Analysis: Wellens moaned but Paterson won the tactical battle and his players outfought Orient’s
They were contrasting performances with the same 2-1 result as Burton Albion followed up an away victory against Bristol Rovers with another, on their first visit to Brisbane Road to play Leyton Orient. In both cases, though, the Brewers showed a resilience to withstand whatever the opposition could throw at them and scored two good goals. It’s a simple game when you break it down like that.
It is a small statistical thing that the Brewers and not met Orient before this season, the London side slipping out of League One the year that Albion rose from League Two. They fell out of the League, too, but have come back strongly and look in good shape without having thrown stupid money at it. On the fringes of a play-off push following last season’s promotion, they were expected to be a tough nut to crack.
Since Orient wanted the Brewers to do that, they were willing to give up possession and not search for it too hard in the first half. It soon became clear, though, that Orient ran out of ideas when the opposition failed to comply with their demands. Despite a remarkable 85% possession in the first half, which produced just two meaningful shots on target—one simple for Max Crocombe and the other the penalty that the O’s scored—Martin Paterson will not have wanted to give up as much.
In contrast, the second half played out exactly how Burton would have preferred to play the majority of the game: by picking their times to press (Paterson refers to this as “seeing the triggers”) and responding forcefully. They reduced the home team’s possession to 75% overall, and this is another instance where I believe the statistics are erroneous because they should have recovered a larger portion of the ball.
This was hardly a “smack and grab,” as Richie Wellens, O’s supervisor, described it. It was the outcome of one team’s strategies being applied more skillfully than those of the other. These are a few of the day’s most important points.
Mark Helm truly came into his own: If this had been a home game, fans could have gasped in shock that Helm hadn’t been named man of the match just for his performance in the second half. He frequently took advantage of merely marginally errant passes in that half to set Burton up for success, most notably when he intercepted a poor ball in the hazy area from Omar Beckles.
Mason Bennett was sent off in the 72nd minute to equalise in the direction of the Orient midfield. With his pinpoint timing and anticipation, Helm made the passes appear even worse. When he plays this well, his manager must be dreaming about him.
By far the greatest delivery of the day came from Joe Powell, who leaped in with a free kick from the left touchline that arced too sharply for goalkeeper Solomon Brynn to attempt to gather. Nsiala then rushed beyond the far post, utilising his power to reach the ball first and poke it in. It was a major plus since it was his first goal since August 2018, the only goal he had scored in his three and a half years at Ipswich Town.
The standings is extremely close: Burton was one point above the relegation zone at one stage during the second half of Saturday’s match. The Brewers were losing, while Port Vale was winning away from Cheltenham Town and Charlton Athletic was winning away from Bolton Wanderers. After thirty minutes, Burton emerged victorious, Vale was defeated, and the Addicks’ lead now stands at six points.
Toss up whether Vale or Cheltenham should have won the game; even if Vale had scored a point, the margin would still have been six. Nevertheless, it was a good example of two struggling teams pulling points off one another; hopefully, this will continue. Reading, Shrewsbury Town, and Burton were below also usefully beaten. Paterson talks of hunting teams above down and the next four are no more than two points ahead.
Wellens was trying to deflect: “We can add Richie Wellens of Orient to the list of managers who can’t bring themselves to admit that Burton Albion outperformed his team. I don’t wish to do this every week.” He was defeated tactically as a manager, and his men were outmatched on the pitch. However, he held Burton accountable for not playing into the O’s strengths and his center-halves for not passing the ball with enough positivity.
They were unable to alter the scenario and had no holes to pass into as a result of the Brewers giving them possession of the ball. Orient’s front players turned down numerous opportunities to play a traditional cross in favour of walking the ball in. If Wellens’ tactics were failing, maybe it was time to switch them up, but even with five minutes remaining with Orient down 2-1, the manager should take responsibility.
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