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Are we suffering from too many changes in the central areas?


pl00peh91

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One thing that has struck me this season is the sheer amount of changes in the central defence and midfield positions this season. This is down to a number of factors including injuries, player sales and switching formations. I had a look back at the formations of all of our league games to date and I have listed the following iterations of our central defence and midfield:

DEFENCE

Kalas / Moore

Baker / Kalas / Wright

Baker / Kalas / Moore

Baker / Moore

Baker / Williams / Moore

Moore / Williams

Kalas / Williams / Moore

Baker / Williams / Wright

Baker / Williams

Kalas / Williams

Benkovic / Williams

 

MIDFIELD:

 

Brownhill / Pack / Palmer

Brownhill / Nagy / Palmer

Brownhill / Massengo / Palmer

Brownhill / Massengo / Weimann

Brownhill / Massengo

Brownhill / Massengo / O’Dowda

Brownhill / Palmer / O’Dowda

Brownhill / Nagy / O’Dowda

Brownhill / Nagy / Palmer / Smith

Massengo / Nagy

Brownhill / Massengo / Nagy

Brownhill / O’Dowda / Smith

Brownhill / Nagy

Brownhill / Smith 

Massengo / Smith

Henriksen / Smith

Henriksen / Nagy

 

For the purposes of the midfield to keep it simple I’ve assumed 3 centre backs is 352 and 2 centre backs is 442. I’ve also put four centre mids for the West Brom away game as I refuse to accept Palmer as a striker!

I feel that it’s impossible to maintain the consistency needed to sustain a playoff push with this level or turnover of systems and personnel in the central areas. It feels like we have played every combination under the sun and there’s a real lack of cohesion to our play as a result. I don’t have much further to add tactically as I’ve never been one for drawing lines on pitches and there are many other brighter people who can do that for me, however I thought it would interest people to see the sheer number of combinations used so far this season.

In a nutshell I think the only way we are going to mount a serious playoff challenge is for LJ to find system that works and avoid the temptation to constantly change the central areas. We need a solid spine to bring cohesion and understanding and I just don’t think we have it at the moment. Whether or not it’s LJs fault is open to debate (he can’t help it if a player is injured or sold) but I think from here on this is an issue which needs rectifying.

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1 minute ago, pl00peh91 said:

One thing that has struck me this season is the sheer amount of changes in the central defence and midfield positions this season. This is down to a number of factors including injuries, player sales and switching formations. I had a look back at the formations of all of our league games to date and I have listed the following iterations of our central defence and midfield to date:

DEFENCE

Kalas / Moore

Baker / Kalas / Wright

Baker / Kalas / Moore

Baker / Moore

Baker / Williams / Moore

Moore / Williams

Kalas / Williams / Moore

Baker / Williams / Wright

Baker / Williams

Kalas / Williams

Benkovic / Williams

 

MIDFIELD:

 

Brownhill / Pack / Palmer

Brownhill / Nagy / Palmer

Brownhill / Massengo / Palmer

Brownhill / Massengo / Weimann

Brownhill / Massengo

Brownhill / Massengo / O’Dowda

Brownhill / Palmer / O’Dowda

Brownhill / Nagy / O’Dowda

Brownhill / Nagy / Palmer / Smith

Massengo / Nagy

Brownhill / Massengo / Nagy

Brownhill / O’Dowda / Smith

Brownhill / Nagy

Brownhill / Smith 

Massengo / Smith

Henriksen / Smith

Henriksen / Nagy

 

For the purposes of the midfield to keep it simple I’ve assumed 3 centre backs is 352 and 2 centre backs is 442. I’ve also put four centre mids for the West Brom away game as I refuse to accept Palmer as a striker!

I feel that it’s impossible to maintain the consistency needed to sustain a playoff push with this level or turnover of systems and personnel in the central areas. It feels like we have played every combination under the sun and there’s a real lack of cohesion to our play as a result. I don’t have much further to add tactically as I’ve never been one for drawing lines on pitches and there are many other brighter people who can do that for me, however I thought it would interest people to see the sheer number of combinations used so far this season.

In a nutshell I think the only way we are going to mount a serious playoff challenge is for LJ to find system that works and avoid the temptation to constantly change the central areas. We need a solid spine to bring cohesion and understanding and I just don’t think we have it at the moment. Whether or not it’s LJs fault is open to debate (he can’t help it if a player is injured or sold) but I think from here on this is an issue which needs rectifying.

Yes .

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Yes. Some changes are obviously forced due to players being injured/sold/illness etc but you got to wonder how many changes are made seemingly unnecessarily. We’ve gone from picking much the same team and running them into the ground to the total opposite. Sometimes I think LJ picks a better team when he hasn’t got so many to select from.

Yes I know we dont see players in training, they could be way off form or have other issues away from the game they are dealing with from time to time, but I still can’t guess from week to week who gets the nod. Settled team we ain’t.

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One of my disappointments is that we had a young defender in Taylor Moore, who impressed in most games he played  in the Championship.Then all of a sudden he was dropped ,then loaned out to a club a league below.

I just don't understand the logic in loaning a player who was establishing himself in the Championship to a club in the bottom half of league one.

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2 hours ago, pl00peh91 said:

One thing that has struck me this season is the sheer amount of changes in the central defence and midfield positions this season. This is down to a number of factors including injuries, player sales and switching formations. I had a look back at the formations of all of our league games to date and I have listed the following iterations of our central defence and midfield:

DEFENCE

Kalas / Moore

Baker / Kalas / Wright

Baker / Kalas / Moore

Baker / Moore

Baker / Williams / Moore

Moore / Williams

Kalas / Williams / Moore

Baker / Williams / Wright

Baker / Williams

Kalas / Williams

Benkovic / Williams

 

MIDFIELD:

 

Brownhill / Pack / Palmer

Brownhill / Nagy / Palmer

Brownhill / Massengo / Palmer

Brownhill / Massengo / Weimann

Brownhill / Massengo

Brownhill / Massengo / O’Dowda

Brownhill / Palmer / O’Dowda

Brownhill / Nagy / O’Dowda

Brownhill / Nagy / Palmer / Smith

Massengo / Nagy

Brownhill / Massengo / Nagy

Brownhill / O’Dowda / Smith

Brownhill / Nagy

Brownhill / Smith 

Massengo / Smith

Henriksen / Smith

Henriksen / Nagy

 

For the purposes of the midfield to keep it simple I’ve assumed 3 centre backs is 352 and 2 centre backs is 442. I’ve also put four centre mids for the West Brom away game as I refuse to accept Palmer as a striker!

I feel that it’s impossible to maintain the consistency needed to sustain a playoff push with this level or turnover of systems and personnel in the central areas. It feels like we have played every combination under the sun and there’s a real lack of cohesion to our play as a result. I don’t have much further to add tactically as I’ve never been one for drawing lines on pitches and there are many other brighter people who can do that for me, however I thought it would interest people to see the sheer number of combinations used so far this season.

In a nutshell I think the only way we are going to mount a serious playoff challenge is for LJ to find system that works and avoid the temptation to constantly change the central areas. We need a solid spine to bring cohesion and understanding and I just don’t think we have it at the moment. Whether or not it’s LJs fault is open to debate (he can’t help it if a player is injured or sold) but I think from here on this is an issue which needs rectifying.

Part of the problem is that when we get a player good enough to keep his place every week (eg Pack, Flint, Brownhill, Webster, Bryan) it's these players that other clubs want to buy in the transfer window so I have some sympathy with LJ. When we lose players we often have to sign short-term deals like Williams and Benkovic which also doesn't help in the long run. Korey is the only midfield player good enough to get picked every week but unfortunately he's injury-prone. In the defence they all have plus and minus points, some are better defending (eg Baker, Williams) while others are better at bringing the ball out (Benkovic, Moore) but there's nobody who can do everything like Webster could. I'm not sure getting Benkovic and putting Taylor out on loan was a good idea in the longer term but we'll see what happens.

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24 minutes ago, Lez said:

We should never have loaned more out as he was getting better and better.....and the number of changes to formation and personal makes it impossible for consistency.

This solely lies with the manager.

Completely agree on Moore. 
 

The number of changes Outlined above is a graphic illustration of us not getting to a settled formation and/or side - usually a prerequisite of success in football at any level. 
 

The amount of change is odd as, in terms of league position, we’re not having a bad season.

 

I do think squad size is a problem, allowing for lots of like-for-like ability players to be shuffled in and out.  We’ve also got players who logically cannot play in multiple systems or in the same side (Palmer and Eliasson being prime examples of needing very different formations to fit in).  
 

I’m wondering whether the amount of change is about keeping everyone happy, giving everyone a go.... which would be indecisive or weak management.  

 I agree with a comment earlier that we seem better with fewer options to pick from.  

Whatever the reasons, there’s surely far too much Unnecessary chopping and changing.  I’m not sure whether this is weak or indecisive management or overthinking and trying to be clever or concentrating on the opposition more than our own game.  
 

There must be lots of players kicking around not knowing whether they are coming or going.... which got me thinking, is Marley Watkins injured  or disappeared again? 

 
 

 

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