Fixing our creativity, or relative lack there of

Exiled_Addick

Lots of things to like about the way we played today and signs of continued improvement for Nathan Jones’ work in progress. However, the biggest issue now holding us back seems to be the attacking midfielder(s) and the lack of quality decisions and passing being provided in the final third to turn good possession into good scoring opportunities.

How do we fix that?

I don’t want the criticise Anderson too much because his work rate, again, today was incredible and I think he is largely doing to job he has been assigned by NJ. However, undeniably, things do break down at him a bit too often. On the other hand, I think his job is to press and harry the living daylights out of them and he’s very good at that (probably our best player at it), so it’s, perhaps, the one next to him that needs to be under more scrutiny for not providing more quality. Campbell (A) and Berry have struggled to influence games that much (Berry the better of the two today), so how does NJ get the balance between work rate and skill right?

Could TC be tried there so we keep his pace and tricks and make room for Leaburn next to Godden?

Is Dixon ready/worth a try? Or is that two square pegs in round holes? Would a tweak from a box to a diamond better suit one of those two?

Could Taylor play further forwards when Coventry comes back in (that didn’t work so well with Docherty)?

Am I being harsh on Berry and do we just need to be a bit more patient and give him a run of games in this new shape?

Is the truth it will remain a problem until we can sign someone, maybe in January?

Is it even as big a problem as my eyes tell me it is, or do the xG devotees reckon we’re actually creating our fair share of chances anyway?

Off_it

I reckon I could walk past Docherty, Berry and A Campbell in the street and not recognise them. That's how anonymous the three of them are.

crookester

Exiled_Addick said:

Lots of things to like about the way we played today and signs of continued improvement for Nathan Jones’ work in progress. However, the biggest issue now holding us back seems to be the attacking midfielder(s) and the lack of quality decisions and passing being provided in the final third to turn good possession into good scoring opportunities.

How do we fix that?

I don’t want the criticise Anderson too much because his work rate, again, today was incredible and I think he is largely doing to job he has been assigned by NJ. However, undeniably, things do break down at him a bit too often. On the other hand, I think his job is to press and harry the living daylights out of them and he’s very good at that (probably our best player at it), so it’s, perhaps, the one next to him that needs to be under more scrutiny for not providing more quality. Campbell (A) and Berry have struggled to influence games that much (Berry the better of the two today), so how does NJ get the balance between work rate and skill right?

Could TC be tried there so we keep his pace and tricks and make room for Leaburn next to Godden?

Is Dixon ready/worth a try? Or is that two square pegs in round holes? Would a tweak from a box to a diamond better suit one of those two?

Could Taylor play further forwards when Coventry comes back in (that didn’t work so well with Docherty)?

Am I being harsh on Berry and do we just need to be a bit more patient and give him a run of games in this new shape?

Is the truth it will remain a problem until we can sign someone, maybe in January?

Is it even as big a problem as my eyes tell me it is, or do the xG devotees reckon we’re actually creating our fair share of chances anyway?

Agree in general this season but I thought we created plenty of chances today, just couldn't finish them. With Leaburn at full sharpness, we win that game every time.

Callumcafc

We have enough to win games and get into the top six the way we are playing already.

If we want to continue evolving and be front runners for automatics in the future then I don’t think there’s any arguments that we need to sign a creative player to play in the middle of the pitch, among a couple of other pieces.

The squad is a work in progress from where it was 12 months ago: losing multiple games in a row and ultimately finishing 16th.

It’s properly hard to turn things all the way around in just one summer window.

golfaddick

Buy a creative midfielder. 

Wont get anywhere without one. 

Gisappointed

Godden

Scoham

Gisappointed said:

Godden

You’ve mentioned this a few times in the last few months. What makes you think someone who’s a goal poacher needs to be used as an attacking midfielder?

fenaddick

Gisappointed said:

Godden

he was anonymous for 60 minutes today and that’s not the first time it’s happened either 

Exiled_Addick

Godden is about finishing chances, not creating them, but he looks a bit anonymous at times because we aren’t doing a good enough job of giving him decent balls into the box to work off, which is kind of the point of this post. 

TC is a bit of problem right now. It’s not really working having him in the front two, but whether it’s there or if he gets pushed wider I would say he has looked out most consistent creative outlet this season and when chances come he’s often involved in some way. His goals and assist numbers don’t show it, but he’s definitely been more impactful than Berry, for example. Trouble is, I’m not sure how we get the best out of him without compromising what has started to work for the midfield or playing some weird lopsided formation. That’s why I wonder if trying him in advanced midfield position with a bit more licence to roam inti the channels, leaving Anderson to tear around and fill any gaps, might be worth a try. 

Covered End

Callumcafc said:

We have enough to win games and get into the top six the way we are playing already.

If we want to continue evolving and be front runners for automatics in the future then I don’t think there’s any arguments that we need to sign a creative player to play in the middle of the pitch, among a couple of other pieces.

The squad is a work in progress from where it was 12 months ago: losing multiple games in a row and ultimately finishing 16th.

It’s properly hard to turn things all the way around in just one summer window.

It's properly hard when you sell the league's top goal scorer and you don't recruit one attacking midfielder capable of playing a full match.

What's most annoying is pretty much every fan knew we needed to recruit an attacking midfielder.

801912601

with Docherty, A Campbell and Anderson in the team we don’t have a central midfielder that can run at defences or play intelligent & creative balls forward. All 3 of them like to pass sideways or more often backwards. Coventry & Taylor are more offensive and Berry links play up well and takes up clever positions when we’re attacking and as such does look like scoring.
FWIW I’d only play 2 out of Docherty, Campbell and Anderson and play 2 of Coventry, Taylor and Berry. 

Or play 433 with TC wide and 2 Centre Forwards in which case the midfield can be 3 out of Docherty, Anderson, Taylor & Coventry. 

MrOneLung

I imagine the simplest solution to fixing our creativity, is to sign some creative players.

which we appear to have neglected to do thus far.

Callumcafc

Covered End said:

Callumcafc said:

We have enough to win games and get into the top six the way we are playing already.

If we want to continue evolving and be front runners for automatics in the future then I don’t think there’s any arguments that we need to sign a creative player to play in the middle of the pitch, among a couple of other pieces.

The squad is a work in progress from where it was 12 months ago: losing multiple games in a row and ultimately finishing 16th.

It’s properly hard to turn things all the way around in just one summer window.

It's properly hard when you sell the league's top goal scorer and you don't recruit one attacking midfielder capable of playing a full match.

What's most annoying is pretty much every fan knew we needed to recruit an attacking midfielder.

We’re winning more games without Alfie than with him.

We might have wanted an attacking midfielder in the window but the right one wasn’t available or Nathan Jones preferred spending the budget he had for this summer elsewhere.

Six-a-bag-of-nuts

MrOneLung said:

I imagine the simplest solution to fixing our creativity, is to sign some creative players.

which we appear to have neglected to do thus far.

Creativity for creativities sake is not accepted.
Nor is a passive type who plays on his hind legs 

NabySarr

To play in Jones system you need to be able to do the running and pressing and physical demands of the system. 

He won’t sacrifice that for a creative midfielder, realistically you aren’t going to sign a creative midfielder at this level that can also do all the other stuff. Anyone that good is already playing above this level 

Maybe we could do with one as a plan B, but that is kind of the role Berry played on Saturday. Once he was on we created a lot more 

Exiled_Addick

MrOneLung said:

I imagine the simplest solution to fixing our creativity, is to sign some creative players.

which we appear to have neglected to do thus far.

But it's another two and half months before we can sign anyone, so we need to find some kind fix with what we have, even if it's only temporary. What that fix is the discussion I was hoping to spark.

NabySarr

Exiled_Addick said:

MrOneLung said:

I imagine the simplest solution to fixing our creativity, is to sign some creative players.

which we appear to have neglected to do thus far.

But it's another two and half months before we can sign anyone, so we need to find some kind fix with what we have, even if it's only temporary. What that fix is the discussion I was hoping to spark.

Is the change in system not a fix? It’s still a work in progress but we’ve seen last 2 games that we’ve played a lot more football, and on Saturday probably created more than we have any game this season. And those 2 games have been against tough opposition 

I think the new setup could go even better if we can get Berry and/or Tyreece Campbell starting in the attacking midfield roles, but against better opposition it might be needed that we keep the energy/pressing of Anderson and A. Campbell 

Exiled_Addick

NabySarr said:

Exiled_Addick said:

MrOneLung said:

I imagine the simplest solution to fixing our creativity, is to sign some creative players.

which we appear to have neglected to do thus far.

But it's another two and half months before we can sign anyone, so we need to find some kind fix with what we have, even if it's only temporary. What that fix is the discussion I was hoping to spark.

Is the change in system not a fix? It’s still a work in progress but we’ve seen last 2 games that we’ve played a lot more football, and on Saturday probably created more than we have any game this season. And those 2 games have been against tough opposition 

I think the new setup could go even better if we can get Berry and/or Tyreece Campbell starting in the attacking midfield roles, but against better opposition it might be needed that we keep the energy/pressing of Anderson and A. Campbell 

I think it's a start, and definitely an improvement, yes, but the way it was deployed from the start vs. Stockport isn't the long-term solution. I agree with you - for games where we want to attack, which I hope will be most of the time, I would like to see us next try a midfield of Coventry and Taylor at the base of the box and Anderson and TC at the top of the box. Others will disagree, but I think we do need Anderson in there. If we want to stifle a team and then see what we can make from that, as we did vs Birmingham (which I hope we won't feel is necessary too often) then I think we swap the Campbells or even try Docherty next to Anderson.

NabySarr

Exiled_Addick said:

NabySarr said:

Exiled_Addick said:

MrOneLung said:

I imagine the simplest solution to fixing our creativity, is to sign some creative players.

which we appear to have neglected to do thus far.

But it's another two and half months before we can sign anyone, so we need to find some kind fix with what we have, even if it's only temporary. What that fix is the discussion I was hoping to spark.

Is the change in system not a fix? It’s still a work in progress but we’ve seen last 2 games that we’ve played a lot more football, and on Saturday probably created more than we have any game this season. And those 2 games have been against tough opposition 

I think the new setup could go even better if we can get Berry and/or Tyreece Campbell starting in the attacking midfield roles, but against better opposition it might be needed that we keep the energy/pressing of Anderson and A. Campbell 

I think it's a start, and definitely an improvement, yes, but the way it was deployed from the start vs. Stockport isn't the long-term solution. I agree with you - for games where we want to attack, which I hope will be most of the time, I would like to see us next try a midfield of Coventry and Taylor at the base of the box and Anderson and TC at the top of the box. Others will disagree, but I think we do need Anderson in there. If we want to stifle a team and then see what we can make from that, as we did vs Birmingham (which I hope we won't feel is necessary too often) then I think we swap the Campbells or even try Docherty next to Anderson.

That’s my thinking at the moment, but I think if you do want to sacrifice energy for creativity, then you’ve got to play Berry. I think in games against the poorer sides where we will have plenty of the ball, we need Berry playing 

MuttleyCAFC

I think it is too easy to put it down to creativity, or a lack of it. A lot of our moves are decent but it tends to fall down in the final stage. Indeed on Saturday, we saw some good deliveries but nobody had the nous to get on the end of them. I have sensed an improvement though so maybe there will be a mmore positive evolution.

tangoflash

Lacking creative midfielders. If only we'd kept Kirk & Frazer. 

Pelling1993

If we are going to be uncreative we at the very least need a decent set piece delivery. Terry Taylor provided that in spades

lancashire lad

I assume the job of a creative player is to create goal scoring chances. As our goal scoring players seem to be unable to put away the chances we have, so what is the point of recruiting a creative player if the chances do not turn into goals.

Covered End

lancashire lad said:

I assume the job of a creative player is to create goal scoring chances. As our goal scoring players seem to be unable to put away the chances we have, so what is the point of recruiting a creative player if the chances do not turn into goals.

I think you're on to something here.
Our goal scorers are unable to put away the chances we have so we're better off just giving up.