Observations for consideration

I don't like the idea of having all 11 back but we have more problems than that,

MJ should and is ( I think )  working on stopping us conceding goals from anywhere on the pitch, because at the moment we are letting far too many goals in and not scoring enough.

What happened to our early season goal glut when we were top scorers in the division ?

Lots of people citing the Exeter team as the one that should be Plan A but the whole idea of that side was to soak up pressure and counter attack with pace. At Plymouth yes but would the home contingent really be happy with sitting back and defending down The BP?

Quoted from Tommy

Think we need to get over the whole "bringing everyone back to defend corners" thing.

Most teams do it now.

Not saying it's what I would do, personally, but it's not an outrageous concept and clearly has its advantages, as jimgtfc has started to explain.

Got no problem with this if it required bit there was one team recently possibly Stevenage when having a corner left two in defence yet we stilled pulled all 10 players into the box it needs to be altered when we can

Quoted from 137

Good post Doug.

I worry that MJ is overthinking. He's young enough not to fully appreciate that finding a successful XI frequently requires a bit of luck.
If by chance a side you put out 'clicks' - count yourself lucky, and stick with them (in the short term at least).

I would make the XI that won at Exeter my first choice team.

           *** Noises Off:   "It's a squad game...."  ***

Well yes it is - but it seems perverse to use the squad in such a way that it weakens the team!
IMO the squad-players will get a fair amount of pitch-time regardless. Injuries, suspensions, substitutions, genuinely resting players rather
than giving them a third match in 8 days, cup matches...to name a few.
I think Hanson would make an excellent last-half-hour sub given the opposition defenders have been chasing our quicker guys for an hour.




Bobby C is also my hero.  

The idea of playing the same team who played at Exeter falls down when you throw in the fact that not every team plays like Exeter and wouldn’t attack us like that at BP. Mass chopping and changing is not helpful but neither is the other extreme. Whilst I’d like to see a more adventurous attitude you do have to take into account the opposition and other circumstances like availability, and degrees of readiness (even a ‘fit’ player might not be physically or mentally 100% and we don’t see what the management sees through the week).

Quoted from KingstonMariner

The idea of playing the same team who played at Exeter falls down when you throw in the fact that not every team plays like Exeter and wouldn’t attack us like that at BP. Mass chopping and changing is not helpful but neither is the other extreme. Whilst I’d like to see a more adventurous attitude you do have to take into account the opposition and other circumstances like availability, and degrees of readiness (even a ‘fit’ player might not be physically or mentally 100% and we don’t see what the management sees through the week).

Maybe, but let's not lose sight of the fact that Exeter were the unbeaten league toppers. Not every team plays like Exeter...but all of them had played worse up to
that point!
Why should we worry too much about them unless we want to? We need to have belief in ourselves if we hope to achieve success.

Just to play Devil's advocate it's fair to assume we don't have a play off chasing budget and if we match teams like for like we don't have the quality to be anything other than a mid table side. The Plymouth game came about exactly because Jolley tinkered with the team to nullify the opposition so we can't have it both ways. I'd love to see us have the quality needed to not worry about how the opposition play but that's becoming rarer and rarer in football at all levels. In many ways I feel the same about Jolley as I did about Hurst. Both are young managers learning their trade and will make mistakes from time to time. If the alternative is the likes of Slade who have played the same way for donkey's then I'm happy to give them time.

Don't get this "budget " thing that keeps getting mentioned on here. Our budget is "competitive " for the division we are in. There are teams above us with smaller budgets and teams below with bigger budgets. It's all relative. Accrington and Burton for example prove the point.

As for bringing everyone back for corners, it's fine if you have pace and set yourself up for it. We don't on both counts. Barcelona have everyone back for corners but set themselves up to counter. They don't clear the ball up to the half way line but just clear it out of the box where their forwards very quickly close it down and win it back. Then you are in trouble! They quickly break out from their box as a team, whereas we don't. I know they have world class players to do this, but it is all relative. We are not playing against internationals in La Liga, but in the fourth tier of the English league.


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Quoted from Abdul19

This is quite possibly nonsense, but I get the impression that it's something that filters down the leagues. If Liverpool or Man City suddenly started leaving 2 men up when defending a corner, 2 weeks later The Dog and Gun would be doing exactly the same.

Thinking of trends like this just got me thinking about a book I read. For anyone that hasn't read it, The Mixer by Michael Cox is a good read on Premier League tactics from 1992 onwards. Very interesting read about the evolution of tactics and trends in the Premier League years.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N2QBCOJ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1

Having spoken to Mr. Jolly with regard to Steven Holzner's book on Quantum Physics I can now make sense of complex terms and concepts,from eigenvalues to oscillators but can I fk as understand why he has everybody in our box for corners.

I do not understand why bringing everyone back for corners still gets mentioned after a certain power point presentation by that tactical genius Mr Slade. He made his point with great clarity and knowledge, just look where he is now, Barcelona, no, Man City, no, Accrington Stanley, no, Hereford, yes!!!!