Following a difficult pre-season facing top Championship outfits, Simon Weaver has noted key areas for improvement ahead of Harrogate Town‘s new campaign.
In a notably testing spell of friendlies, Harrogate welcomed Leeds United to The Exercise Stadium on the 19th July, but were beaten 3-0 by the strong Yorkshire outfit. Weaver’s side were then thumped 4-1 by a newly-relegated Sheffield United the following Tuesday. However, an upturn of fortune and defensive solidity in the Sulphurites’ latest game, prevented Middlesbrough from getting on the scoresheet in a 0-0 draw.
Having a clear solution to last year’s heavy losses was top on Weaver’s list of priorities, ahead of another gruelling League Two calendar. These tough opponents have allowed the fourth-tier side to expose themselves to far greater attacking threats and learn how to cope with such offensive superiority ahead of their league season.
With a different test against Conference North side Darlington around the corner, the West Yorkshire side can put in practise what they have learnt, while also sharpening their attacking play.
In an interview with The Yorkshire Post, the Harrogate boss addressed the recent run of results and what his side need to improve on before their League Two opener against Bromley:
“We’ve had some quite formidable opponents and we knew it would be a long, hard night if we didn’t focus our attention on trying to deny them opportunities to pass the ball in our half.
“If you’re strung apart as players against a Championship squad, they’ll pick you off at will. We saw that with Blackburn last year.”
This, of course, is in reference to Town’s horrific 8-0 loss in last season’s League Cup at the hands of Blackburn Rovers. Unfortunately, this wasn’t Harrogate’s worst defensive showing last year, with a 9-2 defeat to Mansfield Town being the biggest margin in that League Two campaign.
The current longest-serving Football League manager continued in explaining the reasons for these previous embarrassments:
“We’ve been dealt harsh lessons in the past for being maybe a little bit too aggressive and gung-ho.
“It might be an FA Cup draw where we have to earn the right to have a replay or a second chance and you’re not going to do it if you lack discipline.
“We’ve had a couple of difficult games but overall I think we’ve gained a lot from the hard work put in on the training ground and also in a difficult environment against the likes of Leeds, Sheffield United, Middlesbrough, Lincoln, we want to come through the final game unscathed injury-wise.”
Writer’s View
This mindset that Weaver has adopted, to learn from previous mistakes and actively change them rather than pass blame, has left Harrogate with a point to prove this season. Their exposure to Championship sides could prove to be very important when they face the top League Two sides.
Having been dealt harsh lessons in defensive stability, a healthy amount of training sessions will surely focus on improving this. As Harrogate’s attacking work was fairly promising towards the end of their last campaign, a real drive for a better defensive structure will go a long way.
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