Alan Tate's move into midfield holding role allowed Crewe to get foothold in game
Crewe Alexandra manager Steve Davis admits that he had to slightly adjust his tactics to get on top of Yeovil Town last night. The visitors from Somerset started quite brightly at Gresty Road, with our former Academy graduate AJ Leitch-Smith influential on the ball, but pushing the versatile Alan Tate in front of a more conventional back four allowed Crewe to dominate the centre of the pitch more.
Tate slipped back into the role, he played so successfully at Colchester at the weekend, to allow James Ness to push on and get closer to the forward pairing of Nicky Ajose and Marcus Haber.
minute strike.
thCrewe went on to create the better of the chances on the night and deservedly claimed the points thanks to Nicky Ajose’s 38
Steve told the club’s official web-site: “We looked at the first 20 minutes and decided to make a slight chance tactically and with our shape. We moved Alan in front of a back four and got the full-backs to tuck in more.
“It meant that they were not playing as wing-backs and had to play a bit deeper but I didn’t mind that because it allowed us to get on the ball and allow the three other midfielders to get us further up the pitch. It got Nessy closer to the forwards and allowed Anthony and James to support them around their box as well.
“It left us a bit more open for a counter-attack but we defended well and our midfield were disciplined enough to get across and halt their wing-backs. Having Jamie Ness up there allowed him to be more creative and to find the runs of our forward more.
He added: “I think we began to dominate the game after that and create chances and the goal came about after we had increased the pressure on their goal.”