Posh 1-3 Fleetwood Town Tactical Analysis

Peterborough United 1 – 3 Fleetwood Town

It was a disappointing opening day at London Road for Posh fans as their side succumbed to a demoralising 3-1 defeat to Fleetwood Town. Darren Ferguson fielded 7 new signings and ditched the midfield diamond he has become synonymous with for a flat 4-4-2. A number of Steve Evans signing have been either side-lined or sold as Fergie continues to transition the side from the past paced direct playing style under Evans to a more considered, short passing possession based football. It is fair to say that despite the new signings aimed at evolving the squad further to Fergie’s methodology more work is required to get this team ticking. But where did it all go wrong?

Possession not nine tenths of the law for Posh

BBC Sport clocked Posh as having 74% possession. However, this only translated into 3 shots on target and just three meaningful chances created with a first half Dembele strike, the goal and a late Mo Eisa header which was sent well wide being Posh’s only presentable chances. Despite surrendering near total possession of the ball, aside from one wicked free kick delivery, the overriding impression watching on was that Fleetwood were always in near control of the game. Their performance was reminiscent of the way Diego Simeone’s Athletico can see almost none of the ball but still seemingly have the opposing side exactly where they want them. Happy for posh to have the ball outside their own defensive third they sat deep and overloaded the midfield areas comfortable to trust in their own defensive organisation, something Posh are seemingly lacking. Despite an abundance of attacking talent Posh barely threatened to break down this stubborn resistance. It is true that scoring two early goals (more on that later) allowed Fleetwood to focus solely on their defensive side of the game rarely venturing forward in anger, none the less the pattern of this match was unerringly familiar for those still having nightmares about the football played during the back end of Ferguson’s second spell in charge.

Despite dominating possession the vast majority of this was either in their own half or in and around the half way line. Posh’s passing lacked the speed and precision required to ever ask any serious questions of Fleetwood or drawer them out of position. As noted in the match report a series of controlled passes between the back four and deep lying central midfield pairing would frequently yield little joy and resulted in a frustrated and rather desperate long ball forward. Admittedly, it was pleasing to see Posh try to control possession but there is still work to be done for Posh to be able to translate this dominance of the ball into goals and wins.

Nothing in between the lines

If playing a game of Darren Ferguson post-match interview bingo one sure fire bet would be to include a comment about breaking teams down by playing in between the lines. Quite frankly on Saturday Posh offered nothing in this area. Boyd and Woodyard played deep in possession with Woodyard often the higher of the two. Woodyard is a player with a number of positive combative traits but quality on the ball and slick passing is not one of them. Up top neither Toney nor Eisa seemed capable nor willing to continuously drop deeper to receive the ball, although Toney probably has the attributes to do so as demonstrated with one good control and pass with his back to goal to set up Dembele. This resulted in almost all of Peterborough’s play taking place in front of Fleetwood’s mass ranks or attempting unsuccessfully to go over them.

Moving forward Posh clearly need to improve their ability to play either round or through the opposition midfield. An obvious solution would be for Boyd, should he continue to play centrally, to take up a higher position in the midfield area and looking for pockets of space between the opposition midfield and defence, something fans were crying out for on Saturday. This would present a couple of issues however. There is a clear logic behind playing Boyd in a more withdrawn position. Boyd’s range of passing from a deep midfield role looked excellent, and he showed enough to suggest he could grow into a role as he looked comfortable collecting the ball from the back four and spreading play. Were he to play higher this would place an onus on either Woodyard, Kent or Beevers to be able to supply him with a pass through the lines. Woodyard never looked comfortable last season when receiving the ball from the back four at the base of a midfield diamond. Beevers had a nightmare debut and will surely improve given his experience at this level and higher, but he is not a player renowned for his quality in possession and his passing on Saturday was wayward. Kent comes with a reputation as a centre back comfortable in possession and despite his costly error in the build up to the third goal he did look exactly that. Although there was little evidence of whether he possesses the ability to carry the ball out of defence or play more adventurous passes through the lines. Posh are not blessed with an abundance of options in central midfield. Louis Reed is a player who is comfortable both dribbling and passing the ball forward, however has failed to establish himself as a regular starter and you could say similar about Callum Cooke if he is not sold. New signing Serhat Tasdemir should bring quality on the ball and creativity but pairing him in a central midfield position alongside Boyd would surely leave Posh too lightweight at the back. The resigning of Josh Knight provides one potential solution. He is a player comfortable is possession and could act as the deeper of the two in the midfield area allowing Boyd to roam further forwards. He does however not possess the same range and quality of passing as Boyd, and should Peterborough’s woes at the back not be resolved he may be required to fill in in central defence.

The clear and obvious inability for posh to transfer possession from back to front, Fergie’s obsession with passing football and breaking lines alongside the recent sale of Matt Godden and a suggestion Ferguson is not completely set on a 2 up front formation may therefore lead to a tactical reshuffling.

Potential Change of Formation

There are probably three potential routes Ferguson could take here. Although the fullbacks were disappointing on Saturday and Posh struggled defensively it is highly unlikely Ferguson will switch to a three man defence given his track record of preferring a back four and placing an emphasis on signing full backs this summer. This therefore leaves the likely changes, if any are made, being a switch to a three man midfield, 2 attacking wide players and a lone central striker in a 4-3-3/4-5-1, a 4-2-3-1 with a 10 and two attacking wide players operating in between 2 deep lying central midfield players and a lone central striker, and, (sigh) a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond.

Let us start by analysing the diamond, a formation much maligned by Posh fans given both Ferguson’s, and successor McCann’s, insistence of operating the formation despite clear deficiencies in the players ability to execute the formation. The biggest pro, in theory, is that it allows Posh to get both their expensively purchased strikers, Eisa and Toney on the pitch at the same time. Despite both coming at high price tags, roughly a combined £2m, the jury is out as to whether they can operate effectively as a pairing. On Saturday there was zero evidence of chemistry between the two. And whilst they did bag a number of goals in preseason this must be put on the context of A) being against primarily lower league opposition and B) IT WAS PRESEASON (anyone remember Chris Kanu?). Whether the focus should be on getting both Eisa and Toney on the pitch together, or finding a formation so that two from Ward, Maddison and Dembele can operate in more attacking positions, potentially alongside the additional creativity of Boyd or Tasdemir is that for up for debate and something which will be considered more later. The only other case that can be put forward for the formation is that A) it is a formation Ferguson knows well and should therefore be comfortable coaching and B) at times in previous Ferguson reigns Posh have executed the formation with breath-taking results, think second leg of the playoff semi-final against MK Dons.

That being said a move to the diamond formation would surely be a step backwards. Despite some stellar performances in the formation there were many more derisory ones. In the formation Posh often looked slow, ponderous and lacking width, key issues on Saturday which such a switch would fail to address. Frequently it looked as though the formation did not suit the players at the manager’s disposal and with Maddison and Dembele, arguably Posh’s two must dangerous and exciting players, most comfortable on the wing and no obvious contender to play at the base of the diamond it most certainly does not suit the players currently in the first team squad. The formation looked best when Posh had attacking full backs such as Mark Little and Tommy Rowe to provide some much needed width and currently both Mason and Buttler would have to do a lot of persuading to prove they can fulfil such a task.

Thus, this brings me to the case I will put forward to Posh switching to a formation with an emphasis on two attacking wide players operating high up the pitch. Dembele was the sponsors, and surely most other peoples, man of the match on Saturday although admittedly the competition for the award was hardly stiff. He is also a terrific dribbler and full of tricks. Unfortunately the majority of his dribbling took place in the midfield third of the pitch, which was too deep for it to regularly trouble the Fleetwood defence. Dembele has the skillset to trouble any defence at this level, although Posh must found a way to allow Dembele to employ that skillset higher up the pitch. With, in my opinion, Dembele being a guaranteed starter on one flank the opposite side could be filled by one of Maddison, Ward, Cooper or Boyd. Maddison would be the obvious choice should Posh choose to employ a 4-3-3 formation. His talent at this level is immense as proven once again by his delivery from the free kick for Posh’s goal. In a 4-3-3 the extra midfielder would lighten his defensive workload, something he is hardly famed for, allowing him greater freedom to roam and create. A 4-3-3 would also allow Ward, a player you want to start as many games as possible given his unbelievable levels of consistency, to operate on the right hand side of a midfield three where his work rate and stamina should see him excel in a box to box role. Boyd would also be a natural fit for the left hand side of the midfield three. The extra man in midfield would allow him to both drop deep to receive the ball from the back four and also drift forward to find pockets of space higher up the pitch. Having two more technically gifted players on either side of the midfield should enable Woodyard to utilise his obvious tenacity and ball winning capabilities (as demonstrated in the build up to Dembele’s first half chance) whilst releasing him of any of the creative burden.

Should Ferguson decide he wants to release George Boyd’s skillset higher up the pitch he could surely fulfil the number 10 role in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Such a switch would likely see Ward and Maddison competing to play on the opposite wing to Dembele. In the deep lying roles Woodyard’s defensive skillset could be complemented by the dribbling and passing of Louis Reed bringing balance to the deep lying midfield roles. The execution of this formation would largely revolve around how Ferguson views the role of George Boyd, a player in whom he clearly has great faith. Boyd was never a player blessed with great pace so his advancing years should not have done too much to dampen his attacking threat. Were Ferguson to however see him as a player whose attacking skillset was on the wane and therefore more suited to play in a deep lying role then the presence of three attacking midfield players ahead of him should complement Boyd’s obvious vision and range of passing with Tasdemir the likely candidate to take up the number 10 role.

A switch to either the 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation would surely aide Posh’s attempts to play slick passing football, dominate possession and break down deep lying defences. Such a switch would both allow them greater control of, and more options in, the midfield third whilst it should also suit the talents of the players at Ferguson’s disposal. The obvious drawback of such a switch would be that it would mean leaving one of Posh’s two expensively assembled strikers on the bench (plus presumably whoever is brought in to replace Matt Godden). Such a decision would also likely ruffle a few feathers amongst the Peterborough money men who have spent around £2m to deliver to Peterborough what they clearly believe is a fearsome attacking duo. And whilst Toney’s physical presence, ability to score and run in behind while also linking play suggests he has the potential to fulfil the lone striker role, it is yet to be seen whether such a position would suit Mo Eisa. Leaving Eisa on the bench this early in the season after taking such an expensive gamble on him in the summer would, despite his largely anonymous debut, be a huge call for Darren Ferguson to make, even if he has suggested he would be willing to take such a decision. It should also be stressed that this was one match, and one should not generally rush to make wholesale changes after one performance no matter how bad. I would still however argue that a 4-4-2 formation does not maximise the talent Posh have at their disposal and the recent sale of Matt Godden makes a switch to a one up front formation more likely especially if he were not to be replaced.

Issues at the back

Where to start on this on? Surely, SURELY the defence will approve after shipping three goals to a Fleetwood side who showed little attacking intent. All three goals were, to a large extent, of Peterborough’s own making and none of the new look back five looked completely assured in their role.

Pym was not blameless for any of the three goals. Despite looking composed in possession and having generally positive distribution it was his misplaced clip to the right wing which set in motion the events that led to the first Fleetwood goal whilst a more commanding goalkeeper would surely have tried to influence a corner delivered inside the six yard box. Whilst it must be accepted that if Posh are to try to play out from the back and place an emphasis on Pym contributing to this then mistakes will occasionally occur in regards to distribution, his unwillingness to come for the cross would probably be of greater concern. If Pym is not going to be an aerial presence with balls into the area then it will place a greater emphasis on the centre backs dominating in the air. One would have presumed that Beevers was signed to excel in this area of the game however the ease with which he was beaten to the ball for the first goal was concerning. The second goal can probably be chalked up to miscommunication between Pym and Beevers. Yes Pym was caught out of position however he was probably anticipating a header back from Beevers and certainly takes much less of the blame than the Posh centre half. The third goal is probably where he must take the highest proportion of fault. Admittedly the free kick was well struck, however it was a long way from goal and not particularly close to the corner. Pym has demonstrating himself to be an accomplished shot stopper in pre-season however on this occasion he positioned himself too far to the left of his goal and should have taken a step or two to address this when it became apparent the kick would be taken left footed with Andrew likely to favour the right hand corner of Pym’s goal given the such an angle would give him to curl the ball round the wall. The number one jersey was one which neither O’Malley nor Chapman managed to nail down last season and Pym has enough positive attributes at this level to suggest he should grow into the role as the season progresses.  

Alongside the goalkeeping situation the fullback area was one where no player ever truly convinced last season. In Mason and Buttler Darren Ferguson would have hoped he has signed two players who would offer both defensive solidity and contribute to the attacking threat of the team. Mason showed little intent to go forward in possession while Buttler, who made reputation for dashing up and down left flank at Newport, delivered poorly in the first half and then played more centrally in the second. A lack of dynamism from both fullbacks left Posh desperately lacking width and a threat out wide, more on that below. Defensively Mason looked less convincing than Buttler, frailties which were amplified by his conceding the corner for the first goal and the free kick for the third. Both have work to do to prove they are the solution to Posh’s long standing issues at fullback.

In central defence Frankie Kent did showed signs of promise. He looked generally confident in possession without doing anything extravagant or complex although his willingness to look for a forward pass should increase as his confidence builds following more game and with hopefully having more options in front of him. He however demonstrated his tendency to make telling errors in his rather comical failure to deal with an aerial ball suggesting Posh may have a player in a similar ilk to that of former Posh player Jack Baldwin. Next to him Beevers had a debut to forget. Bullied for the first goal then caught unawares of the threat from his left hand side for the second his defending will surely improve going forwards. He was a hugely popular player at Bolton given his faultless commitment to what was a seemingly lost cause last season. Potentially of more concern was just how uncomfortable he looked on the ball often passing erratically when under little pressure. Whether Beevers will be able to adapt from the direct playing style at Bolton to the style of football that Darren Ferguson wishes to employ will be a question to be watched as the season progresses.

Rather than any individual performance the most disconcerting element of the defensive performance was a collective inability to cope with long balls forward. All three Fleetwood goals originated from an inability to deal with aerial balls knocked forwards from relatively deep positions, while Fleetwood’s only other real chance of note came from a long ball played down Posh’s right flank. This is an area which must be addressed as a priority. Allowing opposing team’s chances from relatively innocuous balls forwards is a trait Posh must stamp out if they are to be successful this season.

Lack of Width

One of the key reasons Posh struggled to break down a compact Fleetwood side stemmed from a lack of natural width necessary to stretch an organised opposition. With Dembele being a right footed player on the left and keen to cut inside there will be an onus on Buttler to overlap and offer both width and quality deliveries from the left. In the first half Buttler did take up some promising positions but delivered poorly, while in the second he played far more centrally in possession, almost as an auxiliary deep lying midfielder, a move that was presumably put in place to counteract Fleetwood’s overload in the midfield area and provide even greater control/stop counter attacks but which also further exacerbated the lack of width on show.

On the right hand side in the first half Joe Ward was a willing runner as always but lacked support from Mason who demonstrated am surprising lack of desire to get forward. And while the arrival of Maddison brought greater threat of a meaningful final ball and creativity, it left Posh with two inverted wide players. Maddison is a player whose defining quality is his delivery from wide areas, and in Ivan Toney Posh have a player who should thrive on his deliveries. Since the arrival of Dembele however he has predominantly operated either on the right hand side or centrally behind a main striker. In both positions he looks far less of an attacking threat and on Saturday it was too easy for Fleetwood defenders to marshal him given their knowledge of his desire to cut inside to use his left foot. Finding a balance between allowing Dembele freedom to roam and cut in while also getting Maddison into dangerous crossing positions will be a key dynamic to Posh’s attacking threat this season. A switch to a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 should help in this regard providing greater cover in midfield areas allowing the full backs license to get forward, occupy opposition players and support attacks while also providing greater license for players such as Dembele, Ward and Maddison to take up dangerous positions higher up the pitch.