TALKING POINTS

Chris Wade – @tufcchris

Chris discusses the key points

IMPORTANCE OF HOME FORM…CONTINUED

Whilst I fully accept that this is Groundhog Day, the pressure on the home form continues to grow. The latest defeat away from home has magnified the importance of the home form still further, and this weekend sees the early pace setters and league leaders Hornchurch come to town. As recognised by Paul Wotton last weekend, the away form cannot continue as it is, but whilst it is, every three points on offer at Plainmoor feel more precious. Perhaps especially so this weekend.

TEAM SHAPE

The move to three at the back at Dorking last weekend took everybody by surprise. I do believe in focusing on ourselves, but you also have to be tactically aware enough to know what your opposition will do and prepare to play against them. The plan just didn’t work and wasn’t implemented by the players. The exclusion of Jordan Young didn’t help the reaction in what turned out to be a horrific first half. I expect to see us return to the 4-2-3-1 that we have seen in the main this season. There are some personnel decisions to make also.

MISSING CODY

Sometimes in life, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. The injury to Cody Cooke is certainly an example of this. His strength, aerial prowess and ability to hold the ball up are taken for granted by some, but his absence has been keenly felt. Young loanee Cian Dillon has worked hard and chased everything, but he doesn’t yet have the physical attributes to be impactful at this level. Louis Dennis is a number 10, so how we fill that void in the weeks to come will be key.

YOUNG IS KEY

How good is Jordan Young? It was clear from the moment we first saw him, but the impact he has had on our club has been incredible. Just passed 50 games in Yellow, and 19 goals and 17 assists later, his exclusion, in isolation was a massive surprise last week. But it may be part of a wider picture. With a busy November ahead, and his importance at Plainmoor, there are lots of key challenges ahead in the first of three games this week.

THE OPPOSITION

Unbeaten Hornchurch come to Torquay this weekend in a key clash. Although they have won 9 and drawn 4 of their first 13 games, our home reliability means that we are only 7 points behind them, although they do have a game in hand. They have several former league players, and we will need to be ready from the off. These are the games that we, as supporters, see us as needing to show who we are and stamp our authority on the league. Now would be a good opportunity for a properly clinical performance, wouldn’t it?