Harrogate Town v Altrincham: Simon Weaver looking for his players to be ‘intense but not impatient’
Simon Weaver has previewed his Harrogate Town side’s National League meeting with Altrincham
Simon Weaver wants his Harrogate Town players to be “intense but not impatient” when they host Altrincham this afternoon (November 14).
The Sulphurites are among the top scorers in the National League having adopted an attack-minded approach upon their return to non-league football.
However, as they were beaten 4-1 by AFC Fylde in the FA Cup last week, the front-footed hosts were guilty of being lax at the back.
Harrogate Town boss wants patience
“The structure we want to play with is go-getting,” said Weaver. “It’s exciting, it’s brought us a lot of goals this season with a new group, it’s been exhilarating at times.
“But the flip side is, you can leave yourself a little bit open if we don’t manage those situations where we’re right on top.
“Make sure the numbers are right defensively, make sure we don’t go haphazard with it and gung-ho and leave ourselves open to a counter-attack. The message is still to be intense but not impatient.”
‘Insatiable’ desire to improve
Somewhat unsurprisingly, Weaver cut a relaxed figure as he previewed the hosting of seventh-placed Altrincham at the Marcy Fitness Stadium.
His second-placed side have evidently won his trust and Weaver has saluted their “insatiable desire” to improve.
“It’s a reaction but also just showing what we’ve worked on in training,” he said. “We keep trying to modify it and keep getting better as a group.
“They’ve been great. I think it’s less of a reaction and more maturing as a group and learning about each other. And actually not letting games run away from us when actually, we were right on top after half an hour.
“At 1-1, we’re in the driving seat, so much so that we probably got our eye off the ball in terms of the defensive set-up when the ball was in the attacking third. We just weren’t quite set up right or as solid as we might have been.
“They’ve got a real insatiable desire to improve themselves. I feel it’s an easy group to manage, there’s loads of capability within the group to dust themselves down and go again.”