Really really poor performance, I thought it was much worse than the Barnsley game where we struggled first half but did turn it around well. That said we still managed to win which is to be applauded, but really if the handballs had been given we could well have lost. So I wouldn't take much confidence from it at all. Why was this performance so poor? I would say We obviously have a big problem when the opposition play 343. The forwards just can't get in the game at all, the space they find against a back 4 just wasnt't available. Game completely passed Brereton by, and Gallagher only had any luck through battering his way through pretty ineffectively. The above was exacerbated by theoretically playing Elliott in midfield as he didn't actually play in midfield at all. He was really on the right almost like a second winger. That left Johnson and Holtby pretty much isolated in the midfield where they were overrun and both had really poor games. We really needed another midfielder in there - ideally Rothwell but Buckley or Davenport would have been okay. Eliott scored a great goal which papered over the cracks somewhat, but that apart it really didn't work. When we did bring on midfield substitutes around the 75 minutes Brereton was already off and Gallagher went off. so then we suddenly had a lot of midfielders but no real forwards apart from Armstrong who was bizarrely playing wide. We lost all sense of shape entirely. Got lucky with Armstrong's goal, but it was a real mess. I thought Ayala was a big downgrade on Wharton to be honest which is an amazing thing to say considering his pedigree. Will put it down to fitness. Lenihan and Nyambe were great, and I thought Bell did okay to be honest defensively. What we need to do imo : Figure out how to play against 343. Won't be the last time we come up against it. We might need to be radical and change our formation. Maybe we could match the 343? We have the players for it. Not play Elliot in midfield. Get a proper workhorse in there like Rothwell or Davenport (or ideally Trav when he's back) to get up and down and be competitive. We've only got 3 midfielders in the formation for Christsake - the three in there need to actually play in midfield. That said next we are playing Brentford who are 433 so think that will be a really open game and completely different to either of the last two games. Our standard 433 should work fine, but I certainly wouldn't play Elliot in the middle. Move him up wide right, drop Gallagher and play Rothwell on the left of the midfield 3.

Anything is possible in the Championship.

Have to agree, Buckley has been very good this season.

Championship is so crazy. Ten (10!!!!) clubs within 4 points of the top after 15 games. Mental.

Think he missed two handballs from our players in the box though so good on him

Lol

Subs have made us worse... Dont really get what the plan is. Also pitch is horrendous. As is all of our passing.

Now we suddenly look very physically light up front....

So whose playing where?

Here we go, triple change. Whole new midfield..

Really don't get why Rothwell isn't on yet.

He's caused them quite a few problems in the air. But i'd be inclined to agree.

Agreed. Just doesn't look right without Rothwell down the left. Obvious half time sub. He'll bring Brereton into the game too. Not sure who we bring off though...

Rothwell is one of the key reasons the 433 works so well... He can pick it up deep and drive forward in a way that really terrifies the oppositon. Not sure Elliot can really do that.... Will be interesting to see how it pans out. Reckon the game could drift him by as it has when he's had stints there... Still much much better having him in there than Trybull or Evans.

Sheffield United did stay up though? Finished 9th in Prem.

My view is he decided to give 433 a whirl back in May/June and it didn't really look that great (that's when we had Holtby playing as a false 9) but you have to credit he saw the potential of it and stuck with it. Once he dropped Holtby into midfield, had Rothwell and Brereton on the left and brought Kaminski in to push the whole team up it looks great. I cant really see how we achieved that without some real foresight, planning and tactical nouse from Mowbray. As for how the injured players come back in I would say I think Dack will be able to play across the top three pretty well, and Trav can play either the holding role or right of the midfield three. But I can't really see where Bennett or Evans fit in. Evans can only really play the holding role, and we have better options there, and Bennett doesnt match any of the roles really.

I'm happy to say one of our big vulnerabilities seems solved. Weve been terrible under the long ball, see Cardiff this year or Preston last season, however with Wharton in the team we look a lot more solid against that. Reckon Ayala when fit will also offer that. A big relief. That said big problem in our current 433 for me is left back. Against good teams Douglas doesn't have the pace and Bell doesn't have the positioning for a high line. Could do with a better signing there imo. In terms of an alternative system - looking at our personnel adapting to a counter attacking game should suit us. Quick skillful players are something we have a lot of. 4231 would make sense. You wouldn't even need to change the starting XI. Kaminski Nyambe. Lenihan. Wharton. Douglas. Holtby. Johnson Elliot. Rothwell. Brereton. Armstrong Maybe the next iteration is to start more conservatively in a 4231 and then change to 433 at the right time in the game? Seems a bit too clever to me though... Anyway Brentford and Norwich both around the corner do look tricky. Will be interesting to see if we change approach. Reckon though Mowbray will stick with the 433 and say "you adapt to us" rather than the other way round. And who can blame him really? Only time we've looked poor was in the run of Forest, Watford, Reading, Middlesborough, Swansea and we were missing key players fundamental to our system (Kaminski, Rothwell, Holtby, Armstrong at various times). Reckon if we have all the above available we can feel confident taking anyone on.

We do seem to have progressed from a very one dimensional Dack and Graham team to one with half a dozen players who can win a game. Mowbray has struggled a bit to get us to work, but this year everything seems to be clicking in place. If we can keep it sustained over the season I think it will be the most comprehensive tactical overhaul of a team I've ever seen at Rovers. Its pretty incredible how utterly different we look to last year. No one's playing the same way really, all have different roles.

Should win this one. No easy games in the Championship though.... Next three after that quite challenging (Brentford A, Bristol A, Norwich H). End of those four games we will have a decent view of what we can expect this season. In my gut we feel much more like a genuine top 6 side than any time in the last 7/8 years. Got a top goalscorer, top keeper, a good defence, a good midfield, a system everyone is bought into, depth on the bench, young players playing well, top players to come back from injury. Hard to pick out a weakness, apart from the simple fact we don't have as much quality as Norwich, Watford or Bournemouth... XI wise think it will be same team except Johnson and Gallagher will start in favour of Trybull and Elliot.

Bump. It's outrageous he's in the Championship. Don't know if we fluked signing him or what. But he's going to be worth 10 points on his own by the end of the season. Reckon if we had Pears or Walton in there Wharton would have been shot to sh*t by now. But he just creates this very very solid baseline for everyone to play their best game from. Makes the whole defence look better.

I would actually say Evans offers more as he closes down and gets a tackle in. Trybull sits deep and stands off which is not good. Obviously has a decent range of passing on him but plays very conservatively. He wasn't useless, he killed off a few of their attacks, but I think he is just not what our system is after, instinctively he works against it. I reckon he will get a few more games but then fade out once Travis is back, while Johnson will continue to be a big part of what we do.

I also though Bell was very good today.

He's played a few now and its a recognisable pattern that we play a lot deeper when Trybull is on.

Barnsley were great but a big part of the problem was Trybull imo, he makes us sit so deep.

Trybull literally goes not further than 20 yards outside our box. Johnsons on and he has spent most of his time in their half. Whole team has pushed up hugely. Totally different mentality.