Taking our place in the press box, Henry and I could feel the enthusiasm in the air from the Cambridge fans. After grinding out a hard-fought draw following a long trip to Exeter and a stoppage-time winner against Fleetwood at home, Cambridge fans had every reason to feel optimistic about facing a mid-table rival, Burton. This positivity of the Crowd was reciprocated by Cambridge’s start to the match with high energy and willingness to commit men forward. A stand out in this regard was Cambridge left back Danny Andrew. The football league veteran continuously collected the ball high and wide, winning fouls and putting dangerous balls into the box, which resulted in Cambridge being able to get a few potshots off. It is fair to say that the first half was dominated by Cambridge with Burton's long balls to Manchester United Loanee Joe Hugill (20) being consistently cleaned up by the much more experienced Ryan Bennett (33) and Michael Morrision (35). Despite a positive first half from Cambridge, lack of individual quality meant no critical incisions were made.

At half time, struggling Joe Hugill was replaced by recent loanee Jonathan Leko. However, this was a debut to forget for the man on loan from MK Dons as he almost immediately pulled up and had to be replaced within five minutes for Ademola Ola-Adebomi. It’s a shame as Leko is such a dynamic player and could have completely changed the game. This half saw young right back Liam Bennett provide the wide threat Danny Andrews provided in the first half. With Good pace, technique and willingness to over and underlap, Bennett caused problems all half. The turning point of this game came in the 64th minute, where Burton left wingback Steve Seddon had what must be described as a moment of madness. Just seconds after receiving a yellow card for kicking the ball away, Seddon puts in a potential red card challenge itself in. This left the referee, Edward Duckworth, no choice but to give the 26 year old his marching orders. Subsequently, Burton fully committed to their low block for the rest of the game, which Cambridge found hard to pose any real threat to as Burton reduced the best opportunities to half chances for Lyle Taylor. It must be said that Burton did very well to frustrate Cambridge after the red card, effectively slowing the game down. Young striker Ademola Ola-Adebomi also performed admirably, consistently winning fouls, even if these decisions were perceived as soft by the Cambridge United faithful.

After nine minutes of added time, the final whistle blew bringing an end to a frustrating afternoon for the U’s, having to settle for a 0-0 draw where they should have taken the three points.

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To sum up this game you need look no further than the set up of Martin Patterson’s Burton Albion. On paper they lined up as a 3421, this naturally transpires as a defensive 541 low block, however, its attacking shape of 325 was clunky and ill-defined. The presence of the left and right wingers made the overlap of the wingbacks redundant, furthermore this prevented Burton from strengthening the midfield. The lone two in the middle, out-manned by Cambridge, were weak. This led to a disjointed Burton team, leaving the only attacking option to bypass the midfield and play route one. These tactical choices were disappointing and conservative, which is ironic due to Burton chants of “f*** the tories”. A perfectly reasonable approach for a top league one side but if Burton want to develop beyond mid table obscurity they have to be more positive in games like this.

This is juxtaposed by the setup of The U’s. They play what has become an almost standard 4231 across the division, and the English football pyramid. The 4231 allows much more variation in attacking dynamics with 3 major transition options, all of which result in a solid base of 3 remaining defenders. Either one full back pushes leaving an asymmetric back three, or both fullbacks push and one of the defensive midfielders drop into the centre of a 3. This adaptability allowed Cambridge to advance and recycle the ball without their play stagnating and resorting to long balls. That said, the physical prowess of Lyle Taylor did allow for some direct play, but this only added to the attacking options rather than detracting from the others.

It would be naive at this point to ignore the result was 0-0. Admittedly, Cambridge did not score, and seemingly the negative set up of Burton was successful. However, I concur with Cambridge manager Neil Harris who claimed post match that the lack of goals was due to lack of individual quality in the final third. A common excuse for managers sure, but we will be able to test the validity of his theory following his (hopeful) signings before deadline day on Thursday.

The major tactical shift occurred in the 64th minute, when Burton left wing-back Steve Seddon received a quick double yellow card. The Brewers were forced to shift into a defensive 531 low block. Nevertheless, the following 10 minutes were the best of the day for The Albion. Whether it was anger at the decision or motivation to keep a grip in the game they began to play football. I believe this was enabled by the extra space for the fullbacks to advance into and a stronger central 3 allowing the progression through the pitch rather than over it.

These systems are both common in league one, and for good reason. The low block of Burton proved effective despite going down to 10 men and Cambridge were able to dominate the ball. Burton and Cambridge are teams of similar quality and output, but I know I don’t envy the Burton season ticket holder who has to watch that system week in week out, and I’m quite excited to watch Cambridge vs Bolton on Tuesday the 6th from The Habbin Terrace.