‘Without doubt’ – Lack of physicality major reason behind Crawley Town’s league position, says interim boss
Crawley Town were knocked out of the Jersey Mike’s Trophy after a 2-1 home defeat to Brentford under-21s – but discussions were still very much focused around interim boss Kevin Blackwell’s assessment of the squad.
Having been at the club for three weeks, Blackwell has had ample opportunity to assess the Reds squad.
And the former Leeds and Sheffield United once again highlighted Crawley’s deficiencies.
He said: “We are neither technical or physical. We are not a totally technical side or a totally physical side.
“We brought Ben [Heneghan] in who is a 6ft 3 centre half, we brought Connor [Wickham] at 6ft 2 up front – we need some more physicality.
“In central midfield we have nobody above 5ft 8. You look at the games against Tranmere and against Oldham, they were physically towering above us yet we’ve shown we have the capabilities to fight.
“It’s not all about just having big boys, it’s about having the desire and the fight to make sure that you win your battle.”
Blackwell also reiterated his concerns surrounding the club’s recruitment.
He added: “Once again, I question the recruitment. If you have six people in midfield and the tallest is 5ft 10 and three are 5ft 8, how do you deal with a 6ft, 6ft 2 midfield player?
“We’ve got to look at balancing the physical and technical side. I see us at the moment being half of one and half of the other and it’s not working.”
League Two is an extremely physical division – and Blackwell admitted the Reds were being ‘bullied’ by opposition teams.
He said: “Without doubt we are getting bullied on the ball. Everybody knows what League Two football is
“We’ve got to look at areas of the pitch we need to be strong – and that’s ironically in both boxes, and then the flare in the wide areas”
“At the moment we haven’t got that so we are trying to address that and that’s what the owners are trying to do.
“We need to try and get through to Christmas and then see if we can maybe change the dynamics of the squad – but knowing full well what is required in this league.”
Following Blackwell’s thorough assessment of the squad, he was rest assured that the board will take on his advice and make the changes required to steer the club away from trouble.
He said: “I think they are well aware themselves of the situation. You’ve only got to watch the games to know that physically we’ve struggled against teams that are more physical than us.
“You bake a cake and the recipe has got to be right. It’s not all about height, it’s also about technical ability, speed, power.
“But every sport is power and pace. We haven’t got enough of that at this moment in time, but we’ve recognised that and are trying to correct it.”
Crawley have signed four free agent in the past fortnight. Now with a squad of 32, Blackwell has the challenge of sorting through the squad and picking his best 11.
He said: “First of all you look at attitude and you look at ability and you look at what they do in training everyday. Tthat’s a big for any coach what they do on the training ground, and that can influence your decision.
“I’ve seen these now for two weeks. I’ve seen them on the training ground, I’ve now seen them in the game and all my experience in the game tells me I know what they can do and what they can’t do.”
The Reds now have an extended break before their next game, having had this weekend’s game against Rotherham postponed.
When asked how he would tackle this next week, Blackwell said: “The great thing about football is everyday is different and problems arise out of nowhere sometimes, but the good thing for the next few weeks is that we’ve got no game in hand.
“We can now concentrate on the training ground. We are focussing on Fleetwood and how we are going to try and get a result against Fleetwood.”