Shrewsbury Town are proving they can win in many different ways
Steve Cotterill always says football matches can be won in different ways – and his side have demonstrated that in recent weeks.
During Town’s five-game League One winning streak, they have shown they can mix up the way they play.
In the first two games, 4-0 and 5-1 wins against Burton Albion and Cambridge United respectively, Salop dominated.
They had seven shots on target compared to Burton’s one, and they had eight shots on target compared to Cambridge’s two – but in both clashes, they had less of the ball.
MK Dons was much more of an even game, with Shrews defending deep in a fixture that looked destined for a 0-0 draw, but Tom Bayliss had other ideas, with the game’s only real moment of quality giving Shrews the points.
Against Forest Green Rovers, the match was different again, Shrews had much more of the ball than their opponent’s – 62 per cent possession this time in another game they won.
In fact, the only side to have had more shots on target than Salop during their good run was Oxford on Saturday, but Ryan Bowman’s clinical volley was the difference with Shrews showing their quality again.
Each win has been different, in one way or another, something Cotterill is keen to point out.
He said: “There are a lot of ways to win a football match. Whatever tactics you decide can win – that’s what they have to be. There is no point in thinking you can play one way all the time.
“I listen to a lot of younger managers talking about identity – you don’t want an identity. What the players need is a clear idea of what you are trying to do that day.
“If you have an identity, I know you’re going to pass the ball to him, so I know where my first pressing point is.
“Then he passes to him, so I know where my second pressing point is.
“You have to be able to do everything in this game – you have got to be able to do a bit of everything.
“That is what I try and get through to our lads and I think they are far better for it.
“We have different wins, from different games with different circumstances
“You want to win and you want to play well every week. But that isn’t always going to happen.
“But if you can keep winning or win when you haven’t played well, that is an even better recipe.
“Sometimes those 1-0 wins – those 1-0 wins with clean sheets, what they do is win you promotions.
“Anyone can get a 5-1, it doesn’t mean you are going to win something. But then the clean sheets, the 1-0 wins – they are like gold dust.”
