First thing I noticed was the high concentration of passes to and from Crewe’s left wing. Bore had a shocking game, and Shuker struggled. They also managed a significant number of successful balls on the right flank. Clearly we didn’t do enough to stem the flow of possession to wide positions. Interestingly, there was barely anything through the middle. Crewe moved the ball out to the flanks quickly, and often. It’s no wonder that we struggled to cope, then, with our chief defensive talents being through the middle and our wide men blessed more with attacking skills than anything else.
Crewe’s passing chart (left side is defence; right side is attack)
How could I have dealt with the problem? I could have moved Shuker into a more attacking role, shifting Bore into the right midfield slot. Kanouté or Gowling should have been deployed at right back, while Woods and Richardson should have been given more creative licence. We were effectively shut out on our left wing, so Nutter should have come in for Olembé to bolster our defence. And I should have changed our play style to focus on going through the middle, perhaps with balls over the top for the pacy strikers. Too many passes were intended for Smith to flick on with his head; he lost all six headers that he went for.
Our passing chart
I might have also had some luck with three strikers or a man—probably Russell or Power—in the hole just behind the strikers.
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