Exclusive: Familiar mistakes risk undermining Bristol Rovers’ early season positives after…..

Our strongest performances this season have been built on defensive solidity, discipline, and structure; yet, none of those qualities were evident on Saturday against Wigan Athletic.

We’ve played our best football this year at The Mem, so obviously one game doesn’t define a season, but my main concern is what the 4-0 loss could do to the team’s confidence since they appeared to be clicking into gear in many areas.

Although crushing home losses are never easy to take, this one was especially disheartening because of how badly they went. On a dreary afternoon in the same week that Matt Taylor had spoken at the Fans’ Forum event about defensive set-pieces, two identical corner routines proved to be our undoing.

On paper, the opposition appeared to be easily overcome. A youthful team that has lost three of their last four league games and appears to be lacking confidence as a result of their poor performance. Similar to Rovers, the visitors, who have a young team, had struggled to score goals before Saturday. In spite of this, Shaun Maloney’s team were focused and eager to play a visually appealing and efficient brand of football.

Once more, we were competitive for the first twenty or so minutes, but as soon as we fell behind, we completely lost the game. Once Joe Hugill scored his second goal of the afternoon, the game was effectively gone and the team’s confidence started to evaporate. From this point on, the identity we had thus far developed was lacking, as we saw more clumsy running and misdirected passes throughout the pitch and less vigorous pushing.

Taylor characterises the second half as “painful,” and it’s difficult to come up with a more apt term to characterise the first forty-five minutes. Our options were limited to long-range shots, frantic last-minute foul-giving, and desperate defense—signs of desperation from a club that had been second best for the majority of the game.

Without a doubt, Wigan is a good team. They played with organisation, broke quickly, and made good use of the wide areas. However, what aggravates me even more is that all four of their goals might have been avoided due to careless set plays or individual errors in defence.

The way the Gas performed begs the question: Are there additional problems that need to be resolved, or can our inability to react after conceding be attributed to the inexperience of a young team? It would be easy to blame the performance on our team’s young, but Wigan is no different. Only two of their players, Jason Kerr and Will Aimson, the core defence duo, were older than 23 at the beginning of the game.

Although there are many skilled players in our ranks, it is unclear if they will be able to hold their own. This season, Luke Thomas has made nearly 200 EFL games, Scott Sinclair is a model professional and a capable captain, and EFL veteran James Wilson has been outstanding at times. Though Taylor was eager to deflect any resentment from his players in his post-match interview, leadership comes from the top, and on a pitch like Saturday, there needs to be cool heads everywhere.

From a personnel standpoint, I believe our midfield needs to be changed. Jamie Lindsay, who has shown promise in his brief cameos, may be Kamil Conteh’s natural leader, freeing up Jake Garrett to play the aggressive midfield position in which he thrived against Cambridge. Though he has large shoes to fill after Antony Evans, who on his day could win a game virtually by himself, I still think Isaac Hutchinson can develop.

Due to Taylor Moore’s ridiculous dismissal, roster adjustments will be necessary before a string of very difficult games. Michael Forbes or Connor Taylor is hoped to fill the very specialised position of overlapping wide centre defender. Because of this, I have no problem with Matt Taylor experimenting with a different formation in the upcoming weeks.

When facing a formidable opponent, we’re itching for a backup plan even when the danger of giving up on our preferred strategy can exceed the possible benefits.

As I indicated in my previous column, there are a few things that go against Taylor in times of testing like these. When outcomes aren’t favourable, his preferred style of play can be difficult to watch and can be irritating. In interviews, he also comes across as a more collected and balanced person, lacking the charm and snappiness of Darrell Clarke or the chest-thumping bluster and obvious passion of Joey Barton.

During some of the darkest moments of the previous season, I firmly believed that Taylor couldn’t be fully assessed until he had established his own identity on the team and spent the entire preseason playing with them. Well, this is undoubtedly his team, and over the past few months, he has been quite open about using his own tactical ideas.

How our manager bounces back from a Saturday-type loss may be the true test of his ability to lead the team forward. The jeers that broke out at the end of regulation spoke a story of their own, and our manager is under a lot of pressure going forward with the remaining games. Taylor has a demanding schedule and a lot of concerns to take care of; if questions aren’t addressed right away, he may find himself in a tight spot.

We need to alter things up against Peterborough, whether he opts to add experience to the starting lineup, rearranges the midfield, or does a full formation shift. It might determine supporters’ support.

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