Motherwell v St Mirren 16/09/2023

[joewarkfanclub]

20 hours ago, dinnae-punt-it said:

I felt like part of the problem on Saturday was not having natural width on the left. I was crying out for O’Donnell to be taken off so Spencer could move to the right, with Gent coming on. Playing a one footed right back at left back with no less than 3 left footed players on the bench capable of playing left back was daft in my opinion, even if we got away with in Spencer’s first couple of games. O’Donnell get caught out so often at the back post and his general distribution and attacking ability is really poor. Hopefully SK start with Spencer and Gent/McGinley/Wilson in the next game, even if it is against Rangers. Won’t happen though. 

I dont think Stephen O'Donnell has been anywhere near as poor as you say this season. Playing wingback certainly suits him way better than how he has been asked to play for us in the past and as a result his performances this season have been much improved. Unfortunately for him he has become a bit of a target when things go wrong and the goal on Saturday was not down to him. Blaney and Casey got their positioning totally wrong as both of them were marking no one causing O'Donnell (and Mugabi) to have to come in tight on the men in front of goal, as they presented the biggest risk of scoring. Unfortunately the cross to the back post is inch perfect and Tansers finish is sublime. But its no wonder SODs was going tonto at that point as he knew he had been hung out to dry.

On your general point however, I agree. Spencer is very right footed and would be far more effective on the right and Gent would appear to be the one who is likely to come in on the left when he is up to speed. I think that will give us a more balanced look in the wingback areas and provide the dynamism that makes our system more effective (as per last season).

I would guess at some point over the next few weeks something will happen to allow SK to make this change naturally rather than just throw SOD on the scrapheap again (remember he is our player and the other 2 are loanees). Thats just good man management.

Personally, I would have taken the chance to do it on Saturday with McGinn suspended and push SOD in one and leave Mugabi and Casey where they were. But McGinn will be available again for Ibrox and has been great this season so be interesting to see how SK approaches it.

I fancy he will stick with SODs experience to begin with and change it up later in the game to make sure everyone gets time on the pitch.

The good thing is you can see the future progression of the team aligning. Once it comes to fruition and we get Wilkinson and Biereth back fit it could be quite exciting times.