This past week has shown how difficult a task it is to get off the bottom of the table for Dundee United.
Grab a great result against Kilmarnock but then comes another defeat right on the back of it at Aberdeen on Saturday.
And despite smashing Killie 4-0, you still find yourselves bottom of the table.
Because what you need to get out of the automatic relegation spot is a consistent run of results.
Getting a win every now and again doesn’t cut it – because the teams above you are getting a win every now and again.
Killie the prime example.
Momentum
Three points behind doesn’t seem like a huge gap but when you’ve been down in that position pretty much all season, psychologically it is big.
What the Tangerines can’t seem to do this season is get any sort of momentum going – only once this season have they put two positive league results together.
That’s the big problem Liam Fox has to solve.
And he has to do it quickly.
There may be five weeks now until their next fixture but there’s only three games left in 2022.
And, if you are bottom going into the new year, relegation suddenly looms.
Good timing?
Obviously this break for the World Cup is unprecedented.
But United have to make it work to their advantage.
There is a balancing act to giving players a break but also keeping them fresh and getting work into them on the training pitch.
They need to show progress has been made during this hiatus when the games start again just before Christmas.
With Fox having taken over as manager during the season, this is a chance to get his ideas across.
The problem is every other club is in the same situation.
It would be bad timing if you are a team with momentum behind you to be stopping for this length of time.
I think for the Tangerines it is a good thing – a chance to freshen up again, work on things and come back ready to go.
They’ll need to be because they’ve got Livingston away and Hearts at home in their next two.
Really tough games where they will have to be at their best to get anything.
And they’ll need a good start because the last thing they want is to be bottom going into 2023.
No doubt the teams above them will pick up more points by then, too.
Mark Birighitti
That’s where they need a string of results together – beating Killie 4-0 last week was great but then Aberdeen was more of the same.
Short in attack but giving away a weak goal at the back. That’s been the big issue.
There’s been a lot of focus on goalkeeper Mark Birighitti so maybe a break for him will be a good thing.
Giving away the penalty was a rash decision, though I do think if the attacker took a better touch there wouldn’t have been an issue.
All in all, a step away from the week-to-week pressure might be good for United as a group.
What’s clear is they have to come back after the World Cup sharp and ready to go, there’s nothing else for it now.
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