I have to admit I never thought there would be much of a difference in the ability of teams from League 1, in comparison to League 2. This was mainly due to the fact that when we played teams from League 1 when in cup competitions in recent years, they did not look that much better than us.
However, there does seem to be a significant gap to me, now we are 10 games in.
Of course one could argue that our own progression is stagnant, or that we may have in fact regressed. However, one thing for sure is that, with the possible exception of the opening game, where I think we deserved a draw, every other game we've played, we've been outplayed, irrespective of the final score.
Last night's style of play, (and some others), mirrored the Anfield game of last season, but we came unstuck. Of course we can blame the style, the team selected and set up of the manager, plus we can blame the tactics. But is it that in reality our players cannot cut the mustard at this level or is it a coaching issue ?
Last night Ainsworth, for example, had a poor game in my opinion. However, here we have a guy with pace but not one player seemed to have the ability to play a channel ball on the floor for him to chase. Pretty much everything was sent to him chest high (or higher) with his back to goal and the defender right up his arris ! Surely we should play to players strengths, not their weakness. Giving Sawyer the ball to his right foot instead of his left is another example. This always forces him to turn back towards goal, whereas he could be moving forward if given the ball to his left foot. It does make you wonder if we miss some of the basics in training and preparation for games.
The movement of teams like Charlton, Doncaster and especially Bristol City seems to be very different in style to our own static and statuesque lack of movement, with no making of angles for each other, or willing running to take defenders out of position.
In summary, is this league proving to be a step too far for some of our players or does our coaching need revitalising ?