JOE Edwards has explained his thinking for Jake Cooper and Wes Harding as he reflected on tactical tweaks in the win at Sheffield Wednesday.
The two centre-backs noticeably played shorter balls from the back and also appeared more likely to step forward than in earlier games this season.
Their roles could be the ones which could change the most as Edwards looks to gradually introduce tactical changes to alter Millwall’s style.
Asked about the two defenders playing out from the back, Millwall’s head coach said: “We want to be better with the ball. I think if you look at all the top teams around the game, the top teams proactively dominate the game by trying to have the ball and trying to attack on their opponent. When you look at it, that’s a key trait nowadays. If you want to be a defender, the absolute basics is defending your box and protecting your goal.
“But when we’re playing well and progressing up the pitch, you can’t stand back there and wait for your next time to defend and be a spectator. And people would have seen players like Coops and Wes and asked that question whether they’re capable of it but it’s about being a collective. It’s about, as a team, if we can stay closely connected so that [for example] if one person jumps into press and gets beaten, then the next man is in close support.
“And if you look at Sav’s goal or Brooke’s goal, at times like that when players find the back of the net, great. But at other time, when the opposition try to clear it or break on you and you want to counter that, the higher up the pitch you can do it, the more you can sustain your attacks and get your attacking players in the game.”
Millwall won 4-0 at Hillsborough thanks to goals from Murray Wallace, George Saville, Harding and Brooke Norton-Cuffy.