Talking Tactics: Morecambe vs. Notts County

Notts County secured a hard-earned point in their match against Morecambe on Tuesday, with the game ending in a goalless draw. Despite Notts County's sustained pressure, neither team could find the back of the net, with Jodi Jones coming closest when his volley struck the bar in the second half.

Notts County manager Luke Williams made three changes to the side that triumphed over Grimsby at Meadow Lane on Saturday, introducing Jim O’Brien, Aiden Baldwin, and Adam Chicksen into the starting line-up.

Notts County began the match strongly, controlling possession and asserting their dominance over their opponents. The away support was vocal in their backing of the team, spurring them on to greater heights.

Morecambe had the first half-chance of the game in the ninth minute when Adam Mayor drove forward with intent, but Chicksen was on hand to diffuse the danger and snuff out the attack.

Just five minutes later, Notts County had their first sight of goal when Baldwin released Aaron Nemane down the right-hand side with a well-timed pass. Nemane’s cross found David McGoldrick unmarked on the penalty spot, but his effort flew agonisingly wide of the post.

Notts County then enjoyed a period of sustained pressure and created a number of scoring opportunities. Matt Palmer found Nemane with a precise pass and the winger’s cross picked out Jones at the back post. Jones met the ball on the volley, and it crashed against the bar, much to the frustration of the Notts County players and fans.

As the game drew to a conclusion, it became more end-to-end as both teams searched for a winner. However, neither side could create any clear-cut chances and four substitutions from Williams were not enough to break down Morecambe's resolute defence. In the end, Notts County defended a Morecambe corner right at the death before the final whistle blew, signalling an end to proceedings.

Was the result fair? That's certainly up for debate. But one thing is for sure - both teams gave it their all in a closely contested encounter.

In terms of performance, Notts County looked solid defensively, although Kyle Cameron and Aidan Baldwin both made mistakes which thankfully didn't prove costly. In terms of possession, Notts looked like the far better team and passed the ball around well. A little more movement at times would have been beneficial, but overall their pressing was effective. The main issue was simply their lack of clear chances on goal. Notts played very well overall but need to put games like this to bed.

Morecambe were content to sit back and allow Notts to have possession for large spells of the game. They did pounce when they sensed an opening or opportunity to attack but overall were ineffective going forward. Defensively, they coped well with any threats they faced and limited openings for clear chances.

In terms of tactics, Luke Williams' approach gave Notts control of possession and worked well both defensively and offensively. However, John Bostock was largely missed from midfield despite Jim O'Brien playing quite well. The tactics worked to a degree, but there were aspects that could have been changed to create more opportunities. The fact that Notts struggled to score would suggest that while mostly correct, some in-game decisions could have improved things.

The officials performed well overall, with very little causing concern. They did well to keep the game flowing by allowing challenges that may once have resulted in free kicks to simply unfold. This was noticeable by the lack of added minutes at both ends of each half.

Up next for Notts is an away trip to Doncaster on August 19th. It should be a good day out for fans as Doncaster are a side much like Morecambe that Notts should fare well against. So far this season Doncaster have only picked up a single point after losing their opening two games.

In terms of how Notts should approach this game, it would be good to see Luke Williams play a back three consisting of Kyle Cameron, Richard Brindly and Aidan Baldwin. Adam Chicksen could come in at left wing-back with Aaron Nemane on the right. Defensively, this would provide a good balance between defensive responsibilities and attacking options.

Notts need to ensure that space is explored in such a way that allows them to find someone in an interlinking chain so that when an opportunity presents itself for wing-backs to exploit space they can do so effectively by putting crosses into dangerous areas.

It would be great if John Bostock returns to the starting line-up as he provides many options both defensively and going forward. With Matt Palmer pulling strings in midfield, this would hopefully allow David McGoldrick and Macauley Langstaff to move freely while being marked. If Notts can constantly shuffle around then there should be openings for them to get in behind Doncaster's defence.

Ultimately, Notts must create chances that bring their attacking options into play. More focus needs to go into feeding the ball to Langstaff as he is known to be a threat on goal. So far this season Notts haven't quite worked out how to do this due to the improvements in League Two defenders but working on this would naturally help and give other players a level of freedom that hasn't been seen yet.

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