John Eustace urged to make fix "baffling" Carlton Morris situation at Derby County | OneFootball

FLW's Derby County fan pundit has named how John Eustace can turn around the team's poor form

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Derby County’s disappointing start to the new season continued on Tuesday night with a 1-1 draw at home to Charlton Athletic.

The Rams are struggling for positive results, with John Eustace’s side winning only one of their opening eight fixtures.

It’s been a difficult period for the squad, with injuries hampering their preparation for the campaign.

But, even still, the team is hovering around the relegation zone and it is raising concerns over their survival in the division for the year.

Derby have one last chance to end their poor run before the upcoming international break, and perhaps Eustace will look to shake things up a bit in order to get his side out of this rut.

Derby must use the international break

When asked what changes Eustace could make to fix the team’s form, FLW’s Derby fan pundit Shaun Woodward warned that the excuses will run out if it stays like this after the October international break.

He expressed some sympathy for how the start of the campaign has gone, but claimed that things have to improve after the break.

“We could use quite a few excuses, to be honest, we’ve a lot of our players coming into the squad quite late in pre-season, a lot of the players didn’t have a pre-season or they came in with injuries or fitness concerns,” Woodward told Football League World.

“So, we’ve not been able to see our strongest team this season yet.

“It’s starting to improve now and I would like to think after this international break we should be pretty much up to full strength, so we can’t be using that as an excuse anymore.”

Woodward has highlighted how slow Derby are at the start of games, while also suggesting that Carlton Morris should be moved back into a number nine role instead of being used deeper: “I just think for Eustace, it’s like we’re starting games really slowly, especially at home.

“It’s like we’re waiting for something to happen, it’s like we’re almost waiting to see what the opposition does to us, we’re not being proactive, we’re more reactive.

“We’re getting more of a reaction in the second halves of games, but we’re normally 1-0 down by that point and chasing the game, so we have to do that.

“It just seems like we’re very lethargic, we’re trying to play too safe, too sideways, backwards, passing for the sake of passing.

“There’s no real structure to our game, no identity to our play right now.

“It’s worrying because we’ve got quite a few attacking options now, which last season we didn’t have.

“However, we look more disjointed than we did last season, there doesn’t seem to be a clear game plan, a lot of our players look like they’re a bit lost out there.

“Morris playing in the 10 is baffling because he started the season as our main target man, was on fire, and to me Agyemang hasn’t quite got the pace of the Championship, and the physicality needed.

“He needs a bit more time I think to get used to the Championship, and to me Morris needs to be the one that’s a focal point up there because he’s a genuine class player at this level, which he’s shown for years.

“So, to me, he needs to be the focal point.”

Derby must get back to basics

Woodward concluded that Derby should get back to the basics, singling out midfield as an area that also must improve after the international break if results are to pick up.

"Get back to the basics a little bit, we need to get someone in that centre-midfield area that’s willing to run with the ball, to break through the lines, to play in our wider men and to get us on the front foot," he said.

“Because, at the moment, we’re just so, so passive and so safe in everything we do and it’s just boring to watch.

“Results haven’t come because we’re just so passive and waiting for the opposition to do something before we react.

“We need to be on the front foot and actually dictating games, especially at home because the Pride Park fans are very loyal and they’ll support the team through thick and thin, but I can’t remember the last time I saw us win at home and it’s been a while now.

“Fans will start to voice their concerns if it carries on, and like I say, we’ve used quite a few genuine and valid excuses over the last few months.

“But I think after this international break, we can’t have anymore excuses, we have to be going out there, be a bit bullish, dictating games and starting to get those points at home because otherwise we’re going to be staring up at the rest of the league.”

Derby have earned seven points from their opening eight fixtures, with just one win to their name.

The Rams are at risk of being in the relegation zone when the league goes on pause for the October international break unless they can win their next fixture.

Eustace’s side will face Southampton at home on Saturday in a 3pm kick-off.

Derby need to make better use of their attacking talent

Derby invested heavily into their attacking options over the summer, but have scored just 10 goals from their opening eight fixtures.

Rhian Brewster’s fitness problems haven’t helped because he looked promising in his first appearances.

Morris’ performances have also been encouraging, but nobody else is yet to score a second league goal, so the team have become reliant on him to find the back of the net.