You’re waiting patiently for the elevator in front of you, dressed to the nines in your best turtleneck and a sparkling pair of new shoes. Not a hair out of place, you hop on the lift as the doors slowly slide open. You press “2”. Coincidentally at that exact moment, Australian referee Jarred Gillett blows his whistle to signal the start of the second half at The Valley.
The lift starts climbing and with a ding, the doors slide open once again to drop you off on the second floor.
By the time the elevator shuts behind you, Dillon Phillips is already picking the ball out of the net in south-east London as West Brom take a 2–1 lead.
Sluggish Starts
It takes an elevator 37 seconds to climb one floor. On Saturday, Charlton lasted just 32 second-half seconds before conceding to Hal Robson-Kanu.
There was an element of fortune to the Welsh striker’s goal, Phillips seemingly having the effort covered until Naby Sarr’s divergence sent the ball past the Charlton ‘keeper.
However, there was a frustrating twinge of deja-vu on Saturday with similar issues cropping up throughout the season and becoming infuriatingly common over the last few weeks.
In fact, no team in the Championship has conceded more goals in the 15 minutes after half-time than Charlton’s 11.
Perhaps the energy bars in the home dressing room are lacking energy. Maybe Lee Bowyer’s half-time message is getting lost on the walk back out to the pitch. Whatever is happening in the break is not working and the Addicks have made a worrying habit of conceding just after the restart.
Long Term Problem
Exasperated in recent weeks, yes, but this has been a problem since mid-August’s 2–2 draw with Barnsley, the hosts’ second goal, three minutes into the second half, a picture of disorganisation.
A mix-up between Josh Cullen and Conor Gallagher turned the ball over and when Darren Pratley got neither ball nor, man, with a sliding challenge, the middle of the pitch suddenly opened up. Gallagher sprinted back, but it was too late. Tom Lockyer, looking to make up the space, came inside to meet Luke Thomas, but the midfielder released the ball early, allowing Conor Chaplin to drift inside and finish.
Against Cardiff a few months later, Charlton managed to fend off a full eight minutes of the second half before conceding. They only managed to survive that long due to Junior Hoilett’s saved penalty in the 50th minute. Again, both situations were easily avoidable and display this team’s penchant for bringing trouble upon themselves with silly errors. First, for the spot-kick, a relatively harmless cross ended up as a penalty when Ben Purrington unnecessarily wrestled Callum Patterson to the ground.
Dillon Phillips’ save kept the score at 2–0, which in hindsight only delayed the crucial Cardiff strike that duly arrived three minutes later, in equally frustrating circumstances. A corner broke to the edge of the box and was hit back into the mix by Leandro Bacuna. Lockyer got the first block in but ended up tangled with defensive partner Deji Oshilaja, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing on hand to rifle home. A combination of thoughtlessness and miscommunication allowing Cardiff a route back into a match that would eventually end 2–2, huge points to drop considering the 2–0 scoreline at the break.
Perhaps, the draw with Cardiff left some scars because the Addicks’ early second-half woes only grew from there. The following match, 2–1 defeat to Luton, saw Izzy Brown score the winner in the 53rd minute, again individual errors proving costly.
Darren Pratley’s miscontrol allowed Andrew Shinnie to run at a suddenly depleted Charlton backline. Shinnie played the ball to Brown, whose poor touch gave Lockyer an opportunity to make the tackle, but his unsuccessful attempt gave the Luton attacker enough time to slot past Phillips. As with the goal against Barnsley, a silly giveaway in midfield put the Charlton defence under pressure and as with Cardiff, it was the inability to clear the danger that proved decisive.
Hull were the next side to exploit these slow restarts. The Tigers made it 1–1 just two minutes into the second period, Jarrod Bowen capitalising on more miscommunication. In all credit to Kamil Grosicki, the cross for Bowen was a peach, but still, the duo of Jason Pearce and Naby Sarr just watched the ball onto Bowen’s foot; a rather inexcusable offence. It seemed that each defender thought the other was going to clear it, a mix-up that harkened back to Mendez-Laing’s strike despite entirely different personnel being present on the pitch.
In the 3–2 win against Bristol Rovers, it was more of the same; bodies flying into missed tackles with players left unmarked in dangerous areas. This time it was Albie Morgan, tracking his runner into the box, who couldn’t fully clear, allowing the ball to fall to Andreas Weimann who pounced to give the visitors a vital equaliser.
And once again on Saturday, the Addicks post-break fragilities were highlighted. This time the ball was given away almost immediately from Charlton’s kick-off. One swift counter later and West Brom had regained the lead.32 seconds. That’s all it took to wipe away an excellent first half of grit and hard work.
Confidence Crushed
That element just makes these avoidable situations all the more frustrating. In each of the six examples above, Charlton went into half-time with reason to feel confident. Against Barnsley, Gallagher’s equaliser five minutes before the break should have placed Charlton in position to come out the stronger side. In the collapse to Cardiff, Bowyer’s team took a 2–0 lead into half-time.
Luton, granted had already forced the issue after coming back from Jonathan Leko’s early goal, but still, Charlton had survived the rest of the half on equal footing, with a chance to reassert some dominance in the second 45. Brown’s goal ensured that would not be the case.
The devastating draw with Hull came on the back of four very disappointing defeats with the pressure well and truly on. Despite this, Charlton came out on top and took a deserved lead through Darren Pratley. Instead of kicking on after the interval, they were immediately pegged back by Bowen’s goal.
The same happened 13 days later against Bristol Rovers. Macauley Bonne’s well-taken lob in the 40th minute sent Charlton into half-time in control. That control lasted less than three minutes before Andreas Weimann slotted home to regain parity, forcing a remarkable late recovery from the Addicks to take all three points.
Coming from behind to equalise against league-leading West Brom, 1–1 should have been a real confidence boost for the young Addicks at the break. Instead, they immediately lost concentration and were punished clinically.
In a league such as the Championship where margins are remarkably tight, ten of the Addicks 12 defeats coming by one goal, these mental mistakes could prove hugely costly.
Inexperience Telling
Perhaps, it’s no real surprise to see this Charlton team struggle with focus issues. Depleted by the long-standing injury crisis, Bowyer has been forced to rely on academy graduates and inexperienced youngsters. Against the Baggies, half of the midfield and the entire attacking troika were under 22 years old, Andre Green the experienced head with a whopping 51 senior appearances under his belt. The fact that so many of the issues above have come since Cardiff when the injury crisis started to reach its nadir, makes the inexperience only seem more connected to the problematic restarts.
The beginning of the second period is a time when concentration issues can run rife for inexperienced sides. Half-time is a period when players need to re-focus and concentrate on the second half ahead of them. It’s also a time when players can analyse their first-half play. For young players who often rely on momentum and superior energy, a break can be a distinct disadvantage, forcing an unnecessary chance to lose concentration and impetus. For more experienced, older players, where energy may not be their advantage, half-time presents the opportunity to adequately re-focus and come out fresh.
Charlton’s scoring habits support this thinking. The Addicks have conceded 11 goals in the 15 minute period after half-time. Five of those have come since Cardiff and three in the last six matches. In addition, Charlton have conceded within the first five minutes of the restart four times, while also giving away the saved penalty to Cardiff. Over the course of the season, Charlton haven’t conceded more in any other 15-minute spell.
Best Before The Break
Going deeper, and the two periods either side of half-time paint a clear picture. Charlton reach their strongest point in the moments before the break, scoring six goals and conceding none in that period over the course of the season. However, the ten minutes after half-time has seen eight goals and one missed penalty conceded, more than in any other ten-minute spell.
In a trend that pops up at the end of both halves, the Addicks seem to get better as the game goes on. Their +6 goal difference in the final 15 minutes of first halves is the best in the Championship. The only other 15 minute period in which they have a positive goal difference is at the end of matches, +1, despite their fair share of late heartache.
The club’s shooting statistics provide even more evidence of this trend with the Addicks mustering 1.6 shots per game between the 31st and 45th minute, and 2.3 shots per game between the 75th and 90th minute, both higher than at any other time in matches.
Charlton’s scoring patterns don’t follow traditional thinking; in fact, they directly contrast them.
Negative Thoughts
Sports psychologist Dan Abrahams, who works with Bournemouth, spoke with The Athletic about the norm of teams conceding just before the break, explaining that it’s “frighteningly common in football”.
“When you’re tired, your focus and attention turn inwards: you start to focus on that inner voice and the automatic negative thoughts about being tired — ‘I’m knackered’ — and ‘just get through to half-time’.
“You’re focusing on the tiredness rather than having an external focus, which is focusing on your team-mates, your opposition, the space and the ball, which is essentially the building blocks of your focus and attention.”
Finishing Strong
Put in simple terms; as you get closer to half-time, it can become harder to score and easier to concede. Unless you’re Charlton.
This appears to be a statistical example of the intangible qualities in this Addicks squad coming to fruition. Unquantifiable attributes such as heart, determination, grit, and guts. Simpy defined in one word: character, a central tenant to Bowyer’s revolution at The Valley.
Charlton get stronger when the half gets deeper as it allows them to utilise their stash of intangible skills of the heart. Their deep supply of energy and drive allows them to peg teams back when everyone is supposed to be tired. Teams such as West Brom who possibly can’t match the Addicks on that front, tire, and then need the 15-minute half-time to re-energize and re-focus.
This allows more experienced teams to come out stronger, whereas Charlton then need time to regain momentum and to make their energy reserves really count.
Speaking after the draw with West Brom, Bowyer touched on this spirit present in the squad.
“From start to finish I thought we were very good,” Bowyer remarked happily if unsurprised. “The way that we applied ourselves and the way that we pressed them, we showed our attitude to keep working right the way to the end and I thought that that was the least that we deserved.
“Of course, they created some chances but let’s not forget who we were playing there. They’ve got a hell of a lot of Premier League players and I’m really proud of my lads. To keep coming and to come from a goal behind two times.
“They are the performances I’ve had 99% of the time I’ve been in charge. The point is the least we deserved.”
Digging Deep
Youthful and inexperienced, this team is losing concentration and making silly mistakes when there is a need to re-centre and re-focus after half-time. On the other hand, when the going gets tough, when teams start to tire, the Addicks reach inwards and conjure up an extra dose of energy for the fight.
The draw with West Brom perfectly showcased this. Charlton dug themselves into a hole, conceding moments after the break, but stayed in the match and came up with the crucial moment 14 minutes from time to claim a valuable point.
Inexperience and the growing pains that come with it are not going to be solved overnight. There may be more situations like West Brom, where a loss of concentration leads to the concession of avoidable goals in frustrating moments. However, the attitude and youthful ebullience fostered in the squad will also lead to more instances like the second equaliser on Saturday, when Charlton kept the game close and conjured up a decisive goal.
Now, with players starting to return from injury and Bowyer able to choose from a more experienced stable of players, the challenge will be to keep this exuberance while cutting out the sloppiness as a mammoth February lies in wait.
