Systems and Consistency

PILGRIMS manager John Sheridan feels the new 3-5-2 formation which has coincided with the club’s recent run of good form has helped his players develop...

...and feels it is one of the reasons his team is performing so well recently. He hopes it can help the players continue to perform, especially when second placed Scunthorpe visit in Saturday's Sky Bet League 2 match.

“It just enables Matt [Parsons] and Durrell [Berry] to get forward a bit more,” said John. “Obviously with three at the back they don’t have to play as defensively as they would at full back as their defensive duties aren’t at the forefront.

“In those positions. It just allows them to get forward a lot more. Matt’s good at that and so is Durrell when he gets in those areas.

“It helps that they’ve both got good energy, which you need to play in that position as you need the energy to go up and down. It gives them a license to get forward more, and it enables us to stretch the game a bit more.”

Argyle captain Conor Hourihane scored the only goal in Argyle's important 1-0 away victory at Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday night. His manager is pleased with his progress this season, and is urging him to maintain a high level of consistency.

Said John: “I think the consistency in his game is what I’ve spoken about before. He’s got to show more; there’s no point giving me two games out of five. I want a seven or eight out of ten, if he can give me that over a long period. That’s what good players do.

“I think he could score more goals. He’s got the ability to score more goals and I think the shape we’re playing at the moment enables him to get further forward. But getting more goals from different areas and one or two from set plays means  we’re a threat from different sources. It’s going to give opponents problems.

“It’s about knowing his strengths and weaknesses as I’ve told him and he knows that. As I used to be a player myself obviously it’s a bit easier for me to tell people what to do. I’m just giving him, Youngy and Dom [Blizzard], the advice to know what their strengths are.”

“It’s like Youngy; he’s one of the best passers in the division but I don’t like when he runs with the ball. I think it’s not his strength. It’s just one or two little things - bad habits I call them - we’re slowly getting them out of their game, it’s just about them becoming more consistent."