Louie Sibley and Joe Ward starred as Derby got back to winning ways beating Port Vale by three goals to nil.
The Derby starting XI saw three changes after Tuesday night’s 2-1 defeat to Charlton. Sibley and Ward started as wing backs, Paul Warne reverting to a back three. Tom Barkhuizen also came into the side on the right wing. Korey Smith and Kane Wilson dropped to the bench, whilst Ryan Nyambe was missing, having gone off injured on Tuesday night.
The Rams attacked from the first whistle, and after two minutes, the first instance of the link up which would prove key. Joe Ward cut inside from the right wing and crossed the ball to the far post, where Sibley volleyed over the bar.
Louie Sibley would have another chance just a couple of minutes, later, and this time, found the back of the net. Derby played out from the back through Bradley, who moved the ball right to Nelson. The centre back hit a long ball over the top for Ward, who crossed it. The ball was behind Dwight Gayle, but came to Sibley, just inside the box, whose shot found the back of the net via a deflection.
Derby were playing with intent, and crucially, looking dangerous in the final third. Ebou Adams head over from a corner after nine minutes, before a double save from Conor Ripley kept the score at 1-0. After Nathaniel Mendez-Laing looked to round him, Ripley managed to force the Guatemalan international wide, and deny him. Mendez-Laing then worked the ball to Bird, his shot from 20 yards tipped behind brilliantly.
A huge chance fell the way of Tom Barkhuizen in the 16th minute, and he really should have made it two. Joe Ward dinked a cross to Mendez-Laing at the front post, he flicked the ball on for Barkhuizen in the centre of the box seven yards out, but the number seven leant back as he struck the ball and skied his shot.
Port Vale, managed by former Ram Darren Moore, had their only real spell of pressure just after the half hour mark. After a well-worked move down the right, it was Gavin Massey who put a low cross into the Derby box, Curtis Nelson forced to put it behind for a corner. The Staffordshire side had a few chances, mainly from corners, in the next ten minutes, but they still had only had one attempt on goal, Jesse Debrah’s 18th minute header from the edge of the box.
Having rode pressure, Derby went up the other end to double their lead on the stroke of half time. Joe Ward launched a ball forward for Tom Barkhuizen, who cut it back for Ebou Adams 25 yards out in the inside right channel. The Cardiff loanee swung a cross in for Dwight Gayle, who headed it into the bottom right corner for his first Derby goal.
Port Vale skipper Tom Garrity saw his header from a corner go just wide in the opening minutes of the second period, the visitors’ best chance of the game, before Derby put the result beyond doubt.
Having taken the throw in and had the ball returned to him by Adams, Ward played a one-two with Gayle as he got past Jack Shorrock. Alex Iacovitti got a touch on the ball, but it came straight back to Ward at the byline, who crossed it to the far post where Louie Sibley was again to quickly take a sublime touch and drill the ball across goal and into the bottom right corner.
In the final half hour, the game was fairly low key. Derby registered seven shots in that time, with only one of note, Corey Blackett-Taylor driving inside from the left, as he was so impressive in doing for Charlton, before shooting over the bar.
Tom Garrity got the better of Eiran Cashin with four minutes to play but drilled his shot across goal wide. One of only three attempts his side had in the entire game.
Analysis: Wing backs are key for Warne
After a difficult week, a win Derby “needed” as Head Coach Paul Warne admitted to RamsTV. They keep pace with the teams around them, with Portsmouth, Bolton, Barnsley and Peterborough all winning. The Rams remain second for now but will drop to third if Bolton avoid defeat at Oakwell on Tuesday night, or Barnsley win by five goals.
This was a performance which showed Paul Warne’s football at its best in spells, with wing backs on song to drive the team forward, the game was a good watch. As Warne told BBC Radio Derby after the game: “they make your team” when playing with three at the back. As well as their athleticism, which is a prerequisite for the Rams' Head Coach, Sibley and Ward had a real desire to get forward, which made the game more entertaining than some of the performances Derby have put in with this shape. The wing backs not only had a good link up between them but also with the wingers in front of them,
Mendez-Laing and Sibley rotated well on the left, Sibley knowing when to overlap, as a traditional wing back does, but also underlapping very effectively, getting into positions like those he gets into as an attacking midfielder, whilst Mendez-Laing stayed wide. With Ward and Barkhuizen on the right, the same could be said.
The option to overload can be a real asset when players have a good understanding of each other and the overall system, especially if the opposition is weak in one part of the pitch. As is outlined in this brilliant thread from Jon MacKenzie, a back three/five offers more opportunities and flexibility to do this. Working from the theory that playing a back five out of possession leaves two of those players free to attack in possession, it is obvious that Warne generally wants those two players to be his wing backs. Though that doesn’t mean that they can only disrupt the wide areas of opposition defences. Rather than the wide centre backs that are increasingly common, underlapping or inverting runs from wing backs can also disrupt opposition defensive structures. This was evident from Sibley, as is perhaps natural for someone who is an attacking midfielder by trade. In this sense he offers something different from Derby's other left wing back options, though Kane Wilson, who was a midfielder in West Brom's academy, has the same tendency from the right.
Based on their performances, I’d be surprised Sibley and Ward, who had his best game in a Derby shirt, don’t keep their places when the Rams travel to the Memorial Ground to face Bristol Rovers on Saturday.
Derby (3-4-3): Wildsmith (GK), Nelson, Bradley (C), Cashin, Ward, Adams (Hourihane 80’), Bird, Sibley, Barkhuizen (Smith 80’), Gayle (Waghorn 68’), Mendez-Laing (Blackett-Taylor 75’).
Substitutes not used: Loach, Wilson, Thompson.
Port Vale (3-4-1-2): Ripley (GK), Debrah, Lopata, Iacovitti (Smith 80’), Massey, Garrity (C), Ojo, Shorrock (Clark 62’), Plant (Mighten 90’), Weir, Chislett (Depepa 46’).
Substitutes not used: Leutwiler (GK), Lowe, Walters.