Bergen Blade
Well-Known Member
I think that's very easy to say in retrospect. Having seen Adams the last couple of games it's hardly the case that we'd have been bringing on a player in form likely to kill the game off – it might have worked, but it would have been a gamble. I think at that stage of the game, given we'd missed the chances for a second, Adkins thought it was time to try and restrict opportunities as much as possible. Which given the leakiness of the defence is understandable. We could easily have conceded with Adams on the pitch and we'd instead be reading posts lambasting Adkins for not trying to see the game out given how desperate we currently are for a win, any sort of win.
Having at least one forward player with pace can be very valuable in such situations though. Not just from an attacking perspective, but it can force the opposition to do some defending, chasing after our quick runner, at a time when they'd like to spend their all energy on getting the equaliser. When all pace is removed, and more defensively minded players are brought on, the losing team can push more players forward with less fear of being hit on the break.