The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Jackie seeks right balance
DUNDEE UNITED manager Jackie McNamara has been urging his team to play a more beautiful game than they have been so far this season.
He has not hidden his disappointment that the style and skill shown by his players this time last year, when they were overwhelming the opposition with their free-flowing football, have not been on show so much this time around.
Nevertheless, they travel to Inverness on Saturday knowing that a win will keep them challenging at the top of the table and put them on to the terrific points tally of 25.
McNamara has admitted he would have grabbed such a start had he been offered it before the beginning of the campaign.
He said: “We have one more game left of the first quarter and if we can win that then we will have won eight matches and drawn one out of 11 in the league.
“That is a start that I would have bitten your hand off for if offered it in the summer. So we are ahead of where we were at this stage in previous years but still we are not happy!
“I think because of last year and the excitement that was there, then you want that again. It hasn’t been there a lot of times this season. Teams are playing against us differently and our possession and movement haven’t been great. It is just about getting the right balance.”
A big part of finding the correct blend is being able to marry this season’s improved defensive record with last season’s attacking prowess.
Of course, the Tangerines have missed the movement down the left flank offered last term by full-back Andy Robertson, who made his big-money switch to Hull City in the summer.
Also, central defender John Souttar has been sidelined since close-season by injury and he was someone who liked to play the ball out from the back to kick-start moves further up the park.
McNamara said: “The whole of Scottish football were saying our downfall was not being tight at the back but I would also say that a lot of our attacks last season started from the back.
“We had John Souttar and Andy Robertson, for example, making space for the midfield by bringing the ball out of defence. You need a solid base but, again, it’s all about balance.
“Teams are condensing the play and it was tight in the midfield area against Partick Thistle on Saturday.
“What you need is that movement and creativity to move the ball more quickly.
“Mind you, there were a lot of games last season when we maybe didn’t perform or pass well and we lost. Against Partick, the pattern of the match was similar to those games but we won that one.”
It will be the Premiership’s third-placed team who will be hosting the secondin the Highland capital on placed side Saturday.
Inverness are three points behind highflying Hamilton, while theTangerines are just one adrift of the Accies.
That should make it a fascinating contest in a season that is threatening to be unlike any other in recent memory.
McNamara said: “There have been a lot of surprises in the league.
“You look at how well Hamilton have done and maybe Motherwell haven’t had a good start. It has been a strange start to the league when you look at Celtic as well, who have had a new manager coming in.
“Mind you, there is a long way to go.”