joey_big_nose

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.

Woohoo Sam Gallagher!!

Already look a lot better with Johnson ahead of Trybull. Much more positive player.

Will be really bad news if Wharton comes off. He's been excellent.

Kaminski has been sensational.

Elliot needs subbing.

We aren't going to be able to pass through them so need a plan B. Reckon getting both Gallagher and Nyambe on their left wing back should do it. Don't think he can handle it. Not sure who to bring off for Gallagher though... Elliott or Holtby I guess.

Woo hoo!

They've totally beating us tactically here. Can't handle 343. Not seen us so effectively nullified this season. Gallagher and Johnson look good shouts to come on.

Don't agree with that, Johnsons played really well deep, wins everything in the air, out muscles the oppos, and can drop in like a third Centreback when required, plays forward passes. Also chips in with goals at range. His main issue is that he gets caught on the turn but he's been fine this season. I'd pick him over Trybull. Trybull is neater on the turn but physically weak, and seems to have the crabs (ie. an addiction to sideways and backwards passing).

Yes, it would be mental if Liverpool have put clauses in making him play every game and then he gets a long term injury. I'll be really surprised if he starts this weekend.

Probs most important thing for Gallagher is what sort of partnership he strikes up with Douglas. Thats where his crosses are coming from in this system. They should be working on that every day in training. Ideally you want to get it where Conway and Gestede got to, where Conway knew exactly where Gestede wanted the ball. We haven't really had much quality crossing from the left to be honest since Gallagher has been at the club. Downing ended up playing more centrally.

Reckon Holtby will be decent to at least 32-33. We should offer a long term deal.

I am pretty confident going into these games if we can keep the key players fit - that's Kaminski, Lenihan, Wharton, Holtby, Rothwell, Arma and (I cant really believe I am saying this) Brereton. If you have those seven out there we look a real handful for any team. Take any of them out and our system looks a bit fragile. Team for me : Kaminski Nyambe Lenihan Wharton Douglas Holtby Johnson Rothwell Gallagher Arma Brereton Subs : Pears, Carter, Bell, Trybull, Davenport, Buckley, Elliott, Dolan, Chapman Barnsley are on a decent run, won 4 of the last 6 including beating Watford. So obviously no pushovers. Look like they play pretty direct so Wharton and Lenihan to get their head on it. Really like them as a pairing, makes me much less concerned about aerial bombardment.

He's scored three goals in 415 minutes (less than five 90 minute games) which is pretty impressive. Does seem like the ultimate super sub rather than a starter at this stage. When he has played against well organised teams he has struggled, but when the opposition are a bit loose or down to 10 men he's fantastic. With the 5 sub rule he is going to get a lot of opportunity to come on and stretch the opposition in the last half hour.