The Wild Lower West: Home And Away

Yesterday at 05:42 AM

After yet another home win and yet another away loss, Dixey asks what's behind the Royals' polarising form.

I had an interesting conversation with my grandson this week, who was explaining to me that he had been learning about opposites and comparisons at school, and did I know that the opposite of day was night, the opposite of left was right, and the opposite of strong was weak, with the latter leading me nicely to our home form compared to away.

Having witnessed a gritty, determined 1-0 win against Bristol Rovers, we were then subjected to a very poor, 'didn't turn up' 4-1 defeat against Stockport County, who annoyingly were not as good as Bristol Rovers in my opinion.

While the comparison between home form and away form can be sometimes distorted by the way teams play and set up against us, there are some worrying traits that seem to have become all too common away from the SCL.

The press

When we press teams at home, we have a noticeable pattern to the way in which we press and squeeze. Our forwards will close defenders and goalkeeper, our midfielders will push up and close out the spaces for an out ball, and our defenders will push up to halfway and dictate from the back, even if that is just vocal support and instruction for the press. Our press becomes a well drilled formation, a bit like the red arrows on a football pitch!

Compare that to Stockport where we had just Jayden Wareham leading the press, Charlie Savage supporting it and often running beyond Wareham (which leaves gaps if not executed correctly), midfielders not knowing whether to press or sit, and a back four sitting on the edge of their own box for much of the game and unable to support the midfield.

This in turn leaves the all-too familiar open space between defence and midfield and invites pressure. We need to be braver when pressing away from home and ensure that we have players supporting the press, because we have seen how effective it can be when executed correctly.

The reliance on Lewis Wing

We all know that Wing can be a genius with a football, but the reliance on him to provide a moment of magic leads to every ball from the back being played to him, even in tight spaces when he has little chance of impacting the play.

At home we play an expansive game that utilises the width of the pitch and brings others into play, but away from home we encounter smaller spaces and the need for others to step up and want the ball more frequently to make things happen. As a result, we lose direction when playing from defence to midfield and start playing the ball longer.

I counted five instances against Stockport when Tyler Bindon attempted to carry the ball from defence and instantly look for Wing. With Wing being tightly marked, we are then forced to go long, when other midfielders should be demanding the ball and trying to take us forward.

The lack of confidence

This may sound strange given our squad togetherness and individual ability, but we often seem devoid of confidence away from home. I get that you often need to be more defensive on the road, but my question is why, when you have a squad as threadbare as ours?

Teams with huge squads and two players for every position can afford the luxury of changing formations and systems away from home, but we don't, so why insist on trying to play a game that doesn't suit the players you have at your disposal?

At home it is noticeable that players have total confidence in being afforded the freedom to go forward and attack, yet away from home those same players are being asked to play with the shackles on just 72 hours later. We have a squad full of players who are comfortable and very effective going forward, yet their confidence seems to drain when they are asked to perform a role that isn't comfortable to them.

Yes, it's the ugly side of the game that every professional player should learn to adapt to, but it is also a side of the game that I believe restricts us away from home and doesn't fully play to our strengths.

I would love to see us pick an attacking away side and go forward with the intensity that we do at the SCL. If we do and it goes horribly wrong, I will be the first to hold my hands up and admit that my suggestions for away domination are better stored in my head.

Without wanting to sound completely negative, you certainly couldn't fault the effort of the players against Stockport, yet that effort could (in my opinion) be better utilised in attacking positions, rather than putting ourselves under pressure for large parts of the game.

Stockport were not great: they were just good at exploiting our obvious weaknesses on the night, and took full advantage of our inability to push them back and make them work hard for the space that they had. I know I talk a lot about "the press" and "open spaces" when analysing our games, but that's simply because it's the two things that seem to define the best and worst of our play when comparing home and away performances.

This Saturday we return to the SCL for the visit of Fleetwood Town in the FA Cup, and the return of Charlie Adam, who I am sure will get the warmest of welcomes he deserves from the home supporters. As a change from our usual Saturday schedule, supporters are reminded that this game will now kick off at 3pm!

With the West Stand being closed for this one, I will be watching the game from the lofty heights in Y24, which happens to be the only section of the ground that I have never watched a game from. I would ask all supporters to please keep the noise down though, as us Lower West folk are not used to watching home games with surround sound!

I am cautiously optimistic for this one and believe that we will eventually have too much for Fleetwood, albeit after falling behind early on.

Reading 2-1 Fleetwood Town

Wareham 34, Savage 68; Graydon 16

And finally, an interesting incident in the Lower West last Saturday, when two supporters took their seats for the second half equipped with two pints of the SCL's finest lager. I'm not sure how much clearer you can make "NO ALCOHOL BEYOND THIS POINT" as you leave the concourse, but the response of the two culprits was priceless.

When challenged by a steward, one guy said" "I didn't buy it to drink, my seat was dirty in the first half, so I wanted something to clean it for the second."

Good to know that it isn't just me that believes that Heineken tastes like Cif.

Much love and c'mon URZZZ.

Dixey