My biggest issue isn’t the general tactics, which as others have said is as much dependent on factors like the pitch and opposition. It’s how we use certain players
My feelings on Small are well documented and how using him as a wingback isn’t getting the best out of him.
Then take the strikers. I know Smith has been a huge disappointment, but there’s an issue with the way we use him too. Rather than use him as a focal point to hit and surround him with technical players to lay it off to, it feels like we use him as if we’ve got Jebbison up front. High pressing, counter attacking, balls over the top, or as part of a front two where we ask our forwards to run the channels. That’s never going to work.
Then when we use Osmajic, we seem to launch the ball forward and ask him to win headers when he would be better suited to the way we’re playing with Smith.
The other is Devine. Since Armstrong has left, we seem to have used Devine to do the ball-carrying and driving forward that Armstrong was doing. Which, whilst a shame because it knobbles him attacking wise, is fine because we’ve got to try and find somebody to do that role. But the issue is the third midfielder is either McCann or Thompson. So if Devine is doing Armstrong’s work, McCann or Thompson is doing Devine’s attacking work which is obviously never going to work. Why not use someone like Moran to contribute to the attacks like Devine was doing and give us a bit of balance? There doesn’t seem to be any attempt to regain the shape that found us success early on.
That’s a big reason for my frustrations. It feels like he can’t get the best out of the squad, when there’s some reasonably simple changes that might help.
