Substance over style
Lots of conversation amongst Addicks in terms of the style of play we’ve seen thus far under Nathan Jones.
I don’t think we can mine too much into how we played last season under Jones. It was all about steadying a sinking ship and putting fingers in dykes all the while for him to study what he has inherited and what was needed on a go forward basis.
I don’t know about you but I really don’t care if we retrofit John Beck’s Cambridge United from the 90’s into our red shirts, we just need to get out of this league.
Before us, and even when we did it, promoted teams are the best coached, the most consistent and have an adaptability over a long season. A club that can build a momentum has the best chance of achieving the ultimate goal.
Style is irrelevant. Pep might be able to promote Bristol Rovers if he was their manager, but there is no guarantee.
I’ve wrote this when Jones was appointed but he has a strong philosophy, he is in more ways than one a man who has strong belief’s. Jones wants his players fit, really fit and his sides are known to get stronger in games and fitter as the season progresses.
The football can be direct and games often ugly, but Jones is okay with that as he will drill into his players ways to create chances to win games, and most importantly of all limit chances and keep out goals in our own end.
We are a work in progress and I want to see us play more cohesively. Nothing a couple more signings wouldn’t help, but I do think our passing and decision making will get better.
Jones’ style might not win beauty pageants, but it will bring excitement and energy, and the Covered End noise at the end of the game on Saturday tells us we are ready.
It is only two games, no one is getting carried away especially with our biggest challenge so far coming to SE7 on Saturday.
For sure. Ugly football, and I don’t think it’s that ugly to be fair, is absolutely fine as long as it’s winning ugly football.
The philosophy is crystal clear, fitness, aggression, organisation. The goal on Saturday was a hoof and Chuks knockdown, won’t be the last time we see that this season and if it’s in 90+ time who cares.
Big test Saturday, Jones says he’ll see where we are after 10 games…if we can get a win I for one will be getting carried away early.
It’s game two of a 46 league season and so far a couple of the issues that Jones inherited appear to have been addressed, namely a porous defence and a general lack of intensity in our play. We’ve kept two clean sheets and fitness/determination levels are much higher than last season. We’ve not seen the sort of self-inflicted defensive mistakes that featured heavily last season – so far there have been no under-hit or badly targeted back passes, no taking an extra touch and getting caught in possession and no dithering on the edge of the box looking for someone in a red (or yellow) shirt to pass to before hacking the ball away and seeing it come straight back. Teams with poor defences rarely win much.
Against Orient, on a hot day, our opponents visibly wilted in the second half and frequently went down with cramp – which might have been real or imagined, either way it was the other team looking to slow down and disrupt the game.
We need some creativity in midfield and to work on the final ball into the penalty box but right now being hard to beat and shuffling the ball forward quickly seems to be working. I liked the work TC did running from midfield into attack, we just need to get that last third of the pitch sorted. Hopefully that will come as the team settles.