First half pressing was not enough, says Dino
BURTON Albion’s players knew what they should have done to combat Plymouth Argyle on Saturday – but did not do it well enough in the first half, assistant manager Dino Maamria admitted.
The Brewers failed to copy with Argyle’s attacking options and were 2-0 down at the break.
It was better after half-time, as Albion moved from a 4-2-3-1 shape to match up with Plymouth’s 3-5-2, but they were only able to get one goal back, through Lucas Akins.
“It was a game of two halves and we were very disappointed with the first half,” said Maamria.
“We knew exactly how they were going to play.
“We knew they were going to go to a 3-5-2. The plan was to press them high up the field, almost our front three against their back three, and get our full-backs to their wingbacks.
“But we played a bit deep, didn’t press them enough and they played around us too much in the first half, which we were disappointed with.”
Maamria thought Burton did enough to rectify the situation to have deserved an equaliser but the closest they came was a chance which substitute Daniel Jebbison put into the sidenetting late in the second half.
After the break, Deji Oshilaja moved back between the two centre-halves to give Burton a threeman back-line, with full-backs Cameron Borthwick-jackson and Tom Hamer getting further forward.
“We changed shape and went to match them, with more up front, and I thought we dominated the second half,” said Maamria.
“We probably deserved the draw and had a great chance to equalise through Dan Jebbison, who was unfortunate not to score.
“But while we’re pleased with the second half, the first half was not good enough.
“Out of possession, we always have to press them and push them back. But we didn’t play any football in the first half and, in and out of possession, we were really poor up until half-time.”
The goal, at least, in which Burton retained possession for a good spell before Conor Shaughnessy’s pass found Lucas Akins in the middle of the penalty area to score, was how the management wanted to see their team playing.
“Lucas works really hard and he took his goal well,” said Maamria.
“It was a team goal, a well-worked pattern that we’ve been working on.
“I thought we did really well to work it from the back three all the way to the forwards and it was a good finish.”
The Brewers were also disrupted by losing Kane Hemmings to injury after 21 minutes and Maamria said it had been difficult to choose between him and Jebbison to start the game.
“Unfortunately, this is part of football but Jebbison came on and gave us some legs, some energy, and did OK,” said Maamria.
“Jebbo got a knock on Tuesday as well (in the Papa John’s Trophy game against Aston Villa Under-21s, in which Hemmings had played 90 minutes), a dead leg, so it was touch and go which of them would start.
“We knew starting Kane was a big ask and I think that’s caught up with him, after playing Tuesday night in those conditions. It was his first 90 minutes in a while.”
The defeat leaves the Brewers with a record of won four, drawn four and lost four, with three of the wins coming right at the start of the season.
“It’s a mix. We’ve had some very very good performances but we’re not consistent enough,” admitted Maamria.
“The changes in personnel because of the injuries hasn’t helped but we’ll work through that.”