Bergen Blade
Well-Known Member
With Warnock's emphasis on man marking, games can often turn into a battle. Or 11 individual battles. He clearly had them fired up. The early goal helped them and enabled them to focus more on their defending - pressing us and getting challenges in. Obviously the second goal made the second half extra hard.
We were too static and slow in our approach first half. What's needed against man marking tactics is players who can advance past his marker, draw the pressure of the next opponent (who'd prefer to mark his man) and with good movement exploit the gaps. Before the break the back four + Norwood failed to do this. Fleck tried a couple of times, but failed to beat his man. Our passing at the back didn't give us the openings we wanted.
As we passed it forward we often had to go for a player with his back to goal. Often the marker would be all over our advanced target. Safe/patient passing with little penetration is what Warnock was hoping for. Our players struggled to get away from their markers. Bamba had Sharp in his pocket. Sharp's role has been to stay central and try to get on the end of things. I think he should have been advised to drift wide more tonight. There's a good chance a centre half would have gone with him, opening up space in front of goal. Ndiaye showed his touch a few times, but he was tightly marked and well closed down. MGW struggled to find space and looked frustrated. Osborn went backwards a bit too often.
Second half McGoldrick replaced Norwood. Fleck dropped deeper with Ndiaye and McGoldrick roaming from midfield roles.
We tried to up the tempo, roamed around more, swapping positions and generally moved in a less rigid manner. Sharp was a bit more mobile and the full backs pushed on. GW appeared on the other side and also centrally and Boro struggled to pick everybody up. What we did tactically was exactly what I felt was needed, but their 2-0 lead made it difficult to catch them out. Warnock also switched to a back five, which made it even harder, and they also had some breaks as we pushed people forward.
Ten minutes before the end Davies did what I felt was missing completely first half. He realised he was away from his marker, just ran through in midfield, slipped it through to MGW who sent Sharp clear. It looked so simple and it was frustrating that we couldn't do it earlier.
In general I thought the 2nd half was decent, but we failed to take our chances. Their goalkeeper looked good and Bamba was outstanding.
We were too static and slow in our approach first half. What's needed against man marking tactics is players who can advance past his marker, draw the pressure of the next opponent (who'd prefer to mark his man) and with good movement exploit the gaps. Before the break the back four + Norwood failed to do this. Fleck tried a couple of times, but failed to beat his man. Our passing at the back didn't give us the openings we wanted.
As we passed it forward we often had to go for a player with his back to goal. Often the marker would be all over our advanced target. Safe/patient passing with little penetration is what Warnock was hoping for. Our players struggled to get away from their markers. Bamba had Sharp in his pocket. Sharp's role has been to stay central and try to get on the end of things. I think he should have been advised to drift wide more tonight. There's a good chance a centre half would have gone with him, opening up space in front of goal. Ndiaye showed his touch a few times, but he was tightly marked and well closed down. MGW struggled to find space and looked frustrated. Osborn went backwards a bit too often.
Second half McGoldrick replaced Norwood. Fleck dropped deeper with Ndiaye and McGoldrick roaming from midfield roles.
We tried to up the tempo, roamed around more, swapping positions and generally moved in a less rigid manner. Sharp was a bit more mobile and the full backs pushed on. GW appeared on the other side and also centrally and Boro struggled to pick everybody up. What we did tactically was exactly what I felt was needed, but their 2-0 lead made it difficult to catch them out. Warnock also switched to a back five, which made it even harder, and they also had some breaks as we pushed people forward.
Ten minutes before the end Davies did what I felt was missing completely first half. He realised he was away from his marker, just ran through in midfield, slipped it through to MGW who sent Sharp clear. It looked so simple and it was frustrating that we couldn't do it earlier.
In general I thought the 2nd half was decent, but we failed to take our chances. Their goalkeeper looked good and Bamba was outstanding.