Chris Marsh: A crazy week should be Walsall’s catalyst

We’ve had last-minute screamers, formation changes and – most importantly – Walsall have finally won away from home!

It’s been a long time coming, nine months in fact, but the Saddlers produced arguably their best performance of the campaign to clinch victory at Oxford.

But, as crazy as it sounds, I couldn’t care less about how they played – for me it was all about the result and getting that monkey off their back.

That run had gone on for far too long, and while it won’t affect every player, I’m sure it was playing on the minds of some.

For me, the only thing that mattered was the result and I think we have to give the players a massive pat on the back because they showed a lot of character to go to the Kassam Stadium and win.

The victory was of course achieved after Jon Whitney switched to a 4-4-2 formation with Erhun Oztumer playing just off Tyler Roberts.

But you can do all the coaching and planning you like, once the players cross that white line it is up to them.

And for me, they all stepped up to the mark and put in a performance the travelling fans could be proud of.

I’ve got to admit, I’ve wanted Walsall to go with a traditional 4-4-2 formation for quite a while.

I was brought up with it, I started my career as a winger and I love seeing two attacking wide players feed two centre-forwards.

You can still have plenty of variety with it. You might play with a target man and have a pacy little striker running off him.

Or you might have an out-and-out No.9 and someone who drops a bit deeper – a bit like Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham used to do for England.

But, for me, two wingers and two strikers is the best system.

I’ve been fortunate over the past three years that I’ve been able to go and watch the vast majority of Chelsea’s home games.

Antonio Conte switched to a 3-4-3 formation last season and it gave them the impetus to go on and win the Premier League.

But Chelsea and Conte are lucky enough to be working with world-class players.

And I don’t think tinkering with systems works in the lower leagues.

That is no disrespect to Walsall’s players – that is the level I played at.

But when I played under Ray Graydon and Chris Nicholl, we were 4-4-2 every week, we never changed.

Both those managers had very different ways of playing those systems.

Graydon would let me as a full-back bomb forward and Darren Wrack would cover for me.

Under Nicholls we defended with two banks of four and deep. Then it was all about getting the ball up to Kyle Lightbourne before working it wide to the wingers and getting it in the box.

Those managers never tinkered. They were all about having a settled team where every single player knew exactly what was required of them.

Call me old-school, but I think that is how a lot of teams in the lower leagues could have success.

I think at times we become too obsessed with formations. All of a sudden systems become fashionable as we are currently seeing with three at the back.

And for me there is nothing better than seeing a flying winger run a full-back ragged and getting balls into the box.

Walsall have two very exciting wide men with Kieron Morris and Zeli Ismail.

And now I’d like to see them move forward with that system and with the belief that they can push into the top six.

Over the past few weeks, the Saddlers have played Bradford, Peterborough, Oxford and Charlton – all teams you’d expect to be competing for promotion. And they have come through those matches undefeated.

That should give them lots of belief and now they have to go out with confidence that they can finish above all those sides at the end of the campaign.

So much of football is about belief. And I don’t think last season the team ever truly felt they were good enough to be promotion contenders.

It’s imperative they now do see themselves a side capable of finishing in the top six – if they don’t, there is no point in playing on a Saturday.

Every game from now on, Walsall are entering the Colosseum. They have got to do everything they can to survive.

They need to be like boxers entering the ring, they must believe they are going to knock-out their opponent.

If they have that belief, there is no reason why they can’t take League One by storm.