The challenge facing Sheffield United after the international break
Alan Biggs on a crucial break for the Blades
Too many players performing below their best and you don't win football matches.
Certainly not in the Championship where the tightness of competition demands the maximum from everyone.
Certainly not at Sheffield United where individual brilliance and creativity has been largely stripped away.
It falls on the unit to be at its maximum effectiveness. But that can't happen if many of the components are below that level, for fitness reasons as much as form.
That seems to me to be the story of Sheffield United's season to date. There's not enough margin for error for players to dip.
But it's not entirely a bad thing. If the belief holds that more are capable of better then that's surely good in the long run.
You can certainly apply that to every striker other than automatic first choice Patrick Bamford, albeit that his finishing could be sharper.
In midfield, Kalvin Phillips looks like setting standards currently shared only by Sydie Peck.
At the back, probably room for improvement right across the four.
But not in goal where thankfully Michael Cooper is back on top form.
So the challenge after the international break is for players in all departments to find their groove and stick to it.
Only then can the whole amount to more than a lower table position.
As it should and I think will in the fullness of time.