The match itself held few surprises. Tactically it was relatively predictable with the majority of the elements cited in the preview playing out, even up to the drifting in at the back post by Ricardo Vaz Te which provide crucial at the end. In terms of analysis of the final the excellent The Seventy Two blog together a comprehensive deconstruction of events and it’s well worth a read. The key notes from the game were clearly the pressing, loose balls, Blackpool’s combination play, and the probing plays West Ham were making with long to medium distances passes to either win aerial duels or expose the space in behind Neal Eardley.

New Balance

Football is a game where balance is critical. Teams must be balanced in various ways and the job of the opposition is largely about throwing your team out of balance in whatever way possible. When games such as this are ‘in balance’ for large periods the game is generally settled by the team who converts the chances that come their way or handle the other critical moments, especially in defence. It is here where Blackpool fell just short. Matthew Phillips in particular will benefit from this experience as he’ll learn to clear his mind under pressure to execute his play with greater precision and quality. The Blackpool defence will add this to their learning as they continue their development in to a side that can defend, and perhaps this, more than the offensive side of things is where the two sides were separated.

In his second post match Sky television interview, Sam Allardyce laid his arm across the ‘inappropriate trophy’ that had just been handed over, he looked proud, tired and content all at the same time. However, it wasn’t the trophy that caught the eye, but the whiteboard in the background. Upon it alongside the names of Barry Ferguson and Stephen Dobbie were the words ‘Clean’ and ‘Sheet’. That was and always is a key priority for a man like Allardyce and even though they never achieved it, it can breed defensive discipline. Add this to the fact that the official man of the match was James Tomkins and you get a sense of where these teams have differed over the season. Tomkins has the qualities of a top defender (regardless of Blackpool’s goal), in that allied to his basic skills of heading and tackling, he has that ability at this level to not being exposed to the sort of last-ditch defending that heaps pressure upon teams. Blackpool on the other hand, has defenders who to the basics well, but perhaps don’t have the all round positional awareness at such a consistent level in order to quell teams in burgeoning moments of flight.

Hold up

In addition to this Blackpool missed the injured Gary Taylor-Fletcher as they failed to effectively engage the West Ham centre backs regularly in order to pull them apart or out of position. Kevin Phillips filled in, but despite his 16 goals this season, he appears to enjoy the latter stages of games when they breakdown giving him plenty of space to feast upon. He is superb at finding space, and his shooting is a sight to behold especially when unexpected and released early. However, the central striking role in this Blackpool set up, requires more than a traditional striker. It requires, part midfielder, wide forward and target man too. All too often when West Ham forced Blackpool to go long from back to front, Phillips failed to win  the ball. This left Blackpool’s midfield to work hard in order to mop up the loose balls that appeared as a result.

The winning goal perhaps perfectly summed up the critical differences between these two teams. Forced to go long from his goal kick Matt Gilks started the chain of events that would lead to him picking the ball out of the back of the net. Here’s the sequence of actions;

1. Goal kick taken, aerial duel contested, West Ham won, returning the ball high and back in to the Blackpool half.
2. Another aerial duel was contested, Blackpool won, ball returned to the half way line.
3. Upon realising the ball was loose Jack Collinson was first to the ball and hit a first time pass to the left side in the path of Kevin Nolan who had started his run moments earlier.
4. Ian Evatt runs over to cover, but Nolan managed to scuff a cross in to the box.
5. The cross beats the first man, Neal Eardley.
6. Alex Baptiste slips, falls over and the ball breaks towards Stephen Crainey and Carlton Cole.
7. Crainey slips as Carlton Cole uses his strength to reach the ball and poke it to the unmarked Vaz Te.
8. The rest is history.

Essentially there were four absolutely critical moments that created the final scuffle that Carlton Cole turned in to a goal. Of those four moments, two were ultimately preventable on Blackpool’s behalf and two combined in to one seamless move by a West Ham player who used his speed of thought, technique, positioning and awareness of movement ahead of him.

Eardley could have lunged and cut out the cross, Baptiste may have kept his feet and cleared, arguably Barry Ferguson could have anticipated the break of the ball that Collison seized upon. However, none of this happened, these things also happen for a reason. Yes, they brought back memories of Blackpool’s more calamitous moments in defence over the last few seasons, but as well as being a reminder of the past, it hints at what the future may have held. Blackpool’s Premier League campaign was littered with such defensive issues, and regardless of the recent defensive improvements, it’s in times of pressure where humans tend to revert to their old habits especially if the new ones are not fully ingrained.

Getting there

To see Blackpool at Wembley again was a privilege and to experience the flip side of the outcome might be an important experience for the players and supporters. There’s no shame in losing a football match, most teams lose more than they win, in fact football is probably a game of losses and how they are handled and built upon. This may seem a negative way of viewing things, but nevertheless it’s a way of viewing things. Acceptance goes hand in hand with this and whilst it is a noble approach to try to win every game, it needs to be accepted that more often than not, that won’t happen. Sides such as Stoke survive in the Premier League because they accept the games they are likely to lose and target those that they deem that winning is achievable. This isn’t to say that you give up, far from it, but sometimes you have to pick your battles. Again it’s about balance, going ‘hell for leather’ in trying to win each game can be exhausting. Knowing when to attack and when to defend is a fine art that only the best can master. There are signs that this Blackpool team are gradually getting more balance to their play. The earlier parts of the season saw the team losing their shape all too often making them weak and easy to pick off. It was common to see 6 of 7 players committed to attack leaving them exposed in transitions. Blackpool now attack with 5 or even 4 leaving more space for those players to attack and great security when a turnover occurs.

About the process

This is perhaps where Blackpool proves such a fascinating case; this side has quietly developed over the course of the season. The second half was stronger than the first and start next season in the same fashion with a smattering of further progress and automatic promotion may not be far off. It’s this prospect that perhaps offers Blackpool a better platform to jump from and in to the Premier League with a keen eye on keeping their status. The last promotion was a momentous feat, but it clearly caught the club cold and exposed their lack of structures, behaviours and strategy amongst other things. There are signs that the club has learnt from this and plans were being mapped out this time around should promotion have been gained i.e. under soil heating.

This leads to two aspects. Does the club carry out the potential (current) plans anyway? Or park them for the foreseeable with a view to revisiting them under certain conditions? Due to the way that Blackpool FC is operated, the biggest resource that the club has at its disposal is time. It’s unlikely that financial trouble will cripple the club as it has done and will do to other clubs. Therefore it’s far from unreasonable for the club to plan astutely and communicate plans effectively. The latter is critical as fans appreciation of the here and now is more keenly appreciated as they experience ‘stand still’ whilst other clubs buzz around in pursuit of glory.

Tough Nut

Obviously the Championship will have a different dynamic next season the six new teams will add their own levels of complexity. Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton will hope to follow the lead set by Norwich and Southampton in recent seasons and earn back to back promotions. Whilst Bolton, Blackburn and Wolves will bring their dishevelled states, dust themselves down and perhaps one or two of them will settle in to something good. Add this to the other good sides in the division and the Championship will be competitive as ever. Blackpool will require a few tweaks to their playing staff in the summer, but nothing too drastic. Keeping talent may be the biggest issues, but as Alan Pardew (after sending his scouts) warned on Sky after the final, Matt Phillips and Tom Ince perhaps need another season at this level. Wise words indeed and ones, if heeded, could grant Blackpool the explosive force needed to dictate games on a regular basis. In terms of recruitment, failures from January (Jamie Murphy and Michael Jacobs) may well be revisited as well as a follow-up on Ian Holloway’s stated admiration for Jacob Butterfield. However, the latter may well be in vain as Premier League teams appear to be waiting to swoop. The final pieces of the jigsaw may well come in the form of trying to secure last season’s successful loan signings such as Stephen Dobbie.

Another door opens

Whatever happens this summer, Blackpool must operate with an eye on being ready for pre-season. The last two summers have been borderline shambolic in terms of recruitment planning, albeit last season being better than the previous. This would go someway to keeping the balance and energy flowing at the club and hopefully the lessons from the Oyston money ‘scandal’ will have been learned and never faced again. For Tangerine Dreaming, the future is unclear. A summer break is needed as writing on Championship matches to the level desired is difficult due to the lack of useful metrics and the time needed to draw up meaningful articles. Expect a few close season articles in the next few weeks, read, comment and share as you wish. Thank you ever so much to everyone who has done the very same over the course of this season and since the blog started.

John

Tangerine Dreaming

As you are

If you know anything of either Ian Holloway or Sam Allardyce as people you’ll have a fair idea of what to expect from their teams as their teams reflect who they are. Allardyce is a big, imposing man, who as a player was strong in the tackle and committed in the air. Holloway was more technical, buzzing with energy and more gritty and determined than his modest frame suggested. On the other hand, Allardyce is often portrayed in the media as a belligerent ignoramus and Holloway as class clown. However, they are both very studious about the game and they understand their game deeply. Everything about this final suggests that it should be a fascinating battle, with two teams from different ends of the footballing spectrum meet head to head.

Game strategies here won’t be overly occasion specific, in that each manager is likely to stick to what they know. Allardyce appears to have a key rule in his strategy, stop the opposition and then build from that base with well-balanced attacks through direct passing and crosses in to the box. Holloway on the other hand will seek to control possession and escape any pressure exerted by West Ham, build through the team and attack relentlessly for the majority of the game.

Setting up

From a formation perspective Blackpool are expected to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation which offers more balance than their gung-ho 4-3-3 from last season’s Premier League campaign. West Ham on the other hand tend to favour a 4-4-1-1 framework, but in the first hint at the battle about to commence may try to block up Blackpool by switching to a 4-1-4-1.

The use of a 4-1-4-1 means that West Ham and Blackpool will match up relatively neatly across the pitch which essentially means two things. The team that wins the critical individual battles will gain a foothold and the team that utilises the space available will be at an advantage. The ‘battles’ are essentially something that will pan out on the day and non of them are easy to call. The midfield as always will be crucial, with the likes of Mark Noble and Barry Ferguson trying to lead their side by example with good challenges, reclamation of the ball and good use of the ball once in possession. Down the flanks full backs will be fully engaged and arguably the team with the better full backs will enjoy a great advantage.

However, the critical battle may be focused on the formation switch that Allardyce is likely to make. His holding midfielder (in this example James Tomkins) will likely be deployed to pick up Stephen Dobbie. Dobbie will attempt to float between the West Ham midfield and defence hoping to receive the ball to feet and link up with the other three forwards as well as engaging in one v one encounters where he’ll seek to use his dribbling ability to take men out of the game.

Cut out

Knowing where the space is on the football pitch is always critical and although ‘in game’ this is a very dynamic element there is a way of highlighting some theoretical elements from accepting players positions in relation to the space. The diagram below effectively blanks out the spaces covered by the players leaving only the areas that are available.

The most obvious aspect of the diagram above are the spaces beyond the defensive line. How will each manager try to exploit that area?

Firstly, Allardyce is renowned as a long ball exponent, in truth, his sides show greater balance to their play than that, but he will seek to build play around a long ball or two in order to gain a foothold around the final third. Primarily, their main long ball is far from aimless, in fact it is highly structured and very dangerous. Usually the long ball emanates from the centre back (1) after a passage of brief passes along the back line. It’s aimed to the centre forward who will seek to flick on the ball (2) to runners who go beyond the heading player and in behind the defence. Normally this will be someone like Kevin Nolan.

The other element is that his midfield will position (3) to pick up on the loose ball and then build a second phase of attack should the first fail. It is here where the game will be in balance and requires diligent work from Blackpool to firstly win the header and then for Angel Martinez and Ferguson to pick up on the second balls. Alternatively, should Cole win the flick on, then Alex Baptiste will need to pick up the runner most likely to benefit.

(1) The long pass is made. (2) Forward attempts to win header and runners seeks to collect the ball. (3) If the ball drops back central midfielders look to pick up the second ball.

Alternatively, Ian Holloway will look to either feed the ball to the feet of his wide forwards so that they can be isolated against the opposition full backs with the intent to beat their marker and run behind the defence with the ball at their feet. In addition to this, Blackpool’s possession as it progresses higher up the field will allow their midfielders to play the balls in to the channels and in behind the West Ham defence on to well-timed runs from their forward line.

Should either team’s attempts to get in behind the opposition fail then the middle flanks of the pitch may well be the focus for developing plays. Holloway has a reputation for encouraging his full backs to attack, in recent weeks they’ve tended to sit a little deeper, however, he may ask them to step up to combine with their attackers to isolate opposition full backs to break in behind the defensive line. Allardyce also enjoys having two full backs in Matthew Taylor and Guy Demel who can be attacking in their play and he may ask them to push high up the pitch seeking to get in to crossing situations and assist with getting good quality delivery into the penalty area to develop situations.

Off the ball

In beating Blackpool 4-0 at Upton Park earlier in the season Allardyce revealed in his BBC post match interview where he thought he could break Blackpool down. Essentially he remarked about two things, exploiting Blackpool’s off the ball shape and getting down the sides of the centre backs. This is very enlightening indeed as it acknowledges Blackpool as being a side who are poor out of possession, but Allardyce would be remiss if he thinks he’s encountering the same Blackpool side. The deployment of two holding midfielders as well as the restraint on the full backs to move forward has not only added greater balance to their side off the ball, but assists with the second element of exposing the sides of the centre backs. Holloway will no doubt be working with his side on his off the ball shape knowing that this is where West Ham are likely to exploit them.

Off the ball West Ham are a treat, they are genuinely fascinating and set up very subtlety to make the most out of positions, as above when the ball goes long, positioning and pressing are key, but it is at set pieces where they come in to their own. Too much emphasis is placed on marking systems and winning the aerial duels at corners and other set pieces and little attention is placed on what is going on elsewhere. In his column the Guardian Secret Footballer (@TSFGuardian) exposed the lengths that Allardyce goes to (as do other managers) exploit these situations.

‘Sam Allardyce studied hundreds of Premier League corners to see where the clearing header, on average, would land. Once he identified a pattern (it’s usually a front-post header that is cleared towards the dugout), he placed a man on the exact spot where the ball generally made its first contact with the pitch’

Jack Collison’s goal against Cardiff in their first leg was a classic example of such positioning, albeit in reverse to the situation outlined above. Holloway will have to ensure that his new-found corner set up places as much emphasis on the happenings outside of the box as it does on the new-ish zonal positioning inside the box.

Crowd Mentality

What is interesting in any game against a side managed by Sam Allardyce is how the crowd unwittingly knows he has executed his game plan. If after twenty minutes of this final the Blackpool fans are saying, ‘but we just aren’t ourselves’, or ‘we’re playing awful’, then he’s achieved objective one. The key for Blackpool is to not be put out of their stride, play to their strengths, if the door to the final third is closed, retreat and try again. Keep the ball moving on the floor, quickly and accurately, move West Ham around the field, make them chase the ball. West Ham offer a more dynamic and proficient version of the Birmingham side they have just beaten with the same approach, here they will need to go further, and excel beyond the standards that they’ve set this season.

Key Players

West Ham possess talent in abundance, but arguably their key men are focused in midfield and attack. In Kevin Nolan they have someone who holds few secrets, he will use his strength to dominate opponents both on the ground and in the air as well as having an ability to read play acutely so that he can time late runs in to the box. Alongside Nolan, Mark Noble will aim to control the game in possession and through his pressing. He adds the energy and subtlety that keeps West Ham ticking over. Blackpool will need to deny him time on the ball and escape his attentions when he is buzzing about the pitch closing out space. The January acquisition of Ricardo Vaz Tê may well be critical here, he has been excellent since joining West Ham. He can often be frustrating with his inconsistency on the ball, but his unpredictability is also a strength. He shoots often, early, from anywhere, with power and occasional stunning accuracy. However, it’s his movement off the ball which could be critical here, he floats and drifts in off the flank to central areas and can creep in at the back post effectively. Of all the players in the West Ham side he has the ability to either change the game or disappear altogether.

Blackpool on the other hand will look to Ian Evatt to lead by example from the back. He was first class both on the ground and in the air in dominating Marlon King in the previous games and will need to repeat his performances to control the West Ham attack. Added to this Blackpool have a really assured midfielder in front of him, ready to seize on the loose balls. It isn’t the obvious figure of Barry Ferguson, but in fact Angel Martinez. Martinez has excelled since becoming first choice, he is quick to the ball, but more importantly can work in tight spaces in the deep; which helps Blackpool construct from the back in a really assured manner. He can anticipate astutely and if Blackpool do start to dominate this game, then it’ll be because Martinez has found his rhythm early. Added to this he delivers excellently weighted through balls behind the defence. In fact, there’s little weakness to his game, some may say his size is an issue and therefore, Allardyce may to try to bully him with aggression and pressure from Kevin Nolan. Finally, in attack Blackpool have Matthew Phillips. Although both he and Tom Ince have had outstanding seasons it’s Phillips who West Ham are likely to be most wary of, mainly due to his more direct running and powerful frame. If he gets his confidence high early on in the game by winning his first few duels, then that’ll benefit Blackpool greatly. He is such a strong runner with the ball that he can be imposing and although this tricks lack consistency they can at times throw a whole defence out of balance.

Game on

It’s likely that the first twenty minutes of this game will be frantic as West Ham attempt to outwork and outrun Blackpool denying them any time and space on the ball in an attempt to suffocate them in to submission. If Blackpool can handle this then the scene will be set for an end to end battle that will end with the winner claimed a rich prize. One club arguably needs the outcome more than the other and finals can produce dynamics that go beyond tactics, so although West Ham are overwhelming favourites, absolutely anything can happen.

Over the two legs there were a set of factors that could be deemed as being critical in Blackpool’s victory as well as elements that led to Birmingham coming back in to the game. The factors are outlined below and are in no order of priority nor are they exhaustive. This takes in to account both legs as a combined match lasting 180 minutes. The structure of the game was roughly as follows. The first 20 minutes was an even affair before Blackpool dominated for the next  120 minutes, then Birmingham dominated for 30 minutes before a relatively even last 10 minutes.

React & Build

As discussed in the preview Ian Holloway had a key decision to make in the midfield having to choose between the technical and positional qualities of Barry Ferguson or the more dynamic running and physicality of Keith Southern. Holloway opted for the former and without a doubt the composure on the ball of Ferguson in alliance with Angel Martinez was pivotal. Martinez and Ferguson formed a great central midfield unit based firstly on reclaiming possession from loose and ‘second balls’ giving Blackpool vital possession of the football. This was neatly done through keen anticipation, timing and superb positioning. So much so that Chris Hughton made a late change in the first leg to bring Jonathon Spector in to the central midfield area to stem Blackpool’s flow.

The impact of this dynamic was that Blackpool had a solid platform to attack from and supply their wide men. Also, given that Birmingham play a long ball game there was a lot of loose balls to be picked up on and Birmingham were consistently second best to them. In addition to this Blackpool were able to play comfortably from the back through the midfield and on to the attack. Essentially the pattern for large parts of both legs was; Birmingham long ball from the back, Blackpool win the defensive header, Blackpool’s midfield seize on the loose ball and attack.

Degrees of Pressure

What was clearly noticeable was the difference between the two teams in their application off the ball. Blackpool were consistent in pressing high up the pitch for large parts of the game, with a slight drop as Birmingham dominated in the second half of the second leg. Birmingham however, started pressing brightly in the first leg, but dropped after about 20 minutes and Blackpool moved the ball through their midfield effectively. They were then sporadic in their pressing for the rest of the tie. In particular the selection of Spector to start the second leg appeared to place Birmingham at a disadvantage as more often that not he tended to sit off the Blackpool midfield with Jordan Mutch being the lone midfielder who tried to press. As a counterpoint to this the introduction of Guirane N’Daw just before half time in the second leg saw Birmingham pressure Blackpool much more effectively as he stepped out consistently to hassle the Blackpool central midfield. If anything the even finish to the game potentially owed a lot to the fact the N’Daw was virtually added to the attack removing him from the area in which he was operating effectively.

Defending Excellence

One of the critical elements of the tie was the ability of Blackpool to get behind the Birmingham defence and although they did defend well for large periods, they lacked defensive coherency at some critical moments. On the other hand Blackpool appeared to win the large majority of their defensive duels. In particular Ian Evatt dominated his opponent for pretty much the full 180 minutes. In the air he was imperious and on the occasion he was slack on the ground King was unable to convert when it mattered.

Offside

Blackpool have played a high defensive line for large parts of their time under Ian Holloway. In addition to this they also attempt to utilise an offside trap as a method of snuffing out attacks before they fully develop. There are several examples of how Blackpool have got their offside trap wrong over the past few seasons, but with the exception of the Nikola Žigić goal they executed it to perfection here. Not having the stats at hand is an issue, but as an estimate, Birmingham were caught offside around 14 times across both legs with the majority due to Marlon King’s impatience and inability to hold and time his runs. Arguably a well constructed offside trap is the pinnacle of defensive work and should it be executed well it needs intelligent play from the attacking side to neutralise it.

A Right Burke

Chris Burke is no doubt a superb player and can change matches as proved here, the problem for Birmingham is that they lacked balance in their point of attack. Too often than not they tried to channel their attacks through Burke’s right flank. Essentially Blackpool knew if they could cut supply to Burke or handle him in possession then they’d neuter Birmingham to a great degree. In the first leg, Burke saw very little of the ball, when he finally saw the ball in the second leg and was given adequate support to work overloads and overlaps he became a threat. In addition to this Blackpool allowed him to waltz inside far too often. From an attacking point of view Burke was the best player of the second leg. This was further backed up as Birmingham fired in to life it was sparked by a keenly timed pass through to Žigić which was then followed by persistent feeding of Burke down the right hand channel due to the aforementioned better pressure from Birmingham through N’Daw.

Moving on

Blackpool will travel to Wembley to meet West Ham a side who have unpicked Blackpool at will in their two meetings this season. Sam Allardyce will set out to gain an early advantage and then seek to efficiently deconstruct Blackpool through well-timed attacks. However, Blackpool are a different side to when these two last met and on a one-off occasion, with a manager and team that Blackpool possess, absolutely anything could happen. What is safe to say is that Blackpool has another side to be proud of and a season packed full of memories that can be added to the catalogue that has been built up over the past three seasons.

Line Ups

Ian Holloway should have a virtually full strength squad to choose from. In terms of selection decisions the key one appears to be whether to select Barry Ferguson or Keith Southern to partner Angel Martinez as one of the holding midfielders in a 4-2-3-1. This selection dilemma has crept up on Holloway after Martinez has proved to be a superb midfielder, filled with vibrancy, technique and intelligence. His emergence in the final part of the season has meant that the two former mainstays of the midfield are battling it out for selection. The dilemma is enhanced because both players offer different skillsets, Ferguson holds his position more, whilst Southern is more of a runner and tackler applying almost constant pressure on the man in possession.

Chris Hughton appears to have settled on a back four since Stephen Caldwell’s injury. In addition to this his midfield might see Jordon Mutch support Guirane N’Daw centrally flanked by the superb Chris Burke on the right and Andros Townsend on the left. Up front it’s possible in the away leg he may field Erik Huseklepp to sit slightly deeper than Marlon King who will be at the head of the attack in a 4-4-1-1. The second leg may see Hughton field Adam Rooney alongside King in a more traditional 4-4-2 set up.

Strategy

Holloway’s strategy will remain the same over both legs and is consistent with the attacking approach witnessed in the two other seasons he has managed Blackpool. Blackpool implement their attacking strategy slightly differently this season, there’s less emphasis on controlled possession and slightly more direct, counter attacking style utilising the pace he has on each flank.

Hughton is likely to keep things compact at Bloomfield Road, using long balls to relieve pressure and build attacks. He’s likely to take a reactive approach to the second leg and adjust to suit the match position.

Stuck in the middle

As mentioned earlier the selection issue Ian Holloway has will dictate how his midfield will operate. The central battle has the possibility of being keenly fought. Holloway may field Ferguson for more assurance on the ball looking to hold possession solidly in the middle before moving the ball on to the forwards. If Holloway does this then it’s likely that N’Daw will be used to target one or both of the midfielders in order to win the ball back high up the pitch and unsettle Blackpool’s passing rhythm. However, Holloway may see N’Daw’s application as a threat and use Keith Southern to fight fire with fire so to speak. Both N’Daw and Southern are very similar players and should Southern get the nod, then it’s likely that battle will be very feisty with both managers aiming for their player to win their battles.

Widescreen Action

The wide men from both teams have the ability to change this game with both sets of full backs due for a busy night. In more recent weeks Blackpool’s full backs have started to sit a little deeper and it may be the same in this match. Chris Burke has had an outstanding season with 12 goals and 16 assists from the right wing. Stephen Crainey will need to be alert at all times as Burke likes to cross early and can cut in to cross with his left as much as his right. He is also likely to try to cut inside to shoot as well, so Crainey will need to ensure that he passes on his marking of Burke effectively and the rest of the team are alert to his inside movement. In addition to Burke, should Huseklepp be fielded he’s likely to drift towards the right hand channel where he may combine very effectively with Burke to produce chances for himself or for King. Huseklepp has already scored twice against Blackpool for Portsmouth this season and his movement is superb as featured on this blog earlier on in the season.

On the other hand Blackpool have two very exciting wide forward players. Tom Ince is more of a traditional winger, whereas Matthew Phillips is very much a powerful running forward. Both players are difficult to read on the ball and enjoy one on one duels. The key for Birmingham is not to allow Phillips or Ince to turn and run at their defence and Hughton may ask his side to tightly double mark them to try to nullify their threat. If Birmingham fail to stop Ince and Phillips from running at them then their centre backs will need to be alert and defend astutely on the turn to prevent their goal being exposed.

Role in the hole

As pointed out above Huseklepp could be very dangerous if selected because of his tendency to drift in to the right, however, Blackpool have an equally dangerous threat up front in the form of Stephen Dobbie. Since his return to Blackpool Dobbie has scored 5 goals in a 7 matches and always looks a threat due to his movement and willingness to shoot on sight of the goal. He is exceptionally hard to track as he moves around the field and should N’Daw move high up the field to press, Blackpool may seek to pass beyond him to Dobbie who will expose the space left behind.

Off the bench

The role of the substitutes could be critical with both manager set to have great options available to them. Hughton will have the physical presence of Nikola Zigic to send on to disrupt the Blackpool defence, but more potently he has the young forward Nathan Redmond at his disposal. Redmond may even start the game, but it’s more likely Hughton will use him as an impact player. He’s already scored against Blackpool this season and may well replace Townsend after the hour mark to inject extra pace and trickery in to the proceedings. Or he may be asked to sit in behind Marlon King and run at defenders centrally which is a position he’s currently learning according to his recent interview with BBC West Midlands.

Blackpool on the other hand have Kevin Phillips who is likely to start on the bench and come in to the action late on especially if Blackpool are chasing the game. He has scored 16 goals this season in a variety of ways and has such a fine appreciation of space which makes him very hard to track. He is single-minded and will shoot on sight but Birmingham will know all about him given he left the club last season. The other key option that Holloway has is the midfielder Ludovic Sylvestre, who has recently come on during games and settled the team down in midfield and sparked some high quality attacks with his excellent passing.

Game on

This tie may well be tight from start to finish. Blackpool would potentially need at least a goal advantage to take to St Andrews as Birmingham have only conceded 14 times and lost once this season at home. Blackpool do have players who have exceeded expectations before, however, who wins this tie will have to keep excelling to beat either Cardiff or West Ham in order to get back to the Premier League.

Goalkeeper

Vito Mannone gets the nod here for his outstanding performance at Bloomfield Road to keep Hull in the game.. Clearly a Premier League ‘keeper (he’s on loan from Arsenal) and given he’s unlikely to play too many games at the Emirates he’d be an excellent signing for any middle to lower Premier league team.

Left Back

George McCartney picked up the nod here for being resolute in defence, but surprisingly strong going forward, willing to get beyond his midfield and showing good initiative in a West Ham team that unpicked Blackpool brilliantly.

Right Back

Lee Peltier sneeks in here in front of Keiran Trippier for his stronger defensive attributes. He matched up superbly to Matthew Phillips physically and technically whilst adding a nice dynamic in attack as Leicester regularly broke Blackpool down 3-3 in a pulsating draw in March.

Centre Backs

There’s an anomaly here and one with some credence. Only one centre back has been named here, and one other isn’t going to be named for the sake of filling up the team. Solid centre backs seem to be the order of the day in the Championship and few have really stood out. This may be partly because the games against Blackpool usually see the Tangerines throw most defences out of kilter consequently skewing the outcome here. However, the finest centre back witnessed by TD in the second half of the season is James Chester of Hull. Not only a solid defender, but very adept at stepping out with the ball in to midfield to offer extra dimension.

Central Midfielder

Liam Lawrence ended the season at Cardiff, but when at Portsmouth he was the central point of a midfield that were structured superbly on the counter and his passing beyond the Blackpool defence sparked a good few chances which test Matthew Gilks.

Inside Midfielders

The Championship has a plethora of central midfield talent, any number of players could have easily made these positions. Here the two slots go to Mark Noble, who is way above the standard of the Championship and arguably is good enough to play at the highest of high levels. His energy is amazing, technically it’s hard to fault him, in fact it would be good to know what his weaknesses are. Injury prone perhaps? The other spot goes to Daniel Drinkwater who formed part of a potent midfield three for Leicester and his passing not only showed good awareness of tempo, but incision was plentiful too. Was it a coincidence that Leicester faded after he was substituted at Bloomfield Road?

Right Forward

Hull seemed to focus a lot of their attacks down their right side and at first Cameron Stewart looked very sharp, however,Hull’s attacking edge gained greater clarity when Joshua King came on. Stronger and more direct than Stewart he rocked Stephen Crainey back several times building up quality pressure before a late Hull equaliser.

Left Forward

Jermaine Beckford showed all his attacking attributes from improvisation, to sharp acceleration added to intelligent running to trouble Blackpool all night long. His first goal againstBlackpoolwas spontaneous and would have beaten any ‘keeper due to his speed of mind and invention.

Central Striker

Erik Huseklepp was first class for Portsmouth at Blackpool and the fact that Birmingham seized him when they could showed that his talents are also valued elsewhere. His movement in the box was instinctively perpetual and showed great technical qualities in holding up the ball and laying it off in well structured counter attacks.

The Ultimate Championship Team

Here’s a team of the season allowing for games that TD has witnessed elsewhere and other footage outside of Blackpool games. There may be dispute about a couple of the team, but TD thinks it’s close to the ultimate Championship team. A team which would match most teams in the Premier League, attack and entertain.

A rock solid ‘keeper and centre back partnership. Two aggressive and highly attacking full backs. Energy and technical quality in the midfield from Karacan and Noble allied to the expceitional creativity provided by Lallana. Up front there’s the central striking threat of Rickie Lambert who’s would be supported and served by the powerful running of Matthew Phillips and the subtle ability and crossing prowess of Chris Burke.

Moving On

Hopefully this gives a slightly different view away from the PFA team of the season which is the most mainstream perspective and throws some light on the talent that exists within this country. There’s some genuine quality who could adapt to the Premier League with relative ease and this doesn’t just apply to the Championship. There are plenty of players from League One and Two who could make the transition. If Premier League clubs want to surrender to the whims of agents rather than being studious and diligent on prospective signings then that’s their loss and the Football League’s gain.

“But we have practised it this week, and they have all sore foreheads now”

This was in advance of the game against Southampton, a game in which Blackpool kept their first clean sheet in the league for fourteen matches. Holloway talked about getting his players to ‘attack the flight of the ball’ which is a basic skill, but one that Blackpool as a team had lacked in recent games. However, upon watching the Southampton game it was clear that they had worked on a little more than that. Blackpool’s defensive focus was apparent across the pitch and there were around three key elements that stood out from that game. It’s important to bear in mind that these observations may be game specific and may not actually be a sustained approach, but it’s still valid to note them.

The first element that was clear from the first whistle was that Blackpool’s first line of defence was the forward line and the forwards pressed hard and high up the pitch all game long. At times this season Blackpool’s pressing strategy hasn’t been very obvious, not that this always indicates a lack of a plan as it could be that players are interpreting the application of instruction to varying degrees.

The second element that appeared to be deliberate was how often the defensive line remained as a four across the back line. Under Holloway, Blackpool’s full backs have often been aggressively applied, often joining in to midfield and attack. However, here both full backs kept much deeper. Again, this may be match specific and given the lack of width from Southampton in the first half it may have made been unnecessary. However, with the introduction of Steve De Ridder after the break Southampton had much more width and depth on the right. Bob Harris at left back was engaged with his opponent (De Ridder) for large spells in the second half, which will have forced him back anyway, but given that he wasn’t in the habit of getting forward that would have helped his mindset. It would be a bold move to see Blackpool continue this conservative application of full backs, especially against perceived weaker teams who set up to stifle. A full back who steps up in those situations offers another outlet and another point of attack; it’s likely that this may only be a tactic employed for Southampton.

The final element is the corner set up and approach. Analysis of this is pretty basic due to lack of quality footage of games this season. However, the Southampton game saw a change of corner set up from Blackpool. This must have been the large focus of their weeks training given the recent issues in defending corners. It appears that they were working on much more that just attacking the flight of the ball. Teams have plans for attacking corners and defending corners and for the most part this season Blackpool appear to have mainly used man to man marking with a hint of zonal coverage. Again this assertion is from limited footage and recollection, so it’s fair to perhaps doubt the accuracy here. However, the following evidence will be used to back up this assertion.

The picture below is a screen shot of the corner that led to the goal that was conceded against Hull.

What can be seen here is that Ian Evatt and Alex Baptiste go man for man in the area which is circled. Tom Ince (red dot) appears to go man for man with Liam Rosenior (blue dot) and Danny Wilson (green dot) is also man for man against his opponent. Stephen Crainey (yellow dot) at the back post appears to be man for man also. Only Keith Southern (tangerine dot) appears to be committed to marking a zone at the front post. This is a typical set up for Blackpool with slight modifications for game specificity i.e. Ince isn’t normally likely to man mark at corners; Rosenior would have been a suitable opponent in this case.

The picture below shows the corner set up for the goal that David Nugent scored for Leicester when they recently drew at Bloomfield Road.

From left to right you can see that Evatt and Southern are man for man in the area that is circled. Alex Baptiste (red dot) and Gary Taylor Fletcher (green dot) also go man to man. Crainey (yellow dot) also appears to be man marking even though his man has dropped behind him. Kevin Phillips (blue dot) is stationed in the zone near the front post to cut out the poorly delivered corner.

Now contrast that set up to the picture below.

This angle gives a great appreciation of the placement of players around the six yard box, but admittedly is doesn’t pick up those that may have been around the edge of the area. This was a corner delivered superbly and actually poorly defended by Blackpool, but this isn’t being used about defensive work per se, rather than to observe the positioning.

To the casual observer you should be able to notice the difference straight away, however, it’s important that this may be game specific and Southampton’s attacking set up may have been compromised by the loss of Rickie Lambert. In the top right you have Tom Ince (red line) picking up the man going for the short corner. On the front post you have Matty Phillips (yellow dot) in the zone to cut out the lowly hit corner. However, you then have four Blackpool players in a staggered line from the top (Keith Southern, green dot) to bottom (Alex Baptiste, blue dot). None of these players are engaged, man for man. They appear to be covering the zones from front to middle to back. This may be game specific, but it appears clear that Ian Evatt (red dot) for instance doesn’t have a duty to pick up a man. He is there to mark the space and ‘attack the flight’ of the ball. This appears to be a key change of set up for Blackpool and what Holloway had drilled in to his team. This does appear to be a clear change indicated by the application of Evatt as he would generally be assigned to pick up the opposition’s key aerial threat man to man. The fact he isn’t here, perhaps backs up the assertion that Blackpool did change their approach.

Given that this corner was poorly defended isn’t the best case to say that the set up works. However, the following games may either see the same familiar set up or changes for opponent dynamic. What can be said is that Blackpool looked a very effective defensive side with a renewed focus on their defensive work and repeats of that clean sheet against Southampton will go a long way to securing their place in the play-offs.

Picking the best team from a squad of players is no easy task. If it was a simple task of listing the best players then that could lead to several complications. If that’s not the best starting point then what might be a good place to begin in a quest to find the ‘best’ starting eleven?

Natural instincts

How about understanding the way the player naturally orients himself on the field of play? This can be a very eye-opening exercise. This takes in to account their approach, mentality and where they thrive on the pitch. Obviously the final team selection takes in to many other facets such as the opponent and game objectives. The diagram below takes (entirely subjectively) a view on where each Blackpool player is naturally drawn to and excels. This gives us our starting point.

This paints an interesting picture and starts to show where Blackpool may be lacking. There are obvious points for debate based on the subjectivity at hand. For example, Ian Evatt generally lines up in the left centre back position and here he has been placed at right centre back. Arguably his one footedness doesn’t help him on the left and his more natural position should be on the right. Neal Eardley is placed much higher up the field than his right back role, mainly because he shows more of the traits of a wide midfielder than an orthodox full back. Even though they are different players both Kevin Phillips and Roman Bednar appear to enjoy the role of centre forward, not that they can’t play together, but they do like to occupy some of the same spaces. Gary Taylor-Fletcher always appears to drop in behind the striker when he starts as a forward and even when given a midfield role he drifts high up the field. Lomano LuaLua has been placed very high up the pitch; this is the area where he looks most comfortable.

Pointless

It might seem a little pointless just dropping the players on to a pitch diagram, however, that arguably gives a starting base to select the best eleven. The next logical step might be to now play fantasy football and just pick the eleven best players giving bias to the 4-3-3 scheme used by Ian Holloway. The diagram below illustrates these subjective picks.

There are reasons for going with certain players here. The centre back positions are a constant source for debate at Blackpool. The selection of Wilson and Evatt is merely a nod to the former being the best covering defender and Evatt the best positional stopper for want of better terminology. Alex Baptiste is kept at right back as he remains the best right back on the books and his positional ability is still a little questionable for the centre positions. In midfield, the trio of Barry Ferguson, Ludovic Sylvestre and Chris Basham get the nod. Basham’s technical ability gives him the edge over Keith Southern. Up front, Taylor-Fletcher as a creative force and goalscorer gets the selection alongside Matthew Phillips and LuaLua. Of course this is all entirely debatable decision-making, but it hopefully it starts to illustrate the difficult task of trying to select a best eleven.

Balancing act

The next consideration is balance, as the diagram above shows how awkward that line up is in reality. The diagram below adds some balance between left and right, attack and defence to give another attempt at the best Blackpool eleven.

The key movers here are John Fleck and Kevin Phillips. Essentially the reasons for their inclusion now is to shift the team to the left a little more hopefully to give them better balance in their point of attack between left, right and centre. John Fleck is an interesting inclusion at this point; arguably he is the most natural left-sided attacking player. Although he has rarely played in his natural role whilst at Blackpool, where he is positioned here is potentially his optimum position. It is where he would excel with his ability to pick a pass and shoot on sight. For the sake of formation this is a kind of 4-3-3 of sorts, but woefully lacking width.

There are clear issues of balance within this Blackpool squad whilst there are excellent options with the players at hand. It does serve to illustrate why Holloway may be moving away from his trusty 4-3-3. Fielding a midfield three lacks balance due to the lack of left-sided midfielders in the squad. Sylvestre is very right footed and will always gravitate to that side. Fielding two deeper midfielders eases the selection issue for Ian Holloway but still gives his issues with finding the right blend up front with few combinations giving him width, pace and creativity as well as pure finishing ability.

Right on

This is just a very simple look at how to choose a best eleven without even weighing in the other considerable factors. Making these decisions is at the core of the manager’s role and as Ian Holloway has found the right blend in the past, there’s no reason he can’t right now. Blackpool fans everywhere will hope he has asked and answered all the pertinent questions to lead the Tangerines to a strong end of season and back to the Premier League.

Channeling

Ian Holloway is a manager who thrives on the right energy and is sensitive to the slightest changes in it; he understands that and works to keep things vibrant and relevant for his team. It is critical that the team energy is never diminished or diverted. If a manager keeps the energy channeled in to the right areas then his team can work together to improve, should that energy be drained away for any reason then it will be harder to get across his training and game objectives. Any quality manager knows that they are only able to influence the things that they can influence and this centres on the training pitch and on events on the match day. The manager must ensure that the energy on the training pitch is focused, positive and working at the right levels and trust the owner or chairman to ensure that the energy around the other elements of the club remain positive.

This energy is hard to understand at times as people experiences energy in different ways. The most common form experienced is that feeling when you enter a room and you know something isn’t right. This is critical in all aspects of life and absolutely critical in football, if the energy isn’t there, how does a manager get across their point of view, why should a player listen. Yes each player has internal motivation, but essentially the team energy is what fuels every player and gives the team the dynamic. The reason this is so pertinent for Blackpool Football Club right now is essentially the energy around the team has dropped. This article will take a little look at this to try to understand why.

Drained

It has been widely documented that Blackpool’s accounts show substantial reallocation of money from the football club to the owner Owen Oyston. Regardless of what money has gone and where it has gone, the club have been negligent and brought upon themselves unnecessary attention. There has been talk earlier this season from the chairman (Karl Oyston) that the club has learned its lessons from last season, but apparently that’s not the case. The club still remains aloof towards the impact of their actions and how they can knock on to the team, supporters and the energy around the club.

The lessons from the Charlie Adam saga last January haven’t been learned. The club was performing admirably in the Premier League till the club appeared to anger the player, his potential new club and dangle a substantial bag of carrots to the media. Press conferences started to focus less on the positive aspects of the team to the, ‘What’s the situation with Charlie Adam?’. The media generally don’t care about tactical dynamics and unpicking the fine details of the match. They want sleaze to sell their papers to the vacant majority who like bright pictures, loud noises and something to bitch about.

Pee Argh

Public relations as an enterprise is often scorned at, but essentially it’s used to sustain the right energy about a product and in the case of a football club, it can head off rumours and scaremongering. Essentially, Blackpool Football Club could have handled the release of their accounts with some clear communication before the event and failure to do so has left a void which has been filled by the media. Leaving a void can work sometimes; it can create a ‘buzz’, however, in a case such as this it has left a void which can only be filled with rampant negativity. It is this which is critical this time around and replicates the feeling of the Adam saga. The energy is being pulled away from the pitch, Holloway has to field questions about the subject at every turn and that leads to him being pulled in to debates that aren’t really his concern. He loves being on the training pitch, loves being enthusiastic about developing his players. He has genuine love and affection for his players; he is a man who is deeply centred on the things that are true and dear to him.

This concept of team energy can be tricky to define, but there are plenty of examples of energy being misaligned or pulled away from the areas that need it the most. The England national team will struggle to win a major championship as the media focus on the wrong elements in order to sell papers and the players aren’t ever given the time with the management to work towards creating the right energy. Blackburn Rovers suffered with their performances at home when their fans were protesting about Steve Kean’s management of the club. Liverpool to extent don’t seem to have fully refocused the energy around their team too after the Suarez case. It’s critical that this energy is channelled on to the pitch and not displaced in to areas where such energy will fizzle out. Blackpool Football Club have done what they have done with the money and legally they can do what they want. Fans won’t like it and it is hard to understand. Communication is so easy to get wrong, but a policy of no communication is unforgivable and gives out the wrong signals. There’s a lot to be said for softening the blow, it might still stun the victim, but the chances of surviving are much greater.

Fizzled out?

The effects of this energy drain are visible on the pitch at the moment, but it would be remiss to say that the recent results are a solely attributable to that issue alone. All season long there have been concerns about performances, but results have been strong and Blackpool still have a good prospect of getting to the play offs. Essentially there are a few fundamental footballing issues that have underpinned the season and these will now be explored.

Whilst the club haven’t learned the ‘off pitch’ lessons from last season the same can be said for issues on the pitch. Last season early season injuries saw Holloway flex his team shape away from the 4-3-3 to a more aggressive 4-2-1-3 verging on an aggressive 4-2-4. Only after being soundly thrashed at home to Wigan did Holloway appear to remember what was once dear to him and reverted back to the flat 4-3-3 in the final few games and enjoyed some very good performances. However, the very same dilemma still rumbles on. Blackpool have done very much the same this season. Their better performances come when their midfield three remains flat and retain numerical superiority over their opponent. The moment that is conceded is the moment that Blackpool start to struggle. Holloway’s Blackpool have thrived through team cohesion, underpinned by their energy. They work best in combinations, link ups and supporting each other. When they play the more aggressive 4-2-4 the individual comes out more, the team breaks down quicker and the collective spirit looks spent and stretched.

Aggression

The reasons for Holloway making these decisions lie in his approach to management. He appears to reward what works well, which is fundamentally a sound approach, however, there does appear to be little understanding that sometimes things work well because of the conditions being right. His allegiance to the 4-2-4 seems to be borne out of his strong ‘in game’ tactical sense when he sees that a game requires an aggressive move, especially when team match us up in midfield and we grind to a halt. When it works, teams can be decimated and completely over run. However, it is debatable whether or not this approach fits in to a suitable starting strategy against any team. It appears that Holloway doesn’t hit the reset button after each game, which can be a fine approach, but a performance as a substitute doesn’t always translate to being a first team pick in the next game. Some players are more tuned in to being a substitute; some games are more suited to a certain player being a substitute.

This all leads to one of the key issues aside from the formation and tactics, the matter of Holloway knowing what his strongest side is and playing it. At the moment the squad is being rotated and a good performance can be rewarded with a further start and a bad performance almost certainly ends up with a place in the stands. Again there are arguments to both sides here, but it feels like it’s not the approach that suits Blackpool right now. This is a side that is still learning to play with each other. The defensive issues appear to be stemming from lack of teamwork, understanding and communication. All of which develop as players play with each other more often. Holloway will surely be trying to stabilise his selection as a cure of some on field issues and allied to that revisit the playing principles that have brought his side so much success. In fact this last point is absolutely key. Holloway is a man of principles and he has admitted in the past that when he has sacrificed his principles his side suffer as a result. It’s almost like he isn’t being authentic and compensates a little too much for the opposition or as much recently the pitch at Bloomfield Road. Holloway may well reflect on his team’s qualities and get back to those in order to restore the energy on the pitch. As a starting strategy, a 4-3-3 has been proven to work well and the aggressive 4-2-4 is proven to work well when chasing a game.

Splitting Up

In order to demonstrate the flaws when Blackpool start in the aggressive 4-2-4 the recent game against Hull is a good case study. Here Holloway asked his side to be aggressive both on and off the ball and to look to go long to counteract the uneven pitch which he deemed not conducive to the passing football he wants to play. The 4-2-4 worked well in this instance for an hour. The two midfielders (Barry Ferguson & Keith Southern) worked hard to close Hull down, disrupting their rhythm and Blackpool stretched Hull with long balls being quick to win the second balls. The plan failed when Hull re-organised themselves, Blackpool’s midfield two tired and one of them picked up an injury. Suddenly Hull dominated the middle ground, Blackpool were slower to close them down and slower to the second balls and conceded in the last-minute for a 1-1 draw. Although this performance appeared strong for an hour, it was built on poor foundations and it was hard for Holloway to rework his tactics from such an aggressive position.

The red shaded area outlines where the opposition can intercept Blackpool and split their team leading to Blackpool being dominated by their opponent.

At many other times this season the 4-2-4 has struggled as it can be easily split in to two parts (see diagram above) by a hardworking and diligent opponent. Isolate the midfield two, cut off the supply to the front four and a team can nullify Blackpool. Essentially you can form a wall between the attack and defence and all Blackpool’s coherency drains from the team. The flatter 4-3-3 gives Blackpool a better base to work from; they will generally not lose the midfield and attack at pace from that platform. It is from there that Holloway can make changes to affect the dynamic.

Testing the Faith

Holloway’s faith in the 4-3-3 has been tested by teams who seek to stifle his midfield. This has been a clear problem all season as it results in Blackpool being slowed down in midfield and when they reach the final third they come to a stand still. Without effective movement ahead of the ball and players who are aware of the tempo dropping they become predictable and a side can sit behind the ball knowing that they won’t be pulled apart. Holloway’s solution to this has generally been aggressive treble substitutions; normally adding attacking players to the field of play to try to push the opposition even further back. It is here where the 4-2-4 has worked. Blackpool got even more aggressive than that against Coventry going to an almost 3-2-5 which battered Coventry in to submission. The late comebacks have secured Blackpool several points this season at the same time convincing Holloway that the approach provides a viable starting strategy.

The 4-2-4 is sometimes marked out by some observers as a 4-2-3-1, however, that observation looks and feels misplaced. Mainly because the aggressive attributes of the players draws no distinction in the attacking bands of the formation often leaving them left up the field in a flat line of four. Crucially, whoever plays at the attacking point of the midfield trident doesn’t drop deep enough when Blackpool are out of possession and arguably Blackpool don’t have the right type of players to play such a critical role. Elliot Grandin (now at Nice) played the role to some effect, but even he was too aggressive at times to play a role that requires a great deal of tactical and positional understanding.

It’s fair to say that Holloway is still working with his side, but his decisions have become a little distant from his core footballing principles (short passing, possession, ball retention and attack). The next two or three games will be critical, he may be able to get the aggressive approach to work on a regular basis, but he may also appreciate the qualities that his three-man midfield has brought him in the past. However, he still has a dilemma as the ideal three-man midfield may not be on the books at Blackpool at the moment. The club haven’t replaced the drive, creativity and balance that Charlie Adam provided. The club has excellent holding midfielders, runners and good passers, but arguably that spark is still missing and this might be why Holloway is veering towards the 4-2-4.

Indefensible

Added to this there are still major concerns about Blackpool’s defensive work. The spotlight falls upon the defensive line, but essentially Blackpool’s key defensive concerns lie in their off the ball work. Their pressing is very inconsistent. It is often hard to pinpoint their pressing strategy, it is rare that they get this right and their inconsistent off the ball work puts an awful lot of strain on the defence. The defensive phase starts with the attackers, if they fail to exert the required pressure, the midfield needs to step up and apply their press. In playing a high defensive line the pressing needs to be intense and all too often it drops off, affording the opposition midfield too much time and consequently exposing the defence to easy through balls. It’s hard to blame the back line at these times, but they do still appear uncoordinated and it’s never apparent who is responsible for making the call to step up for offside. On the flip side, the defensive line is wholly responsible for the poor work closer to their goal and as seen recently, from set pieces. As at many times last season the defenders seem slow to react to impending danger and often goals are the result of errors that stack up, such as the goal against Cardiff which was analysed on this site. This is basic stuff, but requires improvement, as mentioned earlier; it’s very possible that the rotation of the defensive unit hasn’t helped them to function effectively.

Brilliance

This has been a very critical diagnostic of Blackpool, but ultimately it has come about from a poor run of form. However, it’s very likely that the team will bring this back around. The negativity surrounding the ‘tax dodge’ will dissipate with a strong performance against Brighton on Saturday. Blackpool are inconsistent, but when they click, this side is arguably more impressive than the one seen in the Premier League last season. Yes that spark in midfield might not be there, but their attacking pace and incisive running from wide areas has taken some good sides apart with relative ease. Barry Ferguson has excellent technical quality and when he gets a foothold in the game he organises, composes and drives the team on from deep. Stephen Crainey is an excellent left back who perfectly understands his role in attack as well as defence. Alex Baptiste at right back can make explosive forward runs and support his strike force superbly well. Matt Gilks has been first class, making some truly jaw dropping saves. Up front Matthew Phillips is developing in to a Premier League forward, who combines raw pace, with powerful and accurate shooting. On the other flank Tom Ince is moving away from his inconsistency to provide a probing threat up front. Regardless of shape and tactics, Holloway has a very good squad with lots of options and all in all this side has a chance to become one of the top six in this league.

Moving on

With ten games to go the season run in starts now. The players and staff have a few days to prepare for the next game whilst fans have a chance to gain some perspective. The owners will no doubt continue as they have done, hopefully next time something potentially explosive starts ticking they’ll work smarter to communicate the dangers so at least the fans can prepare themselves for the bang. Whether or not there should be a bombshell or not is a matter for another time and another place. This time is reserved for replenishing the team’s energy and for fans to rally around their side and support them for the good things that have been brought to Blackpool by Ian Holloway and his team.

Football is different. As you progress through the game, generally you have your space taken away from you. At the very highest levels of the game space is at a premium and generally you have to find your own space or have a system set up to grant you some. Occasionally the opposition may cede some through negligence or by design. However, a general rule in football is that the more you progress in your profession the less space you have and you have to get used to operating in less space. Obviously you are well remunerated for this inconvenience so you’re hardly likely to take this to a union or refer the case to the Health & Safety Executive.

Last season this blog complied a feature on DJ Campbell, charting the goals that he scored in the Championship whilst also looking at how he was settling in to the Premier League. A general observation made at the time was that during his goal scoring period in the Championship it was noticeable how much more space he had to execute his moves and make his decisions. Now Blackpool are back in the Championship it is noticeable how much space there is, especially in the box and final third. In recent weeks there have been a few goals occurring in Blackpool’s matches that highlight this issue of space and alongside this, some excellent play from a wise old professional who knows how to create space.

Hammered

First and foremost West Ham outclassed Blackpool from start to finish when they met the other week, however, when Gary O’Neil struck the third West Ham goal it stood out because of the time and space he was granted. You can see below how he is on the edge of the area left all alone with Blackpool giving him all the space he needs to choose what to do.

Gary O'Neil is circled above to illustrate the space he was granted by the Blackpool defence.

This struck an uncanny resemblance to when Kevin Phillips struck against Cardiff last month. The Cardiff defence appeared to react slowly and space was granted to Phillips who guided the ball in to the goal with great technique and accuracy. You can see below how Phillips has almost seven if not eight yards of space to work in.

The arrow indicates the movement Phillips made in to the space.

When you’ve operated at the level that Kevin Phillips has for large parts of his career you can’t afford to give him too much space. He maintains his composure and has an acute awareness for where he is in relation to the goal and when to shoot.

Masterful

If a defence isn’t conceding space to be exploited, players need to be aware of how to create space. Leading on from the last example, Kevin Phillips has recently demonstrated why he is a supreme goalscorer, especially at this level. His movement in the box is largely focused on space creation and the goals he scored against Bristol City and West Ham have similar hallmarks. Below you can see how prior to the ball coming in to Phillips he has worked his way between the two Bristol City centre backs.

Compare the picture above to the one below, where against West Ham Phillips does exactly the same.

Again, he is perfectly positioned, this time in between the full back and centre back. In these cases, if the centre back fails to clear the ball then Phillips has the space he needs to attempt to score. If the delivery is poor, or the ‘keeper intercepts then the chance goes away. Unfortunately for the opposition in these cases, that didn’t happen. The only other way to thwart Phillips is for another defender to react or for Phillips to miss with his shot. Neither happened here and these are two great examples of how an intelligent striker can create space when perhaps it’s not always obvious.

Space to learn

Space is the most critical element in most games of football. Give a footballer space and they can operate, take the space away and only the better footballers will tend to flourish. In the top leagues and competitions, this becomes more and more obvious. If Blackpool end up back in the Premier League next season then some of the younger strikers could learn a lot from watching Kevin Phillips as the rest of the season plays out.

The final goal in the 3-1 victory over Doncaster had points of interest from both an attacking and defending point of view. The first two goals scored on the night came from Gary Taylor-Fletcher, the first from a brilliant long curved pass over the Doncaster defence from Neal Eardley and the second self-created with quick feet and craft.

Double Phase

The goal was a product of two phases of play. The first phase being an attacking free kick for Blackpool and the second, reclaimed possession from the free kick resulting in the goal. The start of the first phase is pictured below.

Whilst Doncaster do win the header at the free kick they don’t clear the ball to safety and nor does the man on the edge of the box (highlighted) react quick enough to the loose ball. Not in the picture above is the man who is responsible for initiating phase two, Barry Ferguson.

Fergie Time & Again

Ferguson has been fantastic for Blackpool this season, his technique is of a very high standard which makes errors on his first touch very rare. His positional sense is superb and allied with great vision and leadership he is able to organise the team around his position. He is generally first to collect orders from Holloway and distribute them and at attacking set pieces you can see him pointing to his players advising them where to go. Such is his quality of positional work it often escapes notice. It takes a goal such as this to really appreciate his role in the Blackpool team. In attack, he supports the team and provides the back up when attacks either break down or fizzle out.

In the picture above you can see that he was perfectly positioned to pick up on the loose ball and in a split second Ferguson has possession of the ball and without any hassle the ball has started on its path towards the back of the net. It looks simple, but in reality that kind of play is hard to do, you need to be in the right position, you then need the required technique to secure the ball and move it on. Poorer players could have lost possession in such a situation and left their team open to a fast break.

Fab-Trio

The Blackpool goal then lends itself to three more excellent pieces of work.

1. A brilliant through ball from Kevin Phillips allowing Alex Baptiste to advance.
2. A hard and accurate shot from Baptiste. He knows he need to either shoot or cross. His run and position isn’t that dissimilar to the goal he scored against Crystal Palace earlier in the season and here he makes the keeper make a save.
3. Nouha Dicko understands his position well and knows he needs to both make himself available for a cross and in position to poach any loose ball that may rebound. He does the latter superbly well to put the game beyond Doncaster.

Back Baps

Arguably, the key element of those three is the role that Baptiste plays. It has been said on this blog this season that Blackpool look their most potent when Baptiste steps in to attack. The main reasons for this is that at several points this season Blackpool have been stymied and tend to struggle for creative ideas around the final third, often slowing the tempo of the game too much and having poor movement ahead of the ball. In such cases it’s important for midfielders to make runs beyond the ball and if that doesn’t happen then the defence can do the same. In doing so, they can create overloading situations against the opposition defence and in turn get behind the defensive line which can be vital in any football match.

Turn & Face

It is that last sentence that leads to the final point to be made about the goal. It’s is a great example of why an attacking team needs to turn a defensive line around and get them running towards their goal. It pushes them closer to their own goal, but also only very good defenders can recover their awareness of the match situation to deal with the imminent threats. Here, Doncaster have only just turned to face their goal when the shot comes in from Baptiste and they have little time to understand where the Blackpool players are and react before the ball is in the net.

Moving On

You can view this goal and the others from the match against Doncaster over on the BBC website through the link below

Doncaster 1-3 Blackpool

Overall this was a good team goal and a good three points for Blackpool as they move on to an FA Cup clash with Everton. A preview of that game can be found on the link below.

Everton v Blackpool – FA Cup 5th Round – 18th March 2012