Coach Brenton Sanderson says Adelaide’s disappointing recent performances are a result of too much being left to “too few” players.

Ace onballer Patrick Dangerfield was the standout in the Crows’ 38-point loss to Richmond at the MCG on Saturday. Switching between the midfield and forward line, the All Australian kicked 2.4 from 28 possessions. He also won eight clearances, generated six inside 50ms and laid four tackles.

The 23-year-old provided one of the highlights of the season when he collected the ball off the ground, one-handed at full speed and dodged an opponent before setting sail with a left-foot shot at goal from 50m that bounced just to the left of the goalpost. Watch Danger’s pick-up above.

Ball winners Rory Sloane, Scott Thompson and Richard Douglas also battled hard, while young full-back Daniel Talia was solid in defence. Sanderson said his side was becoming reliant on a handful of key players, namely Dangerfield.

“We leave a lot to Dangerfield. He kicked 2.4, while also trying to clear the ball through the midfield,” Sanderson said.

“He’s one of a kind and a freak of the competition. I’m very thankful he plays for us, but we’re leaving too much to him. He left everything out there today. He tried as hard as he could, but we need a few more contributors.

“We’re leaving it to too few.”

Dangerfield was the most dangerous option in an Adelaide forward line that managed a wasteful return of only 10.12, including 1.6 in when the visitors had the ascendancy in the third quarter.

Tall Josh Jenkins (2.2) was the Club’s only other multiple goalkicker. The Crows took three marks inside 50m to Richmond’s 11, and Sanderson said his forwards weren’t aided by the team’s ball use.

“We looked a bit stale today with the way we moved the footy,” Sanderson said.

“The forwards didn’t have their best days … but we didn’t give them the best opportunities. Our kicking was poor and we need better output across the team not just the forwards.

“We’re leaving it to two young kids in Shaun McKernan and Josh Jenkins. They’re fighting as hard as they can as our two key forwards. They’re very inexperienced. They’re trying their hardest … but in the second half of the year we need to keep looking at options up forward.”

It wasn’t only Adelaide’s forward line delivery that was inefficient. The Crows struggled to overcome Richmond’s pressure, missing targets and making poor decisions with the ball.

“Our kicking was poor. When it matters, you need poise and people with really clear heads, who are able to make good decisions, but we just rushed it,” Sanderson said.

“We made fundamental skill errors at critical times of the game. We missed set shots we should kick and we just bombed away inside 50m. Richmond kept putting numbers behind the ball. We kept sending numbers around to man them (Brett Deledio and Bachar Houli) up.

“We sent a forward up to our stoppages to try to win clearances, but it looks like that might’ve been a mistake because every time we won a clearance we kicked it forward to their numbers and they were able to mop it up.

“Nathan van Berlo did a pretty good job after half-time. He limited Deledio’s influence but then more Richmond players bobbed up. They got a pretty even output from their entire group and we left it to too few.”

Sanderson also lamented his team’s tackling, which remains an area for improvement.

“It was one of our worst tackling days … I say that every press conference,” he said.

“Our aggression is not where we should be and we can’t nail them.”

Vice-captain Scott Thompson said the team’s inability to pressure the opposition was putting the Crows defenders under the pump.

“If we’re missing tackles, the opposition is playing the game in their forward half,” he said.

“At half-time today I think the numbers were close to 40 inside 50ms for Richmond. If we’re allowing teams that many inside 50ms, it’s a tough ask when we’re playing the game in their half.”