Swindon central defenders were tall, overall they were as small as we were. The problem was that they dominated the way the game was played and Barnsley reacted to their domination. Once the game settled down, defensively, we played with a bank of 5 in front of a bank of 4. When we won the ball back, we broke with pace, catching them time and again too far ahead of the ball. My reading of the game was that this tactic developed during the game in response to us grabbing that half time lead. If we had played a diamond with the players I mentioned, it would have been more difficult to adopt this successful tactic. Although two forwards may have prevented their central defenders getting forward as much as they did, I still think that their midfield would have been the dominant force in the game, and it is hard to see us winning in these circumstances.

So I am quite happy to report that LJ was more successful than I would have been. But there are many teams in the league that will struggle with us playing with a diamond, especially when the players mentioned above are fit and on form. As it is, both Bree and Williams disappointed and in such circumstances we will find the diamond more difficult to implement. That is the long answer, but the short answer is that the formation and the players should change, dependent upon who we are playing. However, I would personally rule out 4-4-2 and 5-3-2 because I do not think that they work in the modern game and I do not think that our midfield players are strong enough.

 

Why do people want to stick with a manager just for the sake of it? If its not working and its clear he's not the right man, no amount of time will make him the right one. Thats not me calling for his head I'm jut talking generally as its constantly being posted.


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What's the flag?

 

Read the 1st Paragraph and rapidly lost interest.

A more condensed version would be more appropriate but each to their own.

 

bit harsh on Bree considering he only had 5 mins + stoppages to have a crack.

 

Also if LJ is successful with us he will only move on to a club with more money and then were back starting over again. I can't see us having a long term manager with a long term plan anymore and that's the same for most teams. Managers are either sacked or poached away within a couple of years it's how the modern game is.

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Very true, but he got too close to his man, lost sight of the ball and his man ran through on goal. He will not make such an error in a few weeks when he gets back up to speed.

 

James Bree will be the next "big time" product of our academy. He is strong and growing, good on the ball and purposeful in his game. Watch this space.
We will have produced three out of four of England's back four by 2020. Just one more to find in addition to Stones Holgate and Bree. You heard it here first.