Town earned a draw in the dying moments of yesterday’s game against a resolute Rotherham side. It was a game that Town could, and perhaps should, have won but there were still plenty of positives to take from the game. Problems in front of goal persist but Carlos Corberán’s tactics are producing some eye-catching football at times.
Here are a few of my thoughts from this game, in no particular order or logical structure…
Land of the giants!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a tall and strong team before. At set pieces it looked like David and Golliath when Hoggy was battling in the air with a towering Rotherham player. My initial thought was to bemoan how our taller players hadn’t picked up the big guy, then I looked at the other players in the box and every Rotherham player seemed to be a big guy and they all loomed over their markers.
Clearly someone at Rotherham likes to have strapping young men around the place. It’s easy to see why too, as they’ve developed a style of play that suits having a squad of players that could most likely mix it up with the Harlem Globetrotters (Are they still a thing? I just googled them and yes they are but you’ll have to wait until the pandemic dies down before you can watch gangly men spinning balls on their fingers.)
Rotherham present an unusual kind of challenge and I was impressed with how Town dealt with this threat. Richard Stearman and Naby Sarr did particularly well at getting themselves in the way of their aerial bombardment that came in the later stages of the first half. Even if they didn’t always win their headers, they did enough to stop their opponents making a clean contact.
A lack of options on the bench
I thought Carlos got his team selection spot on yesterday but I’m less convinced by the substitutes he took with him to South Yorkshire. We had Daly, Diakhaby, Pereira, Brown, Duhaney, Crichlow and Olugunju on the bench, which works out as one goalkeeper, four defenders a midfielder and a winger. That didn’t give Carlos enough attacking options to influence a game where we were struggling to find a breakthrough.
I appreciate that Town’s squad is so thin that we don’t have many backup players at the moment but this bench severely lacked attacking possibilities. It’s no surprise that Coberán didn’t make his first substitute until the 83rd minute despite Rotherham having used up all their subs by that point. He didn’t have the tools at his disposal to make the changes he needed.
Ward is currently out injured so Campbell is our only senior striker available but he fades in the closing stages of matches and a suitable replacement would have given us a different kind of threat. Kian Harratt has an incredible scoring record in youth football and despite his youth looks like he may be close to stepping up to the first team. I don’t understand why he wasn’t at least on the bench yesterday at the expense of one of the four defenders that travelled with the team.
An intriguing tactical battle
I can imagine a neutral would have found this game boring for long spells but I found the tactical battle between the two managers very interesting to watch. Town unquestionably won the opening exchanges as they created a couple of decent chances with quick passing and energetic running in the final third.
Rotherham then dominated the game from around fifteen minutes through to half time, the period where they scored their goal. They made it very hard for Town to get good possession by being very compact in defence and playing long balls forward. They also drew plenty of fouls from Town which gave them the chance to disrupt the game’s flow and throw their big men forward for set pieces. It wasn’t pretty but it worked surprisingly well and Town didn’t have a decent answer until the second half.
Thankfully, Town managed to turn the game around in the second half and turned it into something close to an attack vs defence training exercise. Rotherham dropped deeper and deeper and despite remaining compact in the middle of the pitch, Town’s wingbacks regularly got into good positions and we flooded the box with attackers when balls came in from out wide.
Had Pipa’s shot not been deflected in then you could argue that Rotherham had got their tactics right on the day and limited Town to few genuinely decent scoring chances. But the late goal was a just reward for sustained pressure in the second half and it wasn’t a huge surprise that we forced Rotherham’s otherwise resolute defence into an unfortunate mistake.
Naby’s magic wand
Fan’s that have been watching Town for a while will remember Robbie Williams (not that one) and his “magic wand”, the name he gave to his left foot. Williams was a mostly poor leftback but could pop up with the odd surprisingly magical moment with his left foot. While Naby Sarr is far from being a poor defender, it is something of a shock to see how good he is at long-range passing with his left foot. You could say he’s got a good pass for a big man.
I’ve already mentioned in my player ratings article about how well he managed to switch play by pinging the ball over to Pipa on the other side of the pitch. He also strode out confidently from defence and pulled opposition players out of position.
While Sarr showed a few signs of rustiness, having not played for a little while, he also showed exactly why Town brought him in. He’s the kind of player Carlos Corberán wants for his system and can really help the team to build up attacks with his positive movement with the ball and good eye for a cross-field pass.
Finishing – cut and paste the usual grumbles
Everyone who watches Town has been saying the same thing for a long time now, we’re not finishing our chances. Things seem to be starting to click in defence and midfield under Corberán but the goals won’t come until our attacking players start finishing the opportunities they are provided (or creating them for themselves).
It’s easy to think the answer to these problems lies in the transfer market but there is some responsibility on the players already at Town to start showing some quality too. Campbell, Mbenza and Koroma all failed to make the most of their opportunities yesterday and need to improve.
Hopefully Town’s recruitment team have a list of targets ready to pursue as soon as Karlan Grant and/or Terence Kongolo get the moves they’ve been angling for. Corberán hinted in his press conference that he wants new players to be brought in sooner rather than later because the international break presents an opportunity to embed them into the squad ahead of the intensive period of games we’ve got in late October into early November.
Moaners and happy clappers – something for everyone
I found the fan reaction online interesting yesterday. It was like the game was a Rorschach test, those ink blots where people infer their own meaning from random spodges of black ink. Some watched the game and saw an encouraging performance of a team eagerly trying to adapt to a vastly different new tactical system that is showing early signs of promise. Others saw a team that can’t score huff and puff against a team that was very recently playing in League One.
Town had nearly three quarters of the possession in this game and only produced one shot on target and only scored because one of their opponent’s defenders slashed the ball into his own net. So the boo boys have plenty to point to as evidence that this is a poor Town team that can keep the ball but can’t do a great deal with it.
The happy clappers can point out that this game was a clear step forward from Brentford, where Town won the battle to dominate possession stats and lost nearly every other measurable way of judging the game, including the scoreline. While yesterday Town struggled in the build up to half time and reverted to passing it around at the back too much, they were far more purposeful in the second half and there was genuine attacking intent in the way they used the ball.
Defeats tend to draw out the miserable beggars that like to moan about everything and victories see the optimists dominate the discussion and get carried away with the future possibilities. A draw like this one gives both sides of the spectrum something to talk about and it creates an interesting mix of opinion.
What did you think of yesterday’s game? Feel free to put your opinions below. Unless you’re a Leeds fan, I’m bored of squabbling with them in the comments!
Watched L—s last night on MOD (yes I know its the first sign for a Town suporter) then I immediately watched Town on EFL Quest, and it was Lds/Man C mark 2, Town actually played for 98mins, when the ball went into the net we had six players in the box in the 96min. BC (before Carlos) we would have given up and conceded another,a centre forward is a must, and swap Bacuna ( waste of space) for Pritchard, and Hogg for O’Brien, and get that Centre forward we must have, after only four games the signs are there, you can see that Corboran was Bielsa’s apprentice, the futures bright the futures Blue and White, UTT
I really enjoy watching Leeds at the moment and have a it of a soft spot for them now we’ve got this connection through our respective head coaches. I couldn’t ever actually support them but I hope they do well (unless they draw Town in the cup and then the usual hostilities can resume).
We’ve got two transfer deadline days before our next game, hopefully we’ll see some new arrivals in that time.
Our Chairman and CEO have far more business experience than most supporters and I have complete confidence that they will do the best thing for Town as far as Grant, Kongolo and other recruitments are concerned. I think we are a club that have a plan and I am sure we will see at least 2 more good signings before the Swansea game.
Getting rid of Kongolo and Grant will end the incredibly boring speculation about them both and mean we can hopefully bring in some quality players. Looking at the bench yesterday tells me we are seriously short of first team quality players.
Just a bit sad to say after 4 games our leading goal scorer is a Rotherham player.
Enjoyed the game to be honest, we just lack a major cutting edge upfront, is that a forward or some creativity or bit of both.
As pre season i like the way we are playing i just hope Carlos gets the tools to work with, as he is a very promising manager
Cant wait to see O’Brien back, the energy levels and ability he possesses should add another dimension to getting the ball moving
Yep, to use the old cliché, it will be like having a new signings when he returns to the first team.
I agree John, everything up to the penalty area is looking good. Even in the box we’re committing plenty of players but none seem to have the composure to finish chances (aside from Campbell’s superb strike last week).
Two good attackers would be useful, I suspect we may only bring in one. None at all, in my eyes, would be risking a relegation fight.
Campbell fades because he keeps having to go back for the ball and wears himself out. We need a Mooy playmaker and a number 9 to share the load. I believe we used to have a player called Grant who appears to be without a club at the moment. If he can be found perhaps he could play, even though the last time he was seen on a football pitch was back in July for 20 mins.
He’s also 33 and runs his socks off while he is able to.
Eiting could be the Mooy
replacement we’ve been missing for so long but I’d like to see another midfielder too.
Grant is exactly the kind of player we need but sadly I think he’s almost certain to leave. I just hope we can pluck another player with similar potential to Grant when he first arrived.
I’ve been scathing about Town’s recruitment team on the past but I think they’re doing OK this window. Just need to finish the job by bringing in a few more quality players.
I think West Brom have the wrong impression of Grant. He is not a number 9 which is where they appear to want him to play. He is much better from the left and will continue to score goals from there although a lot of teams have sussed out that he is dangerous on his right foot and he is a bit of a one trick pony in that respect. In the Premier league life will be a lot harder and his goal success may dry up unless he improves the rest of his game.
I agree John. I spoke to West Brom fans on Twitter this week and they were worried when I said he’d not a back to goal kind of striker. They’ve just bought Dianganna to play on the left, so odd they want Grant too.
One last thing about the Grant saga that frustrates the hell out of me.
I understand he is worth 18 million to the club so they want to protect their asset from injury which may scupper a move.
West Brom for nigh on 4 to 5 weeks have not had a suitable offer put forward to Town that we see fit to accept.
However by not playing Grant its telling West Brom that we are desperate to sell regardless of our strutting about that we dont have to unless a proper acceptable offer comes in.
If we didnt really want to sell or have to sell Grant then he would play until something concrete comes in.
Surely this is giving West Brom either false hope we will accept some lesser offer or conditions of sale, or letting them know we will have to break otherwise what weve been doing by not playing him will be pointless.
Either way i see it as a sign of weakness not playing him.
I thought leaving him out was sensible when it seemed like the deal was days away from being completed. Not it’s been knocking on for months and we’re depriving ourselves of a potent attacking force. I’d have preferred we played him and took the risk of him picking up an injury.
Absolutely correct. He’s getting a good wage to sit about and this long layoff will be doing nothing for his fitness or his mental health. I think we should bite the bullet and give them a deadline (say Monday night) and if they don’t come up with the money, bring him back into the squad and play him. If he is as good as everyone thinks he’ll score lots of goals and in January, which is only about 3 months, away put him up for sale then. He may attract even better money from other clubs.
Get Grant and Kongolo sold now so there’s time left in the window to replace. All very well and good holding on for that couple of million extra, but in the meantime we’re still paying them for not playing and if there’s not a replacement in the pipeline for Grant it’s going to be a long hard season fighting against relegation again.
Completely agree. It’s a false economy to hold out for the perfect deal if we leave it too late to properly improve the squad.