Splitting hairs

[HeCanDoMagic]

After a 4-1 victory its hard to find fault with the team, but as with anything we should always look to improve.

And, in my opinion, one way of doing so would be to revert back to the EEL - Wright - JOC back 3.

Nothing against Basham, who I thought was excellent, but by accommodating him in the back 3 means we move Wright to the left hand side, with EEL as the sweeper.

In the first 20-30 minutes yesterday we were a bit at sea in defence and I couldn't help thinking that had Wright been the sweeper - the talker, organiser etc, we might have looked a bit more assured.

This would allow EEL to go and dominate the centre forward, with JOC more mobile than Wright on the left.

Fitting Basham in should be a midfielder conundrum at the moment, not a defensive one.

 

[blade too long]

all teams concede goals
the trick is not to concede more than you score
Chesterfield worked a good goal , that caught us out
after that we managed them well

Thought overall the defence did its job and we showed great flexibility
CW even pulled Done back to accommodate Clarke

We cant totally rely on just one set 3 in case of suspensions and injury and have to alter it round occasionally

 

[GrayBlade]

After a 4-1 victory its hard to find fault with the team, but as with anything we should always look to improve.

And, in my opinion, one way of doing so would be to revert back to the EEL - Wright - JOC back 3.

Nothing against Basham, who I thought was excellent, but by accommodating him in the back 3 means we move Wright to the left hand side, with EEL as the sweeper.

In the first 20-30 minutes yesterday we were a bit at sea in defence and I couldn't help thinking that had Wright been the sweeper - the talker, organiser etc, we might have looked a bit more assured.

This would allow EEL to go and dominate the centre forward, with JOC more mobile than Wright on the left.

Fitting Basham in should be a midfielder conundrum at the moment, not a defensive one.

It's an option UCDM. Just as long as you're not suggesting Duffy is the one to make way for him old friend.

 

[Guesty]

I think the benefit of having Basham in the back three is that it gives us the flexibility to change shape without making a sub. Wilder has changed the formation mid game more than once this season.

However, I do agree that the defence generally looks more solid with O'Connell back there.

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

I think the benefit of having Basham in the back three is that it gives us the flexibility to change shape without making a sub. Wilder has changed the formation mid game more than once this season.

However, I do agree that the defence generally looks more solid with O'Connell back there.

Yeah thats an excellent point, I also think Basham's ability to bring the ball out at his his feet is also taken into consideration.

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

It's an option UCDM. Just as long as you're not suggesting Duffy is the one to make way for him old friend.

If you'd asked that at half time yesterday I might have had differing thoughts!

 

[Ricky]

This is what Wilder got wrong yesterday. He got pretty much everything else right.

Starting with that defence was the reason we went a goal behind. It played into Evans' hands to have two players at RCB and LCB who he can get the better of physically. EEL is the best one to put up against Evans yet he was always the one furthest away from him, with Evans pulling into the wide spaces like he does. O'Connell's the next best bet.

It's clear what our best back three is, Wilder will see that. The reason he keeps Basham in there is for flexibility, which given how often we change shape is understandable. But there are times when that shouldn't be prioritised ahead of being as solid as possible. And for me there's no time when it should lead to all the back three playing in different positions. If Basham's playing in defence, it should be at LCB. Wright always needs to be in the middle.

 

[ben1987]

I totally agree with the back 3 you chose OP.

I think that is our strongest and most balanced back 3.

For me Wrights weakness is with the ball at his feet. He's by far the best organiser and reader of the game - so he is suited to playing the C-CB role.

JOC is left footed and comfortable on the ball so he's our best L-CB

EEL is just a beast, decent on the ball too and I prefer him as the R-CB.

With JOC missing a couple of games and bash doing well it would have been a bit harsh to drop bash. I don't think we would have conceded that first goal with EEL, Wright, JOC though. Ched was too strong for bash

 

[Champagneblade]

An improvement in my opinion as well would be the back three you mentioned and then Chapman in place of Done.

Chapman is on better finishing form and always a creative influence and despite that fact Done performs a lot of the harrying type rasks, he doesn't add that much pace.

If you could add a little more pace to that team as well as getting the balance right in defence we could be even better.

 

[HeCanDoMagic]

An improvement in my opinion as well would be the back three you mentioned and then Chapman in place of Done.

Chapman is on better finishing form and always a creative influence and despite that fact Done performs a lot of the harrying type rasks, he doesn't add that much pace.

If you could add a little more pace to that team as well as getting the balance right in defence we could be even better.

Yeah, that could work well.

Isn't it good though that we have a system, team and the fact we have goals coming from everywhere that means we can perhaps look at different options in all areas of the pitch. Our second striker could be an out and out striker (Clarke), a number 9 playing off the front pressing (Done) or an attacking midfielder to drift into pockets of space (Scougall, Chapman).

Wilder has performed miracles to get us into this situation.