There has been a lot of talk recently over differing styles in the lower leagues and what is needed for success on the pitch, with the current top 3 in League 2 all deploying very different tactics to find themselves in the automatic places. While all of them may vary in playing styles, the key to their success has been an ability to switch it up and change tactics, leading me to conclude that total football doesn’t work in English football’s fourth tier.
Let’s take a look at the teams currently occupying the top 3 spots. Leyton Orient, who have remained in pole position for the vast majority of the season, favour a high-intensity pressing game, with skill and flair in abundance along with a resolute defence. Under Richie Wellens, the O’s have only lost once at home all season, conceding just 6 times in the process.
Stevenage, on the other hand, have found success in the formation of a team that is very much in the mould of their manager, Steve Evans. Pragmatic, Boro have battered teams this season, utilising the dark arts to bully opponents into submission. While their form of late hasn’t been great, they still find themselves in the autos.
Lastly Carlisle, the late arrival to the automatic pack, employ a more direct approach. The Cumbrians are often quick to feed the ball to the small but by no means diminutive Joe Garner, who has been able to feed their fast creative players such as Omari Patrick (godson of Olympic sprinting great Linford Christie), damaging teams on the counter with their pace.
My team Swindon have endured a frustrating campaign this time out, showing signs of promise and technical ability, but often finding themselves being defeated after long spells of domination are undone by a toothlessness in attack and defensive frailties at the back.
The club outlined their vision when Clem Morfuni took over, a vision that would see a focus being put on developing young players who would take us up the leagues and earn a tidy profit in the process. While that is impressive in principle, I think time has shown that this needs to be supplemented by a solid spine of experienced pro’s to work, hardened lower league footballers who have been there and done it, know when to play and when to lump it and can get the younger, less-experienced players through the tougher moments.
We saw the first iteration of Swindon’s philosophy last season under Ben Garner, who used his and then Head of Recruitment Ben Chorley’s sizeable contacts book to bring in a number of players who the former had worked with at elite academy level. While an embargo meant that Swindon were restricted in the recruitment, the philosophy was taking shape. Ben Garner enjoyed a moderate amount of success; however Swindon fell short in the playoffs. Accusations were levelled at him that there was no plan B, that the team would employ the same tactics regardless of the success it was seeing and would often replace players like for like rather than trying something different to change games.
There is a lot to be admired about the philosophy Swindon have chosen to follow, with the club opting to work towards a sustainable model that would be bankrolled by player development – music to the ears of fans who had suffered years of misery under the previous owner.
However, fast forward to this season, and the introduction of Sandro di Michele as Technical Director and an all-in approach on data and recruiting young players, that vision has been exposed, falling short of what is needed to be successful in League 2. Scott Lindsey, promoted from Assistant Head Coach when Garner left for Charlton, continued to stick rigidly to the philosophy, resulting in countless toothless displays as Swindon waited for the perfect moment to take a pass or make a shot, which rarely ever comes in League 2 football.
On the contrary, the reliance on the backline to start attacks, a backline where managers aren’t gifted the luxury of choosing from the best players in the world in those defensive positions, players who are equally as adept with the ball at their feet as they are defending, has often resulted in unnecessary pressure being placed on players who just don’t have the quality to consistently start attacks on the floor. This has often resulted in turnovers of the ball in the worst area of the pitch, and numerous avoidable goals racking up in the goals against column.
Under Jody Morris, Swindon have begun to start to implement changes, and more importantly display a willingness to try and switch tactics during games to influence results – in stark contrast to the previous two managers. While it may be too late to cement themselves a playoff place this season, the signs are there that under Morris, and after a hugely drawn out process the newly-appointed ex Chelsea youth team boss Ed Brand, fans have reason to get excited for next season.
Even the elite teams have to mix it up. Chelsea got far more out of switching tactics and going long on occasion rather than repeatedly trying to pass it out from the back during their recent Champions League victory against Borussia Dortmund. Manchester City, most highly regarded of all the total football teams under Pep Guardiola’s relentlessly single-minded approach to playing football, are an anomaly in as much as the talent they have at their disposal meaning that invariably they can pass teams to death and create openings which they capitalise on more often than not. But even they have had more indifferent results this season and have had to adapt as teams start to learn the best way to play against them.
There is an argument that players can be too coached, that you have a certain way of playing so strictly drilled into you that you lose the ability to improvise, think for yourself and ask different questions of the opposition. Waiting for the right moment obviously has its benefits; but while waiting for the perfect pass or run may win the battle for possession, it doesn’t win football matches (don’t get me started on clubs using irrelevant data as a misplaced measure of success).
Taking chances, early crosses, putting it in the mixer, there’s a lot to be said for just getting bodies in the box and putting it in the danger area. Deflections, second balls, penalties, the possibilities for creating chances from just whipping it in are endless. Swindon’s equaliser at Carlisle today offered a prime example. A deflected shot from a Swindon player fell to Tyrese Shade in the box, who was given an easy chance to score as a result.
Pep Lijnders described playing with controlled chaos in his book ‘Intensity’ (a great read by the way), and that’s what made that Liverpool team so successful. Creative players are, by definition, just that. Take that away from them and they become just another cog in a machine that is very easy to work out and defend against.
After all, you know what they say about repeating the same thing over and over and expecting different results…
| [freshpress-quiz id=”28012″] |
