Morecambe manager wants to see a solid Shrimps team in 2026/27
Morecambe’s players have been challenged to defend and lead as a team going into next season.
Adam Lakeland wants his Morecambe players to defend and lead as a collective when the new season kicks off.
The Shrimps return to regionalised football for the first time in three decades, following relegation to National League North.
Speaking at last month’s fans’ forum, Lakeland outlined his desire to see a ‘solid’ team.
He said: “We pride ourselves on our teams being organised, being competitive, hard to beat.
“We don’t like watching our teams be passive and I think in this league, especially, you need to be able to defend and if you can’t you’re in trouble.
“We can’t get out of this league without having a reasonable defensive structure.
“We always talk about ‘nils’ and ‘ones’ because, generally, our teams always score goals so if we’re keeping clean sheets or conceding a maximum of one, we’re going to get points most weeks and we’re going to win a lot of those games.
“I think most good teams are built from the back, so we need to be solid and we will be because we’ll bring in players who enjoy defending and it’ll be an expectation, not just of the lads that play at the back.
“Defending, as is attacking, it’s a collective effort, you can’t let teams waltz on to your back three, back four, and expect those guys and the goalkeeper to pull you out of trouble.
“It starts from the top end of the pitch and everybody in our teams, they understand their roles and responsibilities.
“If they don’t work hard and they don’t do that, then they don’t play.
“It doesn’t matter to me whether they’re 20 and they’ve played no games or they’re 35 and they’ve played hundreds.
“Everybody’s got a role to play, it’s not about individuals, it’s about being a good team and that’s certainly what we’ll try to instil in the work we do during the week on the training ground.
“We work really hard on our shape and organisation. In terms of leaders, there’s not loads of them left.
“There are some out there, generally everybody wants them and they cost the most money.
“I think it’s not just about the captain or the vice-captain, I think you can have multiple leaders in a team and I think people lead in different ways. The more you can have in your team, the better.”