Justin Leppitsch believes Carlton’s game plan from the first two rounds of the season isn’t helping Patrick Cripps as he aims to return to form following a sub-par 2020 campaign.
Leppitsch told SEN's Crunch Time that the Blues are trying to create space and make the ground big when they go forward, which doesn’t allow Cripps to use his assets around the contest.
“I think the way Carlton are playing at the moment, they’re making the ground very big offensively… (Cripps) is a real in tight player and Carlton are widening the ground,” Leppistch said.
“Their game planning isn’t suiting a Patrick Cripps style of player at the moment.”
Cripps announced himself as one of the best midfielders in the league in 2019 by finishing third in the Brownlow Medal, but struggled to recapture that form last year.
Carlton has also largely failed to fire a shot so far, with competitive losses against Richmond and Collingwood in the first two rounds.
Leppitsch is confident that Carlton have all the pieces of the jigsaw, but just need to put it together to help Cripps.
“I think they’ve got enough talent, there’s no doubt. You’ve got to put a game style in that helps your players and at the moment their game style doesn’t help Cripps,” Leppitsch said.
“All the things by making the ground big is not helping them not just in their full ground defence but also the stuff at the ball, its hurting them defensively as well.
“Tidy a few of those game plan things up, make the ground a little smaller and I think that will help Patrick Cripps.”