TALKING POINTS

Chris Wade – @tufcchris

Chris looks ahead to the game at Salisbury

LOOKING FOR A STRONG 90 MINUTES

Inconsistency is the main word for Torquay United after 14 games of the new regime. Some excellent pieces of play are being cancelled out by mistakes, all within the same game at times. Saturday’s infuriating draw at Plainmoor against Chelmsford encapsulates where we are now. A lightening start and two goal lead within the first fifteen minutes were cancelled out by some slack marking from a cross and a goalkeeping mistake that led to a draw. Putting a whole 90 minutes together has been an issue so far and that has to be the next step in this squad’s development as we head into another away day on Tuesday to Salisbury.

MIDFIELD SHAPE

A hot topic amongst supporters in recent weeks has been the shape of the midfield. With playing three at the back and with a more attacking front three at the weekend, the midfield duo of Oscar Threlkeld and Dan Hayfield were left vulnerable on the transition at the weekend, with Chelmsford able to get bodies forward. The wide attackers have to get back effectively to support the two central players or you can be easily overloaded. There is no doubt that Omar Mussa and Jordan Young’s main qualities lie in attacking areas, but the work rate has to be there too. It will be interesting to see if the same shape is played away from home or a more conservative set up is taken from the start.

SQUAD DEPTH

Another interesting feature of the weekend was that only one substitute was used by Paul Wotton. He has been very vocal all season of the use and extra help that the five substitute rule has given clubs at our level, and he has ben a regular user. But only one alteration was made on Saturday and I wondered if it did leave us a bit leggy in the final phase when the equaliser came. Cody Cooke has a suspension looming at the weekend, so either Ben Seymour or Brad Ash will be used from the start. The squad depth is looking pretty good now, with Ed Palmer almost ready to return and that will be tested over the hectic November weeks to come.

HOW MUCH LOYALTY IS TOO MUCH?

There can be doubt that James Hamon is a man that Paul Wotton has full faith in. Belief is key in football, and having worked together previously, he was somebody that Paul was keen to get in to the club in the summer. But there are some cracks in his performances that can’t be ignored. Whilst some goals conceded from outside of the box can be put down to good strikes, there is not always something that you can try and do about it. Hamon doesn’t always appear to move his feet very quickly and that split second can be crucial. It is right to have belief and back your players, but the mistake at the weekend was stark and costly. Some clean sheets and less errors are important to help carry us forward.

THE OPPOSITION

Salisbury go into Tuesday’s match after a weekend with their feet up due to their opponents having a match in the FA Cup. They currently sit in 18^th position and have lacked consistency in their results. A last six games of two wins followed by two draws followed by two defeats show that. It’s the sort of match that we really need to be winning to push us to the next level. And overall a run of wins to get some points on the board at a crucial and busy time in the season would be fantastic. The league is wide open and ready for somebody to grab it by the scruff of the neck.