O'Connell substitution

[Ricky]

If we hadn’t have had an overlapping CB flying forward and crossing at the byline we wouldn’t have won at difficult away game WBA...

Good point! But it wasn't a theme in that game, and generally isn't when we're up against decent opposition. Leeds away for example, the centre backs didn't get forward at all.

 

[Killamarshblades]

After it went to 1-1 we played a back four with a diamond and two up top. As soon as we went in front we went to the usual 3-5-2 to see the game out. When JOC(who’ll be fine for Saturday, he had a knock, isn’t injured) went off to keep the normal balance Johnson was the obvious sub. Plus his pace running at someone who was booked was there to stretch the game and put them on the back foot.
The awful second goal where several people need to look at themselves, changed it all and we lost all shape after that

 

[Ricky]

Why would it make sense to switch back to 3-5-2 to see the game out when the switch to 4 at the back is what got us on top in the game and minimised their threat? I do not see any logic there at all. It smacks of making a change for the sake of it.

 

[Mojo]

It is if he looked at the data & saw he was knackered & still picked him to play though. I don't seriously think that is what happened, just providing balance to your point.

So what other options did he have?

 

[Sothall_Blade]

He can, and to be honest probably should if we’re keeping our usual formation, which gives us our best chance of winning in my opinion. Again, he was fine at the Hawthorns.

I can see why Wilder brought Johnson on for this game as he’s never let him down that badly before (Rotherham was poor in a different way). But I’m not sure he will still persist with him now.

The failure to make any sort of challenge on their third goal is totally inexcusable. I’ve watched it a few times and I simply cannot see what Johnson is trying to do. Ok, you can say he’s a midfielder playing in defence but you would still expect him to make a better attempt at defending than that. Billy Sharp wouldn’t have simply let him stroll through In that position.

So if JOC is unavailable for any further games, I would hope and expect to see Cranie get the nod. If It must be a left footer then Jake Wright if he’s fit enough.

 

[Speedracer]

So what other options did he have?

Hogan or Washington.

 

[Akinbiyi]

The pathetic slaughtering of Johnson has conveniently airbrushed his performance at LWB away at West Brom.

When the sub was made we were a back 3, not a 4. That is why Wilder did what he did, presumably he kept Basham on with the idea of reverting to a back 3 when we went ahead to match them up and kill the game.

Yes he was at fault for the 3rd goal, isn't a great defender and we will not be having him back next season.

One swallow does not make a summer.

 

[SwissBlade]

Weren't we playing a back 4 when JOC went off? We certainly were afterwards.

In which case it's not LCB, it's just CB. Where Stearman and Cranie are completely comfortable, on either side. Cranie in particular is a very flexible defender.

Even if LCB, he's more than capable of playing there for 15 minutes and would have been an infinitely better choice than Johnson to help protect the lead. Suggestions that it's such a risk playing a right sider on the left just because Wilder has a strange aversion to doing so are ridiculous.

Johnson at LWB isn't really tried and tested. We played him there at WBA and got away with it, that's the truth.

Finally, Bristol City had a lot of lively and fresh attacking players on the pitch - before JOC came off. That makes the decision to select Johnson even more ridiculous.

Wilder usually quickly makes a typical defensive change to protect a lead. This time he made a change to throw it away. Bizarre.

I’m sure Bergen Blade will look at it when analysing the goals in the next few days, but I thought for the 5 minute spell between Hogan’s goal and JOC’s substitution that we kept with the 4 – the key indicator for this was where Basham was, which I thought was midfield still.

The change to a 3 seemed more to accommodate moving Stevens back there with JOC injured (a formation that was then reversed with the equaliser a minute later). I don’t think Wilder, when making that sub, would have made the change he did had he realised that we’d need to go back to a 4 so soon after in order to chase a winner.

Wilder is right to prefer left-footers at LCB – the overlapping system makes this less of a preference and more of a necessity. With a 4 though, the overlapping just doesn’t happen. For that reason I’d have just brought Stearman on in a 4 – he is at any rate comfortable enough with his left foot, and this would have minimised disruption to the shape we’d gone with as Basham had been moved forward.

I was watching it online and it was quite difficult to see how we were lining up after the goal because of the camera angle, but Kevin Gage commented immediately after the goal that we'd gone back to a 3.

 

[finlaytheblade]

Can't really blame Johnson he's very inexperienced at wing back.The games he started gave him chance to find his feet with a game plan hatched before kick off.Against Bristol he came on with the game at its peak,We had struggled to contain them all game.No way were Bristol going to lie down and die, we needed to be up for a battling finish.
Wilder sentiments quite baffling as we were 2-1 up no need to chase it as he has said in the past :see the game out".Johnson hasn't got the positional sense of a wing back and was cruelly exploited

 

[Lupa The Noa]

Wasn’t Johnson the player who at 2-3, managed to pass the ball out for a corner? Wasn’t Johnson the player who at 2-3 had two attempts at putting into the danger area from the byline and spooned it both times? An absolute clown of a footballer, who after his previous misdeeds should be nowhere near a sheffield postcode let alone the match day squad.

Watch his marking for their second goal. Watch his tackle for the third. Clearly uncomfortable anywhere in defence, clearly forgettable elsewhere on the pitch.

 

[Lupa The Noa]

Weimann took all his goals brilliantly. All the luck we've had with players missing chances the last few weeks went down the toilet. Weimann had scored 1 in 32 before today apparently

I actually thought the atmosphere and big crowd seemed to lift the opposition!

 

[Killamarshblades]

Why would it make sense to switch back to 3-5-2 to see the game out when the switch to 4 at the back is what got us on top in the game and minimised their threat? I do not see any logic there at all. It smacks of making a change for the sake of it.

Understand the point your making but the diamond and 4 at the back was implemented to get in front again. The3-5-2 that we play all the time is what they’re comfortable playing and have seen plenty of games out with it. I guess that’s why the switch was made. He’s done it several times this season on games (either Bolton or qpr at home straight after half time, played it until we scored then switched it back) and it’s usualy worked. Yesterday was one of those days when it didnt

 

[Ricky]

Understand the point your making but the diamond and 4 at the back was implemented to get in front again. The3-5-2 that we play all the time is what they’re comfortable playing and have seen plenty of games out with it. I guess that’s why the switch was made. He’s done it several times this season on games (either Bolton or qpr at home straight after half time, played it until we scored then switched it back) and it’s usualy worked. Yesterday was one of those days when it didnt

Doesn't really matter if we've seen other games out with it. It wasn't working yesterday and we came up against a team who played the same system better than we did on the day.

 

[JayGreen17]

Wilders lobe affair with Bash, he’s shouldn’t and should never be put in the midfield.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Wilders lobe affair with Bash, he’s shouldn’t and should never be put in the midfield.

Not really sure what Basham’s ears have got to do with it, but you only have to go back one further game for an example of where it ultimately worked extremely well.

 

[JayGreen17]

Not really sure what Basham’s ears have got to do with it, but you only have to go back one further game for an example of where it ultimately worked extremely well.

It eventually paid off but more often than not it doesn’t, that first half against Leeds Bash was beyond woeful.

 

[Killamarshblades]

Doesn't really matter if we've seen other games out with it. It wasn't working yesterday and we came up against a team who played the same system better than we did on the day.

Don’t disagree with you. For what it’s worth, despite at times it looking like they didn’t know how to pay the diamond, it started to work and did actually nullify Bristol City and put us on front foot, I would have left it as it was yesterday, and still brought coutts on for basham as was planned

 

[Bergen Blade]

I’m sure Bergen Blade will look at it when analysing the goals in the next few days, but I thought for the 5 minute spell between Hogan’s goal and JOC’s substitution that we kept with the 4 – the key indicator for this was where Basham was, which I thought was midfield still.

The change to a 3 seemed more to accommodate moving Stevens back there with JOC injured (a formation that was then reversed with the equaliser a minute later). I don’t think Wilder, when making that sub, would have made the change he did had he realised that we’d need to go back to a 4 so soon after in order to chase a winner.

Wilder is right to prefer left-footers at LCB – the overlapping system makes this less of a preference and more of a necessity. With a 4 though, the overlapping just doesn’t happen. For that reason I’d have just brought Stearman on in a 4 – he is at any rate comfortable enough with his left foot, and this would have minimised disruption to the shape we’d gone with as Basham had been moved forward.

70:08: Hogan scores
71:40: Commentator says BC are preparing attacking double change. And that Paul Coutts was ready to get on, but has sat back down.
71:50: Kevin Gage says Wilder tells Basham to go back to defence, i.e. we're switching back to 3-5-2
72:26: BC double change is completed
75:30: JO'C goes off, after some treatment
76:37: BC equalises

 

[LoughboroBlade]

70:08: Hogan scores
71:40: Commentator says BC are preparing attacking double change. And that Paul Coutts was ready to get on, but has sat back down.
71:50: Kevin Gage says Wilder tells Basham to go back to defence, i.e. we're switching back to 3-5-2
72:26: BC double change is completed
75:30: JO'C goes off, after some treatment
76:37: BC equalises

Cheers. In that case I’m much more sympathetic to the substitution. If Wilder had already decided prior to the JOC injury that for whatever reason we needed to switch back to 3, the best way for us to keep that was to bring Johnson on and switch Stevens to LCB.