Rotherham are a very physical side who are strong and well organised and score a lot of goals from set pieces . A.N tried to counter that with his team selection , it went wrong when we conceded from A SET PIECE but we didn’t crumble unlike when we were blown away at Rotherham . A.N has explained his thinking and his team selection we hung in there and managed to salvage a deserved point which could prove priceless - trust the Manager he knows what he is doing . The fact that we conceded a set piece goal meant they shut up shop and were content to stifle our side to protect their lead and you could see why they had only conceded 10 goals away from home all season until last night . On to Morecambe Saturday and we will see a different line up I am sure .
I agree with others when they say ONien plays the role to win second balls. That is a strength of his. I also agree Alex gets it wrong doing that though for 2 reasons - Stewarts game is not about scrapping for headers and our defenders are pretty hopeless at hitting good long balls. We have built a squad to play a certain style of football, that has always been the statement from Speakman, and the players cant do anything else. Saying he got it wrong last night, we still got the crucial point, and as I always get told history books dont record style of play, just results. The good news is the playoffs look like being full of footballing sides, which should suit us more.
When he was appointed, I mentioned on here that I'd read a scouting report on his PNE team that he was happy to be direct. It seems that is something he wants his teams to be able to do. As you say, its not really the basis on which our squad has been built. I wonder if this means that the capacity to play that way will be built into our recruitment in the next transfer window or if the club hierarchy will stick to their original approach.
Rotherham are awesome. Should have hammered us etc etc. They had 2 more on target shots than we did. And one was a backpacker!! You don’t take your chances you don’t deserve to win. End of story
The problem for AN is that the squad don't suit the way he wants to play so he's continually adapting. He said Pritchard is the key to it all and I agree.
I remember his Norwich team and they were a footballing side. They werent Man City, but they got it down and played. I think in time he will do that more often than not. Long ball football is dying out in this country. There isnt an academy side anywhere in the country coaching it. Players from a young age are taught technical ability, irrespective of position. That doesnt mean we dont coach the long pass, but nobody coaches a ball over the top in hope. Kids now want to have the ball at their feet, not waiting for it to come down from a height, or chasing it into the corners. 10 years from now heading probably will be restricted to set piece play only, excluding goal kicks, in my opinion. Everything is geared toward technical on the deck football now. This is all aligned to how the new owners and management team have set our direction of travel. It makes sense as well. Watch the championship and nearly every side is playing good technical football. In League 1 I would say half the teams are doing it at least. To be fair to Rotherham they werent hit and hope at all, they played a bit. If we went up with this squad I think we would be lower mid table, because everyone is going to play and not try to scrap a draw. Players like Embleton, Pritchard, Neil, Cirkin, Hume, Roberts, Stewart, Broadhead would all look comfortable players in the championship in my opinion. The basis of our approach as a club is right in my opinion. I think Alex is the right man to take that forward and will play with style, and we have seen it already from him. He is still learning about our players and will make what we all think is odd decisions, but he will learn from them as well. I would bet my mortgage he learned more about our players last night than he did on Saturday. That is the nature of coaching, and it will stand us in good stead come the next game.
I didn't take much notice of Alex Neil after he left Norwich but I remember how his side there played. That was why I was mildly surprised when I read that his team at Preston could be quite direct. I know from working with coaches/managers at Step 4 that, when there is a short term objective (eg. avoiding relegation; in Alex Neil's case, making the playoffs), pragmatism takes precedence over principles so I'm not criticising him for any decisions he makes. Even at that level, technical ability takes precedence over brute force (despite what people may imagine)- I suppose that'sbecause a majority of the players have been through the academies at pro-clubs. I was at one of the Isthmian North playoff semis last night and some of the football was outstanding.
Pleased they do though, it adds to the mix to see things from different angles every once in a while.
Absolutely. Until seeing all these replays I had no idea WHAT had happened and I was sat more or less in line with the header
I'm in your camp mate, I was ill last night, (nervous exhaustion) although I am loving it and would not have it any other way . OaU
I cant do it either. Couldnt believe the amount of phones on the go when I went recently. I am sure some people only see their own experiences through a phone recording or social media play back. At the Fury fight I was laughing my head off with a few fellas in the row behind. There were two young lasses a few rows in front who spent ages taking pictures of each other posing in front of the big crowd. It was like a modelling shoot with mobiles. One would stand up and pose a variety of poses then check the pictures and repeat etc. Once the fight started they spent the whole time recording themselves. It was unbelievable really and I couldnt get my head around it.
In my opinion the one thing Rotherham did was give us a lesson in physicality and high energy/high press. First half we were forced to go long from Patterson every time and couldn't play out from the back. Second half their legs went and allowed us to play our game. I thought Batth and Wright, apart from the suicidal pass second half, and their goal (O'Nien lost his man), won everything in the air. Their target man Smith is a big lad and a dirty bar steward but Batth managed him comfortably. If we hadn't conceded a set piece and managed to nick a winner, we would be saying Neil got his tactics spot on by matching their physicality until the game settled down and then winning it with flair substitutions. I was as shocked as anyone when the team was published but having seen how Rotherham play, I can also see why Neil picked the team he did.
This 100%, if we had cover in those wide positions , we probably should have seen Gooch on his better side from the off. apart from that with the players he has at his disposal he got it spot on imo.
I agree. They did what they needed to do, which was to contain and frustrate us, take the lead and continue to frustrate us. On another day Smith should have worked Patterson, but didn't and they paid the price with our equaliser. It's not often this season that we have had no shots on target and I think we have to give credit to Rotherham for that.
