They're killing us.

In our last 6 games we've conceded 5 goals in the last 10 minutes, costing us 6 points. That's the difference between 16th and 9th.

You simply can't afford to do this when you're also conceding first in 75% (12/16) of your games, it doesn't matter how free scoring we are.

So what's the problem? Is it a lack of fitness? Mental weakness? Tactical naivety? All three?

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold...

I think fitness is an issue but more from the point of view of overall performance and injuries. I think the problem is trying to play the wrong kind of game: we can score goals now so we keep trying to play attacking football and forgetting about what we actually used to do better than practically anyone: stop world-class attacks from breaking us down.

We got to the FA Cup final conceding something like two goals in the whole competition thus far. Now we can't even get out of one league match without conceding more than that. And with mostly the same men minus Mariappa and plus Tomkins.

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The Ferret
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