Formation Theory
THE Boxing Day defeat at Wimbledon saw Argyle deploy a rare three-man defence to cope with the aerial threat of our hosts, most notably the towering James Hanson.
The changing formation also allowed manager Derek Adams to experiment with playing Ryan Taylor and Freddie Ladapo together as a strike-partnership.
“We thought that Hanson would cause us problems and we dealt well with him when he was on the pitch,” said Derek.
“We felt we would go with the three centre-halves, with one covering and not allowing them any space in behind. That proved to be correct, they didn’t get in behind us. When they did have opportunities, it was from a corner-kick.
“It’s always difficult for a wing-back and the role we needed them to play. They stopped their wide players from playing and that allowed our three central players to get on the ball.
“We had an overload in midfield and two strikers up top to try and give us that goal-scoring edge. We played the two because we’d changed the system to three at the back. We had Freddie and Taylor to play off each other and they got in behind.
It will now be an interesting scenario as we head to Burton Albion in Sky Bet League One on Saturday and how the Pilgrims will line-up at the Pirelli Stadium.
“They [Burton] have progressed well since coming down from the Championship," said Derek. "They’ve been able to get to the semi-finals of the League Cup.
“They’ve beaten us already this season in a close encounter at Home Park but we’re expecting a different game from that.”