Full disclosure: I didn’t watch the game. Well, not until the last 15 minutes anyway. By which point I saw nothing new under the sun. We had been reduced to the raggedy, lackadaisical, stodgy team we’ve all seen so many times before.
And this is what worries me, and ultimately what caused me to give this one a miss. I just don’t place any faith in the style that Leam Richardson serves up.
Yes, I understand this squad isn’t fully baked yet. Relationships all over the park need to gel and mature. The partnership between Udoka Godwin-Malife and Kyreece Lisbie will come good, I have every confidence in that.
But elsewhere, not so much.
I’m not seeing it yet for the likes of Paudie O’Connor and Benn Ward, or Haydon Roberts and Daniel Kyerewaa, but it is very, very early days for them. My main worries are for the central areas.
As a twist on a theme from last week, when I went in hard on Lewis Wing, I just don’t think our central midfield three know what they want to do or how to operate yet.
Compare that with what we saw in the second half against Luton Town, where they seemed to know exactly where to find players and how to move up the field accordingly. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that with Richardson’s teams, or even Noel Hunt’s for that matter.
The tactics throughout just don’t impress. We always seem to be light of bodies in attacks where we could or should play a neat triangle, there’s one player fewer around than there should be. We don’t commit enough to truly make an opening work.
It’s my own personal preference, of course, but I don’t believe a midfield two of Wing and whoever the poor sucker is next to him is enough. As such, there’s little drive up the pitch centrally. There’s acres of space at times that we don’t exploit.
Our current deployment of Josh Stokes – or newest signing George Earthy – seems to be very undefined. We had a very similar problem with Kamari Doyle last season, too.
In my mind, the 10 position in this system is key. Get the ball to him early, or let him make moves between the lines to draw the opposition and open up space. But we don’t seem able to utilise our 10 anywhere near enough for him to be truly effective.
Instead, we have an over-reliance on the wider areas, or, more to the point, Wing playing the same ball down the line and over the top time and time again. You know the one I mean.
This is where our low football IQ comes into it. Or is it Richardson’s low football IQ?
Our attacks are nullified very quickly by managers who know what our key moves will be. We’re uncommitted to push bodies into the right areas to cause overloads that will give the opposition manager something for them to think about.
Further to that, there’s no evidence of a Plan B. When our initial plan doesn’t come to fruition, we’re just resorting to letting Wing have the ball and seeing if the low percentage launch comes off. It’s just not enough.
If the aim of this season is promotion, then this team is, technically and tactically, way off. I firmly suspect we’re still in a mental funk from last season. I don’t believe one iota that this team believes wholeheartedly in what it’s doing.
We are, essentially, a vibes unit. As we saw against Luton, when the counter-attacking works a treat, we’re in for a good time. But as soon as that bubble bursts, or it gets a bit tougher, it’s too late. The chips have gone all in and we’ve got an empty hand. We can’t adapt, or don’t know how to.
This is my problem with Richardson’s teams. They’re weighted too heavily on one or two aspects working every time, all of the time. The responsibilities need to be allowed to be shared throughout, but we rely on the same individuals to perform magic time and time again.
There’s a fear, or a lack of confidence, that oozes with indecision. The lack of joined-up thinking throughout Richardson’s tenure reeks of it. There has always been a lack of composure on the ball, and those relationships all over the park that need to spark just don’t.
We’re only a few games into the new season, and despite the new bodies, we’re embodying all the same traits we suffered with last season. Will this get any better?
Just like the game itself, I am not seeing it.
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