The Premier League is so brutal and cruel that it will eat you up and spit you out if you don’t have a balanced game plan.
The new season for Luton must begin on Saturday against Wolves at home. It’s time to wake up for them since they have slumbered their way to the bottom of the table following four losses in which they managed only seven shots on goal.
The Rob Edwards team has shown a complete devotion to defense, but not nearly enough to offense. Better balance is required, and their season will be decided by a stretch of three games against bottom-five opponents (Wolves at home, Everton away, and Burnley at home).
Luton needs to let loose and display some of the character and attitude that first propelled them to the Premier League. More pictures. several crosses. Added headers.
They didn’t press high up the pitch against Fulham last weekend and there wasn’t enough attacking intent. Instead, they made a retreat to within ten yards of their own penalty area, allowing Fulham to control play, gain confidence, and launch a free-for-all attack.
Luton Town puts all of their effort into defense, but they need to attack with more vigor.
Jacob Brown was nearly acting as a sixth defender since he was so determined to track Timothy Castagne.
In the 5-3-2 formation used by Luton, Jacob Brown was playing up top with Carlton Morris and was so dedicated to pursuing Fulham left back Timothy Castagne that he was essentially acting as a sixth defender. When you give up attackers in that way, it becomes almost tough to hurt your opponent on the counter.
All of your hard work may be undone by one slip-up, which is what happened when Carlos Vinicius scored the winning goal for Fulham when Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski fumbled the ball. When Luton attempted to employ their front players, which was extremely infrequently, they had difficulties. However, the assailants were subsisting on leftovers.
Luton may learn from other promoted teams that made the transition to the Premier League. Thomas Frank, the manager of Brentford, was an interesting guest on Monday Night Football on Sky Sports. When they believe they can go after teams, Brentford plays with four at the back instead of five against clubs in the “top six.”
With a stretch of games against teams in the bottom five, perhaps this is the right time for Luton to abandon their use of a back five.
Maybe it’s time for Luton to abandon the back five at this point. They have the lowest percentage of possession (31% on average) in the Premier League this season, and they average just 206 passes completed each game. The ultimate goal for Luton is to ensure that they are superior to just three other teams and endure.
Burnley, who are remaining true to their principles under Vincent Kompany, have shown signs of life; now it’s Luton’s turn. The beginning of the season was not successful at Kenilworth Road. Neither has the team appeared to be prepared. But Saturday must be the game in which they display some attacking intent if they are to have any hope of surviving. If they intend to stay up, there is no time to waste.
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