Failing to apply the finishing touches.
That seemed to be the message that Pep Clotet wanted to get across after his side’s 3-1 defeat at home to Reading, a game in which they had 18 shots, but only 3 on target.
Speaking to the club website after the game, the Blues boss spoke about the team’s attacking play and how the club just weren’t able to finish off their moves, otherwise the game would have ended up a lot different:
“That’s a good side of it that we create those chances and dominate most attacks in the first-half. We had a lot of dangerous attacks in the first-half and it’s just a pity our lead wasn’t bigger, but I don’t want to be harsh on the players because we know what they’ve been through. That said it’s important to rest, regroup and fight again.”
Clotet talks about the chances there for the team, and I fear that the Blues might be in danger of losing sight of the bigger picture here. Whilst Scott Hogan has been scoring goals for fun since he joined us, the rest of the team haven’t really stepped up to the plate to support him. And whilst Lukas Jutkiewicz has certainly done his job, the fact is that the rest of the team are still struggling to make up the shortfall in the goals department.
This goes back to what I have been saying for the past couple of weeks, and how the club needs to start getting things in place for next season. With Hogan with us only on loan, that fruitful partnership between him and Jutkiewicz could be gone. And if the rest of the first team can’t get their act together and start putting the ball in the net, then we are going to really find ourselves struggling when it comes to next season.
And it could put us right back to square one, and with limited prospects of scoring on a regular basis, that’s not a great place to be.