Jack Wilshere insists Luton Town already have a plan for opponents attempting to nullify Liam Walsh — and says his players have to recognise when it is time to find another route through the opposition.
Walsh has become a key part of Luton’s possession-based approach since joining the Hatters, but Wilshere acknowledged that opponents are increasingly aware of his importance and are looking to restrict his influence.
It was one of the tactics that Stevenage employed to stifle the Hatters in their 2-1 defeat at the SPORTA Arena last week and assistant manager Chris Powell recognised it but said the players must find a different way.
Rather than allowing that to disrupt Luton’s attacking structure, Wilshere too wants his players to identify alternatives as they probe for ways to score goals.
“There’s always a plan B and there’s always a principle if Liam is being marked,” the Town boss said.
“You’re right, a lot of the time he is [targeted]. Liam is also good enough to play in tight situations as well, which he’s done very well this season in my opinion.
“I thought he was excellent the other night [at Stevenage] in terms of his retention of the ball, finding the players higher up”.
Having explained that possession alone is not a measure of success for his team, Wilshere also said that Luton’s approach is based on a series of principles, rather than relying on a single player or route of attack.
“There’s a plan B, of course there’s a plan B, there always is. How we work in possession is principle-based,” Wilshere said.
“And without giving too much away, one of the principles is to play off the highest possible line.
“Now, the highest possible line might be — if Liam Walsh is free, he is on and free to get on the ball. It might be if Liam Walsh is marked, you look at the next line. If that line is then marked, can we go into the last line and not get confused?
“And my message to the players is always: if there is a pass to put him behind, it is always the best pass, because we’re trying to attack, we’re trying to score goals.
“So yeah, there’s plan B, there’s plan C — there’s different ways of progressing the game: over, around, through, whatever it looks like.
“And we have to give the players the information so they know every single one. And also the freedom that if things do change in the game and they’re [opposition teams] man-marking Walshy, or whatever it is, there are other ways of playing.”
With Bradford City due at Kenilworth Road tomorrow, Luton now face a side with the division’s best defensive record, making their ability to find alternative routes through the opposition particularly relevant.
Luton haven’t quite reproduced their end of season form yet this term and ask how close his side is to achieving more free-flowing performances, Wilshere said: “That’s always a working process. That’s how we work, that’s how we train, that’s how we recruited.
“The first thing to say on that is we want that [style, but we don’t think this league will allow you to do whatever you want to do. That’s not the case. We have to fight. You have to win duels. You have to outwork your opposition.
“When we think about the Mansfield game, we didn’t do that. And you can see what happened in this league since that game and before that game, in fairness, that was a one-off, every single time we’ve outrun the opposition. We’ve won more duels than the opposition. So that is without a doubt, at this level, the most important thing.
“Then it’s about: do we have enough courage to put the ball down and try and implement our game? At times last season we didn’t have that courage and we went through phases where we had it and then if something would happen in the game, we didn’t have it.
“So this season the focus has been on, number one, competing. But, number two, building that courage and building the connections between the players so they really understand each other, and even in them tough moments against tough opposition that don’t really want to allow you to do that, we can still do that. While understanding that our main focus is to attack and score goals.”
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