"A bit of a mixed one" - Claim made on Nathan Jones approach at Charlton Athletic | OneFootball

FLW's Charlton Athletic fan pundit has outlined his thoughts on Nathan Jones and his style of football at the Valley.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

After a strong start to the campaign, it has been a disappointing few weeks for Nathan Jones' Charlton Athletic side in League One.

The appointment of Jones was seen as a coup for the Addicks, and after the impact he made at The Valley last season and strong summer recruitment, many believed his side would be among the promotion contenders in the third tier this time around.

However, after losing 1-0 at Exeter City last Saturday, they have now won just two of their last 11 league matches. That leaves them in 13th, five points from the play-off places and an alarming 11 points from the automatic promotion spots, increasing the pressure on Jones.

The verdict on Charlton Athletic's style of play under Nathan Jones

FLW's Charlton fan pundit Ben Fleming was asked for his thoughts on the current style of play, where he explained that he is less concerned than a number of the fanbase.

He said: "It's probably a bit of a mixed one, at the minute.

"We know under Nathan Jones that the style is going to be a bit more attritional to what other managers have been trying in recent years.

"You know, someone like Michael Appleton was meant to get us playing better football. The same was true with Ben Garner.

"I think with the Jones appointment we all sort of said we didn't mind that much, and we became more focused on results.

"It's not necessarily not good, it's just a different type of good. Against Birmingham, it was intense, fiery, and a different type of football.

"That saw us win and outplay them. It's not to say it can't be effective and make for good results and good performances. You look at the way the modern game has been going, and it's certainly not that to a great extent.

"I don't mind the style of football. I think, in League One, there doesn't need to be an obsession with playing out from the back and to rely on the technical ability of defenders or holding midfield players.

"There's a reason that players in those positions are playing in League One rather than the Premier League or the Championship.

"They are less technically gifted and better at just doing defending. So I'm absolutely fine with the style of play.

"It's not route one, but a bit more attritional, but the results have to come with that.

"They were at the start of the season, but not so much now.

"I think with someone like Stevenage that we saw last year, under Steve Evans, is that you can be direct and be attritional and still create a lot of chances.

"We haven't quite got that third part there, with having that attacking potency to create chances.

"That is the only thing that needs to be changed."

Charlton's attacking issues

Given his Premier League and Championship experience, many were surprised when Jones decided to drop down to League One to take charge of Charlton, and he was viewed as the man that could finally lead the club back to the second tier.

High floor football, meaning that they give up a low number of chances to the opposition, is often conducive to good results. That's if it is paired with the attacking play required at the other end, though.

Despite posting strong underlying numbers, including the second-strongest defence with just 10.8xG conceded, their attacking data is average at best. Per FotMob, they have the 14th best attack, having generated 14.7 xG across their 14 league matches thus far.

Charlton are in danger of fading away into mid-table once again unless they arrest that issue, and it's no great surprise that the Addicks are yet to score more than two goals in any league fixture so far this season.