I actually went to this game because my son a huge Argyle fan and grandson flew over 10,000 miles (from Calgary via Denver and back) at considerable expense to be there. I thought the "Wembley experience" was good but we were all obviously disappointed with Argyle's inept performance, can't imagine it's the case but it was as if the manager had said to the team "well done for getting here now go out and enjoy it!" One aside, Argyles strip was so drab, it almost set the scene for a drab performance and I seriously question if they had difficulty picking out their own players. Man Untd famously had the same problem several years ago and changed their shirts at half-time. Anyway, good luck for the rest of the season, hope you get promoted and whilst here regards to you all for keeping your forum going.
Thanks for that.....I do agree about the third strip....it does look drab and boring.....and not easy to pick out.....Agree about the Man U situation and them changing at half time....maybe we should have done the same although so many players have gone off their game at the moment...some returning from injury have not hit the ground running.....and we have just found out that we lost three players to injuries in the build up to the match...plus two others cup-tied....but excuses dont answer the terrible lack of defending in the first ten minutes.....they wanted it far more than our team did.
The problem is not the back 3 formation per se, after all, many if not most clubs play with a back 3 now. We have decent individual players there too but I think our problems lie elsewhere: Originally, we had Steady Eddies Joe Edwards and Connor Grant at WB. We've gone even more aggressive with Mumba and briefly the likes of Tyreik Wright and Callum Wright in those positions. We started with a 3:1:4:2 and it was pretty obvious what that "1" was for. A pivot and a screen for the back three. Now we've gone more 3:4:2:1 and it's not so clear what the middle 2 of the 4 are supposed to be doing. To me, at least one of them needs to sit 10 yards in front of the back 3 at all times, not both pressing up onto the other side's penalty box at the same time. That's important defensively but also offensively because it gives the ability to recycle the ball back into the danger area when an attack breaks down. We've got strong runners and tacklers and good skills in our midfield mix, but with Randell and Grant missing, we currently have less ability to thread a ball into the spaces and hit threatening corners and free kicks. We've recruited CB's who can play a bit as well as defend and that's fine. However, there's a time and a place. Not when you're 2-1 up with 10 minutes to play. Stay at home. Not in the first 15 minutes when you're 0-0 against a Top 10 side who are coming at you with all guns blazing. When you're 2-0 down in a Wembley final IS exactly the time when you might as well gamble everything, and if you do end up losing 4-0 as a result, well at least you tried. As Sensible has said, yes when we lose, which hasn't been that often, sometimes we lose heavily. We are an attacking team that plays good football and more often than not, wins. It was very disappointing for everyone but let's not throw baby out with the bath water. All we need is a little bit of tweaking and the players using common sense to adapt their styles throughout each game as the balance of play shifts.
