United boss Steven Pressley spoke to us about the game against Stevenage at the weekend at his weekly press conference.
“With everything that’s happened down there this week we’ve really just focussed on ourselves,” he told us. “I’ve virtually said nothing on them because the new manager could change personnel, systems or formations, we just don’t know.
“The difficulty is that they were a certain kind of time under the previous manager, but we can’t guess what this one will do. They have been quite direct, but that hasn’t been getting results, so that could be something he addresses.
“From his history as a manager he might consider being more of a passing team, and there are a number of other things he could do. That’s why we’ve largely left that to one side and we’ve zoomed in on how we want to play.
“I’ve obviously looked at their players so I know the type of players they have, but they could change into a number of formations because they’ve got quite a flexible squad. This week has been good because we’ve really been able to focus on us and what we do, but I think regardless of a change of manager I would have approached the week in the same way. I really want us to get back to doing what we’re good at.”
“I hope we can give a far better account of ourselves than we did the last time we went down there. Our supporters travel long distances and it’s our duty to entertain them and give them hope.
“My belief is that we can do that. We had a really good analysis meeting on Monday and we looked back at the Exeter game. I’ve then seen how we’ve trained all week, and I can see the spirit and what they’re capable of, but we have to produce that on a Saturday.
“We have to get back to doing what we’re good at. The statistics were there two games ago that we’re a fast, aggressive passing team who create a lot of opportunities, but we’ve lost our way in the last two games.”
On how he’s prepared for Saturday’s game, he commented: “I’ve looked at everything ahead of the game. I had a really good day on Wednesday, actually, because I was in here on my own in my office. It was completely quiet and it gave me several hours where I was looking at certain things. It gave me good thinking time, which is important, because sometimes my head is in my computer too much.
“I’ve looked at every aspect, in terms of tactics, formations and everything. It’s my job to get us the edge and work with the players to find solutions. We’re conceding too many goals and too many chances, and we have to work together to find the answers.
“It’s my job to make sure we get more clean sheets, create more opportunities and play the type of football I want us to play.”
And on his recruitment of a team analyst, he said: “I spoke to Andy Coyles [Penrith manager] to talk about that on Wednesday as well.
“Hopefully by Monday he’ll be able to supply me with two intern analysts which will really help me, and a third one in a month or so. That’s really good support, and it will make us more professional.
“You get some really good interns and they’ll add support I think we really need. I like to spend a lot of time watching our performances, which I think is more important than watching the opposition, but sometimes with me doing it all myself it doesn’t give me that opportunity.”
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