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Milton Keynes Dons supporters were left bewildered at what their side had spent the last two weeks working on, after seeing another woeful performance against Lincoln City in their first home match of 2023, ending 0-0.
Having only arrived at the back end of December following Liam Manning’s axing from the hotseat, the gap in the fixture list was very timely for the new Head Coach, Mark Jackson.
Having taken fourteen days into January to make their first signing, Jonathan Leko arrived too late to make his debut against Lincoln and his absence was notable given the display by his new colleagues.
After looking toothless for the full 90 minutes, it is clear to see there is further and drastic work to be done.
Both sides looked abject and it was no surprise that the match ended goalless given the dire lack of quality shown by both sets of players. If either team has walked away with all three points, it would have been a travesty given the turgid football that was on display.
Amongst the boardroom and supporters at Stadium MK, it is hoped that with the blown promotion push of the previous season, followed by the pathetic and dismal first half of the current, 2023 will seek greater success than in 2022.
It is far easier to regress than progress, as shown in the opening five months of the 22/23 campaign, but Jackson will be hoping his side can dig themselves out of the mire at the basement of the league, to a stable mid-table place, away from any relegation fears come the 46th match in May.
What exactly do the Dons need to find in their squad to see this current calendar year prove to be more successful than the ending?
Despite the Dons at times proving rather impotent in the final third, not all the blame can be apportioned to their strike force.
Having only mustered 23 goals from their opening 25 games is by any team’s standards an awful return.
Having chosen to mix experience with youth and operating Will Grigg, Mo Eisa and Matt Dennis, the options do appear at times lacking in pace and inventiveness.
Grigg and Eisa are two similar forwards and more of poachers than someone likely to pull a rabbit out of a hat, whereas Dennis is an unproven non-league arrival who has been hampered with injury since signing.
Such a poor tally has led to Jackson and Liam Sweeting, the Director of Football turning to the market to recruit the aforementioned forward in Leko from Birmingham City.
Whilst this signing may see an increase the goals, one swallow does not a summer.
A lot will depend on how the midfield can create the opportunities for those higher up the field to take.
The Dons sit 23rd in the table for chance creation and Jackson’s immediate attempt to change this is to add an additional body into the midfield to increase the supply forward.
Under Manning, the Dons preferred formation was 5-2-3 using wing-backs and inverted forwards to provide the impetus.
This worked well when Scott Twine and Matt O’Riley were pulling the strings, however it never had the same effect when Louie Barry and Nathan Holland have been trying their best to carry the same mantle.
Jackson has changed the structure, implementing a 4-3-3 approach, removing a centre back to get an extra man into the middle of the field to supply the forward line.
If adding an extra body into the middle of the park can not only free a player to improve the team’s creative threat, it can also offer assistance defensively as when they are trying to counter the oppositions midfield threat, the extra body could potentially overload the midfield and limit the effectiveness of the opportunities they concede also.
Whilst this tactical switch may well assist with the service to the forward line, it will need to see an improvement in the general footballing abilities on display.
The squad is packed with many average footballers and on paper seems to be secure, however football is not played on paper and with over 55% of the season completed, the team is frighteningly lacking in quality.
The Dons have seen a high turnover from last seasons playoff side, seeing only five players remain who were in the last squad of 2022.
If one major priority is improving the chance creation, the other major priority must be stemming the ease the opposition can shoot.
Again, the centre of the defence it is another area which the Dons have regressed and is a clear area marked for improvement. Last season’s starlet was Harry Darling who was excelling for the Buckinghamshire outfit, playing as a modern-day libero.
After impressing last season for the full campaign and earning a place in the Team of the Year for League One, a move up the pyramid was never off the table and more a matter of when and not if.
Following his departure to Swansea in arguably one of football’s worst-kept secrets, the Dons recruited Jack Tucker from Gillingham and had hoped he would slot straight into the void.
After taking the starters birth to open the season, it quickly became apparent that the 23-year-old was not the player they had initially hoped and out of the side due to poor form.
With his jettison it created a whole for last season’s cast-off Zak Jules and for the first dive games took his chance with aplomb, showing promise and endeavour.
Unfortunately his performances diminished and similar to Tucker, Jules found himself back amongst the substitutes. If the Dons are to nullify the opposition strikers it will require solidity at the heart of the defence, alongside vast improvement in their performances also.
If one of Jackson’s main targets was to give his midfielders a pacey target to aim for in Leko, his next aim must surely be to recruit a player who can add control and structure to what we have already seen this campaign.
Only time will tell whether Jackson can bring his plans to fruition and it is fair to say this will need to happen sooner rather than later as the race for survival is getting increasingly difficult with each passing game.
