Tilly and Brush the master tacticians

[ElstreeBlue]

Yes, we rode our luck today at Chelsea, but of course we would always have to, as we did against Man Utd.

But can anyone who says Tilly (and Brush) are rubbish at tactics, please give your views on today's game and give credit where it's clearly due. No one will agree with every tactical move they make and we all have the ability to claim to be right because not every one of our decisions are under the spotlight like the manager's.

The move to play 4-5-1 half-way through the first half was inspired and - but for our inability to defend a set piece yet again - cut down a lot of the pressure. We could see from the stands that Grant and Sankofa alone were struggling to contain the frequent Chelsea raids down their left. Moving Revell to right wing was inspired.

And what about the triple substitution?

Well done Tilly and Brush - 10 out of 10 today.

 

[ElstreeBlue]

and just seen this by a Chelsea fan on the 606 thread -

"Well done Shrimpers manager Tilson for having the tactical nous to make 3 late attacking substitutions. Unfortunately our manager doesn't appear to be able to make any tactical decisions or if he does they they don't appear to be very good."

At least some other fans can appreciate the tactical genius on show today. Tilly and Brush played their best game today tactically. They couldn't go out and play attacking football. The defensive midfield worked well at stopping Chelsea (even though unfortunately two of our middle 3 midfielders seemed to invite wave after wave of pressure by continually giving the ball away). Plan B (4-5-1) and Plan C (the triple substitution) worked when the original 4-4-2 Plan A didn't.

Well done, T&B!

 

[chapperzUK]

The change from 4-4-2 to 4-5-1 saved the game in my opinion. We were being stretched in midfield and having Grant and Christophe in holding midfield roles allowed Macca to move forward. Great subs too. Barnard ran his socks off and got a needed and deserved rest. Well Played Tilly and Brush!

 

[Sharky]

yep, good shout

 

[sufcalways]

last time we made 3 subs in one, we got a late equaliser at Norwich!

 

[Yellow Army]

Laurent was a threat when he come on and made some good runs on the ball.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Laurent was a threat when he come on and made some good runs on the ball.

Turned Cole superbly and made him look the mug he is!!

 

[duncan bulgaria]

We have been crying out to play 4-5-1 away from home for some time as we need to be harder to beat away from home .

Yes we were under the kosh today and whilst it was always 1-0 like in every game you always have a chance and the subs that Tilly bought on were what we have been longing for ages . if we are 1-0 why play it safe . just go out and go attacking on sides and you'll be surprised as they may well crumble when you go at them like we did today , so credit where credit is due Tilly done well , but please do it in the league Sir Steve . please

 

[OldBlueLady]

We have been crying out to play 4-5-1 away from home for some time as we need to be harder to beat away from home .

Yes we were under the kosh today and whilst it was always 1-0 like in every game you always have a chance and the subs that Tilly bought on were what we have been longing for ages . if we are 1-0 why play it safe . just go out and go attacking on sides and you'll be surprised as they may well crumble when you go at them like we did today , so credit where credit is due Tilly done well , but please do it in the league Sir Steve . please

Yep, agree with that, of course it's hard on the lone striker but both Barney and Dougie are man enough to deal with it.

 

[Irate Ian]

Yes, we rode our luck today at Chelsea, but of course we would always have to, as we did against Man Utd.

But can anyone who says Tilly (and Brush) are rubbish at tactics, please give your views on today's game and give credit where it's clearly due. No one will agree with every tactical move they make and we all have the ability to claim to be right because not every one of our decisions are under the spotlight like the manager's.

The move to play 4-5-1 half-way through the first half was inspired and - but for our inability to defend a set piece yet again - cut down a lot of the pressure. We could see from the stands that Grant and Sankofa alone were struggling to contain the frequent Chelsea raids down their left. Moving Revell to right wing was inspired.

And what about the triple substitution?

Well done Tilly and Brush - 10 out of 10 today.

And in the Earls Court PH after the game I told James Brush to pass on our appreciation to his father for both Tilly & Brush's management and coaching partnership.

Supporters can see for their own eyes the year on year progression they have made together, in levels of fitness, discipline, performance, quality of squad within tight financial constraints and team spirit.

During the current transissional period, performance and results can only keep improving. The future looks very bright, providing RM realises quite what an asset he has in T & B.

When we take in that Clarky is the only remaining starter from the Man Utd game a little over 2 years ago, brings home realisation of the magnitude of re-building transformation that has occurred and is nearing completion.

Predict, Johnny Herd will be a £ multi million value and I hear that at least one other of our youngsters is very highly rated.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Yes, we rode our luck today at Chelsea, but of course we would always have to, as we did against Man Utd.

But can anyone who says Tilly (and Brush) are rubbish at tactics, please give your views on today's game and give credit where it's clearly due. No one will agree with every tactical move they make and we all have the ability to claim to be right because not every one of our decisions are under the spotlight like the manager's.

The move to play 4-5-1 half-way through the first half was inspired and - but for our inability to defend a set piece yet again - cut down a lot of the pressure. We could see from the stands that Grant and Sankofa alone were struggling to contain the frequent Chelsea raids down their left. Moving Revell to right wing was inspired.

And what about the triple substitution?

Well done Tilly and Brush - 10 out of 10 today.

It's also worth noting that the throw that the equaliser came from, was won by Laurent. His pace and ability to beat a man was just what we needed at that stage of the game as we were reliant on counter-attacks.

 

[Magnum PI]

If we had equalised earlier then Chelsea would have really gone for it, and probably grabbed one or two more.. the timing of our goal was superb.. Tilson left it till last 10 minutes to really go for it, which was amazingly brave, and the players responded with a very measured defensive performance..

We didnt really play that well, in terms of keeping the ball and passing, and we were often muscled out of it in midfield, but we were playing Chelsea on their own patch !

I think Tilson realised if we were still in the tie with 10 mins left, it was game on, and not many Premiership clubs can say that historically at Stamford Bridge. Spot on Sir Steve, and great interview afterwards on the TV.. I watched it at 3am completely ****ed and had to keep replaying it to see the cheeky grin

 

[Beefy]

I'm a big fan of Tilly's but even I have felt that tactically he wasn't always the best. Or rather, that it is his other attributes which have made him the success that he has been as a Manager rather than his tactical nous but yesterday his tactics were perfect. We rode our luck big time in the first half, their players were cutting through as at will and with the likes of Lampard looking like the World Class players that they frankly are we would have been dead and buried had things gone on that way. But he put the extra body in midfield which strengthened us and gave us an extra 'easier' passing option allowing us to retain possession better. The aim was clearly to keep it to 1-0 and then go for the equaliser in the last ten minutes. And it worked an absolute treat.

 

[Rayleigh boy]

player comments in the build up - "they are only human 2 hands and legs"

afterwards - "we had talked about their home record" "if we could keep in the game"

Tilson as a former professional player and experienced professional manager got his players bang on in the right place -

Steve Tilson piles the pressure on Scolari (who are you ?) with a home leg to come -
having done both Fergusons in recent years ....

 

[Irate Ian]

If we had equalised earlier then Chelsea would have really gone for it, and probably grabbed one or two more.. the timing of our goal was superb.. Tilson left it till last 10 minutes to really go for it, which was amazingly brave, and the players responded with a very measured defensive performance..

We didnt really play that well, in terms of keeping the ball and passing, and we were often muscled out of it in midfield, but we were playing Chelsea on their own patch !

I think Tilson realised if we were still in the tie with 10 mins left, it was game on, and not many Premiership clubs can say that historically at Stamford Bridge. Spot on Sir Steve, and great interview afterwards on the TV.. I watched it at 3am completely ****ed and had to keep replaying it to see the cheeky grin

And when we did outstrength them, it was a foul against us [apparently]

 

[OldBlueLady]

Every time I see the "highlights" on the ITV news and they show that first clip of Drogba I'm shouting "OFFSIDE" at the TV!

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

Not a critisism at all, but i was surprised as were all fans nearby why Freedman did'nt start, bearing in mind his experience and talking to team mates throughout, calming things down.

 

[BoyWonder2]

Tilson's plan worked perfectly. He started with 4-4-2 and then realise we was getting opened up everytime they went forward so dropped Revell wide right and pushed Grant in and it made us much more solid and harder to break down.

Also, the pairing of Barnard and Revell was a good decision. Both work harder than Dougie, and thats not a pop at Dougie, and kept working the back four when they had possesion and applied pressure to Cudicini when it was played back. Did anybody else think the plan was for Revell and Barnard to wear them down for Laurent and Freedman to come on later and exploit the gaps and take advantage of tiring legs?

Also, picking Sankofa over Francis was another masterstroke. Sankofa, because he doesn't bomb forward on every oppurtunity, make us more solid defensively.

Then there was the triple sub which worked a treat.

 

[Sussex Shrimper]

I think that it's really encouraging that Tilly has twice recently made really bold changes that have paid off. It's easy to forget just how young a manager he still is and that he'll add more strings to his bow as he gains experience. Let's face it, if he was already the complete package then he wouldn't be here.