Blackpool's identity under Critchley

S

seanjmcginlay

Well-known member
Blackpool have been adaptable under Neil Critchley to overachieve and allow the club to build a foundation in the Championship.

Now the focus is on building a clear style and identity much like the top clubs in the country do.

Words from Critch on the work going on to build that and insight from John Stephenson's book on how he as Head of Football Operations sees the link between a playing style and transfer strategy.

www.lancs.live

Blackpool working towards a clear identity heading into next season

The Seasiders head coach has stressed the importance of improving the identity of his side
www.lancs.live www.lancs.live
 
What a fantastic read that was, very encouraging, I agree about the identity and playing to a system maybe the tinkering has been to develop the knowledge of what works best for us, I am looking forward to next season already, thanks for posting the link 🙂👍
 
I am very hopeful that our summer recruitment will be much more targeted acquisitions to fit specific roles and not players who can cover a multiple of positions. I expect an attacking CM, Wide player and a CH to arrive this summer as priorities. after that i would expect a RB as competition for Jordan and a striker (probably on loan).
 
Ok so Now we are going to see what is Critch's real idea of a football team. Nice!
Maybe as said above we can analyse 2 things:
-The tinkering was all about neutralizing the rival team's strong points so we could get some results. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't
-The use of 2 wingers/inverted wingers seem to be a must for critch, given that he always mantained them even when whe played 3 on the back (the so much critiqued 5-4-1 with Madine by himself)
so in my opinion those 2 wingers, plus the ball playing CBs and GK are part of that identity.
Will we transition into a 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 or keep the 4-4-2?
 
I think that's a good honest assessment from Critch. I wonder to what extent his view has changed over the period he has been in charge.
I'd love to sit down and have a chat with him over a cup of coffee or a beer.
 
Wizaard said:
What does having an identity actually mean? From his time here, I'd say he was very flexible on a game by game approach and often dependent on the opposition, rather than sticking with the same formation and structure, which is what you'd expect from having an identity.
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Agreed, but don't you think that's also one of Critch's weaknesses? (eg: Team selection and introduction of substitutes)
 
All of this goes to show is that sometimes results aren't everything in football and what is going on behind the scenes is as, if not more, important than the results you get.
 
Wizaard said:
What does having an identity actually mean? From his time here, I'd say he was very flexible on a game by game approach and often dependent on the opposition, rather than sticking with the same formation and structure, which is what you'd expect from having an identity.
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Our identity is thorough, professional, respectful, and nurturing. The tactics and selections are fluid but the players appear to know what they are supposed to be doing even in unfamiliar positions. I think our identity will become one of a team to be respected and feared, especially at fortress Bloomfield.
 
Wizaard said:
What does having an identity actually mean? From his time here, I'd say he was very flexible on a game by game approach and often dependent on the opposition, rather than sticking with the same formation and structure, which is what you'd expect from having an identity.
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Absolutely. Seems like a loads of bollocks to me, this identity thing. Another badge to wear?
 
voyeur said:
Absolutely. Seems like a loads of bollocks to me, this identity thing. Another badge to wear?
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Not really

Swansea for example have a clear way of playing and have done since the Laudrup days

Whilst Martin has only been with them for a short time you can see the footballing philosophy that he is trying to take on and implement

I would expect Swansea to be a big threat next season and it looks like the fans buy into that

The fans were great at our place even though they ultimately lost the match
 
Philbfctrois said:
Not really

Swansea for example have a clear way of playing and have done since the Laudrup days

Whilst Martin has only been with them for a short time you can see the footballing philosophy that he is trying to take on and implement

I would expect Swansea to be a big threat next season and it looks like the fans buy into that

The fans were great at our place even though they ultimately lost the match
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Yes I understand. But we do have a clear way of playing, it is flexible, as it should be, and we have a coaching system that is consistent and very thorough. We are highly professional, and players know exactly what they are doing. So identity is probably meaningless. I think. What else do we need? Swansea have an identity, perhaps, because they play exactly the same system every game. And bore the shit out of everyone. 🤠
 
voyeur said:
Yes I understand. But we do have a clear way of playing, it is flexible, as it should be, and we have a coaching system that is consistent and very thorough. We are highly professional, and players know exactly what they are doing. So identity is probably meaningless. I think. What else do we need? Swansea have an identity, perhaps, because they play exactly the same system every game. And bore the shit out of everyone. 🤠
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Didn't they score 4 away last weekend and haven't they smashed their local rivals twice this season

Really boring that 😴
 
Does one season in the Championship make you an established side?

I still think come the end of June we will be relegation favourites and will have a budget in the bottom third of the division.

Not overly worried about identity; I understand what it's saying and why - if we think we can impose our style of play on the opposition we should - but I'd hate to be such a purist that we don't have the flexibility to minimise the likelihood of defeat when it's called for.
 
I like the Billy Ayre version of identity….pride in the shirt, competing, playing football some football rather than relying on “a couple of gorillas at the back launching it up” and winning games.
 
Philbfctrois said:
Not really

Swansea for example have a clear way of playing and have done since the Laudrup days

Whilst Martin has only been with them for a short time you can see the footballing philosophy that he is trying to take on and implement

I would expect Swansea to be a big threat next season and it looks like the fans buy into that

The fans were great at our place even though they ultimately lost the match
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A philosophy of having constant possession and no threat whatsoever. Let's see how the fans react after getting beat every week playing possession football.
 
Wizaard said:
A philosophy of having constant possession and no threat whatsoever. Let's see how the fans react after getting beat every week playing possession football.
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I'm sure their fans are happy that they went away to their biggest rivals and won 4.0 under a relatively new manager

I only wish we had of done that against our local rivals
 
I reckon we still have to develop an "Identity"...a "Blackpool Way" of playing.
Yet...last year we got promoted out League One and it was a little unexpected.
Now we had to mantain that Championship status and I feel Critch had to tinker his way into some results that helped with that. As I said before...sometimes it didn't work, sometimes it worked wonders.
There are some players (and the manager) that signed 4 years contracts. I see there's commitment and a desire to transition into that identity. But it wont happen overnight.
Some things have to be put in perspective and given context
 
Philbfctrois said:
I'm sure their fans are happy that they went away to their biggest rivals and won 4.0 under a relatively new manager

I only wish we had of done that against our local rivals
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We had a bad game. Get over it. Any stick to best the boss with innit? Ignore all the success. We battered Preston at home.
 
Philbfctrois said:
Its not a stick to beat anyone with I'm just giving you an example of a club with a clear identity

Is that not what the thread is about?
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Yes and I am discussing it and I'm saying I don't particularly want Swansea's identity, and that we have everything we need in terms of "identity". Players who know their roles, good organisation on the pitch, professionalism etc. It's a non-topic.
 
voyeur said:
Yes and I am discussing it and I'm saying I don't particularly want Swansea's identity, and that we have everything we need in terms of "identity". Players who know their roles, good organisation on the pitch, professionalism etc. It's a non-topic.
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So you are just using my own example as a stick to beat me with

Got it ....
 
Philbfctrois said:
So you are just using my own example as a stick to beat me with

Got it ....
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Er no. Off you go again. If you were just giving us a club with an identity why compare their one away game with a local rival to ours> Makes no sense whatsoever. That's not identity, that's you grabbing a single stick.
 
WonderPool said:
I reckon we still have to develop an "Identity"...a "Blackpool Way" of playing.
Yet...last year we got promoted out League One and it was a little unexpected.
Now we had to mantain that Championship status and I feel Critch had to tinker his way into some results that helped with that. As I said before...sometimes it didn't work, sometimes it worked wonders.
There are some players (and the manager) that signed 4 years contracts. I see there's commitment and a desire to transition into that identity. But it wont happen overnight.
Some things have to be put in perspective and given context
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Absolutely spot on !
 
voyeur said:
Er no. Off you go again. If you were just giving us a club with an identity why compare their one away game with a local rival to ours> Makes no sense whatsoever. That's not identity, that's you grabbing a single stick.
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No you said they were boring to watch

I said winning away at your local rivals 4.0 isn't at all boring

I gave Swansea as an example as they are probably a similar sized club to us and they have a clear identity to how they play, probably more so than any other club in our league

You really need to stop trying to cause arguments all the time

Its fcuking tiresome
 
Philbfctrois said:
No you said they were boring to watch

I said winning away at your local rivals 4.0 isn't at all boring

I gave Swansea as an example as they are probably a similar sized club to us and they have a clear identity to how they play, probably more so than any other club in our league

You really need to stop trying to cause arguments all the time

Its fcuking tiresome
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Ha ha! How twisted is that?! 😆
 
clappers said:
I like the Billy Ayre version of identity….pride in the shirt, competing, playing football some football rather than relying on “a couple of gorillas at the back launching it up” and winning games.
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I like that 👍

If identity means values, hard work, developing talent, no knee jerk reactions, great.

If it means a single way of playing , no. We would then become predictable. Teams like Man City and Liverpool can be predictable because their players are such a high standard. At our level of budget, we can never attract players at that level, so need to keep the opposition guessing.
 
Tangerinemoss said:
I like that 👍

If identity means values, hard work, developing talent, no knee jerk reactions, great.

If it means a single way of playing , no. We would then become predictable. Teams like Man City and Liverpool can be predictable because their players are such a high standard. At our level of budget, we can never attract players at that level, so need to keep the opposition guessing.
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I wouldn't say being predictable is a bad thing in the case of Liverpool and Man City

Probably the best 2 club sides in the World currently

The budget doesn’t matter in terms of identity

Luton have a clear identity and are currently in the play off places with one of the lowest budgets in the league

Wimbledon and Sheff Utd of old also had a clear playing identity that brought them success as did Burnley who managed to punch above their weight for many seasons even qualifying for Europe

Leicester won the league with a clear identity

Swansea and Milton Keynes now have some of the best possession stats in the country

On the other hand look at clubs like Man Utd one of the biggest budgets in world football yet absolutely no identity, playing style or transfer policy

See also Everton

They are a right mess
 
How about we analyse, given that the season is nearly over, what where some key common factors of Critchley's tactics, the ones he doesn't tinker about.
-ball playing CB's and GK
-at least 1 defensive CM
-Inverted wingers who track back
-overlapping full backs

Now let's scrutinize our players in context with the physicality of the Championship
-First 2:got them
-defensive CM: got it, but we lacked an ofensive one
-inverted wingers: got them, but they are not natural finishers (eg:Salah, Mane, ex Messi, etc...),so you have to add that in the DC area. if they where natural finishers, we would be playing 3 upfront
-overlapping full backs: Gabriel is excelent at this, Sterling was it too. Hubby is more of a defensive one, and James hasn't quite filled the bill, so whe are lacking in that LB area. But Gabriel got injured and Connolly is not so offensive so how does Critch work this out? using CJ as a natural left winger (needing no overlap) and using Bowler or CJ as more of a Forward than a winger, but with tracking back duties (i think this is where John fcking Jules failed miserably).
Last but not least, CBs in this league are Tall and strong, but with better sense of positioning and experience with pacey players than in the Lower Leagues. However you still need to deal with them and as said in another post, you need a player who can recieve some bullying and recieve long balls as an option for relieving pressure or jumping lines

I can see an identity developing. I can also say that we need better players in some positions so this identity can be executed with superior presicion. And now these players will be more keen to come now than when we were recently promoted as then there was surely a sense of "try your luck".
 
Philbfctrois said:
I wouldn't say being predictable is a bad thing in the case of Liverpool and Man City

Probably the best 2 club sides in the World currently
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Being predictable isn't an issue when you have some of the best players doing those predictabe things

Sheffield developed a system and got promoted, then after some seasons they got relegated because they were found out, and didn't have the very best like city or liverpool.

Leicester had quality in that relegation battle bounded squad, and found a manager that played to their strengths and made them believe in themselves, much like when Holloway took charge of a 16th finish blackpool and took them to the premier league.

But leicester still competes in the Premier League and Europe and by no means is punching above their weight, because they managed to reinvent theirselves and have an identity of good scouting and high selling of players, not without a substitute aligned
 
I think we already have an identity under Critchley, as we have previously under our better managers- no Billy big bollox attitudes with a tight, happy squad who play and work hard for each other. It ties in with our supporter identity - singing and supporting for 90 minutes without getting on the player's backs.
As for style of play, we haven't the budget to have the clinical or skilled squad of quality players Liverpool and City have, and so have to learn to play different ways to beat different teams, which I think Critch is well on his way to doing well.
I'll be happy with 4 or 5 key signings which include a quality striker, play-maker midfielder, and strengthening both sides of the defence ( On the right, cover for JG) and seeing what styles fit our squad the best.
 
We play a distinct, and highly organised way. New signings have weeks of coaching to prepare them for it. We have as much of an identity as anybody really, do we not? We just don't have the players to perfect it yet across all positions. City and Liverpool have had time, and many millions, to get the players they want. But City are still after a striker cos they haven't got one, so are making do.
 
Junior_BentsPlatformShoes said:
I think we already have an identity under Critchley, as we have previously under our better managers- no Billy big bollox attitudes with a tight, happy squad who play and work hard for each other. It ties in with our supporter identity - singing and supporting for 90 minutes without getting on the player's backs.
As for style of play, we haven't the budget to have the clinical or skilled squad of quality players Liverpool and City have, and so have to learn to play different ways to beat different teams, which I think Critch is well on his way to doing well.
I'll be happy with 4 or 5 key signings which include a quality striker, play-maker midfielder, and strengthening both sides of the defence ( On the right, cover for JG) and seeing what styles fit our squad the best.
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We have an identity at the club but not a playing style identity

I do agree with you on some of that

We do try and sign players of a certain age with a potential re sell value we do have a close nit squad and fan base etc

I just dont think we have a playing identity and the manager has alluded to that in his interview
 
voyeur said:
We play a distinct, and highly organised way. New signings have weeks of coaching to prepare them for it. We have as much of an identity as anybody really, do we not? We just don't have the players to perfect it yet across all positions. City and Liverpool have had time, and many millions, to get the players they want. But City are still after a striker cos they haven't got one, so are making do.
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No i don't think we do

I've used both Luton and Swansea as examples

Both play football at polar opposites in terms of style but have a defined identity

We dont at the moment and the manager agrees and has said as much
 
It's the word identity I'm struggling with. Critchley is also guilty of using what is really a meaningless term, in my opinion. What he said was:

"It's something we've worked on and spoken about in terms of preparing our attacking situations better and then knowing what we're going to do in those situations. That comes through your training and we've got so much to work on, so much," Critchley told Lancs Live after defeat at West Brom.

"Our identity as a team can improve massively and it will, if you look at all the top teams in this country they all have a clear identity of how they play both in and out of possession and that's what we're working towards all the time and when you have that, the players know what is expected of them.

"It's having a process and that's something we can keep improving upon. It's something we didn't do well against Preston when we played them recently and again it's something we've not done as well against West Brom and that's probably why we've scored from a set piece situation because we have to make better use of the open play chances that we're creating."

As I said in another thread this morning, we need to improve our attacking play. Basically by actually passing and crossing better. I think that's just improving as players, rather than developing an identity. We may well use an attacking midfielder too. Is that a change of identity? Or formation. What do we mean by identity? Am I just old or something?!

Swansea's identity enabled them to take one point off us. So maybe we don't need an identity to beat them. 🤠
 
voyeur said:
It's the word identity I'm struggling with. Critchley is also guilty of using what is really a meaningless term, in my opinion. What he said was:

"It's something we've worked on and spoken about in terms of preparing our attacking situations better and then knowing what we're going to do in those situations. That comes through your training and we've got so much to work on, so much," Critchley told Lancs Live after defeat at West Brom.

"Our identity as a team can improve massively and it will, if you look at all the top teams in this country they all have a clear identity of how they play both in and out of possession and that's what we're working towards all the time and when you have that, the players know what is expected of them.

"It's having a process and that's something we can keep improving upon. It's something we didn't do well against Preston when we played them recently and again it's something we've not done as well against West Brom and that's probably why we've scored from a set piece situation because we have to make better use of the open play chances that we're creating."

As I said in another thread this morning, we need to improve our attacking play. Basically by actually passing and crossing better. I think that's just improving as players, rather than developing an identity. We may well use an attacking midfielder too. Is that a change of identity? Or formation. What do we mean by identity? Am I just old or something?!

Swansea's identity enabled them to take one point off us. So maybe we don't need an identity to beat them.
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I actually agree with Critchley on this and you still disagree with me

Identity is about all aspects of the club in footballing terms

From scouting, training and the academy, the systems and tactics the club uses, we are doing ok on some of the bits but not all as the manager wants and that's mainly the playing style

I'm sure given the Swansea manager has only been at his club for a few months they are well on track in the identity game, i actually heard an interview with Russell Martin the other day and he's a smart young coach who has not only bought into whats gone before him at Swansea he's determined to improve it by playing a set way throughout the club

I think they will be up there next season for sure
 
voyeur said:
Yes and I am discussing it and I'm saying I don't particularly want Swansea's identity, and that we have everything we need in terms of "identity". Players who know their roles, good organisation on the pitch, professionalism etc. It's a non-topic.
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Might it not be the case that when Critchley talks about an identity, he's actually meaning a football philosophy? We often refer to 'the Blackpool way' without clearly defining it. Ollie had the "let's score more than them" philosophy. It might have been naive but it worked to an extent. It also attracted Kevin Philips AFTER we were relegated.
As for the Critchley philosophy, I can only speculate. But, if it's anything like Liverpool and Man City then we might be in for a borefest. So calculated, so contrived and with only quick flashes of individual skill.
 
Philbfctrois said:
We have an identity at the club but not a playing style identity

I do agree with you on some of that

We do try and sign players of a certain age with a potential re sell value we do have a close nit squad and fan base etc

I just dont think we have a playing identity and the manager has alluded to that in his interview
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Aye - I guess Crewe for years had an identity, which also involved growing players and selling them on. It's a hard thing to do I guess - The identity of Liverpool under Klopp is a lot different to previous managers. I guess it's for the manager to have a vision and then implement it, which involves getting the right players in, which having moved up a level, is still a work in progress.
 
Junior_BentsPlatformShoes said:
Aye - I guess Crewe for years had an identity, which also involved growing players and selling them on. It's a hard thing to do I guess - The identity of Liverpool under Klopp is a lot different to previous managers. I guess it's for the manager to have a vision and then implement it, which involves getting the right players in, which having moved up a level, is still a work in progress.
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Yeah Crewe is a good example although they are going through a bad time currently they have managed to stay afloat by producing their own players and selling on for profits

They also have a good training complex and have a higher category Academy than many clubs in the Championship
 
Philbfctrois said:
Yeah Crewe is a good example although they are going through a bad time currently they have managed to stay afloat by producing their own players and selling on for profits

They also have a good training complex and have a higher category Academy than many clubs in the Championship
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Yep, until recently they've not done badly at all with tier set-up.
Identity needs to run through then, from Academy, to first team squad and then players brought in. It all needs to work together, and I'd hope Critchley coming from where he has knows how important a decent academy and training ground is and is pushing it with Sadler, along with the style of play he wants players to be able to slot into.
 
I think people might be reading a bit too much in to the quote, as said above it's probably alluding to how Critch has had to be more pragmatic than he'd probably like this season, that's the downside of the playoffs, if you win them you're already behind everyone else in the league so it's a more make do and mend approach, I would think the planning for next season started a while ago, or I'd hope so.

I would imagine that he's more than aware that the football hasn't always been the most exhilarating this season, but the club needed to stay in the division the best it could and we've done that superbly.
 
LeeCharlesTV said:
What a fantastic read that was, very encouraging, I agree about the identity and playing to a system maybe the tinkering has been to develop the knowledge of what works best for us, I am looking forward to next season already, thanks for posting the link 🙂👍
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Proof once again of work in progress Lee. It’s amazing how so many people just can’t see the bigger picture…
 
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