Minority Report v Huddersfield Town

That says he reads the pass. It does not say that he is always in the right place, or that he is defensively minded.

 

My view is Val knows the limitations of his players and plays accordingly. I watched 15 minutes of the Leicester Man Utd game it consisted of 13 minutes of Leicester passing the ball across the pitch then back again within 10 yards of the half way line Spackmanesque , tedious . 10th in the league , players playing for each other and the shirt , young lads doing their best and no sign of the manager talking of over achievement UREDS

 

The most important trait of a defender is to get the ball back off the opposition is it not? Or am i missing something here.

Surely been in the right place and having good positioning leads to more interceptions.

 

Who would you play at full back in a back four?

 

Like I say, each to their own opinion. But as it stands, using whatever evidence is available to us, the things you are pointing out as flaws or failings, they're just not. We have a young midfielder playing out of position as a wing-back who has made the most interceptions/tackles in the league and you're saying he doesn't have the right defensive instinct to play there. You say Woodrow never seems to be in the box, that it's not his game to get into a position to finish when chances come. Yet from his 42 goals in 98 games for us, 33 of them are first time finishes.



That's just a couple of points.

Others have already picked up on your 'first goal winner' theory, which hasn't been disproven, it's been smashed to pieces.

I always say this, but I really appreciate your opinions and look forward to reading them every week. I don't massively disagree with the finer points you make to be honest. And, even though I do try to offer up the odd opinion myself, it doesn't serve me well to be as opinionated online as I once was, for obvious reasons.

I just dream of promotion, the financial windfall and a new West Stand with a nice media office overlooking the pitch to be honest.

 

Very good stats. The bit about no wins in first 7 is something I had overlooked.

 

Must say, some of the back heels drive me to distraction. Wish they'd all just stop.

 

Do you think that booting it in the stand from the kick off separates us from Wycombe and Wednesday?

 

I must admit I've never seen us do this boot - it - out before (except through lack of talent back in Div 4 - not deliberately).

It's not something I want to see again without being told in advance that Jonny Wilkinson is our new midfield supremo.

Brittain is good going forward but I'm amazed at how often he's the last man in defence when the chips are down and the opposition attack quickly.

Styles has yet to find a piece in our jigsaw to call his own.

None of the above however justifies a boot into the stands.

Vertical football?

 

Jordan Williams (when fit).

 

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard managers been interviewed after been sacked talking about how they regret not changing things enough & trying to gradually change things so they don’t upset players.

There’s no point Valerian coming over here & trying to play a brand new system to him in the hope that it slightly suits our players better than his preferred one & it not working out & him getting the sack in no time.

He needs to implement his style of football & see who fits that system as quickly as possible so he can hopefully get the decisions right on who he wants to keep & what positions need strengthening.

If his system isn’t working & he’s under pressure then he has a decision to make but so far so good. It’s ultimately a results business & he’s got us better organised & for me it’s certainly a system that suits the majority of the side but probably not the forwards. I don’t particularly enjoy watching the majority of games but I never really have at championship level this century. There was 3 good months under Hill & 4 under Heckingbottom & that’s about it. The rest of the time we’ve always fought & scrapped for points & played for the most part pretty dull football but it’s the wins & the late equalisers that make it worthwhile

I don’t think anyone should get caught up on having some kind of system that suits all your players as it’s just not feasible for a selling club like ours. We could end up getting a couple of pacey wide forwards who suit the system & the next thing Mowatt leaves, James gets recalled, Styles gets sold, Solbauer wants to go home, a first choice wing back gets crocked for the season etc.

His aim is to be be as successful as soon as possible so he gets a better job. That works for us as the higher up the league we are the bigger fees we should get for our players.

And the one thing I disagree on is Callum Styles. I was really critical of him at wing back defensively initially but he’s come on loads. His positioning especially as that needed a lot of work. I’ve no doubt he’ll cost us a goal in the next couple of games now I’ve said that!

 

I do not think that I have said that Cauley Woodrow is not a decent striker. However, he has scored most of his goals when he has been paired with a target man. My argument is that the 3-4-3 system needs more pace all over the pitch for it to work well. It does not even need a target man, just so long as it has pace. A target man is just a second, and not quite as good an alternative.

 

I'm still celebrating a Boxing Day win. After midnight.

I'm also aware of the philosophy of those who came before me. If any player under Brian Clough had kicked the ball straight out like that from the centre circle he'd never have played for him again. I understand Cauley(?) was told to do that, and it did us no harm, and that in every match you've ever seen before, the team starting in possession boot the ball away randomly, and they may as well boot it in the stands.

It just is not right. I know I'm making too much of it. If we'd lost, just like Solly would have been hammered for their goal, it would have been more of a talking point.

I reckon we played OK for the most part, on the floor, more than they did.

And at least I thought we played OK, and that it wasn't a drab game, and we deserved to win.

 

My problem with 3-4-3 is that I think it needs a lot of money to be spent in order for it to work well. I just do not see our owner spending that sort of money, and to be honest, I would not want him to.

 

Yeah, but he’s not!

And...

On both sides?

That’s my point and my issue. I don’t agree that our centre backs are better suited to a back four, as I’ve said.

But even if they are, we don’t have the full backs to play a back four I don’t think. Styles clearly no, and I don’t think Brittain would be great as an out and out right back personally.

Jordan Williams when fit would give us that option - however I also think he’d provide the pace in the back three we are lacking too, maybe at left centre back leaving Andersen to battle Helik for the central berth.

The lad we’re in for from Forest Green, Kitching, left sided and a bit of pace I hear too. Looks to be ideal for the left side of a back three. I can’t see us playing a back four and I don’t advocate that either.

What I might consider if I was Ismael, which I’ve mentioned before, would be two up top and three in midfield. We’d need a better strike partner for Woodrow to do that, Carlton Morris may be him. I do suspect he will stick to 3-4-3, and if he carries on winning games at the same rate there won’t be too many unhappy.

 

I think that Brittain would be fine as a full back.

However, my real point is that finances will be limited. Finances are always limited at Oakwell, but COVID will have made things even tighter. We currently have 4 centre backs capable of playing in a back 4. We are buying a 5th because we want to play a system that we are otherwise weak in at least 6 positions (the goalkeeper, the back 3 and the front 3). We are really well stocked on central midfield players, and yet we can only play 2 of them. The players that we have shout 4-3-1-2. Why do they shout that? Because it was the system played by the previous manager. I accept that we still need a few, even if we went for that system, but we do not need 6 or 7. I hate to see money wasted. I support buy young, improve and sell on because we cannot compete any other way. Spending money on 3-4-3 seems to be exactly that. Throwing money away, and we cannot spend that money again once it is gone.

 

Isn’t it working well now? Realistically even if we say we’ve been lucky in a few games & you knock 6 or 7 points off our total we’re still towards the top end of the bottom half. That for us is success.

You’re highlighting preferences that would make the system work even better but you can do that for any successful side we’ve had it’s never perfect.

It’s as much about players understandings of each other’s strengths & weaknesses, confidence & what they do on the training pitch than it is the system.

We’re grinding wins out, that breeds confidence, team spirit & our current players will be getting more & more used to the system & playing with each other by the game. My guess is Val’s trying to get all the players used to a system & then to try & gradually introduce more flair the longer we go on.

You go back to the Flitcroft 3-5-2 & explain how that one worked? Wisemen converted to a wing back, Kennedy to a centre back, Etuhu to a central midfielder, Foster playing a system he’d not played in at least 8 years in his 30’s. I’ve never seen a team with as many players out of position but it worked.