Cheltenham v Crawley — Match Analysis
Football is back and was kicked off by a weekend full of EFL matches. Cheltenham and Crawley would have both been hoping for promising starts to their respective seasons. EFL sides can often look vastly different to the team from the previous season, especially in League 2. Cheltenham and Crawley have made 14 and 10 signings respectively, with more possibly to come.
With plenty of debutants, teams can lack chemistry and need a few league games to get going. Neither side looked very promising in their opening match. Crawley came out on top with a deserved win, but if Kevin Dawson had converted his penalty in the 73rd minute it would have been a very different feel on match day.
The Teams
Cheltenham kicked off in the 442 formation, while Harry Kewell’s side set up in a 352. Cheltenham Town fans were hoping for a 433 or 3 defender system but manager Gary Johnson stuck with the age-old 442 to start. Cheltenham started with defensive minded Tozer and Atangana in the centre of the park with Chelsea youngster, Jacob Maddox, and speedster Alex Addai on the flanks. Eight starting players were debutants, and five were also having their EFL debuts.
Crawley meanwhile had five debutants in their starting eleven. However, these five are very experienced players, several have played at a higher level. This showed as Crawley looked well drilled and produced some good moves. Whereas Cheltenham showed their youth with some poor decision making and Gary Johnson said they failed to manage the game well.
Cheltenham’s Midfield Issues
It wasn’t long until Cheltenham changed formation to adapt to the game. In their original 442, there was way too much space between the back four and the midfield. This was due to poor structure and awareness from the midfield to the space behind them.
Filipe Morais is an experienced playmaker who signed from Bolton this summer for Crawley. He’s played over 200 games in League 1 and provided 0.39 goals and assists per 90 minutes at that level. Morais was positioned behind the strikers and had the freedom to roam and find space. This space was between the Cheltenham lines.
As seen in this attack for Crawley. It starts from a throw in from the Cheltenham left back. Cheltenham then clear it and Crawley look to play out of their own half under no pressure as the Cheltenham strikers are both just ahead of their right winger. The Robin’s defensive line is very deep while the midfield is pushing into the opposition half, leaving acres of space between them. A simple pass to Morais sets them into an attack with a good playmaker running in space at the defence. This results in a chance with an expected goals of 0.45 and Flinders makes a good save to deny Poleon.
Again in the 13th minute, Morais is in space between the lines. A dangerous area to be in where he can receive the ball in space to shoot or thread passes into the box. Luckily for Cheltenham, in this case the ball didn’t make it to Morais until he dropped deeper.
Cheltenham changed to a 4141 and physical midfielder Ben Tozer dropped to occupy the space between the lines and McAlinden, a natural striker, moved to the right wing. This plugged a hole and defensive weakness for Cheltenham, but reduced the numbers they had up field. Target man Manny Duku was on the receiving end of many long balls, but with McAlinden moved to the wing he was isolated and had less players playing off of him.
Movement and Decision Making
The inexperience of the Cheltenham side was shown in the lack of quality in their passing. It felt like some of the players were still in preseason mode with sloppy passes and poor decision making throughout the match. Aden Baldwin stood out in this area in terms of playing long balls with no hope of succeeding. Nigel Atangana played poor passes in midfield directly to the feet of the opposition and lost possession too easily.
In this attack, Maddox attacked down the left flank. Crawley’s backline is compact horizontally, and vertically with the midfield. In this scenario, all Cheltenham players were very static. Maddox was on the ball and looking for options but had no attacking passing lanes available to him that could ignite a chance other than a switch of play to Addai who was in a lot of space. He attempted the pass to McAlinden but it was intercepted easily by Payne.
Throughout the match Cheltenham struggled to create quick play and penetrate the Crawley defence. Jacob Maddox and Alex Addai were the only ones able to create much. Maddox is a raw player and very talented. This was his first exposure to men’s football and it will take time to adapt. His clean ball control and clear intention to create chances will be key for Cheltenham. He was allowed to play with freedom and roamed into space but could make himself more available for passes.
Crawley’s Defence
Crawley were the better drilled team with good structure. They looked like they were a team and the result showed this. Their 352 worked really well for them. Young and Doherty worked tirelessly as wing backs operating at both ends. Morais roamed and was the creator behind Palmer and Poleon. Payne and Bulman supported the attack and sat deep in defence, limiting Cheltenham’s attacking options well.
When Cheltenham were able to get close to the box, the player was often swarmed by Bulman, Payne and one or two centre backs. The three centre halves became very compact when the ball entered dangerous areas and were able to block long shots and prevent a dribble into the box.
Conclusion
Substitutes were important and influential for Cheltenham. Baldwin, who I thought struggled, was brought off for a more attacking Ryan Broom who is more comfortable in possession. Broom was able to receive the ball from Flinders and progress the ball up the flank and join the attack. Experienced Kevin Dawson and fast dribbler Kalvin Lumbombo Kalala were put on the flanks. Kalala looked like the Robin’s main attacking threat in the 20 minutes he was on the pitch and won their penalty. I’m sure he’ll be starting next week.
Overall, Crawley came out deserved winners. It’s disappointing for Cheltenham who had both first choice full backs missing and still haven’t brought in a striker who can reliably replace the goals from Mo Eisa from last season. They need time to gel as a team and may take a few week to get to full speed and get the results they want. Crawley looked solid and could be on for a decent season. It’s early to judge but they should be safely in mid-table at the end of the season.
