“Bottom of the charts”: The deficiencies that are hurting Collingwood at the moment

David King is concerned by the recent form of Collingwood.

The reigning premiers have lost two in a row, only beat North Melbourne by a point and have won just two of their last six overall. As a result, they now find themselves sitting outside the eight and with a big challenge on their hands.

Last weekend they started superbly against Essendon to lead by 15 points at quarter-time before falling away over the course of the next three quarters to eventually lose by 12 points.

Aside from losing a few games, the Pies continue to lose key players with Brody Mihocek’s torn pec muscle likely to keep him sidelined for the rest of the season and Jeremy Howe out of Friday night’s blockbuster clash with Geelong due to hamstring tightness.

It puts them in a predicament ahead of the crunch clash with the Cats at the MCG and King wants to see coach Craig McRae make some changes, particularly through the midfield where Nick Daicos has too much to do.

King highlights Collingwood’s recent lack of sturdiness when they are not in possession of the ball as a major area of deficiency right now.

“Their profile right now is only going one way,” King said on SEN Mornings.

“They aggressively attack and their numbers offensively look really good, their ability to punish is really good, their ability to create havoc from contest is ok.

“But their work without the footy is bottom of the charts. Bottom two in the competition.

“When the opposition have the ball they’re a shadow of what they were last year. Whilst they’re like this they’ll be uncompetitive. They’ll play in bursts and in bursts only.

“I think the coach has got to trust some younger players or different types to go in and have a crack. Because it’s Daicos or bust in there at the moment.

“I’d give Bobby Hill a look at centre bounce. We talk about Izak Rankine, Hayden Young, Jack Sinclair, these guys - you’ve got to sometimes throw someone different in the mix to shake the tree a little bit.

“It’s not working and they’re finding themselves in a position where they’re having to chase the scoreboard late in games, then it’s, ‘Hey guys, now we’ve got to go’. So they’re getting this 100 per cent offensive gearing again and it doesn’t help them.

“I just feel like the coach now has to rattle a few. How you do that is not necessarily by dropping players, but by not giving them prime roles. They can be the second wave midfield rather than the first.”

The Pies have conceded 92 or more points in four of their last five games, copping three scores of 100 or more in that period.

King feels that their defensive profile surrounding captain Darcy Moore has diminished because things up the field aren’t in as good a shape as they has been in the past.

“Down back it just looks a mess,” he added.

“It looks like any time the ball comes in they’re in trouble. They’re out of position or they’re just cold getting beaten. That’s unfamiliar for us with the Collingwood profile over the last couple of seasons.

“There’s an eight-week campaign on right now, if this doesn’t work now, why would it correct next year?

“Nick Daicos couldn’t be playing any better. (Jordan) De Goey has been up and down but when he’s on he’s brilliant. But who else has really been shooting the lights out?

“They’re waiting on some contributors to get busy. I can sense the frustration from Craig McRae’s press conference, and he’s right, they’re unpredictable. You can’t have unpredictable in terms of the way they play because they’re a very aggressive-positioned defence and they’re a very aggressive midfield in terms of stepping goal-side in a heartbeat.

“As soon as you’re unpredictable you’re working away from your numbers. They’ve got a massive challenge to fix this in the short term otherwise this will just fritter away.”

The Pies enter the meeting with the Cats as underdogs and a loss could see them drop a game below those at the bottom end of the top eight.

However, a win would see them join Geelong on 40 points and have them placed marginally outside the top four.

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