All change at Burton?
- Matt Mecham
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
For better or for worse, Darren Ferguson has been backed by his chairman and heads to Burton on Saturday still in charge of Peterborough United.
As every Posh fan knows, we’re in a precarious position and Burton is an absolute must-win.
This is now bigger than Ferguson’s future. It’s about survival in League One.
Burton head into the game boosted by a shock 3-0 win against Bolton on Saturday.
Our recent formation change has switched wingers for wing-backs with three defenders.
That has helped defensively, but it is limiting goal-scoring chances despite having two strikers.
We managed a feeble nine shots against Bolton with only two on target.
Compare that to our last away game against Bolton with wingers, when we had 23 shots, five of which were on target.
Is it time for a change?
Peterborough United is known for its attacking power.
Traditionally, we surge forward looking to score, even if it means conceding a goal or two in the process.
Chairman Darragh MacAnthony said himself that he would rather win 4-3 than 1-0. He wants excitement and goals, and I feel the same way.
Football should be entertaining. The money and miles should be rewarded.
Bring back wing play?
Our most exciting season in years was when Ephron Mason-Clark and Kwame Poku were romping down the wings, smashing balls in the box for our strikers.
It brought us goals, thrills and a place in the play-offs.
Sadly, their replacements were not up to scratch, and recently missing out on signing Cheltenham winger Ethon Archer saw us recruit for wing-backs through necessity.
Compounding our troubles, two of our remaining wingers, Cian Hayes and Declan Frith, are injured.
Surely, that means we’re stuck with five at the back?
John’s challenge
On a recent episode of UpThePoshcast, John challenged listeners to find a formation that allows for four at the back.
Given our injury list, it’s not an easy task, but I think I have a formation that works and will deliver an exciting attacking performance against in-form Burton.
My pick against Burton
I want to see a return to the 4-2-3-1, which Posh have used with much success over the past few years.
Here’s why:
It fixes the disconnect between midfield and strikers by using a No.10 to find space between lines.
We can overload in attack with our full-backs making overlapping runs.
We will have flexibility in transition by allowing our No. 10 to press, the wingers to drop, and our midfield to recover.
More attacking support by allowing one midfielder to push forward.
Here’s the team I’d put out on Saturday:
We’ve struggled to find a No. 10 that can pull the strings since Joel Randall left, but Matt Garbett can fulfil that role.
His vision, passing, and strength will enable him to help connect our midfield to our attack.
Our lack of fit wingers means we’ll need to play Morgan out wide, which isn’t ideal given he is our leading scorer.
However, in this formation, I’d play inverted wingers, asking them to drift infield to find a shot, while allowing the full-backs to overlap, offering support and an option to keep the attack alive should the winger hit traffic.
Lisbie is full of running and will pester Burton’s wing-back on the other side. Frith, when fit, would be better suited, given he’s left-footed.
Ben Woods and Archie Collins complement each other well, with Woods looking to move forward while Collins drops in front of our centre-backs.
Mills and Kioso possess sufficient defensive nous and attacking instincts to defend and overlap in attack when required.
Harry Leonard is my target man. Although he has yet to score, he has proven himself excellent at holding the ball to feed others.
On the bench, I’d put Dornelly, Johnston, Okagbue, Lolos and Khela as the first five named substitutes.
Given Morgan only has 70 minutes in him, Lolos could move into the No.10 with Garbett playing on the left wing, which is where he plays for New Zealand. This may feel a little wild, but I’d prefer it to Odoh coming on as a straight replacement.
What do you think of the line-up?
No more timid performances
This season, we’ve been defensive-minded, and that hasn’t paid off, given we’ve only kept one clean sheet this season.
Momentum is with Burton, and they’ll see us as easy prey. We must throw caution to the wind, and our game plan should be simple: outscore them.
I don’t care about a clean sheet, but I do care about scoring, and our current formation just isn’t giving us goals.
We must bring back those 3 points on Saturday.
If we don’t we might be seeing a change in the dug out as well as on the pitch.
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