TALKING POINTS

Chris Wade

@tufcchris

Chris discusses the NLS game

STRUCTURAL ISSUES

Of all of the challenges that we have at the moment (and there are many), the main one that continues to vex me is the way that the team is set up. Having played so well, with a structure and patterns of play that worked so affectively the week before, it was really odd to see that abandoned in favour of the three at the back at Dartford on Saturday. Yes there were personnel issues again in the absence of previously ever present Shaun Donnellan, but to change it all again makes no sense. Ross Marshall is more than capable of playing as a conventional right back. It felt like changing it and trying to be jazzy for the sake of it. And, as is regularly the case, it didn’t work. Fully accepting that we haven’t been able to keep the same team on the pitch consistently, we need to stick to an identify and way of playing. This is undermining the attempts at consistency.

AWAY DAY BLUES

With thanks to my ten year old son Ben for the investigative work, the contrast between our home and away records is now damaging us. The home record of played 9 won 6 lost 3 with a goal difference of +5 is acceptable, albeit with at least one too many defeats. But the away record is is completely unacceptable. Played 9 won 3 drawn 1 lost 5 with a goal difference -4. The defeats have come at a host of clubs where the expectation is that we would have been doing better, including Saturday’s woeful defeat at Dartford. This record simply has to improve if we are to have a chance of achieving anything this season, and that needs to start right now at Eastbourne on Tuesday.

GOALKEEPING SITUATION

The current situation with Mark Halstead is another one shrouded in mystery at the moment. Having had a few weeks out due to a facial injury sustained at Hampton, he was named in the starting eleven at the weekend, only to be withdrawn before kick off again. Whilst Rhys Lovett is a perfectly acceptable number two, he has parts to his game that aren’t helping us. His indecisiveness, his lack of talking at times and his poor kicking have all been features of the last few games. He also doesn’t have any authority within the box and from set pieces. We really need Halstead back and sooner rather than later.

ARTIFICIAL SURFACE

Tuesday also sees us face another encounter on an artificial surface, something which continues to be in the minds of all supporters and it looks like the players as well. Whether you like them or not, artificial surfaces play an important part in this division as there are so many of them. We need to arrive at Priory Lane with the correct attitude and mentality for the battle, something that I don’t believe that we had on Saturday, where we lacked intensity and drive from the very off. And that was on grass. That has to be different in a game that isn’t far from must win on Tuesday night.

THE OPPOSITION

We travel to Eastbourne to face an opposition that are struggling themselves and start the evening only out of the relegation places by one point and one place. They have suffered three defeats in their last five games and are struggling. It’s the kind of occasion that requires us to go there, start quick (imagine that away from home?) and get stuck into the game. So many away games we have almost looked like we are waiting for the opposition to score to wake us up. And some games are then out of reach by then. They have also conceded the second most amount of goals in the league, so this is a real opportunity to get three points and move back on track.