Manager Keith Hill spoke to Dale PlayerHD following his side’s 2-0 defeat to Crewe Alexandra…
Rochdale were forced to rue mistakes and missed opportunities in the League One encounter at Gresty Road.
In his post-match interview, Hill gave an honest assessment: “For large periods I thought what we were doing going forwards was good but we didn’t convert any of our chances.
“We’ve just counted our chances up and I think there were 17 or 18 in total, with six on target and six blocked.
“We did warn the players, we had watched previous games, that you have to take your opportunities, and we didn’t. But the concern for me was the two goals defensively.
“They’re poor and you can’t get any consistency when individual players are making those types of mistakes. That’s 12 goals in four games we’ve conceded and there’s a bit of a confidence crisis individually.
“And again, we’ve looked at the opposition and they’ve had six opportunities.
“I can’t remember where Josh [Lillis] has had a major, major decision to make. And, wow, what an unbelievable decision to make when one on one, and then late in the second half when Marcus Haber had one ricochet off Oliver Lancashire’s back and he saved it at the near post.
“But, again, I’m really disappointed with the defensive aspect of the team today. Listen, we trained well, the lads have prepared well, and when it comes to matchday it comes to responsibility and we haven’t seen enough players accept responsibility defensively today.
“I’m really bothered about that and it upsets me because there’s a good group of lads here and a good team that is being let down by a few individuals, and it could be any individual on a matchday at this moment in time.”
He added: “We’ve had good opportunities and I thought some of the forward play was good. I thought Jamie [Allen] was excellent, Hendo had a lion’s share of those opportunities and David Syers had a few. We had one or two opportunities where I thought, ‘go on, be brave, put your head on it’, and flashes across goal.
“But again, I’m really disappointed because we’ve prepared with a game plan and the players have shot themselves in the foot.
“I’ve got to support the players and I’ve got to support what it is we’re trying to achieve but that inconsistency is only there because of irresponsible individual game management and that’s what’s severely letting us down.
“Last week we beat top of the league and this week we get beat 2-0 by second bottom of the league.
“That’s really infuriating from my perspective and I don’t know what I’m getting from week to week.”
The full interview is on Dale PlayerHD.