Analysis: The Midfield Controller shines as Kilmarnock move level with St Mirren
It was not a happy return for Derek McInnes
Kilmarnock bounced back from their mauling at the hands of Falkirk and put a dent in Hearts’ title challenge at the same time with a 1-0 win at Rugby Park on Saturday night.
A first half goal from Michael Schjønning-Larsen was the difference between the sides, with Neil McCann’s men keeping a rare clean sheet to move level with St Mirren on points.
Perhaps it was written in the stars that McInnes would come back to Rugby Park under the lights and see his team dealt a blow - the football gods tend to do that kind of thing.
While there is a long way to go in the battle to avoid the play-off spot, the win was the confidence boost needed following a galling defeat to the Bairns.
Here’s our analysis of the 90 minutes.
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McCann changed things up after the diamond midfield which had been effective against Aberdeen and Celtic was thoroughly undone against Falkirk.
While the team sheet may have looked more like a 4-3-3, in reality it was a 4-2-3-1 with Watson playing on the right, though clearly not as a traditional winger as he had licence to come inside.
The superb Aaron Tshibola sat slightly deeper than Liam Polworth, allowing him to get on the ball and dictate play.
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It was a fast start from Kilmarnock, who looked eager to make up for what happened against Falkirk two weeks previously.
In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, opposition manager McInnes spoke about how his side had been “leaving the wrong centre-half on the ball at times” and hadn’t been attentive to detail and presumably he was referring to not pressing Robbie Deas in possession.
Teams will often look to press when a defender deemed more capable in possession collects the ball, but stand off if they don’t feel the centre-back can hurt them with his passing.
Jose Mourinho explained in 2017 how his Manchester United side had overcome Ajax in the Europa League final, partially by ensuring Matthijs de Ligt wasn’t able to enjoy any time on the ball: “We let them play, but blocking the right centre-back, De Ligt, and letting the ball go to the left, (Davinson) Sánchez, who had more difficulties”.
We’ve seen in the past that Deas can be a good distributor of the ball, and there was an early example when he was allowed to pick a raking pass over the top to Hugill.
That happened inside the first five minutes, and would again for the goal, so one can only assume the plan was to press Deas and force George Stanger into possession.
