Goals All Round

Since arriving at Home Park, Adams has shown that he is not afraid to shuffle his deck and use different strategies on the field, in search of the winning formula in any fixture. That philosophy shone through in the Greens’ 4-1 win over Carlisle United, as Adams’ switch to a three-man defence at half time helped ease the Greens to a comfortable victory. 

“We had to try and dominate the game,” said Derek. “We were 1-0 up at half time and I just felt that we needed to get on top of the game, and get on and score goals. 

“We changed the formation a bit, it helped us, and we got the three goals in the second half to cement the victory. 

“We played different formations in pre-season: we’ve gone 4-4-2, a 4-4-2 diamond, we’ve gone 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1, so we’ve tried various different formations. We’re quite flexible as a group and as a squad, in that we can change formation from game to game, and half to half. It’s quite good that we’ve got that flexibility. 

“The same formation doesn’t work every time so you’ve got to be flexible, and we certainly are.”

That switch in strategy on Tuesday saw Gregg Wylde make way, even though the winger has made a significant impact in Argyle’s free-flowing attacks this season, scoring two goals – the same amount as Jake Jervis and Graham Carey. 

Reuben Reid also got off the mark with a strike against United, and Adams is pleased to see his ideology of goals coming from all areas of the pitch being put into practice by his side. 

“I think it’s important that when you’re building towards a season, you have other goal-scorers,” said Derek. “You need midfielders to score goals, and you need other strikers and wide players to score goals. 

“We’ve already got Gregg Wylde, [Jake] Jervis and [Graham] Carey as some of the top goal-scorers in the league, and that’s important. Reuben’s obviously got off the mark as well, so with his record, combined with the new players that are scoring goals as well, it’s important.

"Reuben has played in all the games this season, and it’ll be good for him to get his confidence and get back on the goal-scoring trail. He knows he’s still got to get back that match sharpness, and he’s working towards that."

On the subject of Carey, Adams said: “He’s created a number of goals already this season, and he’s scoring as well. 

“With that combined, he’s obviously been one of our top performers so far.”