Simon Weaver asks for shift in mentality as Harrogate Town aim to strike the right balance
Simon Weaver says that Harrogate Town need to be more wary out of possession as they aim to strike the right balance in League Two.
The Sulphurites served up a fine attacking performance at Fleetwood on Saturday and dominated the game for long periods, only to somehow end up suffering a 3-2 defeat.
They twice took the lead and created plenty of other clear goal-scoring opportunities, while at the other end, their hosts were unable to find the same kind of fluency.
But, some uncharacteristically sloppy and indecisive work at the back gifted the Cod Army all three of their goals, and ultimately condemned Town to back-to-back losses.
And so, although very happy with the vast majority of their display at Highbury Stadium, Weaver has told his players that a shift in mentality is required.
“The style of play at Fleetwood was top-of-the-league stuff,” he told BBC Radio York. “But, we are where we are in the league because we play more expensive, possession-based stuff, with a purpose - because we are creating chances – but, it doesn’t lead to clean-sheets.
"And that is the balance that we have to get. You get a group of players really enjoying the ball, but are they thinking ‘what if’ at the back? On Saturday, we weren’t.
“We looked great, the movement, the fluency and everybody wanting the ball shows that we are in a happy place. We could have scored six or seven, but there are two sides to it and we have shot ourselves in the foot.
“We will keep working on every aspect, but I think it’s the mentality really, to be able to go from total dominance to defending, and being cute about it and staying sharp. That’s the psychological side that we have to enforce on this team.
“I need the players to come to the party defensively. We need to sharpen up the mental focus, that ‘what-if’ mentality and be thinking ‘if we break down in possession, are we safe?’.
“And that’s because, the last couple of games we have just lost out due to defensive blips.”
Harrogate twice took the lead at Fleetwood through Warren Burrell and Jack Muldoon’s fourth goal in five matches.
But, after Will Davies and Elliot Bonds took advantage of some indecisive defensive work to cancel out those strikes, Ryan Graydon capitalised on a shambolic mix-up at the back to decide matters in the 78th minute.
Saturday’s loss leaves the Sulphurites with a total of 14 points from 12 matches and sees them drop one place to 17th in the League Two standings.