Preston pre match chat

[Cjay]

Waited till tonight's fixtures before doing this.

A pleasing win vs Middlesbrough made for a pleasant warm glow.

An on paper very difficult fixture came through in pretty decent style.

Saturday will be a totally different test and in a strange way every bit as tricky.

An away fixture vs a side happy to sit back and be physical, on numerous occasions this has given us plenty of issues.

It is Preston at Deepdale and the return of Paul Heckingbottom.

A very early season appointment for the former promotion winner has seen a rather interesting season for Preston.

21 games under Hecky
5 defeats
5 wins
11 draws

26 scored
25 conceded, 4 in the cup vs prem opposition

They don't win many but as you can see, they don't lose many at all.

Have only lost 1 more league game than us since Hecky took over, and at home they have lost just once, same as us at Elland Road.

The obvious issue they have is they don't win enough to realistically progress too far up the table, but I'd imagine they aren't expected to and Hecky will be seen as doing a decent job.

In terms of eye catching results they aren't short.

Draw vs Boro, Blackburn, Burnley, Sunderland, WBA and Premier League Fulham as well as a win vs Watford.

However when they lose they tend to concede, 3 to Bristol City, Portsmouth, Millwall and Oxford.

In terms of tactics Hecky is a devoted disciple of Pep Guardiola and Johan Cruyff . . . . Ok he isn't.

It's as you'd expect.

They operate with a back 3 which often turns into a back 5 out of possession.

Width is provided by the wing backs as Hecky favours a two number 10 type formation behind a lone striker.

The 2 cms are generally holding midfielders, they don't provide much in the way of attacking threat as Hecky prefers to keep the centre of the pitch solid.

But they are a defensively solid hard to break down side who make life difficult.

They don't press, they will not care if Rodon and Struijk have the ball and exchange passes for 30 minutes, they won't move from the set defensive shape.

They keep it narrow, crowd the midfield and keep it tight and try and force teams down the outside and back themselves to deal with crosses.

They favour a long passing game offensively, lots of switches of play and passes into the channels.

Most long passes per game in the league, most fouls, most yellow cards and most red cards.

You get the idea.

If they attack its direct and they are very physical.

In terms of key players they are guaranteed to be missing an important one.

Leeds United loanee Sam Greenwood has become a vital player for Preston behind the main striker.

He has 4 goals and 2 assists and his set piece delivery is a key part of the arsenal.

He also plays a key part off the ball with his defensive contribution.

Unfortunately for Preston he is only on loan and is unable to play vs us.

The other key player to name would be striker Emil Riis Jakobsen, a big strong striker with 5 goals and 2 assists this season.

So they are a physical and resilient side who are one of the best teams in the league at frustrating so called better more expensive and talented teams.

But when they concede and lose they tend to do so by quite a few goals.

You suspect that 1st goal is key, score a goal and they have no choice but to push out.

For us then.

The usual questions on selection and such.

Amps?
Ramazani?
Piroe?
Bogle?

In a way Preston are our kryptonite.

A team who won't press much, certainly not in our half.

Who are quite happy for teams to go down the outside and keep it very compact in the centre of the pitch for that reason to limit space.

So we play extremely narrow in attack at times, we aren't a crossing team so it's going to be extremely tricky to create you suspect.

It's a potential banana skin.

Could DF do anything differently? More width? That sort of thing.

[andrewjohnsmith]

Great build up Cjay

Question on Bogle. If he's unavailable, I'm surprised Byram played 85 minutes. That would certainly be a concern.

Common sense says Ampadu gets at least the next week off before he starts. But who knows. He's a big part of how our defence lines up and team cohesion.

Piroe almost certain to start. Farke has only been using Joseph to rest Piroe for one game

Some rotation on the wings. Just because that's what he's been doing. And just because it's been a pattern for Farke, James having played 94 minutes, likeliest to be on the bench.

None of my calls - just predicting what Farke will do

[weasel]

Great build up Cjay

Question on Bogle. If he's unavailable, I'm surprised Byram played 85 minutes. That would certainly be a concern.

Common sense says Ampadu gets at least the next week off before he starts. But who knows. He's a big part of how our defence lines up and team cohesion.

Piroe almost certain to start. Farke has only been using Joseph to rest Piroe for one game

Some rotation on the wings. Just because that's what he's been doing. And just because it's been a pattern for Farke, James having played 94 minutes, likeliest to be on the bench.

None of my calls - just predicting what Farke will do

Would agree with your thoughts re Prioe and the wingers. I'd hope Byram is fit enough to do a 60/70 minute shift. I think we take him off more as a precaution than him not being able to finish the matches (and the injury 'red zone' for wide players being around the 60-70 minute mark). Then dependant on the score it would be Schmidt or Ampadu to replace him.

As for the game and it will be a tricky one. A team playing a style of play to frustrate us and the capability of them nicking the goal and then defending en masse. Preston beat us last season and only lost to a late winner at ER. Hard to know whether PH is doing a decent job as Preston were in and around the play-offs for most of last season but no doubt he will be highly motivated to get one over a team he clearly hates.

[whiteswan]

Waited till tonight's fixtures before doing this.

A pleasing win vs Middlesbrough made for a pleasant warm glow.

An on paper very difficult fixture came through in pretty decent style.

Saturday will be a totally different test and in a strange way every bit as tricky.

An away fixture vs a side happy to sit back and be physical, on numerous occasions this has given us plenty of issues.

It is Preston at Deepdale and the return of Paul Heckingbottom.

A very early season appointment for the former promotion winner has seen a rather interesting season for Preston.

21 games under Hecky
5 defeats
5 wins
11 draws

26 scored
25 conceded, 4 in the cup vs prem opposition

They don't win many but as you can see, they don't lose many at all.

Have only lost 1 more league game than us since Hecky took over, and at home they have lost just once, same as us at Elland Road.

The obvious issue they have is they don't win enough to realistically progress too far up the table, but I'd imagine they aren't expected to and Hecky will be seen as doing a decent job.

In terms of eye catching results they aren't short.

Draw vs Boro, Blackburn, Burnley, Sunderland, WBA and Premier League Fulham as well as a win vs Watford.

However when they lose they tend to concede, 3 to Bristol City, Portsmouth, Millwall and Oxford.

In terms of tactics Hecky is a devoted disciple of Pep Guardiola and Johan Cruyff . . . . Ok he isn't.

It's as you'd expect.

They operate with a back 3 which often turns into a back 5 out of possession.

Width is provided by the wing backs as Hecky favours a two number 10 type formation behind a lone striker.

The 2 cms are generally holding midfielders, they don't provide much in the way of attacking threat as Hecky prefers to keep the centre of the pitch solid.

But they are a defensively solid hard to break down side who make life difficult.

They don't press, they will not care if Rodon and Struijk have the ball and exchange passes for 30 minutes, they won't move from the set defensive shape.

They keep it narrow, crowd the midfield and keep it tight and try and force teams down the outside and back themselves to deal with crosses.

They favour a long passing game offensively, lots of switches of play and passes into the channels.

Most long passes per game in the league, most fouls, most yellow cards and most red cards.

You get the idea.

If they attack its direct and they are very physical.

In terms of key players they are guaranteed to be missing an important one.

Leeds United loanee Sam Greenwood has become a vital player for Preston behind the main striker.

He has 4 goals and 2 assists and his set piece delivery is a key part of the arsenal.

He also plays a key part off the ball with his defensive contribution.

Unfortunately for Preston he is only on loan and is unable to play vs us.

The other key player to name would be striker Emil Riis Jakobsen, a big strong striker with 5 goals and 2 assists this season.

So they are a physical and resilient side who are one of the best teams in the league at frustrating so called better more expensive and talented teams.

But when they concede and lose they tend to do so by quite a few goals.

You suspect that 1st goal is key, score a goal and they have no choice but to push out.

For us then.

The usual questions on selection and such.

Amps?
Ramazani?
Piroe?
Bogle?

In a way Preston are our kryptonite.

A team who won't press much, certainly not in our half.

Who are quite happy for teams to go down the outside and keep it very compact in the centre of the pitch for that reason to limit space.

So we play extremely narrow in attack at times, we aren't a crossing team so it's going to be extremely tricky to create you suspect.

It's a potential banana skin.

Could DF do anything differently? More width? That sort of thing.

Fantastic post Cjay.....Thank you. Some food for thought there.

[malcolmw]

Fantastic post Cjay.....Thank you. Some food for thought there.

Yes a bit of a banana peel potential here, a la Millwall, etc.

But it's one game, and I for one feel we're in a good place. The squad is quite balanced. I'd replace Joseph for Piroe to start.

Must keep the same back 4.

[CUSSIE01]

Spot on as always Cjay . Piroe and Bogle ( if fully fit) back in for me and stick with the rest who started v Boro. I’m more worried about this game than Tuesday especially if we don’t score early and if Preston score first it could be a long frustrating day.

[1964white]

The concern is Rodon & Rothwell who took heavy challenges on Tuesday night.

And then there is the fragility of Byram.

[Johnthewhite]

Although a win would be great (and we should be aiming for 3 points) I hope we don't push too hard early on as this is exactly what PNE want us to do, lose our shape so they can hit us on the break. If Rodon or Rothwell are struggling I would put Big Josh in for as long as his legs have got (must be at least 60 to 70 minutes) that would give us a bit more height for set pieces at both ends of the pitch, and abit of steel in the tackle as they are a rough bunch.
A draw wouldn't be the worst result in the world

[Jammy 07]

Great pre match analysis from Cjay and much appreciated.

This seems to have possible 1-0 away defeat written all over it so really we need Farke to try something different. What that looks like is down to him but personally I'd just like to see us mix our play up far more. So let's go route one sometimes and maybe that means Bamford has to start, certainly let's turn them round by playing more balls into the channels. This should result in a more 50/50 possession style game and then hopefully we can counter attack ourselves a bit more.

Of course we might end up on the end of a 4-0 drubbing like at QPR last season and then we'll all want to go back to the less risky side to side method of controlling the game.

[VinnysTattoo]

Friend of mine is a PNE season ticket holder.

Bragging rights would be nice for a while please.

The hated low block once more.

We’ll be relying on our wingers to stretch them out with Tanake and Aaronson darting into the box.

One of the most physical sides we came across last season albeit with a different manager.

[Jammy 07]

It's probably the right time to give Bamford his chance from the start especially as prior to the Derby game Farke did mention how well he'd been training.

Plus he usually scores at Deepdale.

[whiteswan]

I remember the cheating smiling provoking g*t getting Meslier sent off. Redemption time!

[1964white]

I'm expecting even more negative score predictions for this game.

[Jammy 07]

I'm expecting even more negative score predictions for this game.

Personally I think we'll win.

Comfortable 2-0 and go back to top of the league until Sheff U hammer Plymouth later.

[1964white]

Personally I think we'll win.

Comfortable 2-0 and go back to top of the league until Sheff U hammer Plymouth later.

I think so, too.

[The Subhuman]

Comfortable win

[Wes Lee Street]

Does an early kick off at Preston require a hotel? Will the players look out of sorts, or whatever term you prefer to describe less than stellar performances?

If so, we will be wondering what the root cause is - Early KO, Away games. (Lethargic performances in Home Games, Early KO may require a seperate thread).

Root cause possibility 3: "Could be Fireworks". An earplug specialist may be even more urgent than a Set-piece coach.

Re team selection, I hope Farke decides to "do what works". Starting line up very close to Tuesday night. Game time for Ramazani.

[GreennWhite]

We need this away win as our away form isn't as good as it could be. We have more than enough to win it, as long as the players show up and do the business that`s required of them.
Its another one of those games were we need to score first and make them try to come at us a bit. They don`t score many goals, averaging 1 per game so another reason why getting ahead early on is vital. How many chances will we make and not take ? we will find out soon enough