Explained: Why and where Cobblers struggled so much in 'unacceptable' Shrewsbury defeat
A lack of ‘tempo, verve and energy’ were among the fundamental reasons for why Cobblers struggled so much in defeat to Shrewsbury on Saturday, according to manager Chris Hogg.
Town dominated possession in the first half at Croud Meadow but that didn’t bother Shrewsbury, who were quite content to sit in a low block and then play quickly and directly when they turned the ball over.
The visitors were slow and ponderous when building up and then struggled to deal with balls into the channel. Both Shrewsbury goals started with direct passes down the left-hand side of Town’s defence.
Once behind, Hogg’s men never really looked like getting back into it. Harvey Saunders had a couple of half chances in the first half but otherwise Shrewsbury cruised to just their second win of the season.
"We knew how the game was going to flow in terms of their block and how they like to play,” said Hogg. “We talked well week about the rhythm and tempo of our play and making sure we did certain things, but we didn't play quickly enough and we didn't do it well enough.
"We fell into a rhythm that suited them and we played the game on their terms. It's a discussion point for us moving forward and it's a learning curve for us that this league - and any league - is ruthless. If you're not at your level and you let goals go in the back of your net, it's very difficult to come back.
"We knew how this game would flow but we needed more impetus and energy and speed in our play and you need a bit of verve. We didn't do any of that.”
Defender James Maxwell also gave an insightful explanation when asked why his team found it such hard going, saying: “Their strikers pressed our centre-halves from the outside which shut off passes to the full-backs and that forced us long in the first half and it just gave them momentum and territory, especially with the conditions, which is no excuse.
“They were winning first contacts and we dropped back and before you know it we’re defending our 18-yard box. The feel of the game in the first half was coming on top of our defensive third.
“We tried to change things at half-time but we were 2-0 down and we didn’t create too many good chances, which is very disappointing. The second goal hurts but we would have been lucky to go in only 1-0 down.
“The manager speaks about emotional control a lot and once we have cooled off a bit and get back in on Monday, we’ll look at where we need to be better. In my experience, the on-the-ball stuff is the thing that takes longest time to get right. We’re adapting to different setups and the answer is just more work on the training ground.”
Hogg agreed, adding: "There’ll be a lot of work this week, we’ll show the players where we weren’t very good, and it’ll be back to the grind to make sure it doesn't happen again.”