Pre-match Minority Report v Swansea City

Chief · Nov 24, 2021

51% now. Come on, we can win this at least!

Red Rob · Nov 24, 2021

leythtyke said: ↑

Or 3-4-3 with Williams at centre back. Or 442 with Frieser on the right.
Click to expand...

Got a bit over excited, but you could very well be right!

Tyketical Masterstroke · Nov 24, 2021

Red Rain said: ↑

It is a basic principle of Minority Report that I use logic to comment upon the game and the decisions of the coach and the players. However, it is our new coach’s first game on Wednesday, and I thought just as a change, I would try out his shoes, I would state in advance the changes that I would make. I can then make comparisons with what he actually does on Wednesday in the real Minority Report.

What do we know about Asbaghi and his style of play? We know that he is a believer in the press and we know that he favours 4 at the back. We changed to a back 4 at Fulham on Saturday, presumably in order to try and match their system. It was a change that was unlikely to work. We changed to an unfamiliar system, against the best attacking team in the league which was already familiar with how to play that way and comfortable in doing so. It was desperate, and I hope that Asbaghi will not make desperation part of his match day planning. He will want to change the way that the team plays in the longer term, but the team needs to win, and changing too quickly is a way of ensuring that the team loses what little remaining confidence it has. Personally, I would stay with the familiar for now, and I would only change the system when I think the team is ready, because they have shown understanding and belief in it, in training. In spite of what I said recently about moving to a back 4, I would stick with 3-4-3 for now. Swansea will play the same system.

Last season, the press and 3-4-3 was very successful. The way to engineer more confidence is to return to the principles that brought that success. I described it as anti-football last season, but challenging times call for familiar solutions. Hitting long passes into the space behind opposition full backs, and using the forward press to keep it there, was the reason the tactic was successful. It was supported by high wing backs and a central midfield pairing whose job it was to read the play. The weakness of the system is the space behind our 2 wing backs. That means that when the opposition attacks that space, our 2 wide centre backs have to go wide in order to meet that threat, and as we saw in the last home game, that brings those 2 players into a vacant area of the pitch that favours the pace of their wide opponent. If our centre backs are not first to the ball, they are going to be beaten for pace, and that means that the forward press must destroy the accuracy of the ball forward, otherwise we see the problem that we saw against Hull City in the last home game. Furthermore, it is the job of our central 2 midfield players to cover our remaining central centre back, and it is important that they are good readers of the play, because they have to pick the right time to move from supporting the forward press, to supporting the lone central defender. If they do not do it right, then Helik gets isolated in space, and he goes from looking a very good centre back, to looking a liability as he is static, exposed to pace and a forward with the ball at his feet who can go round him either to his left, or his right. It is clear this season that 3-4-3 is only as effective defensively as the effectiveness of the forward press. This season, the forward press has been less intense, and less effective, but otherwise, the systems of the two coaches were similar.

Of course, there are reasons why the press has been less effective this season. The injury list that our new coach (Markus Schopp) faced did not help. There are only 3 substitutes this season, meaning that if you keep back one substitute for injuries, you can only change 2 of the 3 pressers. You do not have Mowatt at the core of our central midfield 4, and in losing Mowatt, you have lost our leader and our best reader of the game. The guy who decided what phase of the game was appropriate throughout the game. It is only recently that I have understood how important Mowatt was to the system that we used last year, and why Ismael was so keen to take Mowatt with him to West Brom. Those are the problems that Asbaghi must solve if he is to continue, albeit temporarily, with the 3-4-3 system which is familiar.

The first thing he needs to find is a pressing player who can last for 90 minutes, and who can still be going strong in the final 10 minutes. I see only one candidate. Cauley Woodrow’s game has been exposed by second tier football. He does not have the pace to play as an out and out striker, and would be more effective as a striker in a front 2 beside a big man, but if we want to play a forward press, he is the only one of our forward pressers who could last the full 90 minutes. Consequently, he is the first name on my team sheet. Frankly, the other members of the pressing team are less easy to pick. We need 2 players to play for the first hour, and 2 players to play for the final 30 minutes. It would be great if they were goal scorers, but their main function is to work, because their work is the first line to our defence. Last season, Carlton Morris was a regular in our pressing 3, but he will not yet be fit enough to press for an hour. Dominik Frieser was also a regular member of the pressing team, with Adeboyejo tending to be used for the final 30 minutes. There is no evidence that Cole, Leya Iseka or Oulare have the necessary endurance. So we currently have only Frieser who can reliably press for an hour, and that is our first problem in maintaining an effective press for the whole of the 90 minutes. It raises the question whether a midfield player could be brought into the team as a stand-in forward until Morris is fit enough to play the press for an hour, with Clarke Oduor or Romal Palmer being the obvious candidates for that role.

The next unit of the team that I want to tackle is the midfield 4. I do not believe that Styles is strong enough to play as one of the middle 2, and therefore if we are to find room for him in the team, he has to play left wing back. My other wing back is Callum Brittain. That leaves the middle 2 and we need someone to fill the shoes of Mowatt as leader and reader for the team from midfield. Gomes was brought to the club to do exactly that, but he has struggled and he is also struggling with injury. The question is this. Should the vital Mowatt position be filled by a defender as a safety first reaction to adversity, or should the coach take a risk. As I see it, the candidates for the 2 remaining places are Jasper Moon, Josh Benson, Claudio Gomes or Romal Palmer (meaning Oduor would play as the 3rd forward presser). It is a risk, but I would risk Gomes and Palmer, but only because all the other options represent an even bigger risk.

With Aapo Halme being injured and Liam Kitching being doubtful, the back 3 virtually picks itself. It is Sibbick, Helik and Andersen.

My purpose in going through the thought processes in picking a team to play the way that Ismael’s team played last year is that I wanted readers to try to follow the logic of why these decisions are hard when you have the responsibility for picking a team that function in a way that is greater than the sum of the individual parts. The players have to be brought together as a functioning team that look after each other. It is not just a case of picking the best eleven and expecting that eleven to function as a team. The team did that last season, but the magic dust provided by Valerian Ismael is not magic dust at all. It is the coming together of talents that fit the circumstances and the patterns of play. When the players change, when circumstances change, then even the same system under the same coach does not function as well. That is what we have at Barnsley, and that is the new problem that Asbaghi must solve. It is not the same problem, at all. The problem is always a new one because there is always a new mind sitting in the opposition dug out.
Click to expand...

Thanks - enjoyed that. A question for you. Have you changed your mind yet about just how monumentally impressive the tactical job that was done by Ismael?

Archerfield · Nov 24, 2021

Loko the Tyke said: ↑

Not the same Swansea team though. They’ve changed their style as much as we have so I don’t think last season will have too much influence on how we do tonight - even less so with having skipped a manager in between.
Click to expand...

For all the changes, that was very similar to the meetings last season. I’m not sure i can remember a game when we’ve not had a single corner.

WG Red · Nov 24, 2021

Tyketical Masterstroke said: ↑

Thanks - enjoyed that. A question for you. Have you changed your mind yet about just how monumentally impressive the tactical job that was done by Ismael?
Click to expand...

He did brilliantly with what we had did Ismael I must agree and would take his kick and rush anyday compared to we’ve had this season. If we looking for positives from tonight then at least Poya tried big Vals tactic of replacing our strikers after an hour.....

Loko the Tyke · Nov 24, 2021

Archerfield said: ↑

For all the changes, that was very similar to the meetings last season. I’m not sure i can remember a game when we’ve not had a single corner.
Click to expand...

We didn’t get bossed on possession last season though did we?

Disclaimer that I’m in the US so wasn’t at the game and didn’t watch it on TV, but it was 80% possession at one point in Swansea’s favour. From the limited messages that came through my circle of reds fans it didn’t come across like the games last season.

Barnsleyshaun · Nov 24, 2021

It looked like a training game for them, the one where the manager asks the U18’s to come and be the opponents so they can practice and have an easy workout to try a few things.

leythtyke · Nov 25, 2021

Loko the Tyke said: ↑

We didn’t get bossed on possession last season though did we?

Disclaimer that I’m in the US so wasn’t at the game and didn’t watch it on TV, but it was 80% possession at one point in Swansea’s favour. From the limited messages that came through my circle of reds fans it didn’t come across like the games last season.
Click to expand...

Ismael would’ve been delighted to see Swansea try to play against us last season the way they played today.

Loko the Tyke · Nov 25, 2021

leythtyke said: ↑

Ismael would’ve been delighted to see Swansea try to play against us last season the way they played today.
Click to expand...

That was my first thought looking at the stats. they just played over us in all the games last season

Deputy Dawg · Nov 25, 2021

Its going to take Red Rain at least a week to work this one out.
probably doesn't know where to start
On his 3rd draft and gone through 5 ribbons already.
this match could finish him off.

Archerfield · Nov 25, 2021

Loko the Tyke said: ↑

We didn’t get bossed on possession last season though did we?

Disclaimer that I’m in the US so wasn’t at the game and didn’t watch it on TV, but it was 80% possession at one point in Swansea’s favour. From the limited messages that came through my circle of reds fans it didn’t come across like the games last season.
Click to expand...

The play wasn’t similar at all but the result was. Be thankful you didn’t invest any of your life in to those 90 minutes. As matches go that was truly terrible.

Farnham_Red · Nov 25, 2021

Deputy Dawg said: ↑

Its going to take Red Rain at least a week to work this one out.
probably doesn't know where to start
On his 3rd draft and gone through 5 ribbons already.
this match could finish him off.
Click to expand...

I cant wait for his post match report - I do have a sneaky feeling it wont really be a minority view but he may prove me wrong

Pre-match Minority Report v Swansea City

Chief Well-Known Member

Red Rob Well-Known Member

Tyketical Masterstroke Well-Known Member

Archerfield Well-Known Member

WG Red Well-Known Member

Loko the Tyke Administrator Staff Member Admin

Barnsleyshaun Well-Known Member

leythtyke Well-Known Member

Loko the Tyke Administrator Staff Member Admin

Deputy Dawg Well-Known Member

Archerfield Well-Known Member

Farnham_Red Administrator Staff Member Admin

Share This Page

ABOUT US

RELATED LINK

CONTACT US

CHANGE STYLE

Pre-match Minority Report v Swansea City

Chief Well-Known Member

Red Rob Well-Known Member

Tyketical Masterstroke Well-Known Member

Archerfield Well-Known Member

WG Red Well-Known Member

Loko the Tyke Administrator Staff Member Admin

Barnsleyshaun Well-Known Member

leythtyke Well-Known Member

Loko the Tyke Administrator Staff Member Admin

Deputy Dawg Well-Known Member

Archerfield Well-Known Member

Farnham_Red Administrator Staff Member Admin

Share This Page

Useful Searches