Following the setback at Blundell Park last week, the Mariners head coach says that the trip to Lancashire has gone well in terms of preparation.
Despite the team’s dismal performance, David Artell stated that the Grimsby Town camp is in a generally positive mood and that preparations for the team’s trip to Morecambe have gone well.
Despite recent home results that appear to indicate a sharp decline in the team’s performance, the Mariners head coach continues to assert that the team is making progress in certain areas of the game.
Out of the 18 points that are available in 2024, Town has only collected two and is still looking for their first victory. Thoughts of positivity have been prevalent in camp, fans have expressed their dissatisfaction with the team’s recent performances, and Artell is under increasing pressure, whether he realises it or not.
“We were bruised early in the week and I think everyone was, so we’ve had a real emphasis on making sure the players are in a good place mentally, which we believe they are now,” the head coach of Grimsby stated.
Football players and staff are the ones who suffer the most when their team loses, so the message has been to believe in oneself, persevere, and things will work out. The data supports the positive underlying performance over extended game durations.
“We’re penalised for even the smallest mistakes we make, but as the week has gone on, things have become more positive, so we feel confident heading into the weekend. Although I am aware that there are many emotions at play, I don’t want to focus on the data because the underlying statistics do, in my opinion, tell a more encouraging story even when the outcomes don’t.
“The data supports our knowledge that they are improving, but we need to make rapid progress in a few other areas as well. If we do that, I think the results will come.”
Artell was upfront when he first got to the club that things wouldn’t go as planned, but what we’ve seen lately is a little more than just “bumpy.” There are still a lot of games left, so it would be pointless to overreact in Town’s instance, but the outcomes must improve in order to validate the statistics that Artell mentioned.
“Yes, it has been a little bumpy, but we’re ahead of the curve in some areas, including expected goals, which we’ve improved dramatically on,” he continued. “However, that doesn’t mean we’re scoring as many goals as we should.”
I bring up that statistic because I don’t want people to believe it’s all about defence. We are aware that although we are creating more opportunities, we are not seizing them as often, and we also know that the other end of the pitch requires improvement.Without a doubt, we need to improve in both areas, but despite what everyone says, we’re not as bad off as we seem—at least not among the players, as I see them on a daily basis and they’re still correct.They’re still giving it their all, and occasionally they might even be trying too hard and running too much to get behind the ball and then forgetting to influence it in the box.
