This is our dip in form

[Cerberus Blade]

All team's have them, and we're having one now.

We've not played well for a few weeks now - but we still keep winning. That's got to be good news!

The main issue for me is that the midfield isn't quite working as well as it was. Fleck, in particular, has been poor by his own high standards that he showed up until now. He'll come back to form again - I'm not knocking the lad, he's a great player, but he hasn't quite been on it of late - and that makes a big difference to the team, because he's a guy that can open up defences and create opportunities for the striker (singular).

I thought Fleck might have a blinder against Cov but he was poor there - and so was Duffy for the most part - and Coutts. When all these three are on form we look unstoppable - but they haven't been firing on all cylinders of late.

I'm not saying drop them or anything like that - I think we should continue as we are doing, because we are still winning games, but we need them to get back onto top form before we see the kind of performances again like we were seeing a month ago.

 

[Ricky]

I think it's a shame the Southend game's been rearranged because the midfielders could probably do with a rest. And Southend are in form.

 

[west_yorks_blade]

All team's have them, and we're having one now.

We've not played well for a few weeks now - but we still keep winning. That's got to be good news!

The main issue for me is that the midfield isn't quite working as well as it was. Fleck, in particular, has been poor by his own high standards that he showed up until now. He'll come back to form again - I'm not knocking the lad, he's a great player, but he hasn't quite been on it of late - and that makes a big difference to the team, because he's a guy that can open up defences and create opportunities for the striker (singular).

I thought Fleck might have a blinder against Cov but he was poor there - and so was Duffy for the most part - and Coutts. When all these three are on form we look unstoppable - but they haven't been firing on all cylinders of late.

I'm not saying drop them or anything like that - I think we should continue as we are doing, because we are still winning games, but we need them to get back onto top form before we see the kind of performances again like we were seeing a month ago.

Agree with what you say.

One of the themes that came out from Coventry fans when he moved to us was that Fleck started the season well and faded badly. I really hope this is just a temporary blip in form.

Lets not forget that other managers do their home work before playing us. Last season and the season before they all quickly sussed that all they had to do was push up and pressurise a congested midfield to get the better of us. This season with 3 at the back and attacking wing backs its taken a while for the opposition to figure out the best way to counteract our attacking prowess.

Wilder does a great job of reading the game and making the right substitutions, so I will continue to trust him with that. But surely the biggest issue is the lack of goals converted from a huge number of chances. The midfield and Billy's strike partner (who ever it is) need to step up and find the back of the net more often.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

Agree with what you say.

One of the themes that came out from Coventry fans when he moved to us was that Fleck started the season well and faded badly. I really hope this is just a temporary blip in form.

Lets not forget that other managers do their home work before playing us. Last season and the season before they all quickly sussed that all they had to do was push up and pressurise a congested midfield to get the better of us. This season with 3 at the back and attacking wing backs its taken a while for the opposition to figure out the best way to counteract our attacking prowess.

Wilder does a great job of reading the game and making the right substitutions, so I will continue to trust him with that. But surely the biggest issue is the lack of goals converted from a huge number of chances. The midfield and Billy's strike partner (who ever it is) need to step up and find the back of the net more often.

Yes agree with that too.

I think Wilder will go out in January and bring in another striker. I would if I were him. I still think that Lavery or Clarke will emerge as good options to pair with Sharp, but, if we can bring in a quality striker and goalscorer for not a lot of money then we'd be plain stupid not to pursue that. I'm thinking of one just down the road who has played at a much higher level.

One thing for sure - Done isn't the answer. Been saying it for absolutely months now - nothing against the lad, love his workrate, but we MUST NOT keep playing him as a striker. He isn't one. He's never been one and we need a proper striker in the striker position alongside Sharp. Let Done play in midfield if we want his energy in the team, but do not waste a striker slot on him.

 

[SwissBlade]

I think it's a shame the Southend game's been rearranged because the midfielders could probably do with a rest. And Southend are in form.

They can rest when they're dead. They're professional athletes. If they're not fit enough to run the equivalent of 10km twice a week at this stage in the season then they're a bunch of fannies.

The break we just had between Coventry and Oldham was a decent one for recovery.

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

I think it's more a case of us having gone through a purple patch (from around the Port Vale game onwards). We were having a ridiculous 15 to 20 shots a game, and dominating in midfield for lengthy periods. But we've gone back to what it was like before that spurt, having to grind out the wins in fully committed fashion (showing flashes of quality in amongst it).

We'll hit another purple patch, when confidence levels surge & we've got 8 players or so at the top of their game, I've no doubt. In the meantime, the attitude, commitment and bottle on display is superb. We're not perfect, but we never know we're beaten and we're relentless.

Grand days being a Blade right now.

 

[Ricky]

They can rest when they're dead. They're professional athletes. If they're not fit enough to run the equivalent of 10km twice a week at this stage in the season then they're a bunch of fannies.

The break we just had between Coventry and Oldham was a decent one for recovery.

They are fit enough to do that, but being on top of their game is another matter. Small margins make big differences in professional sport, as you'll know with cycling. They've played every game for a while now and have probably accumulated fatigue and knocks. The gap between Coventry and yesterday was decent rest time, but I think it would've been good to have one in January, halfway through the season. At least we have a free midweek between Bolton(H) and Rochdale(A) now though.

 

[SwissBlade]

They are fit enough to do that, but being on top of their game is another matter. Small margins make big differences in professional sport, as you'll know with cycling. They've played every game for a while now and have probably accumulated fatigue and knocks. The gap between Coventry and yesterday was decent rest time, but I think it would've been good to have one in January, halfway through the season. At least we have a free midweek between Bolton(H) and Rochdale(A) now though.

If you train right then you know how to deal with the body to recover, physically. One thing i've learnt from Cycling and Triathlon is that despite how i felt i used to give every last drop of energy in football, you hold a lot back. Its also not a sport where you need mental toughness or exceptional levels of endurance.

I agree on the knocks and niggles in football, but tiredness and endurance aren't really a concern when you are only running for 90 mins with a break in the middle.

 

[Benny and the Blades]

Is it only us who play this many games ? and how well did Bolton or Scunthorpe play ?
Were all in the same boat and judging by where we are in the table we not doing that bad are we........

 

[Fulwood Blade]

All team's have them, and we're having one now.

We've not played well for a few weeks now - but we still keep winning. That's got to be good news!

The main issue for me is that the midfield isn't quite working as well as it was. Fleck, in particular, has been poor by his own high standards that he showed up until now. He'll come back to form again - I'm not knocking the lad, he's a great player, but he hasn't quite been on it of late - and that makes a big difference to the team, because he's a guy that can open up defences and create opportunities for the striker (singular).

I thought Fleck might have a blinder against Cov but he was poor there - and so was Duffy for the most part - and Coutts. When all these three are on form we look unstoppable - but they haven't been firing on all cylinders of late.

I'm not saying drop them or anything like that - I think we should continue as we are doing, because we are still winning games, but we need them to get back onto top form before we see the kind of performances again like we were seeing a month ago.

Without doing a bergen analysis of how we play in detail, I think we play much better when we press up the field and move the ball a bit quicker. This seems more apparent after half time. Oldham tried really hard to play in our half and credit to them, but we seem to have an uncanny knack of just wearing teams down like yesterday.

I would like us to start on the front foot a bit more - I love the press when we do it, but perhaps this is the pattern now - don't concede and we'll win it in the 2nd half.

We should also give credit to other teams who will have sussed us out a bit - we now need to step it up a bit. Teams grow into a season as it progresses - lets hope we keep growing as it goes on.

UTB