Minority Report V Derby County

This was my first game of the season and I have not seen any of the friendly fixtures either, so this is also a statement of my initial thoughts about the new players. I did not post last night because the BBS was so full of hyperbole that I judged that my thoughts would be taken as criticism, which they are not. They are merely discussion points and are intended for those who enjoy that sort of thing.

My overriding impression of the game was that Derby were very poor. They will improve, of course, but the supporters of Derby will be very disappointed that so much cash has been used so poorly. Jacob Butterfield never has been, and never will be a left winger. Keith Hill got the best out of Jacob because he was prepared to build a team around him, a structure that allowed Jacob to play in the areas where he was most effective. It seems to me that Jacob has never found another niche like the one that he had at Barnsley and it means that he will have a really frustrating career.

It seemed to me that Barnsley played the game as a cup tie, a one off. The work rate of the team generally was really high, but the work rate of Marley Watkins was extraordinary. That is fine as a one off, but the number of games that a team can play that way is limited. The possession statistics were interesting as compared to the Ipswich game. At Ipswich, we had a lion’s share of possession, but lost the game. Against Derby, they had the lion’s share of possession, but lost the game. Most of the deficit in possession came in the first half following our goal. We were determined to hold on to our lead, and as a result, the team dropped too deep, particularly our two central mid-field players and our two forward players. As a result, there was no out ball and we found that we could not retain possession after we won it back. The team currently has an inferiority complex, which comes about because we are new to the league. It will need to shake this off if it is going to play with freedom, particularly at home.

Having said all that, there were some outstanding performances. Of course, Hourihane’s delivery on set pieces was outstanding. His crosses into the boxes were just asking to be headed home. At the back, Mawson and particularly Roberts were superb. Kent had a stellar second half, but his defensive alignment still needs work in my opinion. I will reserve judgement on the rest of the team. The forwards were ineffective for the most part, but much of that came from the way the team was set up to play. I thought that Bradshaw never got into the game, but in fairness, much of the ball up to him was not ideal. We are certainly not as effective as a team just yet as we were last season, but they are still gelling and the need for a win did not allow us to play the game in the way that we will when the team settles. There were plenty of reasons to be optimistic, but it is early season and no team has settled yet, least of all our team.

 

You mention the fact we lost with more possession but won with inferior possession, just check the stats for ALL games played this season and you will be amazed by how many games have been won by the team with least possession.

 

Are you ever happy. We were superb yesterday, and we made Derby look very poor.
They are 3rd favourites to win the league, I don't think that can be emphasised enough.

 

When Mr Hill was Manager we nearly always had the majority of possession, but invariably lost.

 

Very concise breakdown....much more eloquent than I could manage and possibly bang on.
My overiding thought at 5pm was the amazing strides we have made since December last season, resulting in a top performance against a promotion hopeful. Just was made up yesterday, the dark days of Division 1 looked well and truly behind us and with hecky in charge and in my opinion a very good squad (could be made better tho), the stones brass, the atmosphere, scoreboard, hourihane doing a great impression of redfearn in his pomp...its all good. Were gonna get some hidings..no doubt, some teams have just too much money not to, but we will outwork plenty of teams and im sure we will be fine...this season...and a few to come.
COYR

 

It occurred to me during the first half that the game had a cup tie feel to it. I wonder whether any first half lack of confidence came from that very lacklustre performance against Northampton - a very disappointing game. Unless you're Barcelona, it seems to me that heavy possession stats can often mean that the opposition are behind the ball a lot and secure. I think counter-attacking feels more like our natural game. We seemed to grow and grow as the second half wore on, and I thought that we fully recaptured the spirit of the team from the end of last season. It's really impressive to beat a team like Derby like that - even if they will only improve. A plesantly surprising performance all in all, and one which suggests we have the ability to achieve safety/stability in this league this year.

 

I'd say a huge part of their possession was meaningless. Lots of pointless passing in the middle third and down our left side where they seemed happy to play in triangles rather than get a cross in. Probably 10% of their extra possession was gifted by the ref.

 

I agree with much of what you've written, but I disagree with one point (quoted), although it's somewhat nuanced. I think we need to play with this 'inferiority complex', or rather we need to realise that many teams will have more quality (for want of a better phrase) than us, therefore we need to play as close to our highest level that we can to win matches. Last season, we were the team with the quality, therefore we could afford to be at 80% and we could win matches. Against many teams this year that won't be good enough.

I think that if used correctly, this 'inferiority complex' could be a great motivational tool. Clearly this is different to Hill's 'tightrope walking with broken legs' comments of yesteryear. But players need reminding that they need to be as close to their best as they can, as often as they can. If they do that we've a great chance of staying up.

 

I don't think you're right that the number of times a team can play that way is limited....

High press, counter attack at pace. That's what we've built and I believe that is the tempo we will play at for the majority of games this season.

 

This! With bells, whistles and tinsel on!!

The longer we stay up, the more we can improve our squad and build up the finances. We need to treat it like we're in the premiership. Which, given the obscene sums of money now in the championship, it is like a second premiership. Longer we stay in the league, more secure we'll get.

This season I think we'll stay up through team spirit, working damn hard, organisation, and then a sprinkling of real championship class in Hourihane and Hammill.

 

The 'out' ball were the two wingers and often the full backs - thought we broke at speed yesterday and very effectively

Teams can often play like that -Klopp has built his success on this type of play

 

This 100% plenty of sideways backwards passing couple of occasions with our pressing we forced them all the way back to Carson with the ball. So the possession stat means little we had plenty behind the ball at 2 up and let then have the meaningless possession. We could have had more goals hourhines volley, his hit which Carson got down low to his left Kents effort that hit post.

 

As last season progressed, the players actually got stronger, fitter and more capable of a higher work rate. In the final four games against Wigan, Walsall twice and Millwall our superior athleticism and work rate meant we simply bulldozed the opposition off the park. They literally didn't stand a chance against our high tempo game that we could keep up for the entire 90 minutes.

In many games in the second half of the season the opposition matched us in the first half, they could compete with us at football, but our superior level of fitness meant that during the second half of games, as the opposition tired, they couldn't get near us.

 

I got as far as "hyperbole" and then remembered why I stopped reading your posts.

 

Leicester won the league playing that way.

 

I think Hecky has said that we will beat teams by out working them, with our high intensity.

Agree we dropped too deep in first half after the goal & that the balls to Bradshaw were poor. He needs it into feet & we hoofed a lot of high balls to him,

You can't say Jacob only performed at Barnsley. He was player of the year at Hudds in 14-15 & earned a £5million move to Derby as a result.
I do agree that he was played out of position though.

It was an excellent start to the season at home. These games are often won or lost on fine margins.
We were unlucky at Ipswich, but barring a poor referee we got the rub of the green yesterday.

 

Have to agree. Ouch.

 

One thing I noticed was the difference in performance from hammill first half to second, first half he was very ineffective, but I thought when the game opened up in the second he was the best player in the pitch.