Against Nottingham Forest, Wrexham midfielder George Dobson was everywhere.
Not only did he create two of the Welsh club’s three goals in a pulsating FA Cup tie eventually decided on penalties, including a quite sublime free kick for Dominic Hyam that even the very best dead-ball exponents would have struggled to better.
But the 28-year-old also led the way on the night in terms of chances created (four), along with a host of key passing metrics, ranging from most passes played into the opposition penalty box (11) to possessional passes (63). Only Ben Sheaf managed more than his six recoveries, too.
It’s also hard to believe anyone ran more miles than Dobson during an all-action display that helped Wrexham claim the first Premier League scalp of the Hollywood era.
Such a tremendous performance against a side competing in this season’s Europa League, coming off the back of the seamless manner in which he has stepped up to the Championship after a career spent exclusively in the lower divisions, should make Dobson a shoo-in for Saturday’s return to league action at home to Norwich City.
But is that the case? We’re not so sure. With the pool of talent at the SToK Cae Ras so deep, there’s surely an argument to say Dobson doesn’t make the best starting XI when Wrexham are operating with the box midfield setup currently favoured by Phil Parkinson.
Sheaf and Matty James started the recent games against Sheffield United, Preston North End and Derby County in the two holding roles. A few crazy first-half minutes in the 5-3 win over Sheffield United aside, Wrexham’s control in these three tricky fixtures against in-form sides was total.
This then provided the base for the front three — be that Nathan Broadhead and Josh Windass playing off lone frontman Kieffer Moore, or Sam Smith spearheading an attack featuring Ollie Rathbone and Lewis O’Brien — to flourish in attack.
It proved to be a heady mix, with Wrexham deservedly bagging maximum points from the holiday period to move within touching distance of the play-offs.
The formation behind the recent uptick in results has clearly been in Parkinson’s mind for a while.
He first toyed with a variation of this 3-4-2-1 setup at Wimbledon in what was only the club’s second game back in the EFL in August 2023. It was also seen on last summer’s tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Yet once this league season began, conscious of the upheaval already caused by bringing 13 new faces in at a cost of £33million ($44m), Parkinson initially stuck to the 3-5-1-1 that had proved so effective during last season’s run-in.
He only switched after the 3-1 hiding handed out by Queens Park Rangers in mid-September, a result that left Wrexham fourth bottom. In came the setup trialled in New Zealand for the next fixture, a 3-2 win at Norwich City that saw Sheaf, a £6.5m signing from Coventry City, make his full debut alongside Dobson.
Three consecutive 1-1 draws against Derby, Leicester City and Birmingham City followed, before a 1-0 loss at Stoke City saw the formation ditched once again, a problem being that neither Broadhead nor Windass — two players born to fit this system — were flying at the time, while O’Brien’s early-season scoring mojo had disappeared.
Now, it seems to be back to stay after helping to breathe fresh life into Wrexham’s season. And while the James-Sheaf partnership has started just six times, the pair seem to be natural fits.
Both play with their heads up, always assessing potential openings along with potential dangers. Crucially, the pair also rarely stray far from each other, this image from the recent 2-1 win at Derby being typical.
This means they are always available as an ‘out’ ball for the other, such as here later in the first half at Pride Park when James picked out Sheaf, who immediately rolled the ball back to Hyam.
This triangle is one Wrexham use to good effect time and time again, the intention being to retain possession long enough to hopefully pick a hole in the opposition. Patience is invariably key, with Hyam’s next move being to return the ball to Sheaf.
With none of the three players in red on the ball having moved, the triangle of passes appears to have achieved little. But, perhaps anticipating that the ball will again be returned to James, Patrick Agyemang has shifted seven or eight yards to his left.
This is all the encouragement Sheaf needs, as he turns sharply to the left before rolling a pass to Max Cleworth, who by now has found space just over the halfway line. He, in turn, picked out Ryan Longman wide on the right and, suddenly, Derby were scrambling to get back.
The attack was ultimately defused, but the ease with which the hosts were opened up after a short time without the ball underlined the value of retaining possession, something Wrexham struggled to do early in the season. This was particularly the case away from home, where they saw just a 24.94 per cent share of the ball at Southampton on the opening day and only marginally more when winning at Norwich (38.29 per cent) and Millwall (40.12 per cent).
James’ 25-yard thunderbolt at Derby, the goal that ultimately won the game, was a prime example. Not least because the build-up to this goal of the season contender involved Wrexham initially going backwards to retain possession, as Callum Doyle rolled a pass to Sheaf.
As this was happening, James raced back to ensure his midfield partner had support. Sheaf, though, had other ideas, choosing to retreat further via a pass to Hyam just inside the Wrexham half.
A quick exchange of passes with James in the centre circle later and Hyam returned the ball to Sheaf, who in turn found Doyle.
With Derby now drawn forward to leave space in behind the exploit, Doyle chipped a delightful pass down the wing for George Thomason to chase.
The wing-back’s cross may have been cut out, but Derby still couldn’t clear, the ball instead arriving at James’ feet, and he did the rest with a stunning finish.
It’s not just on the ball where the Sheaf-James axis is so important. Out of possession, the pair provide a vital protective barrier in front of the back three, as shown below by a map of their defensive interventions.
Like Sheaf and James, Dobson has impressed hugely this season. For a start, no other midfielder in the Championship can match his tally of 68 tackles or the 44 he’s won.
The former Charlton Athletic man has also developed a happy knack of opening up opposition defences with a killer pass, while his assists for Liberato Cacace and Hyam last Friday against Forest underlined what he brings to the team.
Such qualities explain why Dobson has featured in all but two of this season’s 26 league outings, starting 20 of them. There’ll undoubtedly be many more to come, too, with the Championship such a demanding league that playing the same XI, week after week, just isn’t practical.
But, there just seems to be more control about Wrexham when Sheaf and James are patrolling the centre of the field. It’s why the pair are shaping up to be integral to how this fascinating season pans out in north Wales.