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Opinion: Consistency of Selection Is Key

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For everyone that thinks that football manager on the PC is lifelike, I would just like to convince you that this is not the case. It’s not even about putting two players next to each other in the same side that are world class in terms of their individual skills. To be a successful manager, it is about building partnerships within the team in order to give the players the understanding with each other that is needed upon making decisions in a game situation.

For example, if Spector has had a bad game at centre half with Morrison by his side, I don’t think it is beneficial to drop him for the next game. Partially this is due to the fact that each game is different and one bad game doesn’t define a player. But I also think that is will be very detrimental to the running of the defence. You can’t just keep swapping players around even if they have a bad game or if they aren’t the greatest player in the world as it’s all about building relationships.

Yes, you still need a high skill level and we can’t have players scoring own goals every kick of the ball. I’m not saying that we don’t need quality players. But that is decided in the buying and selling stages of the clubs season rather than in the decision making process of who is in the squad. So what I am trying to say is that I don’t like how often the team is changed.

Injuries happen, yes, and they are part of the game that we just have to accept. I fully understand that and I am aware that we don’t live in a perfect world. But, the thing that I don’t like, is when managers switch things around for the sake of it. The main reason why I have brought this up is due to the goalkeepers. I personally think Tom is at fault for the goal at the weekend in which Huddersfield scored against us. If he had not conceded that, then we would have taken home 3 points rather than just the one. It is these fine margins that will take us up the league to compete with the high fliers. Now, when Tom was injured, I think that Legzdins did a great job in goal. It took him a while to find his feet but I think he created a good relationship with his defence and this helped to secure up the back four as they had confidence in him.

By bringing Tom virtually straight back in after his injury, it means the defence have to adapt and therefore everyone is taking on a difference style of play. It is the same if a different strike partner is chosen for Donaldson. He will take time to adapt his game to someone else and by doing this, it is hard to get things clicking. So for me, we have to keep a consistent line up. It doesn’t matter who we play or where we play. We should dictate how the other team line up rather than the other way around.

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