Could Our System Suit Against Derby?

So as everybody will be well aware next up for us in the league are Derby County at Hillsborough tomorrow, or today, depending on when you`re reading this piece. Gary Rowett`s side are one of a few that are looking to join Wolves in earning automatic promotion to the Premier League this season and they`ll certainly fancy their chances against us.

A lot of Wednesday fans are already writing us of ahead of the game and you can see why when you look at our current form and lack of goals scored. Derby are unbeaten in their last 15 Championship outings as things stand but they have only won twice in their last six games, dropping eight points in the process.

As many people will probably know, I do try and look for positives, even when it seems there aren`t any. At the end of the day we`re in the situation we`re in, we just have to try our best to cope and to come out the other side. I saw Jos in today`s press conference and you could tell he`s trying his upmost but there`s only so much he can do.

As I said, Derby have dropped eight points from their last six games. What I have noticed from that is that four of the points that they dropped were against sides who played with three centre backs. Both Sheffield United and Norwich City set up with systems that used a back 3 and wing backs, just like Wednesday do.

Looking at a few more of their results I noticed that Sheffield United beat Derby and so did Wolves, both when using a similar set up to us. Obviously, it isn`t just the formation that wins you games but it`s the players playing and the tactics employed but maybe Rowett`s side do struggle when a team plays in this manner.

I checked out some of the highlights from Derby`s game with Norwich and it did show that Norwich had a lot more of the play and the chances and this was also reflected in the statistics too. Norwich had 59% possession compared to Derby`s 41%, they also had 11 shots to Derby`s 7 and 6 shots on target to Derby`s 2.

While it may not mean much, it just goes to show that Derby got a bit lucky at the weekend. We need that bit of luck ourselves but if we can stay strong at the back and actually be a bit more confident in possession, we could and probably should cause the Derby backline a few problems. Nelson Oliveira spurned some great chances for Norwich and we can`t really afford to do the same.

The main Derby threat right now has to be seen as former Wednesday target Matej Vydra. It`s vitally important that we keep an eye on him and stop his wandering into space. If we can do that and show a bit more grit, there`s no reason why we shouldn`t be looking to take something from this game.