I’m still over the moon after the victory against Forest Green Rovers yesterday.
In an earlier post on my blog, I wrote about the importance of getting back to the basics and build-up self-confidence again.
And these two latest games we have played have lifted our self-confidence without a doubt. Two 1-0 victories on the bounce against the top two teams in the league.
It makes you wonder where we would have been if we could keep at this level throughout the season.
Limit the risks
Matt Taylor always said that we had to take risks to win matches. That might be ok if you are a top-10 team in Premier League. In League Two you need to limit the risks and play within your limits to win matches. You have to work hard and grind down the opposition and now and then add a bit of flair. The most important thing is to put away every chance you get at scoring a goal.
If you look back this season, we always had trouble scoring goals. Even when we were on top and should have won, we still found a way to concede goals due to individual mistakes. I believe these mistakes were much down to Taylor asking the players to play high-risk football. Of course, you will end up conceding goals if you play like that, especially in League Two.
We don’t have the quality in our squad to play high-risk football because if just one player isn’t up to that needed quality, it will make the whole team fall.
This is probably where Matt Taylor’s inexperience showed. I’m pretty sure Neil McDonald and Mat Sadler told him to take a different approach. I base that on the way the team played against Tranmere. If Taylor had listened to his mentor and coach, we would probably have seen that approach earlier and maybe not have had seven straight defeats.
Small changes and corrections
Here is where Mike Flynn came in and corrected things. You could see it against Tranmere too. We played within our limits and kept away from taking too many risks. The coaches made tiny changes in the way they approached these two games. Changes that were within the players’ knowledge and suited them better. And like magic, the results came instantly.
Everyone who has played Football Manager knows if you are in lower leagues, it is not always about playing fancy. (yes, I know you can’t compare real-life football to a computer game). You have to battle matches out. You have to run more than the opposition. You have to win your battles. Of course, you need players who have a bit of flair and creativity, but those players also have to win their battles too.
A team who can combine the fancy playing tiki-taka or gegenpress and still fight and win battles will also be the ones ending the season up high in the table. But in the end, it is all about playing within the limits of what the squad can manage. For example, you can’t play tiki-taka if half of the players can’t pass the ball. You can’t play gegenpress if half of the players have a low work rate and stamina.
If you can identify what style the players are most suited to play, you have a base to fall back to when things aren’t working.
After these two victories, my optimism is building again. We now know what level the players can perform. I still think Flynn can get even more out of the players. In the post-match interview against Forest Green, there were some details he wasn’t satisfied to see.
Flynn only had days to prepare the team to play against Forest Green. Still, he managed to implement his ideas to the players, which makes me believe his philosophy will match the players quite well.
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