Creaking 'MK Way' is limiting Dons' opportunity to change

Leaving Vale Park on Saturday, MK Dons were shown a clear indication of how far from competing at the sharp end of League Two they really are.

In typically Dons fashion, having a vast amount of possession ultimately resulted in just five shots and only one on target all afternoon, while Port Vale managed 20 shots with less than a third of the ball all game, comfortably winning 3-0.

The infamous ‘MK Way’ and struggled and creaked through the season. A term first dubbed around 2018 after Robbie Neilson sought to turn Dons into a more hardened and brutal team than the one Karl Robinson had built over the previous six-and-a-half years, the philosophy is one which has prioritised a style of football.

During this time though, success has been limited, with more relegations than promotions, and two failed play-off campaigns. This season too has been, without question, the worst in the club’s history as they are left toiling in 18th in the lowest professional division.

Having recruited a specific type of player to play the specific style of football, the side’s shortcomings and vulnerabilities have been hugely exposed. Former head coach Scott Lindsey made a few signings in a bit to alter the profile of the players he felt the side needed to patch over those holes, but injury, illness and suspension to Nathan Thompson, Jack Sanders and Jay Williams mean the trio have not been able to make make appearances between them, let alone the necessary impact.

Taking charge since Lindsey’s sacking, Ben Gladwin has made changes to see Dons revert back to the more familiar tropes of the ‘MK Way’ - playing in tight and congested areas to try and free up space elsewhere. Without the physical presence to battle other more ‘traditional’ League Two styles head on though, Gladwin admitted on Saturday he is hamstrung into playing a certain way.

Changing style fundamentally though is not something the interim boss can do effectively, given the profile of players at his disposal, and he feels a step away from the design will only be worse overall.

“We can definitely change and start smashing it forwards, but we do not have the profile of player to do that,” he said. “My belief is that if we did that, the results would be even worse.

“The team has been recruited for this style of football, and the current coaches and players have to get a lot better at doing what we're doing.

“For the amount of momentum and territory we have, we have to threaten the goal a lot more.”