Lowe’s tactical changes pay off as Argyle end their poor run
RYAN Lowe has been criticised in the past by some Plymouth Argyle supporters for not having a Plan B tactically.
And it is fair to say that the vast majority of Argyle games under his management have seen them play a 3-1-4-2 formation, or very close to it.
Yet, recent evidence suggests that Lowe is now very much open to the idea of trying different tactics.
There was the 3-4-2-1 line-up for the 1-0 defeat by Ipswich Town at Portman Road earlier this month, for example.
Then, against Bristol Rovers at Home Park on Saturday, Lowe sprung a tactical surprise by setting up the Pilgrims to play in a 4-2-2-2.
That new approach paid off as Argyle ended a run of five successive defeats by beating Joey Barton’s Rovers 2-0, with striker Niall Ennis getting both goals.
Lowe said: “Every game is a challenge, every day is a challenge. I want challenges - I love it.
“Yeah, it was a little bit of a tweak, but we have done that the last two games if anyone has really noticed.”
Against Rovers, Argyle very unusually lined up in a back four with Will Aimson and Jerome Opoku in central defence, with Joe Edwards and Adam Lewis either side of them.
Tyrese Fornah and Conor Grant were two deep central midfielders, playing behind Panutche Camara and Danny Mayor.
That pair were given the freedom to get into wider positions, though, while Ennis was up front with 18-goal top scorer Luke Jephcott.
Lowe said: “In terms of the tweak, at times it looked like a three. At times it was a four. The two midfielders (Fornah and Grant) were holding in there.
“It was good, but that just shows the versatility of the group. When you lose a player you have to adapt and that’s what we did.”
Lowe made his tactical ‘tweak’ after anticipating how Barton’s Rovers would play.
That followed Argyle’s 5-1 defeat at Fleetwood Town in November, when Barton was the manager of the hosts.
Lowe said: “We knew what Joe’s team was going to do. They done it to us against Fleetwood.
“What did they do? They put three against on top of our three and pressed right from the front.
“They tried that today but couldn’t do it because we had four at the back and not three.
“We had players tucked inside and we got players in between the lines to get them out.”
Jerome Opoku will be banned for Argyle’s next two games after being booked for the 10th time in League One this season.
Opoku was cautioned by referee Trevor Kettle for a foul on Rovers’ striker Jonah Ayunga during what was a physical battle between the pair of them.
There were appeals from Rovers for Opoku to be sent-off in the second half after a challenge on Brandon Hanlan.
Kettle awarded a free-kick, even though Opoku appeared to win the ball, but took no further action.
Argyle manager Ryan Lowe said: “I had a word with Trevor, to be fair, because they (Rovers) were saying ‘Get at him, get him sent-off, he’s on a yellow card’.
“Look, some people do it, some people don’t. It is what it is.”
He added “That was a great tackle (on Hanlan), he got the ball. The linesman said he got the ball.”