I think it boils down to the opposition. One of the players said this week that teams are coming to us and sitting in. We do a possession based style, which means that the opposition can stay rigid and not press us which results in us being stifled. We play well against teams like Leicester, Southampton and WBA because they come and attack, they play openly which gives us room to pass the ball and packet players easily. Teams are also more open at home because they're more confident, so when we go away we find that there's more room for our tactic to shine. What we haven't done, this season or last, is work out how to break down teams that do sit in or sit off us when we have the ball. Part of it is being braver on the ball and utilising player's strengths, but most of it is changing the tactic so that you press more dynamically and become more unpredictable. The players have clearly been told to be ultra patient and wait for the opportunity to come, or to get the ball into the wings so that Omur and Philogene can do their thing. We pass the ball around the back to lure players out and take them out of the phase of play, but if teams don't fall for it, nothing will happen. The issue there is that a compact defence and midfield give our creative players no space to operate. That needs to change if we want to compete next season, and that's on Rosenior.
It isn't the first time we've had a shocking home record and a very good away one. We had this under Pearson and we went on a record breaking away streak, but at home we were average at best. This season feels more like the one under Barmby, where we flirted with the playoffs but just couldn't get over the line. We had a decent spine, we had recruited some good young players such as Brady, Chester, Evans, Stewart and Simpson, we just fell short when we needed up our game. The following season, we brought in a higher quality of player, the likes of Aluko, Stockdale, Elmo and Meyler joined and we went up.
Next season, we need our recruitment to be bringing in players that are of the same quality as Tufan, Omur, Seri and Carvalho. Sentimentality is lovely, but if you have an attitude of "oh but he's a local lad" or "but they bust a gut out there", you're not going to get promoted. You need a grafting ethic alongside quality, you can't just have one or the other.
We aren't going to see Morton next season unless Liverpool loan him back, so we need a midfielder who can be dynamic in his play and get us moving forward. Having watched a lot of him this season (and last night confirming this belief), I think Slater should be one of those midfielders. His energy, ball control and passing make him a very underrated member of the squad and we play better with him in the midfield. We talk about players stepping up from our League One campaign, but I don't see his name mentioned as often as it should be.
