Danny Cowley lifts lid on reasons behind shock Portsmouth system change as gutsy Blues battle back to claim remarkable Fleetwood point

Danny Cowley revealed the reasoning behind his surprise Pompey ‘small tactical tweaks’.
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And he doesn’t believe ditching his back three was responsible for this afternoon’s dramatic 3-3 draw with Fleetwood.

The Blues boss made four changes for the Fratton Park clash, dropping Louis Thompson and Aiden O’Brien, despite both netting in Tuesday’s 2-1 win at Shrewsbury.

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For the first time since November 20 against AFC Wimbledon, he also selected a back four – a run of 16 games using wing-backs.

Aiden O'Brien grabs a leveller five minutes into time added-on in dramatic 3-3 draw with Fleetwood. Photo: Barry ZeeAiden O'Brien grabs a leveller five minutes into time added-on in dramatic 3-3 draw with Fleetwood. Photo: Barry Zee
Aiden O'Brien grabs a leveller five minutes into time added-on in dramatic 3-3 draw with Fleetwood. Photo: Barry Zee

However, Pompey found themselves 3-0 down after 41 minutes during a dreadful first-half showing.

Nonetheless, they showed tremendous character to fight back and claim a remarkable point, through goals from Ronan Curtis, Marcus Harness and substitute O’Brien.

Cowley told The News: ‘That was two points lost and we were masters of our own downfall.

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‘I know you guys love talking about systems, but it wasn’t too much of a change for us, just a little tactical tweak.

‘Danny Andrew is very, very good with his left foot, a very good crosser, and we wanted to make sure that we played Marcus a little higher to prevent that.

‘We worried about him being able to get crosses into the back post to Ellis, who we knew would be a big threat. That just meant Hayden would play a little wider.

‘When we watched Fleetwood against Shrewsbury recently, Shrewsbury played a back three and they left a middle centre-half on the ball, like Charlton did to us, and we just wanted to avoid that.

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‘They were just a couple of small tactical tweaks, I wouldn’t really call it a system change, we didn’t really feel like it was a three to a four.

‘Hayden was going to play as an inverted right-back, we wanted to get Marcus on the touchline, on the other side we wanted Denver around Ronan, they are the tactical tweaks that you make.

‘You have to remember that football is a game where you are playing against an opponent.

‘Each week the opponent changes and each week the opponent brings different strengths and has different weaknesses – and it’s our job to tactically organise a team to exploit that.

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‘We conceded three really poor goals and have to go away and look at that. It’s not me blaming the players because I select the players and I coach the players.

‘We all take responsibility.’

Anthony Pilkington and Harrison Biggins put Fleetwood 2-0 up after just 15 minutes.

The situation worsened through Paddy Lane’s fierce finish four minutes before half-time, prompting some fans to walk out of Fratton Park.

But Cowley’s men found a way back, with the leveller arriving five minutes into time added-on.

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He added: ‘We are very disappointed with the way we started the game against the ball.

‘I think we started okay in possession, but out of possession was nowhere near good enough.

‘First contact, second balls, defensive one-v-ones, we were really, really short and, as a consequence, they scored with three of their only four attacks.

‘That gives you a mountain to climb, credit the players for the character and spirit they showed, it would have been very easy for us to go under.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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