Tom Cleverley is looking to strike the right balance on Tuesday night when Argyle take on Leyton Orient at Home Park: make change, and changes; but not too much, and not too many.
The Argyle boss has seen his side lose their opening three league matches, but they have gone down in those games through moments of weakness, rather than lengthy spells. They have rarely, if at all, been dominated, but have conceded typically through individual errors, at particularly bad times.
Cleverley knows he must stick to his guns and his teachings, as the Pilgrims seek, if not perfection, then something more tangible than they have managed so far. He does have a new weapon in his arsenal, in loan signing Alex Mitchell.
Orient have a win, a loss and a draw from their three league games so far. Managed by Richie Wellens, a former midfield opponent of Cleverley, Orient lost out in last season’s play-off final, and will come to Home Park believing they can take something.
Cleverley told Argyle TV: “Me and Richie played against each other, and we played probably how we want our teams to play; with good intensity, but with class. I expect a football match.
“It's something that we've not really mentioned but, on paper, the fixture list wasn't kind to us in the first eight games. I think, along with two relegated sides from the Championship, we play no-one who finished outside the top half of the league last year.
“But we shouldn't be fearful of the fixture list. We should embrace these challenges, but be aware of how difficult the start is.
“We identify strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. We might adapt tiny bits for that. Obviously, we would like to be a lot more consistent than we are at the minute, because that means you're winning games. When you're not, you have to make changes, and we will make the sufficient ones to make sure we do start winning sooner rather than later.
“I always want our team to be consistent. You might tweak bits here and there, small details, but I think the more consistency you can give your team, the better, and the more chance you have at building something and adding layers to that.
“We have a new face in the building. We have a week where we're approaching two home games. We are optimistic there might be some more new faces coming in the building. There feels a real freshness. You can expect some changes to the starting 11, and I'd expect a real freshness about us on Tuesday night. I'm looking forward to our performance.”
