THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

I have read lots on different threads about our defending clearly there are fans that can identify some of the problems from the comments made.

As a team they seem to make the same mistakes repeatedly and I do wonder if there is a defence coach in the coaching staff although I am aware that Neilson played as a defender although the highest level he played was probably Scottish Premier.

Ive looked back at a few games and we repeat the same errors over and over.

EEL does not have the pace of many strikers he plays against, Plymouth and Oxford he got done over the top resulting in a sending off and a goal. The third goal against Oxford, Williams was so far forward and Golbourne had not dropped in at all, in fact if the scorer had squared the ball Golbourne was still out of position. This goal was so similar to the sending off of Walsh who at least tried to get back.

The goal against Plymouth there was so much space in front of the back four to allow them to play, the same thing happened against Oxford but they hit the bar.

The 2 first half goals against Oxford were sloppy to say the least, which can be said for a lot of the goals we have conceded.

Being so weak defensively and hardly (recently Posh apart) been able to keep a clean sheet we leave ourselves having to score at least twice a game to win or even draw.

Im sure some will agree with me and for those that can why cant the manager and for those that want to disagree fine.

So although RN keeps spouting we need a striker (which we probably do) I think he should also find a central defender with pace as well.

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Life is like a hot bath. It feels good while you’re in it, but the longer you stay in, the more wrinkled you get.

NO

I think you’ll find that other teams have pinpointed a weakness to balls over the top, because it is and we can all see it.

EEL is good in the air, but has the pace of a snail, so he will be vulnerable to that tactic.

We also have a problem with stopping crosses being pinged into the box, far too often we are to slow at cutting that out.

We are capable of defending well, but we never seem to have a settled defence for one reason or another

Perhaps we need a tall ginger fella in defence

And to help build attacks.

Funny isn’t it, since Lewie has been banned from the training ground, defensive frailties seem to have appeared, I’d also venture that the demotion of Williams from stand in skipper may have dented his performance, as he looks nothing like the player that cleaned up the POTS awards last term.
I also note this is just about the first time anybody has mentioned the speed of Landell, I’ve had this discussion with a few people at games, and we think he makes Lewington look like Usain Bolt.
I find that very amusing because everyone that knocked Lewie always said it was because of his pace, personally I’d play him over Landell any day of the week.

I will now retire to my nuclear bunker and wait for the fallout.

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Read the MELTDOWN after every game, no bullshit, just giving it straight

I don't think our defensive frailties started with Deanogate... but, other than that, I broadly agree with your post.

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I don't need your ill-informed, half-baked, idiotic opinions. I have plenty of those myself.

It's not just a defender problem its a team defensive problem. In all the top teams teams defend from the front. Sow doesnt do nearly enough closing down, so their defenders have time to pick passes. We turn over possession to easily in non attacking areas which means teams can counter from more dangerous positions. Only one of our centre backs is comfortable in possession which means we have one that panics when pressed and hits aimless long balls tgat are recycled and put us back under pressure and the other plays a short game and makes errors in close proximity that give the ball up in dangerous areas. The gap between defence and attack is way too great which means other teams have so much space to operate in our half. Do we even know what playing an offside trap is? Weve never been a team thats had lightning defenders but what we did have was an organised and balanced team, we had a left back who would keep their winger honest by operating upfield a lot, we had a right back with pace and energy that could get up and down keeping their wide players honest, we had 2 centre backs comfortable with the ball at their feet, usually one more so than the other. We had a central midfielder that operated in the spaces left in front of the defence and a partner that could get up the pitch as quickly as he could get back and covered lots of ground. We had wingers that pinned their wide players back and were able to operate in better positions because our defensive line wise high, we had a sensible gap between our defence and first line of midfield and we had often 7 players that would keep the opposition pinned back and honest but equually we had 6 or 7 players that wouldnt shirk tra king back and we had forwards that would press occupy defenders in possession. We were a team that knew its job, we were controlled in possession and dominated so much of the game. Players knew passing sequences and positional play.

I cant really pick apart what we do now because for the life of me I cant see a strategy. We are so poor at defending second balls around the box and tracking runners. Our only solution is to camp in our box, which is ok if we score 1st but we are doomed when we have to chase a game. One for filthy.under neilson, how many games have we rescued points from losing positions? Only oldham 4-4 instantly springs to mind.

I want to be positive but everytime I reach out to give the regime more time I end up with egg on my face. But theres not rely much we can do other than hope this winning formula he had at hearts is somewhere down the line and its a case of gradually building a team to see it come to fruition.

Was watching a few of the highlights back earlier and a few things jumped out:

- Nicholls has made a LOT of errors that have directly lead to goals, I counted at least 10 errors that lead to a goal (dropping the ball, not claiming it, 'clearing' the ball to an opposition player, not doing better with certain shots). He had a couple of good games earlier in the season, but he really has been error prone for the last 3 months.

- Wootton is caught out a fair bit with his positioning. Quite a few goals he's been directly responsible for, leaving too much space behind him, not closing down runners, not getting rid of balls in the penalty area

- Ebanks-Landell is also another that seems quite error prone. A pass back, conceded a penalty, and like Wootton, quite a few occasions where he's been caught out by not marking his man and leaving lots of empty space for players to run into and score


Overall, we are terrible at marking and leave FAR too much space for opposition players. So many goals we've conceded from open play or set pieces where there is literally an opposition player on his own in tons of space free to slot the ball home. We also seem pretty poor at tracking back, closing down space and leaving way too much of a gap for players to run into and score.

Still surprised at how many errors Nicholls has made though.

Ive said this consistently, Nicholls just isn’t good enough in my opinion.

Martin was in constant contact with his back four and was the best shot stopper in the league.