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| Give it Time! |
Have Patience!
By: Chris Soley
Date: 20/07/2006
IN reply to the John Baxter article; I'd like to argue that it will take time to get the team performing the way Rodger wants, and that we need to be patient.
One of the corner stones of Slade's footballing philosophy was 'dumbing down' the play. Our style last year seemed to be a conscious decision to tailor our game to players perceived to be of lower quality.
When defending we dropped deep, pulled the back four into the 18 yard box, and defended in numbers - allowing possession in dangerous areas but having the men back to defend the ball that came in. Moving the onus away from the individual player's ability to read the game, and make decisions.
We were largely successful (partly because of poor opposition not being able punish us from promising positions) but we got found out against better teams (Wycombe, Carlisle) and on bigger pitches (Cardiff).
We saw against Doncaster that Rodger intends to defend far more aggressively and ask more of his defence. The full backs were asked to be more dynamic - pressing the ball or dropping back as the situation required. We were playing offside, and the centre backs had to be more aware of things around them than in the last two seasons.
...and to be honest it was a bit of a shambles. Toner's positioning was poor, giving little cover to the back four. Newey got himself mixed up a few times (but played well IMHO). And poor Futcher was all over the place - losing his man and playing people onside time after time (and getting abuse from Macca for it).
Rodger is trying to play a better quality of football. Whether he has the calibre of player and the coaching ability to achieve this will become clear over the coming months - but it will certainly take time to get the players playing a more demanding style of football than they've played for the last year.
Anyone not expecting a bumpy transitional period may find the next month or so a bit depressing.
This site is by the fans, for the fans, and we will consider articles on any subject relating to the Mariners whether it be related to current news, a nostalgic look back in the past, a story about a player, a game or games in the past, something about Blundell Park or football in general. Click here to submit your article!
This site is by the fans, for the fans, and we will consider articles on any subject relating to the Mariners whether it be related to current news, a nostalgic look back in the past, a story about a player, a game or games in the past, something about Blundell Park or football in general. Click here to submit your article!
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