Finn Harps vs Bohemians. A closer look at Finn Harps asymmetrical formation.

 

Nursing the final pint I'd have pre-match, my phone vibrated, bringing me the Finn Harps team news. I had a quick glance at it and noticing the lack of defenders in the side, wondered what way the team would line up for the game.
When the team lined out, It looked like a 3 at the back formation with Ryan Rainey operating as a right wing back, however, there was no left wingback partner, or even a full back.
Here is my take on the asymmetrical formation that Finn Harps used on Friday night.

Starting Line up .

This is roughly the set up that Harps kicked off with and looked to revert to throughout the game.
On paper, it looks pretty unorthodox and quite exposed in parts.
With Regan Donelon injured and no recognised left back in the side, I feel this set up provided Harps with a solid foundation rather than playing someone out of position in the left back or left wing back role. 
When we take into account that Bohs lined up with Ali Coote on the right, a talented player who likes to effect the game by drifting off his wing into central areas, this move forced him to stay wide and reduced the impact that he had on the game.

Formation Transition.

This animation shows how Harps moved between starting formation, defensive formation and attacking formation against Bohs.
The transition from a 3 at the back to a 4 would be triggered by Carillo making the move to cover the area usually occupied by the left back. When he moved, Webster and Boyle both moved with him, taking up the centre back positions and Rainey dropped back into the right back position.     
It was a very effective tactic, devised by necessity likely, but made possible by the players at Ollie's disposal. Carillo's pace meant he was the perfect centre back to cover such a space, and the versatility of Boyle and Rainey allowed for the seamless transitions between positions and formation.  
When in possession and looking to attack, Rainey pushed further on and depending on the space, either inside to create an overload in midfield or down the right if Hery was more central.
This overload helped Harps get a firm foothold in the midfield battle.

Defensive Formation

It looks pretty standard when you see it in picture form, but the video above shows the clever movement used to plug any gaps in the defence.

The obvious space down the left due to their being no left back meant that Bohs often tried to exploit that area in behind.

This though was planned for and invited by the set up, with Carillo and then Slevin on hand to clear the danger.

The benefit of this set up was that if Bohs did get Coote in behind and into a crossing position, Harps would still have three defenders in the box ready to deal with it.

With the three defenders knowing the space that they were each responsible for covering, it allowed Harps to dictate that Bohs would attack mainly up the right and comfortably defend crosses from that side. 
One of the most obvious times that this scenario played out was actually Promise's goal.

Rainey was in the perfect position to deal with the cross but probably went with his wrong foot, his clearance took an unfortunate deflection off of Boyle and sat up nicely for the Bohs striker to finish.

It was a poor goal to give away and I'm sure Ollie will be disappointed.

In saying that, there was nothing wrong with it from a tactical point of view and aside from the goal, Bohs were limited to shots from distance, bar a late effort from Promise that Rainey cleared from the six yard box.

Attacking Formation

When in possession, Harps tried to push higher up and play a patient game across the midfield. Without any real natural winger on, they aimed to break Bohs down by playing through the middle or hitting the occasional ball up the right for Yoyo or the left for Milhajovic to chase, with the hope of pulling their defence out of position.
Harps didn't create too many chances throughout the game but any that they did create, came about as a result of having a spare man in midfield.
When in possession Rainey operated between the right wing back and central midfield area, allowing both N'Zeyi and Connolly to push up more. We saw N'Zeyi find himself as the spare man on the edge of the box in the 10th minute when his shot on goal was well blocked.
Harps goal came about from this attacking set up. McNamee and Hery had swapped sides and after some patient lateral passing, Connolly took a risk on pushing forward and got on the end of a one-two with Hery before magnificently firing the ball into the top corner. 
It was a well worked goal but looking back at it, the Bohs defenders were very slow to react to Connolly's run. They seemed to be expecting a deep cross from Hery and were caught out by his clever pass instead.
It was a frustrating night for both strikers who did a lot of thankless running.
We did see the midfield overload creating opportunities just before the equaliser when the ball was overturned high up the pitch and Mahdy played Milhajovic through on goal. His touch ran away from him though and Talbot was quickly out to clear it away.
Once Harps got the equaliser, they sat a bit deeper and hit more balls out wide, looking for McWoods down the right, hoping he could exploit the tiring Bohs defence.

Conclusion

I think this was a highly effective tactical set up from Ollie Horgan. It's much more nuanced and thought out than he will get credit for.
Rather than just playing defensive football, Harps created a scenario where they invited Bohs onto them, dictating their attacks in a controlled manner and managed the danger.
It was certainly a very different set up from how Harps played against Dundalk, where they set up to engage a press at the halfway line and were very effective at turning the ball over and breaking to create chances in the first half. 
They definitely played a more disciplined game and offered less of a goal threat, but I think it could prove to be a good point against a Bohs side who have impressed so far this season.

I must apologise for my slow start to the season.
The Friday/Monday game to start off the season caught me on the hop but I'll be aiming to have a reactionary piece of some sort to every game.
If every goalkeeper could time waste like James Talbot, I might have time to write my piece in the stands!
Obviously, some of you may disagree with my analysis of this and if you do, please let me know, or feel free to point out anything I may have missed. 
I'd love to hear any thoughts or comments that any of you may have.
Many thanks for reading and roll on Friday night!
Up the Harps!

Cheers,

Harpin' on.

Navenny Street Bingo Club

You know when you have that feeling?
It's like your sixth sense.
There's absolutely no reason for it, but you just know that it's going to happen.
Like last season, Tunde gets brought down by a clumsy James Brown challenge late in the first home game against Drogheda. Does he get a penalty? No.
Does James Brown burst through our midfield and win a last gasp free kick on the edge of the box? Yes. 
Did you know when Dane Massey swung his left foot at the ball where it would end up?

We've already lost a game to the weather this season, so my draft has been revised, but here you have it. 
Welcome to Harpin On's Navenny Street Bingo!

Ollie to be sent off.

Now I know what you're thinking, that's obviously going to happen!
Ollie's reputation at this point precedes him and you can bet that any slight grumblings towards the fourth Official will be passed on to the ref.
I'm not saying the cards aren't justified, but many a referee seem to go straight for the pocket with Ollie when other managers would maybe get the benefit of the doubt.

But maybe this year will be different, granted he only has 35 games to worry about considering he is banned from the dugout for the opening game of the season!

One of the players that left last season to score against us.

So this one would be painful.
Having lost four of our biggest goal threats in Tunde, Foley, Boyd and O'Sullivan to other League of Ireland clubs, there is a pretty big chance that one of them could come back to bite the hand that once fed it.
Throw Hawkins, Coyle and McEleney in there and this one has a bit more than an outside chance of landing.
But hopefully not!

A last minute winner.

So for the last three seasons in a row, Harps have won a game with a goal in the 90th minute. 
Hilariously, all three were actually against Waterford, who unfortunately for the sake of this prediction, will not be in the league this year.
So will Harps manage a last gasp win against another side this year? Fingers crossed!

One of the players who left last season to re-join in the summer.

Unlikely I know, given that most of the players that moved ended up getting better contracts.
But based off of pre-season and the opening round of fixtures, many of them might not get the game time they would be looking for and would have had at Finn Park. 
We know that Ollie has said they wanted to keep all the players that did move on, and as much as you can take that with a pinch of salt, this could be one to keep an eye on.

The Dugout to go further into the stand.

We're well used to it now, all the usual complaints that come with teams playing away at Finn Park. "The pitch is a disgrace, we couldn't play our usual game" etc...
Last year the pitch was in fantastic condition throughout the season, but still the moans were heard.
But one post match interview that really stood out for me was Vinny Perth's after our 2-2 draw with Dundalk. To paraphrase, "This stadium should be knocked down and Aldi extended into it....". I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it was something along those lines anyway.
But yes, on a serious note, he bizarrely claimed that the away dugout had been strategically moved further back into the stand.
It was certainly more imaginative than the "long drive up here" lament. 
Will we get an excuse about the ever moving dugout again this season?

An Unannounced signing to be named in the starting eleven.

Throw your mind back to the fourth match of last season.
 Finn Harps had started the season really well and had a settled squad with some good depth.
So when the team to play Waterford was posted on the various social media platforms, the name, "Dunleavy" stood out like a sore thumb.
Because, the fans at this point were unaware that he even played for the club. The buzz around the team at the time was something else, we were winning games and signing local boys that were League of Ireland winning captains. 
The transfer window is now closed as far as I am aware but rumours are rife of a player that has signed but there's been no confirmation from the club.
The summer window also presents an opportunity for this repeat performance.

Harps to beat every team this season at least once.

Wouldn't this be quite the achievement. In theory it would probably guarantee that we wouldn't finish bottom of the league and would go a long way to ensuring that we stay up. 
Last year, Harps managed to beat every team in the league bar Drogheda. Usually when you're down around the bottom of the table, it's the teams around you that you aim to take points off of. But in fact, Harps managed to beat everyone bar the team that finished on the same points as us.


So there you have it, our slightly random predictions for this year. We'd love to hear any that you may have along with any rational. 
Here's hoping after the false start last weekend that the lads get the season on the way with a good performance on Friday. 

Cheers for reading, see you for post-match thoughts and player ratings after Friday!


 

Season Preview

3 Months. 92 days. 2208 hours.

But we're back! At 8.00 P.M on Friday night, the League of Ireland season kicks off again, with Finn Harps playing host to Drogheda. 
It seems like a distant memory, that 5-0 win against Longford on the final day of the season, a resounding victory that ensured safety.
The team has been decimated since, but a host of new faces have signed on to replace those that have left. 
Welcome to Harpin' On's season preview.

Where to begin?

Ollie is once again at the wheel for what will be his ninth season in Ballybofey.
There was never any official confirmation from the club on Ollie's position, in fact,
the last we heard was that the club hoped to be in a position to confirm his re-signing after the AGM. Likewise, there was never any statement on Paul Hegarty's departure, but Gavin Dykes will be the man sitting beside Ollie in the dugout this year. It's hard to envisage what impact if any this change will bring. Both men are vastly experienced and with the squad changing so much during the off season, we can hope that it was as good a time as any for a backroom shuffle.

Change seemed to be the theme of the winter.

The outgoings really hurt this year. Some were to be expected, even if we hoped it wouldn't be the case. Some left quietly, and will unfortunately never get the deserved thanks or proper recognition for what they contributed last year.
Adam Foley, Jordan Mustoe and Kosovar Sadiki were linked with moves away before the season had ended, so it came as no surprise when they did leave.
But the exodus that seemed to come between the last week in November and Christmas day was shocking. To lose so many quality player sent shockwaves through the Harps online communities. With Johnny Dunleavy, Joel Bradley Walsh and Ger Doherty also not re-signing this season, along with Patrick McGarvey and Stephen Doherty heading on loan, I make it 15 players that were with us at the backend of the season that are not starting this campaign with us.

Out with the old, in with the new.

The new signings provide us with a sense of intrigue and excitement, but most of us would be lying if we claimed to have any real knowledge of the lads who have come from abroad. 
Jose Carillo, Erol Alkan, Elie N'Zeyi and Filip Mihaljevic have all travelled across miles of blue ocean to represent us this season. 
As exciting as it is to have such exotic names on the teamsheet, they really are unknown entities in this league. It is also widely believed that an American wide player has also agreed to join the club, we do await confirmation on that though. We all hope that they are successful as their collective performances will have a huge overall baring on how the clubs season will go. 

The club have recruited well by bringing in Yoyo Mahdy from Shelbourne in what was a surprise move considering he had agreed a new deal with them for this season. Contrary to an imaginative Reddit transfer rumour involving a compensation claim for Dan Hawkin, Dan McDonnell has confirmed that he was told during pre-season that he was not in the clubs plans and was free to find a new club, and here now we find him parked up on Navenny street for the season.
Also coming in are Rob Slevin, Conor Tourish, Bastien Hery and Gavin Mulreany whilst Regan Donelon and Jesse Devers have returned for second spells at the club.

How will it play out?

From a Harps perspective, it's very hard to predict how things are going to go with so many new bodies. Many pundits have cited our strong start to last season as the reason the club stayed up in the end, but it could be argued the six game winning run, (including cup) from July to September was the catalyst for our playoff escape. It was around this time that we saw the best from Tunde, Seymore and Rainey, three lads that were brought in at the start of the season. So with that in mind, we have to give the benefit of the doubt and refrain from harsh judgement of the new lads early on in the season.

At the minute, the starting 11 and formation is impossible to second guess. There's the potential for the team to play 5 across the back, similar to how they played at times at the start of the season. It's likely going to take a while for the squad to gel and for some of the newer signings to adjust to the physicality and intensity of the league whilst also getting to grips with new surroundings and teammates.

But other clubs that we should be in direct competition with to avoid the drop find themselves in similar positions. Both Shelbourne and Drogheda have had a change in management and have recycled the playing staff too. Drogheda I feel have built a strong squad and should have enough about them to stay up, but I think Shelbourne are a side that could struggle. Granted, I've only seen one pre-season game of theirs, but they did not set up at all like I would have expected considering Duff has said that they will aim to dominate games. They played 3 at the back with wingbacks and Coyle and Dervin very deep. Bar Carr up top who could be an inspired signing, I feel like they'll struggle to provide a goal threat.

Obviously UCD are right up against it and many predict that they will be going straight back down.
They will rely heavily on the performances of Colm Whelan and Liam Kerrigan in the first half of the season to give them a chance of survival, before they both likely depart in the summer when they complete their respective studies. .

So on to our League of Ireland table predictions.

1. Shamrock Rovers
2. Derry City
3. St.Pat's
4. Dundalk
5. Bohemians
6. Sligo
7. Drogheda
8. Finn Harps
9. Shelbourne
10. U.C.D.

So yeah, I reckon we'll be okay. I think there's enough in this squad to keep us up and we have every reason to be cautiously optimistic. We've seen some very good pre-season performances and hopefully after the opening two games against Drogheda and U.C.D. we will have a few points on the board.
It's hard to imagine the team playing as well as they did at stages last season, but with so many new unknown faces, I hope to be pleasantly surprised.

I would love to hear your opinions and predictions for the upcoming season.

Thanks so much for reading and major congratulations if you made it to the end!

Cheers,

Harpin On.

Harpin On' - Introduction

 

Another season is upon us, and after a slow start to the off season, the squad is starting to take shape.
Welcome to Harpin' On, a blog that will follow the finest team in all the land, Finn Harps. 

This blog was born from a passing comment after the last minute win against Waterford last April, "Dave Webster has a real thing for Waterford. Or more, they must have a real hatred for him."  He had just scored his second goal for the club, his first having been against Waterford the season before, in a 3-2 away victory that proved to be catalyst for an unlikely upturn in results. Harps indeed completed a miraculous escape on the final day of the season, beating Waterford with Webster making a vital block on the line in the dying seconds to deny them an equaliser. That block kept Harps in the premier division and denied Waterford a place in Europe the following summer. The back story was there too, Webster himself had played for Waterford in 2018, when Waterford successfully navigated their way to fourth place, only to be denied a European place by UEFA rules, over their name change.
 
The article was written but, it felt like the wrong time to start a blog and to share it. The club was on the up and the buzz was certainly there, but there was no structure, necessity or purpose for a blog at the time. The article was just an observation with nothing more to follow. The brief synopsis I just gave of it there will hopefully give an idea of the kind of thing we're going for with this. 

But here we are, ready to give it a go!

There will be a season preview in the next week, and another article which is a bit of fun that will carry on throughout the season.

Thanks for the support.

Up the Harps!