Goal glut leaves both bosses with a lot to learn

AFC Wimbledon and Plymouth Argyle are a reflection of both of their bosses.

Both Glyn Hodges and Ryan Lowe were forward thinking men during their playing days, and it was clear, after those lucky enough to be at Loftus Road took a collective breath upon witnessing a four-all classic, both of their sides have far more capability in attack than in defence.

Both teams also share a vulnerability at this level in the recent past. Argyle’s relegation in 2018/19 came on the back of a season which featured no league wins in the first 11, and then just two in the last 12.

Wimbledon, meanwhile, have been involved in a relegation scrap ever since they beat Argyle in the League Two play-off final of  2016.

In fact, since joining the Football League in 2011, they have only finished above 15th once. By Hodges’ own admission after seeing his side throw away a two-goal lead with just 15 minutes left on the clock, his side lack belief when ahead in matches.

And perhaps most telling of all, both managers are still learning at this level. Lowe has only ever managed in League One in a caretaker capacity before this season, and similarly Hodges has only 33 games under his managerial belt since he stepped up from assistant manager during the last campaign.

It is perhaps unsurprising then that both attack minded managers had plenty of positives to take from Saturday’s eight-goal thriller, but stressed to any fans concerned with their defensive deficiencies there is still a lot of learning to be done by their respective players.

Lowe was on the face of it the happier of the two managers, although that is easy to accept given his team’s late comeback away from home.

“I’m very pleased,” Lowe said. “To come back and get a point is pleasing. We’re obviously disappointed with the goals but again it’s a learning curve.”

“We knew what AFC Wimbledon were going to do and how they pose a threat, but how can you not be pleased with four cracking goals.”

Lowe was quick to mention how his side are still adjusting to last season’s promotion.

“We’re new to the league: you make mistakes and you get punished. With all due respect, in the league last season you could make mistakes and not get punished.

“We certainly did get punished today for our lack of intelligence and our lack of know-how: where and when [to be on the pitch].”

The where and when in this contest was particularly significant. Despite trailing 2-1 at half-time to two cracking left-footed efforts from George Cooper and then Conor Grant, Wimbledon actually looked the more composed, with Argyle considerably more direct with their passing than usual.

Wimbledon matched Argyle’s back three, but instead of sharing the away side’s inverted triangle in midfield, with Lewis Macleod behind Grant and Danny Mayor, Hodges went with Ethan Chislett in the hole just behind strikers Joe Pigott (who scored twice, assisted another and should’ve had a hat-trick) and Ryan Longman.

His free role matched with relentless running, perhaps gained from his time in non-league with Metropolitan Police and later Aldershot Town, constantly put pressure on Argyle’s deeper players, who in League Two were used to more time on the ball as teams tended to drop off against the promotion elect.

Chislett’s diminutive, elusive style of play complemented Pigott’s imposing, physical threat beautifully and it seemed as if, with 20 minutes to go, Argyle’s defenders seemingly had their minds frazzled by the AFC Wimbledon skipper, who robbed Will Aimson of possession to set Longman clean through for his first senior goal and a 4-2 Dons advantage.

But going two goals down led the usually tactically inflexible Lowe to make a slight tweak to his favoured 3-1-4-2, and play his star man Mayor in the hole, mirroring Chislett’s position for Hodges’ side.

At virtually the same time, and after a serious shift from his new signing, Hodges removed Chislett for the more experienced Anthony Hartigan (despite his tender age of 20). As a result, Wimbledon failed to penetrate between the lines as they had been doing for most of the match and handed the initiative to the away side, who had gone for broke.

In a crazy few passages of play, substitutes Niall Canavan and Dom Telford notched for Plymouth Argyle, and just three minutes after removing Chislett with a two-goal advantage, Wimbledon suddenly needed a fifth goal to seal all three points.

In an enthralling game, it felt right that neither side found the winner in the last 12 minutes, although Telford had a great chance with a diving header as the clock ticked past 90 minutes.

It meant both sides remain undefeated in the league after the opening couple of games, despite their aforementioned frailties at third-tier level in recent years. Hodges was asked whether the fans should be in positive spirits considering the unbeaten start.

“They’re probably feeling like me at the moment – devastated at losing that two-goal lead,” Hodges said. “Once it settles down and we analyse it, we’ll take the positives as we always do and keep learning from the mistakes and keep working on those mistakes.”

Although the more pessimistic Dons and Greens fans may be downcast at their sides’ respective leakiness at the back, both managers have decided at this early stage to focus on their attacking output, which should keep them competitive throughout the campaign in a league where one-sixth of the teams get relegated.

And if more managers did that, then football fans will be flooding back into stadiums in their droves when the situation allows – because today, football was truly the winner.