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"Mick Wallace told me 'good players play anywhere!'" | Kevin Doyle on tactical fluidity

Kevin Doyle dropped into Tuesday's Football Show on Off The Ball where he spoke about positional ...



Kevin Doyle dropped into Tuesday's Football Show on Off The Ball where he spoke about positional fluidity in football compared to when he played.

The former Ireland striker believes football is almost at a stage where most players can play several positions - a useful tactic for upsetting the opposition.

"To make a bit of a difference and try upset teams," said Doyle of players getting into unfamiliar positions.

"If you are on the pitch and tracking back and end up in a position you are not normally in, you should be good enough and able enough and well-coached enough to play in that position.

"It can maybe mix it up and cause the other team a problem, wondering 'what is he doing there?' If you are wondering what the next [tactical] evolution is, it's hard to say."

Doyle has seen plenty of examples of players he played with being successful moving from various positions around the pitch

"Look at a player like Stephen Ward," recalled Doyle. "When I first went to Wolves he was a centre-forward, went to the wing, and ended up playing left-back.

"Mick Wallace said to me when I might have been having a moan about being played out of position, he said 'good players should be able to play anywhere on the pitch' and that's true.

"You should be able too unless you are an out and out, old-school centre-half, but the modern centre-half could play upfront.

"Matt Doherty could play central midfield no problem, he plays as a winger, but he could play centre-half or tucked in as part of a back three. So there's a player for Wolves who you could nearly see anywhere on the pitch.

"That's how football is going now, every kid is being brought up to play everywhere, as it should be."

Kevin Doyle

While almost all listeners will associate Kevin Doyle with one position, he wasn't always a striker.

"I was a central midfielder until I was 14 or 15 and that's where I preferred playing, but I got shoved up front and it worked up there thankfully.

"I used to just love running around the pitch, up and down the pitch, and just being involved everywhere. Looking back, that was the one thing that frustrated me as a centre-forward, if you weren't in the game and wouldn't get a touch of the ball.

"You have to stay up front and you might not touch the ball for ten minutes. Whereas a midfielder, you get involved and get to impose yourself more in the game.

"I just enjoyed playing football, being up and down the pitch, and getting stuck in and not waiting for someone else to do it and create something for you."

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Kevin Doyle Matt Doherty Stephen Ward Wolves