Dundee United have a massive seven days coming up in the context of their season.
That starts with Hibs away on Saturday before welcoming Kilmarnock to Tannadice next Wednesday and then Motherwell on Boxing Day.
Good teams, tough games, but ones the Tangerines will look to get points out of – the last two certainly.
To do that, I think they’ll have to show a lot more in attack, be a bit braver on the ball than they were against Rangers at the weekend.
I’m not saying I expected them to get something out of Sunday’s contest at Tannadice.
However, manager Micky Mellon made a big point when he came in about how Dundee United shouldn’t be scared of anyone.
That’s not come across in the performances of late.
They are sitting fine in the league but they haven’t played that well really all season.
The balance hasn’t been right, as I’ve said a few times and that was evident again at the weekend.
Fair enough against a Rangers side like that you are going to need to defend and United, on the whole, defended quite well.
However, they gave the ball away far too easily and far too often.
That’s where I’m talking about bravery – taking a few touches and keeping the ball for the next 10 seconds rather than just kicking it away.
There weren’t many players willing to put their foot on the ball.
The only one I really noticed doing that was Lawrence Shankland.
He got very little service but when he got it he looked to try to keep the ball, take a few touches and keep his side in possession.
I get the idea of keeping yourself in the game against Rangers and keeping things tight.
However, I would have liked to have seen them have a good go at them in the second half.
When they did, it was too late.
I’d rather see my team really go for it for a decent period and go down 3-1 or 4-1 in chasing the game than doing damage limitation for much of the second half – that’s what it seemed to be anyway.
I appreciate the plan of coming into a new team and building a solid defence first.
They’ve done that and are difficult to break down.
But United have sacrificed a lot of their attacking play and that’s very difficult to just turn back on again.
They need to create more, it’s a simple fact.
I’m not saying go all guns blazing at Easter Road on Saturday and get picked off early doors.
What they need is for their good players to put a foot on the ball and keep it for longer.
Build the attacking confidence from there and, hopefully, they start creating.
The Hibs game will be a similar one to Rangers – they have an array of attacking
talent to choose from.
Kilmarnock and Motherwell have both been up and down.
Get four points and United will be delighted but they’ll have to show a lot more going forward to get close to that.
NORMALLY a draw for Dundee up at Inverness Caley Thistle would be seen as a good result.
Just looking at the record of the Dark Blues up at the Caledonian Stadium it most certainly is.
And it would no doubt be hailed that way had their previous form been better.
Looking at the result in isolation and, yeah, they played well and fought back to draw. Positives to take.
However, you then look at the table and realise they have fallen another two points behind the leaders Hearts.
They need wins to claw back some of the points they’ve dropped, it’s as simple as that.
Dunfermline getting beaten at home by Morton was a bonus but it only serves to ram home how important this week’s clash at Dens Park is.
It’s a classic six-pointer – win and Dundee are right on the tails of the Pars and in amongst the teams at the top.
Lose and Dunfermline are miles ahead and you can pretty much kiss goodbye any hopes of catching the Jambos, even though they aren’t playing.
The good thing is James McPake’s side are playing a lot better than they have been.
And I do think they’ve got it in them to get the kind of consistent results that can get them back up the table.
They certainly need them soon before it certainly is too late to rescue the campaign.
THE results this weekend just summed up how crazy the English Premier League has been this season.
Look at the league table and it tells you that – just eight points separating the top 13 clubs is quite incredible.
Nobody’s been dominant at all, Liverpool aren’t the same team as last year. Chelsea look exciting but haven’t been consistent.
It’s a strange season but really interesting to see how it unfolds.
I don’t know if it’s to do with getting fans back in recently.
You can see the players step up a gear when fans get behind them.
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