After Whitehall went off the ball started coming back towards our goal with more regularity, our hold up play became none existent, he may frustrate but that is one of Whitehall’s strengths holding up and bringing the supporting players into play. If taking off Whitehall was to get Ubaezuonu on, they are two different types of player.
Just because we have 5 substitutes available doesn’t mean we have to make all five. I know it is all about ‘player load according to the GPS’ and we have two games in 72 hours but did we really need all 5 today? The squad has been slimed down so the players know that they will be getting game time so keeping them happy shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Which player expects to be playing all 46 games in this modern age? If we do need to make 5 substitutions, do they need to be made in 5 different occasions surely they can be done in 2 or 3 times (baring injuries).
The 3-5-2 formation promises so much but we are slowly turning it into a 5-3-1-1, inviting teams to attack in the last period of the game. The wing backs need to be encouraged to be available for the full 90 and attack teams using the fact that we are one of the fittest full time teams in the division. If the wing backs are encouraged to bob on and put the balls in the box regularly the we will win more than we lose.
The positives –
We are after 4 games top of the league, have 10 points, have conceded one goal in 360 minutes and scored, the majority of us would have taken that before the season started. Irrespective of who we have played (and we can only play who is in front of us), would we have got 10 points this time last season?
We do look fitter and sharper but I don’t think we have got out of second gear and are still finding our way. When we do hit top gear we will be a force to be reckoned with.
It will be interesting to see where we are before we break for the qualifying round of the cup but if we have mirrored the first 4 games with the next 4 then we’ll be on track.
