chadlad

He was arguably our best attacking player last night

Agree switch Bird back and Hourihane into advanced role.

Bird needs to go to playing deeper again where he is much more effective and not as a number 10. I woule rather Hourihane as a number 10 but he would be better behind a front two for me. Washington and Waggy would be a hard working front two who would at least get about.

Wigan’s No8 was a young slightly built player making his 1st team debut. Bossed the game I thought.

I also thought Nelson looked the best of the 3, especially in the 2nd half. Don’t think a 3 suits Cashin who seemed to play more as a LB.
Bradley & Nelson as our two CB’s in a back four, would be the better option for me.

Well, after 13 hours of overall travel, I have arrived back on the south coast having experienced 102 minutes of ‘live Warneball’.  My previous viewing of Warneball has all been from the comfort of my armchair, thank god.
Now, as a few might have picked up, I am not a great fan of Warne, but we didn’t lose yesterday because of him, we lost because two stupid avoidable mistakes gifted Wigan their victory. Equally I could see some sense of system/play yesterday - the players had been pretty well drilled, and seemed to give their all for the coaching team. They all tried hard (except NML) to press out of possession, and out of possession I thought we generally played well, particularly when we had some time after attacking to get ourselves back in to a 442 shape; e.g. from Wigan goal kicks or where Wigan didn’t try to quickly counter.
The problem we had was that our two best pressers, Collins and Bird, I think ended up nullifying their overall effectiveness to actually do what their roles in the team actually were. They ran themselves ragged. The other problem was where Wigan did counter at speed when we lost possession up the field, our 352 (or3421) was so easily played through/bypassed because we left huge gaps for them to run in to, and we had no one with pace to help recover the situation. Bradley in particular looked like he was towing a caravan, but Hourihane, Smith, Cashin and Nelson looked painfully sluggish given it was the first game of the season. 
The squad we had last season, and the one recently assembled, still does not suit a pressing system, nor a 352 when we are being attacked. Not sure Waghorn, Rhodes, or a new No. 10, are going to address that problem either. I think the current squad assembled would be better playing 442, or any other system as long as we had 4 at the back. If Warne insists on playing 3 at the back, we need someone with both pace and energy to do the dirty work in front of them.
I am boring myself, so won’t type on. But in summary not sure I will be rushing up to Derby again too soon, especially where we are playing teams occupying one of the top 10 positions in the league. I can see us again this season not winning against a lot of those better teams based on the set-up Warne prefers to play.

If I were Max I would be off to Hull pdq, a Manager and Assistant who know him well and no doubt appreciate his attributes.
Let me say that Max Bird is NOT a number 10, but he is a very good defensive midfielder with the vision to play a killer pass.
I don’t understand why we would try to convert him into an attacking, pressing number 10. Play your best players in their best position- it’s not rocket science!
 

Wigan’s No8 was a young slightly built player making his 1st team debut. Bossed the game I thought.

Wigan’s No8 was a young slightly built player making his 1st team debut. Bossed the game I thought.

Wigan’s No8 was a young slightly built player making his 1st team debut. Bossed the game I thought.

Exactly this. 
Wigan we’re also much more snappy at moving the ball across their back line and had a slick passing game. PW talked about wanting the former in pre-season and I don’t think the blame can be laid fully at his feet if the players aren’t following simple instructions.
Wildsmith takes an age to restart, when there are often options to get us on the front foot quickly, and that sets the tone for a slow transition from the back to the midfield or wingbacks. Maybe if we were a bit quicker here Collins wouldn’t feel the need to keep dropping so deep or wide to help out?
On the upside our goal came from the opposite wing back being in the box , and it was lovely to see Fozzy score our first goal of the season with a super finish. He was unlucky not to add to it from great cross by Nelson. 
 
Disappointed? Yes. Downhearted? No!

This forum: "Max Bird needs to get more assists."
Max Bird: *Gets assist in the first game of the season*.
This Forum: "Oh no, not *those* kind of assists"

Love watching bird play. Think with better players around him he’d not look out of place. Wasted at 10. 
 
A real shame it’s getting to this point with the fans and a local lad. 

As an Academy graduate I think that Max is very under appreciated by the average Derby fan. Even overheard one  say that Korey Smith is a better player!

For me Smith is nowhere near good enough, he waves his arms around a lot but achieves very little. If Warne seriously thinks that Smith is better than Bird in CM, and that Bird is a number 10 then I am really concerned about his ability to manage our football club.

Against Wigan it seemed that the two wide CD’s were often too wide due to the wing backs playing high up the pitch. This left SB as the lone CD. Playing a back 4 may have prevented Wigan’s 1st goal with a covering CB, in my head I have Cashin stepping in to whip the ball of their attacker.A little later on in the game a big hole again appeared in the centre of our defence, giving Wigan a great 1v1 opportunity from which they should have scored.
My take on it is that 3 at the back is quite a difficult system to play and we actually looked much more comfortable later on when we reverted to a back four. Just my opinion…
 

Against Wigan it seemed that the two wide CD’s were often too wide due to the wing backs playing high up the pitch. This left SB as the lone CD. Playing a back 4 may have prevented Wigan’s 1st goal with a covering CB, in my head I have Cashin stepping in to whip the ball of their attacker.A little later on in the game a big hole again appeared in the centre of our defence, giving Wigan a great 1v1 opportunity from which they should have scored.
My take on it is that 3 at the back is quite a difficult system to play and we actually looked much more comfortable later on when we reverted to a back four. Just my opinion…
 

Yes and let’s play him in a different position that obviously doesn’t suit him and play Smith in his position who is bang average at best.

After today i think its fair to say we need at least another cm.
I dont get the bird playing higher up thing either to be honest. If hes got to where he is now being a half decent holding midfielder why would we try change that? Its clearly not his skillset

As an Academy graduate I think that Max is very under appreciated by the average Derby fan. Even overheard one  say that Korey Smith is a better player!

3 at the back can absolutely work.  But if helps if you have two things…
A plan of how to attack and exploit the oppositions weaknesses You have pace (across the team but) particularly in your back line that get’s you out of the poop when teams sit in, invite you to push on and hit you on the break  

Yes but apart from all the examples on here, has anyone ever won anything with 3 at the back! 

If I were Max I would be off to Hull pdq, a Manager and Assistant who know him well and no doubt appreciate his attributes.
Let me say that Max Bird is NOT a number 10, but he is a very good defensive midfielder with the vision to play a killer pass.
I don’t understand why we would try to convert him into an attacking, pressing number 10. Play your best players in their best position- it’s not rocket science!
 

As an Academy graduate I think that Max is very under appreciated by the average Derby fan. Even overheard one  say that Korey Smith is a better player!

As an Academy graduate I think that Max is very under appreciated by the average Derby fan. Even overheard one  say that Korey Smith is a better player!