Hasselbaink sees need for Albion to improve when they’re on top
BURTON Albion kept up an unwanted record on Friday night when they had more of the ball than their opponents and did not win the game.
The 1-1 draw at home to Cheltenham Town was only the fourth game of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s second tenure in which the Brewers have shaded possession (56% in this case) and they now have three draws and a defeat from those games.
Hasselbaink is not one for dwelling on sequences but he recognises the area in which his team needs to improve – it is when they are dominating the ball.
He built last season’s great escape on being rock solid in defence, organised and able to hurt teams on the counter and, as they showed against Sunderland and Ipswich Town especially, the Brewers are still exceptionally good at that.
But the manager knows they will need to conquer more than one style of play to challenge for promotion and that it is now, tactically, his priority.
“We need to work a little bit harder with the ball and get a little bit more confidence with it,” said Hasselbaink after the game, before comparing the two styles.
“The players have the freedom from me but it’s about changing their game,” he said.
“When you’re not having the ball a lot, you need to be right and not to be broken down, then, the times you have the ball, can you hurt them?
“Now, when we have more of the ball from the back, we need to play through them and that’s the hardest thing in football. You need to make the right decisions and the ball needs to go quicker to put them in trouble.
“At times, we were way too slow with the ball but that is the learning curve, the growing thing.
“We also need to make sure we play from a platform, so we don’t get hurt if we lose the ball.
“It’s only five games and it’s always a rollercoaster. It’s about being calm, giving them the confidence to play, making them believe they are good players and making them understand they could do a lot more in different kinds of games.”
Hasselbaink started 4-4-2 for the first time this season, with Omari Patrick and Lucas Aklins both up front and Joe Powell and Jonny Smith on the flanks.
But they were first disrupted by an early injury to Michael Mancienne – there are now as many central midfielders out as strikers – and soon reverted to their more familiar 4-2-3-1.
“I thought it was the right time to do it (4-4-2),” said Hasselbaink. “It didn’t go as well as we thought but we tried it. “We were on top, we started well, but then Mancienne came off and we needed to change, bringing Bryn Morris in who is not really ready to play that long.
“If I hadn’t brought Bryn on, I would have had to bring Joe Powell back and he was excellent, so I didn’t really want to do that.
“We asked Bryn if he could do 60 minutes, then the last 20 we could go more attacking. But we lost the momentum. I had to (go back to 4-23-1).”
In many ways, Cheltenham played as we have become accustomed to seeing Burton play. They were very organised and, having taken the lead when Ryan Leak’s attempted clearance fell kindly for Callum Wright to produce an excellent finish from 20 yards, settled to protect their lead and catch Burton on the counter.
It took a moment of magic from Jonny Smith to get the Brewers back into it. He had very little room to work in when he chased and collected the ball near the right corner flag but evaded his marker sufficiently to send in an excellent cross.
Perhaps substitute Aaron AmadiHolloway should have headed it in but the fact that he missed it wrongfooted the defence and Lucas Akins was unmarked to put away a header that arrived awkwardly for him at the back post.
“It’s disappointing that they scored from a long ball. They had one shot on goal and they scored,” said Hasselbaink.
“Everyone looked at themselves and that was a problem, we didn’t anticipate the second ball enough.
“The second half was better, we got on top and into good areas. We scored a really good goal and I thought there was more in there for us but Cheltenham are a very difficult team to break down. Their organisation is really good.
“But, after that, we couldn’t really get them in enough trouble to go on and get that second that we needed.
“We tried to force it but it didn’t happen.
“Cheltenham are a very difficult team to breakdown. It was a game in which we had to break them down – and not give them a leg up because that makes it even harder.
“Normally, against them, if they get 1-0 in front, you don’t get back. We got back – that’s good.”
We need to work a little bit harder with the ball and get a little bit more confidence with it. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink