Back To Basics?

Saturday’s 2-0 defeat away at league leaders Wolves condemned Blackpool to their fourth defeat in the last five games – the worst run the team has encountered since the opening weeks of the 2006 season. But where are The Seasiders going wrong, and what do they need to do in order to rediscover the early season form which saw them topple the likes of Birmingham City and Derby County?

There are a number of options which Simon Grayson and Tony Parkes could try I’m sure. The side don’t look capable of lasting a 90 minutes at the moment and in this modern age of Football, perhaps they could look at the players diet or the severity of training regimes as possible answers to this. Maybe they’re not actually training hard enough at Squires Gate; who knows?!

One thing that definitely needs extra training in is the art of defending a set piece. Yet again, ‘Pool conceeded two goals from dead ball situations, this time at Molynuex. An element of going back to basics has to be applied, otherwise with some crunch games coming up, we could see ourselves slip further and further down the table, especially with the resurgance of Watford, Southampton and Norwich City.

This season we tend to sit off teams both at Bloomfield Road and away from home – a stark contrast to last year where we pressed and got in teams’ faces. Why has this tactic been adopted when the pressing served us so well last season? We’ve definitely got the players to get in the faces of sides in this division.

Another back to basics method surely must be applied in team selection. The management need to decipher their best team, and quickly. With the depature of Mo Camara, who is the play at left back? Well, whoever we choose, we must stick by him, whether that be Joe Martin, Rehman, Baptiste or Coid.

In the midfield Grayson must decide whether Lee Hendrie gives us what we need in the engine room. Is Taylor-Fletcher worthy of his place at present? Does Hammill offer enough down the left to warrant inclusion?

Up front, two out of Burgess, McPhee, Gow and Kabba have to be given a run as well. Do we go back to what served us well in Burgess and Gow or do we pick a different combination?

Who would you pick as your starting eleven? And do you think Larry should stick with the same eleven and try and extract some consistency from them, or is trial and error in selection a better option?