There’s definitely positives and negatives to the game overall, some are easy to fix with others taking time.
Look at this game last year, we won with a deflection and a piece of Hamer magic, with a much stronger squad.
This season the league is very plateaued, no game is an on paper win and teams like Preston are good at consistency. We’re not, which is to be expected following our piss about start to the season.
Positives - Soumare is looking good, COH is back to his best and Campbell seems to be improving. Burrows looks off it still but improving with game time. Tanganga looked more assured on the right at times, despite his OG.
Negatives - Cooper, I’m worried about him this season and he looks like he needs a break although this is impossible. Shots from distance (their first and others throughout the game) he doesn’t look assured. The OG is unexpected but again he seemed to be out of position relative to the ball if that makes sense (maybe it doesn’t!).
Ogbene seemed quiet and timid at times, and Peck was steady if not at his best.
Cannon, I just don’t know what the deal is here. He’s way off it and always two or three steps behind play. Ings is the same but has less mobility, so isn’t devoid of blame but the expectation is lower. Cannon coming on is basically like saying we’ve got nothing to offer, so we need options in January. I’d personally loan him out if we can get a suitable replacement, like a forward who we can at least depend on to add a couple of goals and hold up play (basically a KM type lol).
Wilder - Shell shocked with no plan B in response to two quick fire goals either side of half time. We never settled or seemed to get a rhythm, with his answer being to bring on more forwards, decreasing the service to them and thereby reducing the threat. He’s got to adapt to these events and have some reactionary plans, as this happens in football. He’s not said to Tanganga to go and score in his own goal but these things happen. We were on top first half and then our dicks disappeared on their first.
Mental strength is not some left wing woke bollocks, it makes men physically respond to situations based on their perceived emotional attachment to them, and it needs addressing. It has for a long time. We are weak minded and terrified of conceding, and we shouldn’t be, that’s part of the game.
Wilder seems to ignore this elephant in the room though and persist with the just fight harder mentality, when some of players need to win their inner battles first.