Pearson reveals thoughts on City’s evolution this season
NIGEL Pearson says switching back to 4-3-3 halfway through the season was the most important change this season after it sparked a turnaround in form to help lift the pressure on his shoulders.
The Bristol City manager’s position came under threat around the New Year, particularly following the defeat against West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day, which saw a minority of supporters calling for his sacking.
Pearson has already spoken about how he went into “survival mode” during that period, maintaining a sense of togetherness that ensured dogged draws away at Millwall and Coventry - the catalyst to an impressive turnaround in form that saw the club go 12 games unbeaten in all competitions.
It was towards the beginning of that run when Pearson made a switch of formation at half-time during the FA Cup third-round tie against Swansea. City were 1-0 behind at the break but a change in tactic paid off as Antoine Semenyo grabbed an equaliser before City progressed with an extra-time victory in the second leg.
Reflecting back on the course of the campaign, with the final game of the season against QPR today, Pearson was asked about the most notable evolution in his side this campaign. He replied: “I suppose we’ve gone back to 4-3-3 which I like to play anyway and it suits the players we have.
“So, that’s probably been the most important change during the season, is the ability to go back to 4-3-3 and maybe the necessity of it too because we got to a point where we weren’t really creating too much and I think we’ve continued - not all the time to be creative - but
we’ve been in every game more or less and I suppose that’s something when me and staff look back at it, it’s encouraging but it’s also frustrating too.
“Because when we’ve been in every game you’ve got the potential to win it but we’ve not converted promising situations often enough. Those are areas that we need to work out, but as I’ve already pointed out, in the past we’ve either been decent and got a result or we’ve been unable to perform at the levels we’re looking for.
“Those are setbacks which are a bit more difficult to deal with and our fanbase would give you the better idea and that would be asking them how they feel and I think we’ve done pretty well with our season ticket sales so far.
“That suggests there is optimism but you can only keep people’s optimism simmering by improving
and looking to be brutally honest about where we are and how we get to the next level.
“So, the fans generally speaking have been pretty tolerant of our, not inability to push on, but they’ve seen, I think, some progress and there may be some sense of excitement in terms of what may be possible because of how many young players are coming through.”
Pearson also referenced his time at Leicester City as a comparison to building an identity at a club which can lead to success.
The 59-year-old took the Foxes from League One to the Premier League over two spells before pulling off the great escape before their top-flight title win under Claudio Ranieri.
“It’s really important we try and harness what’s positive at the football club by adding the right ingredients and that’s quite a sensitive
touch to be able to do that,” Pearson added. “It’s not about being heavy-handed and going out to bring lots of players in, that doesn’t really lend itself to developing what we’ve got here.
“I’ve worked at clubs where, I think it’s fair to say, every club I’ve worked at when I’ve left them, everyone has been in a better position.
“It’s not always about just the result, Leicester City would be a really good example of a club that had a very clear identity, I’m not sure you could necessarily say that now. Although Dean (Smith) going in there with Shakey (Craig Shakespeare), they’ve picked up some decent results and it’s about clarity, it’s about a simple message of understanding what’s expected on the pitch, all those things - I think we’ve moved forward in lots of ways but ultimately it’s going to be about getting results.”