Plymouth Argyle: The Steven Schumacher masterstroke that is seriously helping Ryan Hardie: Opinion | OneFootball

Highlights

Plymouth Argyle are getting a first-hand experience of the highs and lows of Championship football.

Beating Norwich City 6-2 was a superb result for the Devonshire club but then that has been their only win in the last five outings.

Since making light work of David Wagner’s side at Home Park, Argyle have drawn with Hull City and then last night, they lost to Millwall.

Zian Flemming and George Saville scored the goals for the Lions, a result that takes them into the top-half of the table and leaves Plymouth Argyle in 15th.

All in all, it has been a very successful season to date for Steven Schumacher and co when one considers the budgets and size of clubs that they are going toe-to-toe with.

Ryan Hardie is one man who has made the jump up from League One to the second-tier seamlessly and there is a slight tactical adjustment from Schumacher which is seemingly play a major role in this.

What tweak has Steven Schumacher made?

Hardie, who made the permanent move from Blackpool in 2021 after a successful loan spell the year prior, leads the team in goals with five in 12.

Morgan Whittaker is closely behind him on four and the pair have both contributed three assists each as well, and they are both at the heart of this tweak from Schumacher.

Last season, Argyle played a narrower system in the attacking third with the wingbacks Joe Edwards and Bali Mumba tasked with providing all of the width.

There would be two number 10s behind Hardie who could push wide but primarily remained in the middle of the park. Whittaker was one of these until Swansea City recalled him from loan in January- Finn Azaz and Niall Ennis amongst those to take up this slack.

This time around, having won League One and stepping up to that next level, Mumba and Whittaker are being used as wingers instead since joining Argyle permanently from Norwich and Swansea respectively. This can come in the form of a four-at-the-back system but the same goes for when there are wingbacks, emphasising more and more wing play.

Ryan Hardie is the primary benefactor of this as it gives him more space centrally and allows him to play as a more traditional number nine. His three assists show that he is involved in the link-up play whilst also getting off more shots and enjoying more time in front of goal.

Speaking to Plymouth Live, manager Schumacher sung the praises of the Scotsman in his new role and explained his vision too.

"When I spoke to Ryan in the summer about him re-signing with us I told him he was going to play more as a number nine because we were going to play with wingers.

"He's going to get more chances in them areas. He's not having to cover as much ground in wide areas in the channels because we have got wide lads in those zones.

"He's doing what a recognised number nine should be doing. He's occupying two centre-backs all the time, and he's in the right place at the right time at the moment, and putting his chances away.”

How has Hardie performed in comparison to last season?

Looking at the numbers for Hardie both last season and this season and the difference is clear for all to see, despite it still being early days for the latter.

Across his 44 league appearances in 2022/23, the 26-year-old from Stranraer averaged two shots per 90.

Comparatively, Hardie is averaging 2.6 shots per 90 in the penalty box alone this term with 0.4 of these coming from within the confines of the six-yard box.

His total including shots from outside of the box adds up to 3.2 which means he has seen a 60% increase in his efforts on goal which is remarkable given that he is now facing more capable defenders.