GB (lack of) tactics

You're an easy target with some, no most of the stuff you come out with, loads of claims but nothing to back them up with.

 

At least we know who the caller was now.

 

Not guilty, too busy rushing to the pub......

 

What you talking about?

Go back to sleep.

 

The simple fact is we failed to prepare for the season by having adequate backup for Donaldson and Vaughan. Now one of them is injured we've had to change a successful system and revert to 4-3-3. Trouble is we haven't the players to play that successfully so we just have to try and scrape by until Donaldson recovers and/or we bring in adequate backup in January.

 

We apparently signed a back up in Oteh but for whatever reason GB seems to want to solely use him out wide.

 

Doesn't have the technical ability or guile to play out wide in my opinion. Would be much more effective through the middle close to a partner. Very strange from Bowyer. Still looks raw but would be a handful if played on the shoulder of the defenders.

 

GB has the players and some have improved under his guidance.Surely it is his job to get the best out of the players by respecting their ability, thereby identifying what system and support suits those individuals best. Doyle being an example it would seem of either not being used properly, or by not fitting in with the formation played with the skill sets available.At the mo the players may be coached well, but they are not transferring what they are have learned on the training ground onto the pitch..if he is the right man, then they are leaving something in the changing room.

 

With Donaldson a.massive miss last night and McCarten injured and Oteh going off with an injury where was the option of a plan b last night. Shrewsbury have proved in league one they are difficult team to beat they stopped us getting on the ball like we have been doing so we had to play long and like Doyle (who wouldn’t have made a scrap of difference if he had played for) Vaughan is unsuited to lead the line how ever hard he tried.
If we have a recall option for Doyle in January we should tell Swindon to cough up a fee or lose him and use the money for a player of Donaldsons type to compete

 

You do realise theres more than one method of long ball to beat the opponents press? Especially when theres no donaldson. Play it long into the strikers body or play it down the line into space. We seem intent on smashing the ball on the diagonal with little to no thought process of if this will be conducive to the type of attackers we have.

 

I agree. He's got decent pace and a fair bit of power and like it or not, he's pretty much our only option if we went two up top.

 

What's McCarten got to do with anything? He didn't play him when he was fit so we can't make an excuse now he's injured.

Oh, and 'plan b' was the 3-5-2 he switched to when bringing on Mellor and Devine.

 

What I found baffling was the pre match interview where GB was moaning about all the midweek games suggesting we were playing too much.

Fast forward to the end of the night and he's suggesting we lacked match practice and sharpness after both Saturday's postponment and the midweek game at Macclesfield which apparently he didn't want to play anyway according to the earlier interview.

 

Playing Oteh out wide emphasises exactly what people are mentioning on here, using players out of position to suit a formation severely negates their impact on a game. The lad has attribute such as his pace and harassing defenders but out wide he has little impact. being a wide player is a specialist role and requires a skill set different to that of a striker or target man. Oteh and Vaughan are being restricted due to roles being asked of them, to a point where i'd say Vaughan looks forlorn at times.

 

Sounds like Ismael is reverting to type. His history suggested he had talent but would struggle to replicate it evert week.

Its going to be a case of gritting our teeth at times with these players, rotating them, and just hoping they produce. Same with Oteh and Connolly tbf.

 

Trying to please the board with words mate.

This is why I worry. Too much pressure to go on a cup run.

However, saying this to have to play Shewsberry then have Mansfield at home was a massive missed opportunity to get to the 3rd round.

 

Do you think Vaughan looking forlorn has echoes of Doyle about it. Both players who do their best stuff facing goal. Must be difficult week in week out not to get despondent

 

I see some are getting stressed over 1 loss again.

Shrewsbury were a pretty good side - fairly quick and fit, hardworking and organised, with good passing - but not lots of flair or stand out players, just persistence and decent ball retention. We mostly matched them in a game of few chances - a tight game that might be described as dour. However, their first substitution really put them on the front foot. I think they would have scored in that spell sooner or later as they pushed up and pulled our defence all over yet they still lacked bite. When they did score 10 minutes after that change (an AoC tackling own goal which caught O'Donnell out?) , they shut up shop and they did it as if they do it every week. They worked hard to close us down and kept doing so. Throughout the game, they had enough pace to nullify our 4-2-3-1, that in League 2 relies quite a bit on pace of our front 4 - plus they had stamina and a work ethic that kept it neutralised. We eventually changed it and actually created a couple of chances but had no luck.

Should we change our recent more successful formation for a new one due to one loss against a team from a division above that we would not have lost to on a luckier day? Of course not. Had Akpan's first half shot not been met with a great reflex save, the result might well have been different. I do think Ismail's trickery would have worked better against their full-backs, since they had enough pace to frustrate Oteh and Connolly, so he should have come on sooner or started. And I expected Reeves would come on for Akpan for a while. But we went for a less familiar formation change (Mellor for long throws and set piece height?) and it did not work. It's not the end of the world. As far as League 2 is concerned, 4-2-3-1 ain't broke so don't fix it.

 

Exactly what we have been doing over the last couple of months or at least since Cooke came in the wingers have seen a lot of ball because of the service from midfield. The other night just like on many occasions last season Shrewsbury snuffed out our midfield particularly in the second half so the service wide wasn’t there.