I think the one thing Bloom has done very well is incorporate the good parts of the Pep era of playing football - high work rate on and off the ball to win it back as soon as possible - and replaced the bad - fannying around at the back with endless passes in your own third looking for an opportunity - with the GA/Dobbo approach of getting the ball into positions of Maximum opportunity.
He just gets them doing it in a different way (quick slick passing rather than a long direct ball to a big man to hold up). Our 2nd goal yesterday shows that in spades.
Theres been a lot of talk, particularly in the lower leagues, of teams going the Pep way and not having the skill mix to pull it off. At the moment we’ve hit the sweet spot of both old and new approaches and it’s paying dividends
I think Lincoln play in a very similar way, but we just had the edge on quality. They swarmed all over us out of possession, and were not shy to use the long out ball, as well as work it through the thirds. We had to be on our game to beat them, and all three of our goals were quality, the second being the obvious standout. Whilst we could point to a potentially more comfortable margin of victory with the penalty, GMac’s fluffed shot and Leahy grazing the post, their chance in the third minute, and the shot that cannoned off the bar, plus Rav’s great save, said to me that there was little between the two sides. To keep coming out on the winning side of these battles will stand us in good stead, belief-wise, as there are more tough examinations just around the corner.
It's really apparent the more games we play that this is a team where the individual ingredients really have been planned out carefully.
I know that's true of any good team to a large extent. But it seems particularly the case with the attacking football we're producing. The individual characteristics of the midfield players are crucial. Morley's range of passing and Humphreys' quick feet and ability to receive the ball in tight spaces are absolutely key. They bring such great balance and variety to put buildup play and bring the best out of the other players.
I don't think either can be easily replaced. Leahy or Bakinson could perhaps step into Morley's place. But Humphreys skillset is a difficult one to replicate.
Starting to really enjoy our set pieces as well. It always strikes me as a sign of an intelligent, well coached team when you can consistently produce from corner routines.
It's one of the few situations where you have total control and can predict the next move of the ball pretty confidently. But exploiting that requires lots of practice, clear instruction & communication about the routine, and then careful execution on the pitch.
Every game it seems we're working at least one or two proper goalscoring chances from a rehearsed set piece.
Bloomfield is a young manager who in relative terms has only just stopped playing. This makes it even more remarkable that he is able to handle such a big squad (including some senior players) and maintain a happy and motivated environment.
I’m sure we will see change on Tuesday and whoever comes in will be chomping at the bit to play. So many managers have sacred cows in the team but it’s quite obvious that no player is un-droppable. Our club captain is fit and on the bench for example.
You can only play the teams in front of and we seem to be. I don't remember a time when I went to a game so confident we could get a result whoever we were playing. Mansfield a big test though.
We've got decent squad depth and can cope with a few randomly spread out injuries, but several in the same position or two or three real key players outside of the transfer window can knacker anyone.
Can I recommend the interview with Lincoln manager Michael Skubala on YouTube (no idea how to post a link I’m afraid). How good to listen to an opposition manager giving an accurate, unbiased assessment of a game without resorting to the usual ‘we knew what to expect’ type cliches and expressing genuine respect and admiration for Wycombe’s performance. A class act.
@glasshalffull The post-match interviews on Radio Lincolnshire were refreshingly complimentary about Wycombe. As opposed to some radio stations which seem to adopt a pre-scripted match analysis, the reporters & City officials agreed that Wycombe deserved to be top of the table but Lincoln missed many scoring opportunities. A very refreshing listen while queuing to get back to the A1.
I assume they’ll say we’re in a false position and say we’ll finish 10th again. I jest, but I did see someone say that they’ve predicted us to finish lower then we actually do every year since 2016 I think - they have never rated us really
The comments on their forum are also almost universally positive about our performance.
A couple I particular like:
“It may sound a bit odd but I saw shades of Arsenal in the second half when we got beaten 5-0 at their place in the Cup quarter final. By that I mean that they had lots of short quick, but accurate, passing in and around the box, but it was the interplay/movement of their front players and the way they support each other. All credit to Bloomfield and his coaching team but their movement and support was superb.”
and
“Wycombe, however, are like a breath of fresh air in a league where games are more often than not low scoring and attritional. They will certainly let goals in because of the way they push their fullbacks forward but I think it is so commendable they still go with the four at the back. The attitude is almost a throwback where they say ok you can score goals but we will always score more.
Part of the reason they can be so attacking is the quality of the central defenders. Low didn't quite make it first time around in the Championship but he has had Welsh international caps and the 37 impressed me even more.”
(I do like the ‘commendable they still go with four at the back” comment. What a long way we’ve travelled in less than a year).
Worth remembering too that 12 months ago we were effectively playing with seven defensive-minded players too. The best thing about Bloomfield is he has massively learnt and admitted to his mistakes. It’s a wonderful quality to have.
We could have point-per-game relegation form from here and finish on 66 points, higher than last season's total. We are inching towards the point where relegation form would still see us in the playoffs!
Comments
I think the one thing Bloom has done very well is incorporate the good parts of the Pep era of playing football - high work rate on and off the ball to win it back as soon as possible - and replaced the bad - fannying around at the back with endless passes in your own third looking for an opportunity - with the GA/Dobbo approach of getting the ball into positions of Maximum opportunity.
He just gets them doing it in a different way (quick slick passing rather than a long direct ball to a big man to hold up). Our 2nd goal yesterday shows that in spades.
Theres been a lot of talk, particularly in the lower leagues, of teams going the Pep way and not having the skill mix to pull it off. At the moment we’ve hit the sweet spot of both old and new approaches and it’s paying dividends
I think Lincoln play in a very similar way, but we just had the edge on quality. They swarmed all over us out of possession, and were not shy to use the long out ball, as well as work it through the thirds. We had to be on our game to beat them, and all three of our goals were quality, the second being the obvious standout. Whilst we could point to a potentially more comfortable margin of victory with the penalty, GMac’s fluffed shot and Leahy grazing the post, their chance in the third minute, and the shot that cannoned off the bar, plus Rav’s great save, said to me that there was little between the two sides. To keep coming out on the winning side of these battles will stand us in good stead, belief-wise, as there are more tough examinations just around the corner.
For all the external talk of us having an "easier" fixture run, we've now played 5/6 of the remaining current top 7.
Wrexham (a) - L
Birmingham (h) - L
Stockport (a) - W
Barnsley (a) - D
Lincoln (a) - W
7 points from 15 against teams around us, with 4 of them still to come to AP.
And Birmingham had an easy fixture yesterday 😀
The League One table after 15 games last season.
It's really apparent the more games we play that this is a team where the individual ingredients really have been planned out carefully.
I know that's true of any good team to a large extent. But it seems particularly the case with the attacking football we're producing. The individual characteristics of the midfield players are crucial. Morley's range of passing and Humphreys' quick feet and ability to receive the ball in tight spaces are absolutely key. They bring such great balance and variety to put buildup play and bring the best out of the other players.
I don't think either can be easily replaced. Leahy or Bakinson could perhaps step into Morley's place. But Humphreys skillset is a difficult one to replicate.
Starting to really enjoy our set pieces as well. It always strikes me as a sign of an intelligent, well coached team when you can consistently produce from corner routines.
It's one of the few situations where you have total control and can predict the next move of the ball pretty confidently. But exploiting that requires lots of practice, clear instruction & communication about the routine, and then careful execution on the pitch.
Every game it seems we're working at least one or two proper goalscoring chances from a rehearsed set piece.
Bloomfield is a young manager who in relative terms has only just stopped playing. This makes it even more remarkable that he is able to handle such a big squad (including some senior players) and maintain a happy and motivated environment.
I’m sure we will see change on Tuesday and whoever comes in will be chomping at the bit to play. So many managers have sacred cows in the team but it’s quite obvious that no player is un-droppable. Our club captain is fit and on the bench for example.
Fairly sure Blooms would never use the word “dropped” there, and that’s partly how he makes it work.
You can only play the teams in front of and we seem to be. I don't remember a time when I went to a game so confident we could get a result whoever we were playing. Mansfield a big test though.
We've got decent squad depth and can cope with a few randomly spread out injuries, but several in the same position or two or three real key players outside of the transfer window can knacker anyone.
That's what i do as well !
Beaten by a bang average Bristol Rivers yesterday.
Can I recommend the interview with Lincoln manager Michael Skubala on YouTube (no idea how to post a link I’m afraid). How good to listen to an opposition manager giving an accurate, unbiased assessment of a game without resorting to the usual ‘we knew what to expect’ type cliches and expressing genuine respect and admiration for Wycombe’s performance. A class act.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojZQs8MCnbo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojZQs8MCnbo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Thanks to the IT whizz kids and I’m off back to Jurassic Park.
Oh Mr Swan, you old wag, I haven’t been there for years.
I believe it's actually Mr Kim 😉
@glasshalffull The post-match interviews on Radio Lincolnshire were refreshingly complimentary about Wycombe. As opposed to some radio stations which seem to adopt a pre-scripted match analysis, the reporters & City officials agreed that Wycombe deserved to be top of the table but Lincoln missed many scoring opportunities. A very refreshing listen while queuing to get back to the A1.
Will be interested to hear what NTT20 have to say about us on the next pod
I assume they’ll say we’re in a false position and say we’ll finish 10th again. I jest, but I did see someone say that they’ve predicted us to finish lower then we actually do every year since 2016 I think - they have never rated us really
Not at all, those two lads are excellent and have given us a lot of positive coverage recently.
One caveat was that we had some tricky fixtures coming up so would be telling to see where we were after those, hence @flymofrank 's post I guess
Also fair play to the Lincoln fans who stayed until the end. That’s also a bit of a sign that their team haven’t played badly.
The comments on their forum are also almost universally positive about our performance.
A couple I particular like:
“It may sound a bit odd but I saw shades of Arsenal in the second half when we got beaten 5-0 at their place in the Cup quarter final. By that I mean that they had lots of short quick, but accurate, passing in and around the box, but it was the interplay/movement of their front players and the way they support each other. All credit to Bloomfield and his coaching team but their movement and support was superb.”
and
“Wycombe, however, are like a breath of fresh air in a league where games are more often than not low scoring and attritional. They will certainly let goals in because of the way they push their fullbacks forward but I think it is so commendable they still go with the four at the back. The attitude is almost a throwback where they say ok you can score goals but we will always score more.
Part of the reason they can be so attacking is the quality of the central defenders. Low didn't quite make it first time around in the Championship but he has had Welsh international caps and the 37 impressed me even more.”
(I do like the ‘commendable they still go with four at the back” comment. What a long way we’ve travelled in less than a year).
You can’t argue with these comments at all.
Worth remembering too that 12 months ago we were effectively playing with seven defensive-minded players too. The best thing about Bloomfield is he has massively learnt and admitted to his mistakes. It’s a wonderful quality to have.
Most certainly so
We could have point-per-game relegation form from here and finish on 66 points, higher than last season's total. We are inching towards the point where relegation form would still see us in the playoffs!
I love the way he uses the term "finishers" for the subs. You are not second choice, you are a first choice finisher.