Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Lee Wilkie
More bravery on the ball needed in big week for Utd
DUNDEE United have a massive seven days coming up in the context of their season.
That starts with Hibs away on Saturday before welcoming Kilmarnock to Tannadice next Wednesday and then Motherwell on Boxing Day.
Good teams, tough games, but ones the Tangerines will look to get points out of – the last two certainly.
To do that, I think they’ll have to show a lot more in attack, be a bit braver on the ball than they were against Rangers at the weekend.
I’m not saying I expected them to get something out of Sunday’s contest at Tannadice.
However, manager Micky Mellon made a big point when he came in about how Dundee United shouldn’t be scared of anyone.
That’s not come across in the performances of late.
They are sitting fine in the league but they haven’t played that well really all season.
The balance hasn’t been right, as I’ve said a few times and that was evident again at the weekend.
Fair enough, against a Rangers side like that you are going to need to defend and United, on the whole, defended quite well.
However, they gave the ball away far too easily and far too often.
That’s where I’m talking about bravery – taking a few touches and keeping the ball for the next 10 seconds rather than just kicking it away.
There weren’t many players willing to put their foot on the ball.
The only one I really noticed doing that was Lawrence Shankland.
He got very little service but when he got it he looked to try to keep the ball, take a few touches and keep his side in possession.
I get the idea of keeping yourself in the game against Rangers and keeping things tight.
However, I would have liked to have seen them have a good go at them in the second half.
When they did, it was too late.
I’d rather see my team really go for it for a decent period and go down 3-1 or 4-1 in chasing the game than doing damage limitation for much of the second half – that’s what it seemed to be anyway.
I appreciate the plan of coming into a new team and building a solid defence first.
They’ve done that and are difficult to break down.
But United have sacrificed a lot of their attacking play and that’s very difficult to just turn back on again.
They need to create more, it’s a simple fact.
I’m not saying go all guns blazing at Easter Road on Saturday and get picked off early doors.
What they need is for their good players to put a foot on the ball and keep it for longer.
Build the attacking confidence from there and, hopefully, they start creating.
The Hibs game will be a similar one to Rangers – they have an array of attacking talent to choose from.
Kilmarnock and Motherwell have both been up and down.
Get four points and United will be delighted but they’ll have to show a lot more going forward to get close to that.