'Nowhere near good enough' - time for United to 'tighten up'
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I wouldn't normally start by crediting my podcast buddy Paul but here goes. To echo what he said on this week's episode, it's hard to argue with four points from nine at home because it's exactly what we've deserved.
No less frustrating, but the truth.
There's been no hard-luck story or freak result to hide behind. Against Kilmarnock we were flat. Against Livingston we were better in the second half but the first half was terrible.
For a team with top-six ambitions, that's nowhere near good enough.
Once again, we've been the architects of our own downfall. Sloppy goals, unforced errors, set-piece frailties. Bert Esselink has been one of our most consistent players this season, but even he got caught in the act on Saturday.
It summed things up in the season so far - moments of quality followed by moments of madness.
The stats don't lie. Since Europe, we've shipped goals in bunches and most of them have been gifts.
There's a good side here, but it's buried under self-inflicted damage. Jim Goodwin knows it too, you can hear it in every post-match interview. The gorgeous one even referred to himself as "sounding like a broken record" at the weekend.
We've proved we can mix it in the big games. Rapid Vienna, wins over Aberdeen and Dundee showed that when the tempo is high and the crowd is up, we look a proper team. But when opponents sit in, we seem to struggle.
The league table still looks fine, but results like these can drag you backwards quickly.
We need to stop helping the opposition score. Time to tighten up, United.
