Notts County: Salford City should come as a warning to Stuart Maynard over Dan Crowley | OneFootball

Dan Crowley played a deeper role in Notts' loss to Salford at the weekend - it's a role that arguably wastes his qualities.

Notts County continued their disappointing run of form in League Two with a 3-0 defeat away at Salford City on Saturday.

Stuart Maynard’s side are now winless in their last five league games and haven’t tasted victory in the league since 26th October. This run of form has seen the Magpies slip outside of League Two’s top 10 for the first time since the second matchday of the season.

Saturday’s game saw the much-anticipated return of key midfield creator Dan Crowley, who has been absent for almost two months through injury.

However, the pre-match optimism of seeing Crowley back in the starting eleven was soon forgotten, as Notts turned out what was arguably one of their worst displays in recent memory.

Crowley was used in a deeper midfield role, with George Abbott occupying the space behind David McGoldrick and Alassana Jatta. It was a switch that simply didn’t work for Crowley or for Notts, who missed his creativity in the final third.

Dan Crowley’s deeper role wastes his creative ability

Perhaps most worryingly for Notts, their performance on Saturday was reminiscent of last season’s team who were held back by a woeful defensive record. At Salford, the Magpies looked timid, slow and vulnerable and their performance was littered with errors, both with and without the ball.

A prime example of this was Conor McAleny’s 14th-minute opener when Crowley received an awkward pass from Alex Bass and failed to protect the ball well enough on the edge of his own area.

Crowley received the ball incredibly deep on several occasions and it proved to be a risky strategy. Notts had their biggest risk-taker with the ball at his feet receiving it in areas that were more dangerous to them than the opposition.

While there is certainly an argument that playing him that deep could help Notts play through the lines more effectively, on Saturday it proved to be an approach that offered far more risk than reward.

Additionally, Crowley operating deeper in the midfield left Notts lacking his creativity and killer pass in the final third.

There have been times when this approach has worked for Notts. The 2-0 win at Carlisle in early October was a game the former Birmingham City man controlled singlehandedly while playing in the deeper role. However, an attacking player of his quality is wasted being the midfielder who picks the ball up off the defence on a regular basis.

Losing Crowley’s creativity in the final third is all the more impactful considering Notts are currently without Jodi Jones, leaving them with little threat at times.

Maynard’s decision to use the 27-year-old as the deepest of his midfielders was made even more baffling by the fact it also resulted in playing Matty Palmer and George Abbott outside of their most natural positions as well.

Palmer, whose game naturally tailors itself to sitting deep and controlling possession, was playing more as an ‘8’, while Abbott, who possesses the drive and energy ideal for a box-to-box role, took up Crowley’s more natural position in behind the striker.

With Notts struggling badly at the minute, getting Crowley back into his natural position could provide the spark needed to drag the Magpies to that win that they so desperately need.

Stuart Maynard could come under pressure if Notts don’t improve soon

It’s important that Notts’ recent form is put into the context of their current injury struggles. Jones, Scott Robertson, Conor Grant, Curtis Edwards and Crowley have all spent extended periods on the sidelines lately.

However, if results don’t improve, Maynard could find himself under pressure in January.

Saturday’s performance was arguably the low point of the season so far, and Notts must ensure that they never dip to that level (or close to it) again.

Notts are now winless in five in League Two and have lost three on the spin in all competitions. The most worrying sign of all is that the individual errors that plagued them throughout last season are starting to creep in once again, despite Notts looking pretty solid at the back for the majority of the season so far.

They face tricky tests over the Christmas period in the form of Bradford City, MK Dons and the improving Cheltenham Town, before table-topping Walsall visit Meadow Lane on New Year’s Day.

The Reedtz brothers have admirably set a precedent for giving managers ample time to rectify issues within the team during their ownership, but after everyone at the club worked so hard to overhaul the squad in the summer, you would imagine they won’t want to see the season fall away like last year.