Tom Jenkins discusses Zach Clough’s new status as a marked man and how we can work around it to our advantage
Talent is such a rare commodity in the lower leagues of English football where hoof-ball and big tackles are commonplace. Don`t get me wrong, I love a crunching challenge as much as anyone (probably more than most in fact) but watching someone with the genius to beat a player, play that killer ball or find that perfect finish is what we pay our money for. The problem our ‘talent` is finding at the moment is that instead of being celebrated, it is being shut down by the opposition. This tactic is likely one Zach Clough will encounter all season given the havoc he can cause if he is allowed to roam free, but how will he cope? So far he hasn`t managed particularly well but with all the attention on him, could this be the chance for the others hiding their lights to let them shine.
We have seen a similar situation to this before which concerned one Lee Chung-Yong. After his debut season, coming from relative obscurity to be our Player of the Year, he was well-known to Premier League defences who double-marked him like Clough is being right now. Needless to say he struggled but, let`s face it, the best would struggle if marked like that all the time. The point is: against the best teams you can`t afford to do this. They have someone almost as good who would then be left alone to do damage somewhere else and, with all the attention aimed elsewhere, they flourish. Johan Elmander was the man who did so at Bolton and I believe, this year, it is the turn of Mark Davies.
Sparky is very injury prone as we all know but while he remains fit we have to use him as effectively as we can. For me, this can be done easily with all the attention on Clough but also if Zach is moved position. Usually I would be a great advocate of the 4-2-3-1 formation as it has been proven to work. However, if we partner Madine and Clough we could get the best out of both of them and Sparky at the same time. If Davies is allowed to occupy Clough`s free role in midfield we can see both his creativity and flair come to the fore as he won`t have as many markers to cope with. Clough then is able to shake off one of those markers as both central defenders can`t occupy him given Madine`s presence. Thus we have both our most talented players freed up to do what they do best. Just as opposition tactics hinder them; their positions are doing much the same.
As I said before, talent is so rare that wasting it is inexcusable. Playing Mark Davies in holding midfield means you lose out on his key attributes and likewise having Clough in midfield means he is easily marked. I also question the logic of our best finisher being played further back. The thing that will set us apart from some teams in this league who utilise either just graft or just talent to get results is the fact we have the players for both strategies. For the time being, it is just a case of getting all the smaller parts to function as a whole. However, if it is done properly, we can make the upgrade from Fiat to Ferrari sooner than you may think.