EFL League Two 2019/20: Cheltenham Town vs Forest Green Rovers – tactical analysis

Last season in the EFL League Two, Cheltenham Town and Forest Green Rovers were in a very different state to each other. The former, under the management of Michael Duff, were among the relegation battlers and survived the cut by sixteen points. Meanwhile, Mike Cooper’s side haven’t looked back since they won promotion from the National League. After a struggling 2017-18 season, Forest Green saw their fortune changed as they became promotion chaser by finishing fifth. Still, their record wasn’t enough to help them achieved what they wanted as they failed under the hand of Tranmere Rovers.

With that in mind, there is no doubt when Forest Green entering this season hoping to finish what they haven’t. But their opposition for this match, Cheltenham has risen up as a potential promotion chaser after an impressive eighteen unbeaten matches at home. Unfortunately, two goals from Jack Aitchison and Elliott Frear had ended the streak and secured an impressive derby win for Forest Green.

This tactical analysis will provide an analysis of Forest Green’s 2-1 win over Cheltenham. Meanwhile, using statistics, we will point out the standout tactical points from both sides’ tactics and analyse what went wrong for Duff’s tactics.

Lineups

Cheltenham entered this match lining up in their familiar 3-5-2 formation. The home side didn’t have the service of Hull loanee Max Sheaf and former Southampton graduates Joshua Debayo due to injuries. Both were key players for Duff’s side during the first stage of the season, especially the Nigerian defender.

Meanwhile, another loanee in Jake Doyle-Hayes continued to be one of the first choices in Cheltenham’s midfield three alongside Conor Thomas and Ryan Broom. Two former Forest Green strikers in Reuben Reid and Tahvon Campbell missed out on the occasion to face their former club as the players who led the line was Gavin Reilly and Luke Varney.

Meanwhile, Cooper also didn’t have several of his best players to choose from. One of them was George Williams, who played a key role in his tactics. His replacement, Elliott Frear, only joined the club in October after being released by Motherwell. On the opposite flank, Forest Green also missed the service of Dayle Grubb as right-back Liam Shephard was forced to play out of his preferred position.

While Joseph Mills continued to start among the team’s back-four alongside Farrend Rawson, Liam Kitching and Dominic Bernard, his brother, Matt Mills was absented through injury. Another centre-back in Nathan McGinley remained doubtful before the match as he was among the unused substitutes.

Cheltenhams style of play

When in possession, Cheltenham tended to put an emphasis on building their attacks from the back. Using three centre-backs who usually kept the distance between each other at a considerable rate, they circulated the ball inside their half to invite the pressure from the opponent. At times, it was also possible that one wing-back and a pivot dropped deep and created a passing block.

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