‘That’s what we want to do’ – Joe Edwards highlights where Millwall need to evolve in their playing style

Joe Edwards has explained more of what he wants to see from his Millwall side in and out of possession.

The new Lions head coach wants to change their style of play to be more possession-based and improve how they work both in and out of possession. 

Part of that is being a team that covers more distance in games. 

Speaking after Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Coventry, he said: “When you are a team that doesn’t have a lot of the ball typically, you can work hard, but if you are in the middle or the deeper parts of the pitch in a block as a team, it’s not as taxing as it is when you’ve got to be that team that’s on the front foot and high pressing – that’s what we want to do. 

“When you’ve got a home crowd like we’ve got at somewhere like The Den, you want to be on the front foot, but it does put players in every part of the pitch, whether that’s your central defenders following people in or your attacking players starting that press and running at speed. 

“That is what it takes. If you look at the top teams across the leagues in modern-day football, people can understand what we are trying to evolve into here.

 “People can talk about ball possession and build-up play when they talk about playing style. 

“The most successful teams at the highest level in this country in recent years – Liverpool and the Man City – for all the stuff they do to you when they’ve got the ball, they absolutely run all over you for 90 minutes.”

Edwards’ debut victory at Sheffield Wednesday saw Millwall complete their highest amount of running and sprints in a game – something he wants to see repeated as he slowly evolves the playing style. 

He added: “We did a lot of work in the Sheffield Wednesday game, and we saw the rewards for that. Today, I thought a team came here and looked sharper than us. That’s something we have to keep working on.”