Cobblers 'are a team designed to play on the front foot' - Curle

Cobblers boss Keith Curle is urging his players to play to their strengths and get on the 'front foot' more often in games instead of sitting back and allowing opposition teams to dominate possession.
Keith CurleKeith Curle
Keith Curle

Town were leading 2-0 after 70 minutes of Saturday's game at Morecambe but, not for the first time this season, especially away from home, they retreated too far into their shells and in turn the home side seized control.

Goals from Adam Buxton and Kevin Ellison cancelled out Jordan Turnbull's first-half brace as Cobblers blew another lead, and Curle was particularly disappointed by the approach of his side in the second-half.

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"We're a team that's designed to get on the front foot," he said. "We're not designed to sit off.

"They (Morecambe) go and play with five in midfield, we've got five in midfield but we're protecting our back four instead of stepping into play and winning the ball back.

"We've got players that are good at winning the ball back. They're not interceptors, they're regainers and we need to be on the front foot, regaining possession and then playing from there.

"We're a team that needs to play on the front foot and when we do play on the front foot, we will create opportunities."

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Curle accepts the way his side defend a lead is something that must be worked on, but he believes players must take responsibility on the pitch.

He added: "We've got enough energy, we've got mobility and good dynamics in midfield so why do we want to sit deep?

"That's not just the responsibility of those players, it's the responsibility of the goalkeeper and the defenders to push them on, get them into confrontational mode and get them closer to the people who've got the ball.

"We want to go hunting the ball and we want to win it back and regain possession of the ball. We don't want to be interceptors, we want to regain the ball, get on the front foot and then expose the opposition.

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"We're a team that gets regains. We're not a counter-attacking team that sits back and sucks up pressure, we've got a team that gets regains all over the park and that puts us on the front foot - that's how we're designed to play."