From seeing the first 4 games, there seems to be 2 main underlying
issues with the teams performance so far.
These is a lack of confidence in some players self belief
and the way the team is apparently being trained.
Starting from the back, the inside backs are far too static
in defence. They are not there to help the LBs and RBs and the DMs don’t or
unable to get back regularly,( like every time) to break down the opps attacks.Marinkovic
So the result is plenty of time and space for the opps to
build , maybe go down to the byline or cut inside .They easily find the opps
AMs on the D who can set up almost at leisure their final moves on goal. Is it a
lack of understanding of their roles or the game plan ala Ufuk? Its got to be
the latter.
The other point is that the AMs are still too slow and
tentative transitioning onto attack. (Maybe not so much Cacarce but to be fair
he has been tentative in his games go far as well). It could be a hangover
after preseason slow build up training or it could be the newbies finding it
tough to adjustto the pace and robustness
of the A league. There was hit and miss support for the WBs as well, except for
the latter stages of the game last night.
When we go up the centre of the park they run too far with
the ball. One, 2 or 3 opps close them down smartly as there is no support for the
man with the ball. At least 2 options are needed for the runner with the ball
every time. Look at Piscopo last night how often he was caught with no one topass to. Louis is almost relearning his trade
again. His passing back drive me nuts, but again where are the options and
support? Don’t know. He will improve though-we know hes got it in him. Walter
is an apprentice. He has a lot to learn and more importantly must learn quickly
to stop himself being skinned. We mustbe patient.
The skill level is good enough in most areas compared with
last year and Waine and NcCowatt are exciting for the future. There will be other
sin the wings we may need to call on. Ufuk has had 4 games to try and improve
on the same game plan, but he must fix the issues raised here, otherwise we are
in for a not very happy season.