Re: Balance

By John Rogers15/11/2015 13:04Sun Nov 15 13:04:48 2015In response to Re: Balance

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There's not a lot to add really from all that has been said so far, except for one thing from my point of view.

On at least four occasions after going behind yesterday, a Hendon attack broke down with five players in advanced positions. The reaction as Needham broke forward wasn't good enough. Players were meandering back, rather than busting a gut. As a result, the back four found themselves overrun time after time with no shield.

I don't think for a second that anyone is deliberately shirking, that they don't give a damn so can't be bothered. Look at their reaction coming off the pitch and you know that they're hurting. I know what it's like to lose week after week, to experience that sinking feeling as soon as you fall behind. But I remember being told once that even if the ball isn't running your way, even if you're not achieving much in possession, there is no excuse for not making life difficult for the opposition by working hard, digging in, grafting and putting them under pressure. We didn't do that first half and I was absolutely steaming at the break. Not everyone was guilty of this, and I'm not going to dig anyone out specifically, but we just looked beaten.

We did play better in the second half, we did create some decent opportunities and for the umpteenth time this season found an opposition keeper in inspired form. *Had* we scored early in the second half, Needham may have caved in - we'll never know. Overall, I thought they did a similar job to that we did so often last season. Get a healthy half-time advantage and then defend deep, and defend well. They were full value for the three points imo.

If the scale of the task facing us now wasn't obvious before, it ought to be now. We are in the thick of a dogfight to stay up. However, I have absolute unswerving faith in Gary, Scott & Freddie to turn this around and we know the quality the majority of the squad has is far better than we have shown so far and by sticking together we can turn this around.

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