Another game where the result was hard to take eh? Big effort from a weary group and another simple error costing us getting anything from the game (sound familiar?).
As much as the loss felt like another installment of the death by a thousand cuts that this season has turned into, I am mindful of the impact the the Fox-enforced Summer of Football schedule has had on the team. We already had one of the thinnest squads (in terms of our quality depth), which has been reduced further by injuries to some key players, so I will accept that has made getting results harder of late.
I get that many fans are bemoaning the lack of promised signings to strengthen the squad but I can also appreciate the job MM must be having in persuading players to sign with us, given our current situation and recent history. I would far rather we didn’t sign anyone than bring in more duds, just to watch them add nothing to the team.
As much as I am trying to stay positive about things, if Hoole continues to start, then something is deeply wrong on that front. He has rightly benched Weemac but continues to persist with that one trick pony, much to our collective frustration. This is hopefully solely down to our lack of depth at present and is something that can be fixed with our new signing and as other players return from injury. Just think how much better our midfield would look with Tom H, Tom O, O’Neil and Jem (assuming the reality matches the hype) in it, perhaps allowing us to exert more control of the middle third. That increased control would in turn take pressure of the back 3 and allow more support for our attackers. That might sound simplistic but the bare truth is that most games are won or lost in midfield, which is where we currently lack the most quality. One good midfielder cannot do it on their own, the whole midfield needs to contribute, even if the individual players’ attributes might be subtly different (dogged ball winner/tackler, silky mover, killer pass maker etc).
Hopefully, we might get to see the team take that sort of shape in the coming weeks and it would be great to see the team’s performances and results lifting in turn, thus building some positive momentum into the back half of the season. If only MM could add a proven goal scorer to the mix, we could honestly have hope of climbing towards 7th. At the risk of sounding ‘greedy’ I would be even happier if we added a quality goalkeeper to give the defence greater confidence, as Kennedy simply isn’t up to the standard required, despite having a decent game yesterday. He will never command his area and defence and just isn’t positive enough at key moments when called into action, so whilst he could be a solid No. 2 he is not a starting keeper sorry.
MVC will be another tough game this weekend and I worry that it may take the boys longer to recover from the recent rapid succession of games than some other teams, given the repeated number of minutes some of our best players have been forced to play due to lack of cover, as that must take its toll.
I will remain positive, all the time I can see that the boys are giving what they can but MM needs to be playing our best players week in week out, once they are available, or we will end up spooning again this season and that is simply not acceptable.
