Tony Mowbray has explained his decision to bring on 17 year old Tommy Watson for his debut in the final five minutes against Huddersfield on Tuesday as we were pushing for a winner.
LOOKING AT ASSETS
“I just look at the assets of footballers, really. I don’t know loads and loads about him, but I’ve seen him play in a few U21s games and he’s trained with us a few times. I just think if you can face someone up one-on-one, and knock it on the outside of them, then he can run and get beyond people.”
MORE SPEED AND MOBILITY
“Put the assets on the pitch – that’s how I manage really. It’s about trying to help the players and help the team. The changes were about trying to help the team really. It was about trying to get more mobility and more speed on the pitch. That was all, really. It wasn’t about giving the kid his debut – it was about seeing the assets that he’s got and trying to use them to help the team get into a situation where we could create chances to score."
NEED TO MAINTAIN PRESSURE
“We didn't create many chances in the last five minutes. The top teams, when they need a goal, it’s like the Alamo, you’re camped in and can’t get out of your own box, never mind out of your own half. We have to be able to do that to teams. We have to be able to lock them in and push men on. We have to have quality, run without the ball, and slide people in. We have to make them just boot the ball out and create waves of attacks. We couldn’t really manage to do that against Huddersfield, and that’s why I think we just fell a bit short because, at our best, I think we can do that to teams.”
FELL SHORT
“We have to be able to lock them in and push men on. We have to have quality, run without the ball, and slide people in. We have to make them just boot the ball out and create waves of attacks. We couldn’t really manage to do that against Huddersfield, and that’s why I think we just fell a bit short because, at our best, I think we can do that to teams.”
