Red_Dez
First Team
I think there is a lot in this, the players seem to be celebrating goals with each other again which sounds ridiculous but is possibly an indicator of how much of a rut we were in before.
Maybe it was just Josh King leaving
Jonathan Woodgate
- Thread starter NWCherries98
- Start date
I think there is a lot in this, the players seem to be celebrating goals with each other again which sounds ridiculous but is possibly an indicator of how much of a rut we were in before.
Maybe it was just Josh King leaving
DannyHollandspockets
Star Player
Well, he didn't employ JT on the basis of a glittering managerial CV!
Credit where credit is due . JW has got the belief into the players
RobTrent
UTC Legend
Look where taking that risk got us previously!
Kudos
UTC Legend
I think Woodgate brings a change from players having to adapt to a system to a system that adapts to the players.
The former is what enables League One players to grow into Premier League players with a team stronger then the sum of it's parts and the later is what helps you stich together some results to keep a promotion challenge alive.
The former is what enables League One players to grow into Premier League players with a team stronger then the sum of it's parts and the later is what helps you stich together some results to keep a promotion challenge alive.
RobTrent
UTC Legend
I’ll take that right now.
Druss_the_Legend
UTC Legend
Really? Can you talk me through that? The formation we have played over the last few matches is a formation that has worked since the dawn of football. But apparently its Woodgate not planning for the future.
Are you really suggesting the best way to manage is to create weird formations that players are not comfortable playing just to be "different"?
I'd appreciate you talking me through why there is a difference.
SlowDownDerek
UTC Legend
Not sure this is right. They played with ridiculous formations for the best part of 100 years from the dawn of football until the Hungarians taught everyone how to play in the 50s.
Def_II_Royalz
Star Player
I'm not entirely sure Woodgate has worked wonders, but we were truly spoiled with Eddie, so it's not an entirely fair comparison. What he has done, however, is build confidence by getting the players to focus on the basics and simplifying things which takes the pressure off our flair players to deliver. Interestingly, Danjuma is playing with more freedom and fluidity but he's recognised that a team needs a nucleus and he seems more integrated now. His tracking back vs Cov was notable. Billing and Kelly look like different players, so we have to give JW some credit there.
Ken Baileys Ghost
Plastic
Do you think she looks like a 'blowy thing' kind of girl then?
Druss_the_Legend
UTC Legend
Oh come on, the Germans clearly lined up in 442 during the Christmas truce of 1914!
MB1980
UTC Legend
I thought it was more of a scatter gun approach.
Sweetcherrity
Star Player
Druss_the_Legend
UTC Legend
Too soon...
adam0102
Fans' Favourite
so many punchlines......All girls like a neat and tidy garden
Kudos
UTC Legend
I invite challenges to my observation but the way you've distorted my post doesn't give me high hopes of a very constructive debate.
Druss_the_Legend
UTC Legend
I must have read it wrong? You seemed to be suggesting that playing different formations and positions every match can turn players in to Prem players but sticking with the same players in the same formation is just a "band aid" over the quality of the team for short term game?
Kudos
UTC Legend
Quite the opposite, I was suggesting that having a strong system and moulding players into it is a pattern I've observed from many managers who have been successful over the longer term. This comes with the cost of rarely realising the talent of new players immediately if ever but creating a framework that enables players to perform beyond you would expect of them normally.
The current formation and player selection isn't really part of my argument (although I do really like it*) it's more about the roles of the positions within it.
It looks to me Woodgate has moved from that "Howe/Tindal**" strategy of adapting players to roles to one where the role is dictated by the strengths of the player. For example Danjuma has been given a license to defend less and is supported by a more defensively minded Kelly who isn't being asked to get forward. However on the other wing Smith is allowed to get forward and Brooks or Stanislas have to track back more. If you're that nerdy you can see evidence of that on the heat maps.
This to me is a strategy that is immediately yielding results and will actually give us a fighting chance of promotion and as Rob Trent succinctly put it "I’ll take that right now.". There's no evidence one way or the other about Woodgate's long term plans.
The disadvantage of this approach is that players aren't interchangeable the Kelly Danjuma pairing isn't the same as the Stanislas Smith pairing and when those pairs are mixed someone has to adapt their game meaning that the players aren't refining their skills to a very specific role.
* Although dropping Wilshere tonight is disappointing and not really playing to the stable team idea.
** It could be fairly argued that Tindal didn't reach the point of ever realising what his system was.
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Druss_the_Legend
UTC Legend
To be fair to Woody I expected the Wilshire change. He's rotated the two of them home and away as a means to add more or less defensive cover. I think it works and keeps 2 players who recently struggled with fitness to keep playing?
