Dear Gareth
I come from this from a position of limited experience, to be honest my spell of managing in the Sunday Combination during the early nineties was not memorable and I was only in that role as I hurt my foot.
However with that limited experience I find it very easy to suss out your tactics and then nullify them. For example your new favourite of 4-3-3 is easy. Drop defenders deep (no ball over the top), play 1 man up front with a second striker dropping into midfield overcrowding your 3. Easy as that. Saw on it on Saturday. Saw it last night.
I guess my point is if I can see why can't you? The squad has the ability to play differently and in different formations. So when plan A did not work last night plan B maybe would have been 4-4-2? Maybe even 5-3-2?
Last season you showed you had tactical knowledge and flexibility this season there is a troubling sense of stubbornness that is counter-productive to the team and the result. Last night was not working from 5 or 10 minutes in yet we stuck with it until the end. Its not a failing to change your tactics, its a strength.
One more thing I reckon AAH is a really nice guy. A really really nice guy. The kind of guy that when goes for a header would say 'excuse me' or 'sorry i think you were there first, please go'. Is there anyway at all that you could wind him up a bit and make him sort of angry or a little bit more interested. I can only be reminded of the lion in the Wizard of Oz when I see him play.
Comments
Pretty much spot on. 4-3-3 hasn't worked for a while. I was pleased to see Pierre on the bench and Wood coming on, giving the possibility to move Jombati to right back, Harriman further forward and Wood to left midfield on Saturday. Will Gareth be brave and admit it's not working or will he persist with 4-3-3? I do feel that Hayes plays better in a 4-3-3 but no-one else seems to! Thompson for instance always seems to far from the goal to even get close to troubling his goal scoring record of last season.
Three strikers worked for a while last season but that was mainly die to Hayes and Fred being mobile around a central target man. Currently we don't seem to know the point of the attack and as a result all three strikers just stand in a line watching balls hit just over their heads. Having Hayes back should help and if he and Thommo can work around Holloway three up front could work.
More of a problem for me is midfield three. They just seem to charge up the pitch when the back four have the ball. No one comes short. The long balls from the back aren't being held up and the charging midfields then have to turn around and charge back. Teams are playing in behind our midfield and running straight at the centre backs.
I would prefer a 442 formation in the short term. We have to get Thompson and Harriman in the game. They are good enough to create chances at this level.
The three didn't work as when we were defending they stayed right across the centre line like statues. Thomson (the oldest) is the most mobile. The other two have zero ambition to chase or create movement or even track back for most of the game. That is why we were bossed by Newport the team with 6 points up until last night. Either they did what they were told and GA got it badly wrong or they did not do what they were told in which case GA has a headache.