JED Wallace says Gary Rowett’s tactical approaches are what he has enjoyed most under the Millwall manager.
Wallace revealed Rowett has a different plan for every game, including set-pieces depending on the opponent.
Wallace pointed to Rowett’s structure of the side to get Matt Smith into the team. Smith has mostly started at home with a strike partner, so there was some surprise when he was named as the lone striker at Nottingham Forest in Millwall’s last game before the suspension of football amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But it paid off as Smith scored a hat-trick to move the Lions to within two points of sixth place in the Championship.
“To be honest, the gaffer’s been unbelievable since he’s come in,” Wallace said. “What I’ve enjoyed the most is that tactically we have a different game plan playing against every single team. We change formation, we change tactics, we change the way we’re going to press them from the opposition’s goal-kick. We change how we take corners depending on the opposition.
“That’s especially important when you have someone like Matt Smith in your team, who in my opinion if you pick and put quality into the box he’s one of the best players in the country at getting on the end of them.
“Smudge will be the first one to admit that when we’ve played away from home at the likes of Derby, Swansea, when we play pretty much on the counter-attack against possession-based teams, then maybe Smudge isn’t the right person to play.
“But he is someone who over the course of the season can have a massive impact. Every time Smudge plays I always feel like he can score a goal.
“It’s credit to people like Smudge, he’s made is so difficult for the gaffer he’s had to change formation to get Smudge into the team. At Forest we went back to a four [at the back] because Smudge was playing so well.
“The refreshing thing with the manager is a lot of times people have an ego and they don’t want to change, but the gaffer is so flexible, he’s played different formations, different players in different positions.
“With him in charge the group is as hungry to succeed as he is. It’s an exciting time to be at Millwall and I feel like we can cement ourselves as a top-10 team in future seasons and maybe one day push towards that top six.”
Image: Millwall FC