⚽Match Thread vs. Crewe Alexandra FC 24.02.24 [EFL L2]

[legs77]

These have been my thoughts driller, we would have been in for him. Alot of us said when SM started that it wouldn't take much for the part time manager, BT engineer comments to come out. I think the players are really letting him down. Where's the desire and their own pride.

We are clearly low on confidence and maybe some are letting him down to a degree.

Part of the issue is squad depth we are pretty much having to play Bostock/McGoldrick in all matches as there has been nothing to bring in, now at their age we probably didnt/dont want to do that.

I cant help SM isnt helping either we need to keep it simple yet he is changing fornations/tactics on a regular basis which can confuse players with their roles.

Communication / man management is key LW had it does SM ?

[MAD_MAGPIE]

We are clearly low on confidence and maybe some are letting him down to a degree.

Part of the issue is squad depth we are pretty much having to play Bostock/McGoldrick in all matches as there has been nothing to bring in, now at their age we probably didnt/dont want to do that.

I cant help SM isnt helping either we need to keep it simple yet he is changing fornations/tactics on a regular basis which can confuse players with their roles.

Communication / man management is key LW had it does SM ?

The thing is we either have a plan A, B or C or we don’t and just have a plan A.

If the manager does not change things when it’s not working then people will say they are rigid, not flexible, a one trick pony. Change it when it’s not working or trying to implement another plan and they are branded, clueless out of their depth or confusing players. People can’t have it both ways, but when things go wrong it’s easy to say do the opposite as that is better and will work. Rather than doing the harder but correct thing and that is working on and improving what you did right for so long. This is why we must not change our philosophy because to do this for me would be an act of desperation.

Football is constantly changing and players moving around changing positions in game is something that is going to become more common in future years the way I see it probably over the next 10-20 years. It’s also not like we haven’t been doing it before now either.

I’m not talking about a goalkeeper playing as a striker or those kind of extremes. But for example Macca playing on the left wing (as Gateshead I believe) or lone striker, the goalkeeper playing as an extra central defender (we do this) a left sided winger playing right and vice versa (we’ve started doing this with JJ an AN) JJ also plays a different role for Malta. A defender taking the ball into central midfield and a midfielder dropping into cover their position. We have done this loads with Palmer, and Bostock.

It will be orchestrated, planned for and worked on in training. It keeps the opposition guessing and on their toes and confuses the hell out of them. I can’t remember which game it was (may have been Morecambe at home) but we were absolutely brilliant at interchanging positions during the game it was a joy to behold.