In sitting down to write this post, I really struggled to know how to start. The overwhelming feeling that I had on the way home from Reading last Saturday was one of frustration. Once again the O’s looked fairly blunt from an attacking perspective and succumbed to two sloppy goals, something that has been all too common in the opening nine league matches of the season.

Speaking to Dave Victor in the immediate aftermath of the loss at the Select Car Leasing Stadium Richie Wellens was keen to try to put a positive spin on what was ultimately another disappointing result for Orient. The gaffer suggested that we were “by far the better team”, that we “dominated the game” and that “we should have scored a lot more goals than we did”.

Richie did admit that Reading’s goals came from our mistakes. The first because we got our press wrong and the second was due to us not tracking a runner although it has to be said that they benefited from a somewhat fortunate deflection. Yet in the cold light of day we came away from a match in which we had 71% possession and 23 shots on goal (6 on target) with nothing to show for it. So where is it continuing to go wrong?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record(!), the sheer number of new additions to the squad means that it will take time for the players to bed in and to gel. At the same time we seem to be incurring injuries to key players almost on a weekly basis, Omar Beckles being the latest to have to go off early in a match. Both of those factors combined mean it has been difficult to find the right balance in the teams that we are putting out, and for the players to build the understanding that is so crucial to the way that we want to play the game.  

Despite being criticised by the manager for not saving Reading’s first goal, I personally think Tommy Simkin has shown enough already this season to suggest that he is going to be the first choice between the posts, at least for the foreseeable future. In front of him though it has been a story of chopping and changing by necessity with our back four. All three of Omar Beckles, Dan Happe and Michael Craig have missed games through injury, while quite what has happened with Tayo Adaramola is anyone’s guess. With so much flux is it any wonder that we have at times look disorganised at the back?

In midfield it feels as if we are still trying to find the right balance. It seems obvious that El Miz will start the vast majority of matches when he is available, but who is the best option alongside him? Jack Moorhouse seems to be the current preferred option, but as talented and skilful as he undoubtedly is, does he have the requisite physicality and street smarts to play in there against experienced older League 1 midfielders? In fairness neither Sean Clare nor Tyreeq Bakinson have really done enough to suggest that either of them is the man for the job so far this campaign. When he arrived at the club last winter it was suggested that Azeem Abdulai’s future role was in centre midfield, but so far I am struggling to recollect him ever being deployed there. Equally, has he genuinely done enough to justify a starting berth anywhere in the team?

It seems clear that Dom Ballard is the first choice as our central striker with Aaron Connolly playing just off him. That however marks something of a change in approach for the style of “Number 10” we are using as Connolly is more of a second striker and less of the creative fulcrum that we got used to last season with Jamie Donley. That may in part at least explain why we are not quite clicking at the top end of the pitch. I can’t help but wonder if Richie might be tempted to try someone else in there, Moorhouse or indeed a certain Charlie Wellens would seem to be the logical choices, and to adopt a twin striker set up to try and spark our attack into more life.

The injury to Ollie O’Neill has also disrupted our forward line. On Saturday Sonny Perkins came in on the right with Josh Koroma shifting over to the left. Without wanting to have a go at an individual player it seems clear that Perkins is desperately struggling for confidence, while Koroma seems to be more effective when deployed on the right.

While it is way too early to look at the table with any great meaning, it really is starting to feel that we really need to be putting some more points on the board, and quickly, lest we end up being dragged down further into the bottom half. We all know that we have turned it round over the last two seasons and come good from the autumn onwards, but we can’t just assume that is what is going to happen again. Especially as our next three league fixtures are against teams at the top end of the emerging table: Stevenage, Cardiff and Doncaster. 

Having sounded a little bit pessimistic throughout the post, I do truly believe that the squad will settle, our performances will improve, and we will start to build some momentum and climb the table. However the longer this ennui continues the more the frustration will continue to grow. Turning over old “foes” Stevenage tomorrow lunchtime would be an excellent place to start.

Up the O’s!