JC70
Full Back
Watching the game today, it looked to me that these are the factors contributing to our recent performances.
Form - too many players hitting a bad run. From back to front Hoffman looks nervous, Doyle's form has dropped off, Winchester was great early season, now mediocre. Same for Neil. Evans is steady but never stands out even when at the top of his game, which he isn't at the moment. Gooch wasn't bad today, he got through some work but he just isn't consistent enough. Embleton is very talented but cannot turn that into performances. Stewart had a poor game by his standards today. Cirkin was ok, Pritchard worked his ass off and has real quality but you are never going to do well with 7-8 players out of form.
Confidence - we started today well on top and conceded against the run of play. Immediately our confidence went and we can't pass, tackle, trap a ball, clear our lines.
The pitch - state of it doesn't suit our players. Yes, I know it's the same for both sides but we have a team who want to pass the ball along the ground quickly. Our pitch stops this and makes running with the ball difficult too. The opposition tend to play football better suited to our pitch. We have the best quality squad in this division but the uneven pitch levels the playing field. 4 players in the squad who top teams have paid circa £10m for each. But they need a proper pitch to play on.
The Crowd - get on the players' backs when we aren't performing. This feeds into the confidence and it becomes a whirlpool of decline. Sometimes it goes the way and the crowd can visibly lift the team. It's up to the players how they react.
Form - too many players hitting a bad run. From back to front Hoffman looks nervous, Doyle's form has dropped off, Winchester was great early season, now mediocre. Same for Neil. Evans is steady but never stands out even when at the top of his game, which he isn't at the moment. Gooch wasn't bad today, he got through some work but he just isn't consistent enough. Embleton is very talented but cannot turn that into performances. Stewart had a poor game by his standards today. Cirkin was ok, Pritchard worked his ass off and has real quality but you are never going to do well with 7-8 players out of form.
Confidence - we started today well on top and conceded against the run of play. Immediately our confidence went and we can't pass, tackle, trap a ball, clear our lines.
The pitch - state of it doesn't suit our players. Yes, I know it's the same for both sides but we have a team who want to pass the ball along the ground quickly. Our pitch stops this and makes running with the ball difficult too. The opposition tend to play football better suited to our pitch. We have the best quality squad in this division but the uneven pitch levels the playing field. 4 players in the squad who top teams have paid circa £10m for each. But they need a proper pitch to play on.
The Crowd - get on the players' backs when we aren't performing. This feeds into the confidence and it becomes a whirlpool of decline. Sometimes it goes the way and the crowd can visibly lift the team. It's up to the players how they react.