Minority Report - Gillingham

At half time, the guy in front of me turned around and said, “That was a bit better”. Of course, we were 2-0 ahead, and he was expecting me to agree. Sadly I could not, and I explained why as follows.

With 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 the wingers are the outlet ball. When the team wins back possession, the first pass will usually find the player out wide. The winger’s first job is to secure possession and find another player in a red shirt. An attack can build from there. There can be no movement forward, particularly by our central midfield players until the point when the team has secured a good possession. It is a sin for a winger to give up possession after receiving that first pass, particularly if he does so inside his own half. Harris spent the whole of the first half giving up possession in the way that I have described and Watkins was only slightly better.

Up front, Winnall showed again that he cannot play on his own. He is neither fast enough to beat the defender to the through ball, nor tall enough or strong enough to hold off a defender until support arrives. He spent the whole of the first half looking out of his depth and having good possession taken off him.

When the front three is not working, the team does not function as a unit. Everything goes in fits and starts. No consistent pressure can be exerted. In spite of that, we finished the half ahead. How do I explain that? Well, the Pearson strike was very good and looked in from the moment he struck it, but it was out of the blue and out of character with the rest of the half. The second resulted from Watkins running out of ideas and Winnall reacting to the loose ball faster than anyone. It is typical of the goals that Winnall scores, but it did not result from pressure. It was an injury time surprise.

So what of the second half. Well, for 20 minutes nothing happened. Then Gillingham made 3 substitutions and changed their shape to a midfield diamond. From that point on, they dominated the game and it was left to Nyatanga to hold us together in defence. Harris and Pearson were replaced by Crowley and Smith, and I was sure that we were about to match their shape. But no, Crowley replaced Harris on the wing and once more, he failed to impress. The diamond relies on wingbacks for its width. Crowley’s job was to keep Jackson (2) quiet, and to attack him at every opportunity. Jackson had already been booked and the referee was waiting for the next opportunity to send him off. But Crowley wandered about like a lost soul, regularly losing possession. That was not the biggest surprise however. The biggest surprise was that the team shape continued to be 4-5-1 with Winnall reverting to a midfield role and Scowen becoming the defensive midfield player. In fairness, Winnall enjoyed the extra space going forward and it was possibly his best period. However, although we certainly made plenty of chances to finish them on the break, their greater share of possession made them look odds on for the next goal. Johnson could stand the tension no longer, and as we headed into injury time, Winnall was replaced by Roberts with Mawson moving forward to stabilise midfield.

For those who get bored by these long reports, here is a summary. 2-0 flattered us and the search for a shape and a team moves on to Doncaster, in hope but not expectation.

 

So 4-1 against Swindon flattered us and 2-0 today did.

 

Did the guy lose interest pretty quickly?

 

Did the guy in front get to see the 2nd half or was he fast asleep due to the explanation lol

Sent from my SM-G800F using Forum Runner

 

No pleasing some - Winnall can't play on his own yet still scored - strike rate of almost 1 in 2 - shocking

 

So that constitutes another castigation of a team that has won relatively comfortably, along with the usual Crowley character assassination.

Why you cannot just say that Winnall was crap today, and Nyatanga played well, I do not know.

If football could be played on a chess board you may be in with a shout of spouting sense.

There is obviously a need for tactics. But that applies to both teams - we have no monopoly on this.

If you really think that Brian Clough won 2 European Cups by sitting down and thinking about the stuff that you do, I think that you are mistaken.

 

Can't agree. Bar one or two errors, Gillingham barely threatened and we were in almost total control in the second half. Should have had a couple more.

You need to cheer up fella.

 

what a load of bull. waste of time reading that, in fact i switched off half way through

 

Dont agree with any of your report Red Rain but I do enjoy reading them.

 

Have you been on a UEFA coaching course? I bet your PowerPoint presentations are 'ace'.

But you went, I didnt, so I respect your right to an opinion.

 

Red Rain I always make a point of looking out for your reports and taking them in as I usually find your insight interesting.
But seriously, wtf you on about today? That poor bloke in front of you wont dare say anything again!
I don't think Gillingham did dominate in the second half, we could have easily put another few past them. Honestly mate I know it's minority report but that's just daft

 

Used to enjoy these reports but now its like reading someone being over critical week in week out.

 

Attention-seeking, or self-flagellation?

 

His academy reports were the same weren't they?

 

Absolutely full of it.

Tiresome to say the least

 

The problem with these Minority Reports are that the facts of the games prove almost everything in the report wrong, but I guess they are only written for effect.

 

It's a work of fiction, pure fabrication. It's a minority report because he sees things that the majority don't. The reason the majority don't see those things is because they didn't happen.

 

I wasn't at the game yesterday. I'll watch it back on player later this week.

From what I've seen though, I agree that Winnall is not suited to the lone striker role and I think that is why Smith was brought in. Winnall is popular with supporters and sometimes I wonder if Lee Johnson is aware of that so doesn't play Smith on his own up front as he would want to, given the choice. I may be completely wrong on that.

Winnall is doing very well though in terms of goals scored for a player who, I agree, is not suited to this role.

 

This series of reports is called "Minority Report" for a reason. They are my views and my opinions, and I am well aware that they are minority opinions.

For those who I have upset with this series of opinions, they are very easy to avoid if you do not like to read stuff that you are liable to disagree with, or that will challenge your own views and opinions on a game. They are all titled "Minority Report". However, if like me, you enjoy having your opinions challenged, if you enjoy a good after the match discussion on the basis of how you interpret what you have seen, then by all means post your comments and justifications about the game in this thread. If all you want to do is post insults, do not expect any reply because I will not become involved in name calling and insult exchanges.

It is good to know that my view of the game is not just my own though. To quote Tommy Wright, " Not the best performance by a long way. I thought we dug it out, but you have to do that in some games, but I thought we lacked a bit of quality and energy. We have a very young team and they have to learn how to win games like this as well as winning when you are passing it well. But you have to give them credit for winning against a decent, decent team."

 

To quote Tommy Wright. He gave them credit!! Something you are seemingly unable to do. No matter how a minority opinion you've got of our team a debrief should always start with positives!