Originally Posted by
jackal2
Fair comments.
I think the owners are fine, I like most of what the manager says and does and wish him well, and I think there's enough ability in this squad to achieve something, albeit we're now looking to develop younger talent rather than splashing big money on wages and transfer fees as we did in the past.
We have to remember that yesterday was our first defeat, so there's certainly no need for panic. We've arguably dropped about four points that we should have taken to date this season, so the question is: What can we do to get more out of the talent I believe we've got in players like Roberts, Wootton, and Rodrigues?
I'm looking to Ian Burchnall to show why he's different compared with managers we've had before like Keith Curle and Neal Ardley, who both wanted to play a very purist passing game but seemed unable or unwilling to recognise that the players were struggling to make it work. Both managers ultimately left because they were unwilling to adopt a more flexible approach, by which I don't mean abandoning their principles entirely, but rather, admitting to themselves that some of their tactics were hindering the players at their disposal rather than helping them.
Whether it's a case of changing his instructions or just getting his players to better understand them, Burchnall needs to encourage the team to get the ball out of defensive half more quickly, whether it's in the air or on the floor. We can then play as much creative football as we wish in the opponent's half, as long as we remember that the aim is to get the ball into the opponent's box as often as possible, because that's where players like Rodders, Roberts and Wootton can do damage. At present, they are receiving the ball too infrequently, often in the wrong areas of the pitch, and we aren't getting the ball fast enough or often enough into the opponent's 'Red Zone' (as they call it in the NFL). By getting the ball into the opposition's final third, this ignites and excites the crowd, and we can make maximum use of our 'twelfth man' who sadly at present seems to be quiet and sometimes frustrated for extended periods of the game.
I really hope Ian Burchnall is the kind of coach who learns from what he sees, rather than repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. His in-game substitutions suggest he does see things and change things much faster than a Curle or an Ardley did, but the next step is to make those changes permanent rather than going back to tactics that aren't quite working. For example, the 5-3-2 with wing-backs clearly isn't getting the best out of our players and one or two look really uncomfortable within it. I don't blame IB for giving it every chance over the course of pre-season and the first eight games, but the time has come now to put that one away in the drawer and move to a four at the back formation where the players are less tempted to overplay in the wrong areas. It's okay to play out from the back at times, for example when the opponent has committed players forward and your goalkeeper can trigger a quick counter attack, but don't do it all the time and invite pressure onto players who don't seem comfortable handling it.
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