Dundee United are at the top of their game.
The only threat I see to them not lifting the Championship this season is themselves.
The Tangerines look so confident throughout the squad, goals are flying in, none are being conceded and it looks like there is no stopping them.
Raith Rovers are doing what they can to keep pace but I don’t see them having the ability to keep winning week after week.
That’s what it will take to overhaul Jim Goodwin’s Dundee United.
If they don’t take their foot off the pedal.
Such is the consistency in their performances, that’s my main worry right now.
Jim Goodwin the player wouldn’t allow anything like that, though.
And I don’t believe as a manager he’d let standards slip at any point.
Dundee United domination
Their competition for places helps as well.
Players like Kai Fotheringham have come into the starting XI and impressed but there are also players pushing for to break in.
Everyone in the team knows if they drop their levels, someone else is ready to come in and take over.
That’s an incredibly healthy position to be in.
What’s impressing me most about United is their domination in games.
It’s all about the way they start.
It’s tough to do but they are dictating the way matches are played.
Where they have struggled this season is in games where they’ve allowed the opposition to decide how the game will go.
On Friday night, they got off to a flyer against Arbroath and immediately put them on the back foot.
In control, United tore the Red Lichties apart and the game was over before the visitors could do anything about it.
They are dealing with everything put in front of them.
Dundee United ‘Celtic’ of Championship
Different levels of course but there is something of the Celtic mentality around Tannadice right now.
They believe they are the best team in the league.
Everyone in the team has a job and they know if they all do their job, the result will come.
Top teams like Celtic don’t worry too much about what the opposition are going to do, instead they know if they play well individually then the victory will come.
That’s the feeling I get about this United team.
The mentality is spot on, confidence is high and we are seeing that on the pitch.
Doubt
That also rubs off on the other teams in the division.
Right from the start of any game there is a seed of doubt in the mind of the opposition, knowing they are up against a very good side.
We’ve seen that in the last two with the defensive errors made by Partick Thistle and Arbroath.
A big part of that is the pressure brought by playing United and the knowledge that any error could cost the game.
Teams are crumbling against them because of that.
United’s biggest threat now is complacency.
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