Moore taking positives in new approach

Jul 18 2008 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

MANAGER Ronnie Moore insists upon accentuating the positive as Tranmere work their way through the teething troubles of a new tactical system during the pre-season programme.

The third warm-up game of the summer finally delivered some goals as Rovers notched up a 6-2 win at Heswall to follow a 1-0 defeat at home to Liverpool and a 0-0 draw behind closed doors at Wrexham.

But Tranmere’s 4-3-3 formation only began to work smoothly in the final half-hour of the friendly at Gayton Park – and after the West Cheshire League amateurs had taken a 2-1 lead early in the second-half.

Moore said: “It isn’t easy when you change your system but we are moving along in the right direction. You’ve got to look for positives in pre-season and in the end we were full value for the win at Heswall.

“Having said that, I wasn’t happy with the passing and movement in the first half. We were sloppy.

“The three lads in midfield never really got together on what we were looking for them to do.

“In the second half we got that sorted.

“It was a matter of being patient and moving the ball better. We are trying to get the three front players to do the movement we want.”

Moore took encouragement from the burst of scoring in the second-half and the fact that five of Tranmere’s goals came from midfield men. Irishman George O’Callaghan notched Rovers’ first-half equaliser, Steve Jennings drove in a free-kick after joining the action as a second-half substitute and Gareth Edds, the early summer capture from MK Dons, weighed in with a well-taken hat-trick.

Moore said: “It was good to get some goals from the midfield players. For the 4-3-3 system to work well we’ve got to get the three midfield players into the opposition penalty area.

“Gareth got himself a hat-trick and showed he does finish well. He is full of energy and I think he will do all right for us.”

Moore chose to depart from the 4-4-2 set up that has been the staple of his first two years in charge at Prenton Park after struggling to find players to replace the departed Steve Davies.

He believes a number of other League One managers will be switching to 4-3-3 in the new season because natural left-footed attacking players are currently a rarity at this level.

Moore said: “The players who have been here for a year or two should be able to adapt and the new signings have all played 4-3-3 before.”

Moore gave midfielder Edrissa Sonko a rest in midweek because the Gambian international has been busy with international commitments.

Chris Shuker, Andrew Taylor and Adnan Ahmed were also left out at Heswall because of minor knocks. Skipper Ian Goodison, who joined the action as a second-half substitute, limped off again with a thigh strain.

Moore said: “None of the injuries are serious. It’s a matter of not taking any chances with them.”

Experienced full-back John Curtis, who has been training with Tranmere on a trial basis for the best part of three weeks, wasn’t involved at Heswall. But Moore says he is still working with the former Manchester United and Nottingham Forest player.

The manager drew encouragement from the contribution of trialist Charlie Barnett, who has been released by Liverpool. He said: “Charlie showed typical qualities on the ball for a Liverpool player. I was pleased with one or two individual performances on Tuesday and disappointed with one or two others.”

Heswall manager Phil Conroy was understandably proud of his team’s performance in causing the full-time professional some embarrassment to the first hour of the game

Conroy said: “We more or less had to build the team from scratch over the last couple weeks and they put in a terrific effort. Full marks to them.”