Adelaide, Nicks facing the “pressure” as potential 0-5 start looms

Adelaide's winless start to 2024 has raised eyebrows across the football landscape and a date with an in-form Melbourne side to kick off Gather Round could add further salt to the wound.

And with Carlton to follow, the Crows are possibly facing a 0-5 start and a near-impossible task of returning to finals for the first time since 2017, which was ironically achieved most recently by Sydney in the same year.

So, where has it all gone wrong?

Coach Matthew Nicks has admitted the club has failed to meet the benchmark set in 2023, which deserved a finals berth but was ultimately robbed by a goal-review blunder.

"We're not playing the same game we did last year," Nicks said on Tuesday.

"And sometimes that can occur because you are putting effort into areas where it's not needed... more pressure comes loss after loss and then guys going away from their individual roles or responsibilities so the system breaks down with that.

"There's small things popping up each week but the difference between getting the job done and not can be really fine at times."

In 2023, Adelaide was one of the most dangerous teams in terms of scoring, ranked first (avg. 95.3pts per game) in the competition.

This year, they sit slightly above the West Coast (and we know about their troubles) in second-last position (avg. 55 pts).

So why is this happening?

For starters, the Crows are down on key indicators (see above).

Their inside 50 counts and disposal tallies haven't changed, meaning they're still finding the ball and opportunities to score.

And yet nothing is translating to defendable scores and winning positions.

Matthew Nicks said: "The connection piece that's not there at the moment," which is key to success.

Adelaide was the number one team for goal assists in 2023 but has been flipped on its head in the opening three weeks of their season.

The club has experienced a similar plunge in shots at goal (-10.3 per game) and shot efficiency (-18.9%) while showing a huge increase in turnovers (+12).

In one of the hardest games on the planet, if you're off your game ever so slightly, the opposition can punish you tenfold.

The poor start has also been compounded by injuries to key positional players in Nicks' line-up.

Wayne Milera (season) and Lachlan Murphy (3-5 weeks) are the latest casualties in the consistently growing injury lists.

Key defender Nick Murray (knee) is still two months away, while Jordon Butts is pressing his case for a return in Gather Round.

Albeit not the most heralded names in the competition, both Murray and Butts provide stability in the Adelaide backline, which has been undermanned thus far.

Despite being a young side (14th), Nicks needs to challenge some of his stars defensively, which is an area they need to work on.

With the "connection" up forward not working, the Crows should hone in on their defensive output, which will ultimately help them stay in games longer.

As once said: "when the going gets tough, the tough gets going."

So far, Adelaide has been pedestrian in their response to difficult situations, watching the opposition fly idly by toward victory.