v Hull City (a) - 29/10/22

[rigger]

8 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

Watched the game back on iFollow as away at family events this weekend.. I love being proven wrong by the manager. Thought going into this changing away from the 352 was a major gamble, seeing as we had just won three on the spin and looked very defensively solid and dangerous on the break. Why change into a formation we had struggled in since the middle of August?

But.... it worked an absolute treat. In fact was a better performance all round than the last three games. We really restricted Hull and created a lot of solid chances. Why was that after really struggling in 4231 earlier this season? I'd say a few reasons 

1.  Hull themselves play 4411 so the issues where we have played 4231 against a 343 or 352 weren't there. They didn't outnumber us in midfield which is what really hurt us against the likes of Reading or Cardiff.
2. Also, linked to the above, when we played 4231 before we would push the front four very high up leaving only two in the middle and a big gap to our forwards. Yesterday we dropped Szmodics a bit deeper, and he did a fantastic job covering in midfield and linking up attack. Another mea culpa - I was wondering earlier in the season what Sammie brought to the table that Dolan didn't have. I can now see he can combine Dolan's workrate with a much better tactical awareness and positioning that allows him to link up play in a much more effective way.
3. Travis moving out of midfield so we had both Wharton and Morton as the deeper midfield pivots worked really well. It made passing it out from the back an absolute joy as either of them could pick up the ball on the half turn in a very Tugay sort of way. No one could get tight to them at all. If one was close the other could break free. Morton particularly is absolutely phenomenal in terms of finding space. When Britain or Hedges are back it's going to be a big call to put Travis back in there as he just hasn't got the same technical level (despite being a fantastic player in many regards).  Also I thought Morton and Wharton both put their foot in really well, I don't think we missed Travis' physicality at all to be honest.
4. When we did start to struggle and get overrun in the midfield as the players tired we shifted back to back three and nullified the Hull threat.

I think we will probably settle into a bit of a groove where we use the 4231 against teams that play 4231 or 433, and use the 352 against teams that play 343 or 352. It's really nice to see that we continue to use a vast array of very young players in multiple systems and we keep the performance levels as high as they are.

It has been a relatively soft run of games, and the upcoming fixtures at Burnley just before the WC break and at Norwich just after will tell us a lot more about where we are - however, any neutral commentator would be looking at us now and taking us as serious contenders for an automatic promotion. Squad depth, share of goals round the team, defensively solidarity and clean sheets, grinding out results, tactically proficient in different systems to counter different threats. All the ingredients seem to be there to be right at the top come the end of the season. One key outstanding bit - as others have said - is we are yet to come back from falling behind. That will be a great hoodoo to solve.

What I take from all that is : Don't get over-run in midfield, and we win.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

7 minutes ago, rigger said:

What I take from all that is : Don't get over-run in midfield, and we win.

That’s usually the case. Whoever dominates midfield gets the the upper hand. Same in Rugby League - if your pack gets on top you normally win the game.

[chaddyrovers]

Excellent post and analysis there @joey_big_nose 

13 hours ago, Neal said:

A point I'd forgot to mention that I was impressed with... 

 

I'm sure I saw Remy Reynierse as the boys were walking in at half time talking to Wharton and Morton on the pitch before they went in... Talking passionately about positioning and angles, like a very in depth discussion. 

 

Stuff like this is so good to see. The proactiveness and enthusiasm for the game. We give JDT the plaudits but it's also apparently this guy who's masterful at tactics and shape.  

Mark Atkins and Andy Bayes mentioned this on Saturday just before the second half started

[chaddyrovers]

 

 

[chaddyrovers]

 

The quality of the pass from Adam Wharton and Szmodics making that run and finish gets better every time you watch it. 

[chaddyrovers]

Szmodics commenting about how important of the Rovers fans. 

 

 

[Finlay McKenna]

10 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

Pretty closely linked with Scott Wharton coming back from injury for me. He provides the cover Pickering needs.

Also - Adam Wharton with his left foot and a decent tackle provides more robustness there too.

Think the shift to a back 5 has helped his confidence massively, some really strong cover to compensate for his biggest weakness, his recovery speed. Good to see him performing well in a back 4 now too though, agree it certainly helps having a creative left footed midfielder to help link things up with him and BBD.

[Guest]

Biggest difference I've noticed is them 3 CBs.

Ayala and Wharton back from injury alongside the, lets face it, steal of the season in Hyam, can keep any team out. There simply isn't 3 better CB's in the division as a unit. And the oldest cliche in the book, keep a clean sheet and you can't lose. Thankfully it seems like when we do, we can't draw either!

[roversfan99]

Pickering is quite intelligent and he also links up with Brereton well too down the left. 

Unsure if it has been mentioned but Brereton played an outstanding ball in the second half, Gallagher messed up a very presentable one on one following it but the pass was excellent.

[Leonard Venkhater]

6 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

 

What a joy!

[Claytons Left Boot]

7 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

 

Nice clip Chaddy. He’s some player is AW. The way he runs and picks his passes, he makes it look effortless, including the way he put Szmodics through for his goal. He if continues to develop, as he has done to date, we’ll soon be sitting on a small fortune.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 hours ago, Claytons Left Boot said:

Nice clip Chaddy. He’s some player is AW. The way he runs and picks his passes, he makes it look effortless, including the way he put Szmodics through for his goal. He if continues to develop, as he has done to date, we’ll soon be sitting on a small fortune.

That was a great pass for the goal. He gave everybody the “eyes “ then played the ball through in exactly the right place at exactly the right pace. The thing I like about him is he knows what pass he’s going to make before he gets the ball.

[oldjamfan1]

32 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

That was a great pass for the goal. He gave everybody the “eyes “ then played the ball through in exactly the right place at exactly the right pace. The thing I like about him is he knows what pass he’s going to make before he gets the ball.

I saw him for the first time at Blackpool and his football intelligence was what made him stand out to me. He’ll be a top, top player if he steers clear of bad injuries that lad. Most pros are never capable of the sort of vision that boy has got. It’s a special gift.

[LDRover]

11 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

 

Look how quickly he moves the ball and how he's so good on the half turn. If he stays fit he is going to be some player in his early 20s, what a talent.

[bazza]

Just finished watching the game. It's all been said but I've one more thing to add.

We, as a team, were very good. And I think we'll get better. Jack Vale in that 20 minute spell looked far better than I have seen him play. He's now one of the squad proper. A good player. I cannot wait to see more of the lad.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, LDRover said:

Look how quickly he moves the ball and how he's so good on the half turn. If he stays fit he is going to be some player in his early 20s, what a talent.

He moves it quick because he knows what he’s going to do with the ball before he gets it. You can’t train that into players.

[LDRover]

3 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

He moves it quick because he knows what he’s going to do with the ball before he gets it. You can’t train that into players.

Agreed Tyrone. Watch how often he has that quick look before receiving the ball. It seems a simple task but it's so difficult to have that awareness of all that is going on around him in the hustle of a midfield battle.

[Exiled in Toronto]

2 minutes ago, LDRover said:

Agreed Tyrone. Watch how often he has that quick look before receiving the ball. It seems a simple task but it's so difficult to have that awareness of all that is going on around him in the hustle of a midfield battle.

You can easily train a player to look, but you can’t train them to see. He also releases the ball a step before opponents expect him to, thanks to that awareness. 

[Oldgregg86]

48 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

He moves it quick because he knows what he’s going to do with the ball before he gets it. You can’t train that into players.

His balance is incredible. The way he looks like he’s going one way and goes the other. Such an intelligent player for a young lad. Really excited to watch him grow. It’s not an understatement to say he’s destined for big things if his growth continues

[roverandout]

12 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

That was a great pass for the goal. He gave everybody the “eyes “ then played the ball through in exactly the right place at exactly the right pace. The thing I like about him is he knows what pass he’s going to make before he gets the ball.

I had an argument with a guy on the England forum I go on. Most of them are excited by Wharton's development.  I said it was a world class assist. One guy though said I was overrating it. My argument if it was Messi or pogba playing that pass people would be purring.  He said that defenders at a higher level are better at reading the game. But my reply was a great through ball is a great through ball at whatever level 

Edited November 1, 2022 by roverandout

[Mattyblue]

An England forum? Sounds horrendous 😁

[roverandout]

15 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

An England forum? Sounds horrendous 😁

Well it's bigsoccer forums but I've been a member for 20 years on the England page

[Exiled in Toronto]

I wonder if six league wins in a calendar month is a club record? 

[rigger]

7 minutes ago, Exiled in Toronto said:

I wonder if six league wins in a calendar month is a club record? 

Let's hope we beat that record in April.

[only2garners]

1 hour ago, Exiled in Toronto said:

I wonder if six league wins in a calendar month is a club record? 

Quite possibly, as there are many months in a normal season when we don't play that many games.