McGhee's style of football

[Icy Gull]

What is it?

I haven't been to many games whilst McGhee has been manager but those I have seen don't seem to have an obvious style of play. He's been pretty succesful at this level so it can't just be luck that he's got teams promoted.

Adams teams compete for everything and are free kick specialists capable of playing attractive football once on top. Occasionally a little too cavalier and conceding unneccesary goals.

Taylor's team organised and competetive played on the counter-attack with the emphasis on a tight defence. Sometimes boring you to death, sometimes giving you palpitations and not adventurous enough for some.

Coppell's team were really well organised yet competed like Adams team and relied on the fast breaks and often the long ball from defence to attack. Everybody seemed to know exactly what their job was.

McGhee - Haven't got a clue -anyone?

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Chuck in a team with lots of players playing out of position and hope for the best.

 

[Inkerman]

Chuck in a team with lots of players playing out of position and hope for the best.

If you were a little more charitable then you might describe his current style as "experimental".

Hopefully when the experiments end the team will become more settled & we will see the style that made him successful elsewhere.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Record thus far

Won 6
Drawn 4
Lost 8

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

If you were a little more charitable then you might describe his current style as "experimental".

 

[Inkerman]

............... and on the subject of players being played out of position the Official Website says that Dan Harding will be deputising for the suspended Kerry mayo at Right Back.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Coppell used to plan methodically all week for the Saturday, playing videos of the opposition planning the players roles and marking.

Virgo to McGhee, can I play in midfield Saturday gaffer ?,I'm fed up with right back, no probs big fella.

 

[Gordon the Gopher]

Record thus far

Won 6
Drawn 4
Lost 8

Would Arsene Wenger or Alex Ferguson or anyone have a better record considering the raw material on offer at present. Of all the managers we had the most successful ones got average players to play way above themselves, Mcghee needs time to work on this. To be honest thats why i wanted Dowie as that is exactly what he did this season with a decimated Oldham squad made up of crap!

 

[Icy Gull]

In fairness to McGhee he is working with mostly has beens and might be's, the others had more class to work with.

No easy task if DK won't or can't loosen the purse strings

 

[London Irish]

This is a difficult question to answer simply because it takes a fair while for managers to impose their own preferred style on a group of players. He inherited a squad that was already losing confidence and form under Booker, and a bad run of injuries and suspensions has simply meant damage limitation and improvisation.

His teams under these difficult circumstances have just looked to do the basics right, defend well, stay tight and organised and hope to nick a goal through not a great deal of chances given to some talented frontline players.

It has meant that our football hasn't been that pretty recently. At the moment he is placing a hell of a lot of pressure on our front players to work their arses off to make up for the lack of quality football and creativity coming out of our midfield. Hence the extra session for the strikers this week where he flogged their arses off in training too, hence the public criticisms directed at Trev and Leon.

I think the strategy has generally worked very well in our comfortable surroundings at home, where we have defended well to McGhee's plan and have indeed nicked the odd goal. Away, however, it has been exposed because after losing goals, our defensive gameplan has not been able to be adapted mid-game to exert enough pressure on the opposition who have been able to sit back and defend their leads without much threat from us.

McGhee has tried to break out of this by taking more risks recently. Virgo was a success at right back but he has been pushed forward to see if he could exert more influence in danger areas. Similarly, 3 forwards are now employed to apply more pressure upfield, Piercy or Jake trying to add to our fire power there.

It is slow progress at the moment but I think there is some progress. Time will tell if it is good enough to make the play-offs, it's up in the air at the moment, we'll get a good clue today.

I think you will only finally see the style of football that McGhee wants us to play when he gets more options in our threadbare midfield, when he is able to bring in the type of player he wants to fit that plan. That may well not be to next season, at the moment he is having to cut his coat according to his second-hand cloth.

 

[Charlies Shinpad]

We all know McGhees record over the twenty games he has been here.
What was SCs record for us in his first twenty?
And remember we were bottom of the league when he took over!

 

[perseus]

At least the oppopnents will not know either

I think there is an inherent problem inasmuch that Micky Adams constructed a team for 5-3-2 (a flawed system) and then changed it over (which coincided with the arrival of Bobby Z) which has meant that there are some players remaining notably Paul Watson and Nathan Jones that really want to be wing-backs and there is not a proper place for them in a 4-4-2 system.

It was 4-3-3 against Plymouth and it was the first time ever I have seen Albion playing a proper 4-3-3 with Chippy in the important role. I think McGhee knows his tactical stuff. I do not about the rest. I'd guess the team that can be put out is not up to it with injuries to key players.

 

[Falmer Dream]

He's been doing extra work with the strikers this week. Which means either:

1) He doesn't recognise that by a long way our biggest problem is a midfield with almost no creativity or ability to pass the ball, so meaning Thierry Henry and Michael Owen might struggle

or

2) He's pretty much given up on the midfield until he gets a chance to release players at the end of this season, freeing up wages for new midfielders in particular

My money is on 2. He will be judged on how ruthless he is at the end of this season and who he brings in as new players.

 

[The Famous Grouse]

Same players as championship team, you dont suddenly become too old overnight Gordon.

 

[curbstheman]

that work on the forwards payed off today

 

[Scotty Mac]

without a doubt. back to 4-4-2 and looking good again. and harding didn't look out of place at left back either.

if we play like that at stockport we can get something up there

 

[Charlies Shinpad]

Yes but no doubt he will find some reason to change it between now and next Saturday Scotty!

 

[blue-shifted]

3 up front works pretty well, when the opposition aren't committing too much to attack us and are just looking to be solid. (ie at Withdean). When teams do have a go at us (away) then the extra man shows we look over-run in midfield. The end result has seemed to be we're top heavy, meaning yes, we could be playing with Ronaldo, Henry and Owen up front, it wouldn't matter too much because their don't ever get the ball. I think it's unfair of McGhee to criticise the strikers. We should be concentrating on trying to win the midfield battle away from home

 

[balloonboy]

Remember Micky Adams - it took him almost a season and a half to realise that you didn't get out of Div Three by constantly roughing up the opposition and inciting riots on the pitch. When he'd got that sussed we got promotion. Please give McGhee a bit of time!

 

[Mustela Furo]

Yes but no doubt he will find some reason to change it between now and next Saturday Scotty!

Yeh - like the fact that Leon Knight is suspended.



McGhee has been in charge for what? 21 games now? He's managed to field an unchanged starting line-up on just three occasions.

Injury and suspensions have decimated his ability to build a settled side and has often led to him having to adapt the formation to fit the players that he has available.