| Why is there no interest in our defence? 08:57 - Jan 5 with 2540 views | jayessess |
We've not had a single 0-0. We've failed to score in only 2 games this season. But we've kept just 9 clean sheets in 25 games so far this season, far fewer than the 12 in 23 games we kept last season.
If we'd kept a clean sheets in games where the opposition set up in a low block and barely had the ball in our half, we'd have beaten Lincoln, Portsmouth and Cheltenham.
Yet all the discussion is about new forwards and needing more goals? |  |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 08:59 - Jan 5 with 2289 views | ITFC_Forever |
Been saying it for months.
We aren't as good as we think we are defensively. |  |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:00 - Jan 5 with 2269 views | Sharkey |
The keeper played better last season. |  | | |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:02 - Jan 5 with 2250 views | SheffordBlue |
I think it's a number of factorsL
1. The shift to more of a 4 at the back than a 5 makes us a bit more open (although we've still conceded the fewest Open Play goals in the League).
2. Walton nowhere near his levels from last season.
3. Some bad luck with decisions and deflections.
4. Continuing difficulties in dealing with the high ball into the box (is that a mix of 1-3)
Not convinced a change in personnel there is what would make the difference though [Post edited 5 Jan 2023 9:03]
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:04 - Jan 5 with 2212 views | SuperKieranMcKenna |
Question is who do you replace? Wolfie is class, Burgess very solid and in my opinion our best CB in the air. JD hasn’t been as good in terms of bombing forward (not sure if this is K MCK tactics or a result of the various knocks he’s had this season). Fridge seems to be out of favour and has been debatably the most error prone, but he’s a quality player when on form and one I think can play at a higher level. | | | |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:10 - Jan 5 with 2148 views | homer_123 |
The assumption here is if we tighten defensively we will still be an attacking threat.
Rarely does that actually happen - it's typically a trade off.
If we tighten defensively, we loose something going forward - so it's a balance.
I think we also need to remember this is L1, the players we have are not Prem level, so mistakes and consistency isn't going to be anywhere near that level.
I've posted a lot recently about the fact that, actually, we have more than enough about us to turn teams over, if we converted more. We have three or four guilt edged chances against Lincoln and if we were less profligate in front of goal, we'd have won easily.
I really think the way KM has us setup and the way we play and approach games is right - the balance is right - we merely need to be a little more ruthless in front of goal. |  |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:14 - Jan 5 with 2124 views | ElephantintheRoom |
Statistical analysis of the porous defence yields the answer that the problem lies further up the field. Insert Defending from the front and add in any other cliche - including the undeniable fact that opposing teams appear to need about 20 less scoring chances to score. | |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:14 - Jan 5 with 2118 views | Slimitfc91 |
What is a low block ? | | | |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:17 - Jan 5 with 2087 views | jayessess |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:14 - Jan 5 by Slimitfc91 |
What is a low block ? |
Short hand for a team that concentrates mainly on defending and allows the other team lots of possession. | |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:19 - Jan 5 with 2066 views | Slimitfc91 |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:17 - Jan 5 by jayessess |
Short hand for a team that concentrates mainly on defending and allows the other team lots of possession. |
What a load of nonsense | | | |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:19 - Jan 5 with 2065 views | Nazemariner |
12 in 23 is impressive. 9 in 25 is still decent.
The need for better strikers is because If we took more of the chances that we created,then we wouldn't need to be so gun-ho in pursuit of a goal.
It's plain to see that we a vunerable at defensive set peices, but i would say that is more down to lack of practice on the training ground. There are only so many hours in the day, and we must spend the majority of time on our passing play in order to be as good at it as we are. |  | | |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:20 - Jan 5 with 2050 views | jayessess |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:19 - Jan 5 by Slimitfc91 |
What a load of nonsense |
Why? | |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:20 - Jan 5 with 2048 views | ibbleobble |
Simple. Playing the way we do we’re open and prone to conceding. We play high up the pitch and dominate teams. If we finish them off, it’s irrelevant if we leak the odd goal. We’re just not finishing teams off so we need better in and around the box. | | | |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:26 - Jan 5 with 1980 views | StokieBlue |
Edmundson played in more than half of those clean sheets, although we were also playing 3 at the back for a lot of those.
SB |  |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:47 - Jan 5 with 1886 views | Steve_M |
A lot of that is about the set up though. Thompson was a good defensive full back but more limited going forwards, Bakinson and Morsy was more solid but more limited than Morsy and Humpreys/Evans. We've clearly changed the emphasis to be more attacking and often have the majority of the team in forward positions.
However, we have been very sloppy at times, even if Charlton was an aberration (and it really was IMO) then we're allowing the opposition to score from most of their chances. We still don't concede many chances but conceded from probably all of them in the three recent away games.
Other than Wolfenden, none of the individuals has been as good as last season's regulars, although Burgess is far better than he was then, none of Donacien, Walton, Edmundson and Burns have been bad this season but none has been as good as last year.
I still think it reasonable to think that creating and converting clear chances from the amount of possession we have around the opposition box is the more pressing need but I like us being a bit more solid than we are at the moment. |  |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:47 - Jan 5 with 1887 views | Guthrum |
Even teams who concentrate in their own area to defend have decent players who can break forward and create dangerous situations. With the majority of our players up the pitch, that in turn induces last-ditch defending, often giving away fouls. We are then not so good at dealing with the subsequent free kicks and corners.
Our defenders, particularly the wide ones, are picked for their ability to provide a base for and to mount attacks, rather than their solidity at the back. It's the foundation for how we play.
If we were to change that, selecting pure Fullbacks, for example, it is likely to hamper our ability to get forward and run the game in the opposition's half. Compromising that reduces the edge that Town has in having hired all these good attacking players. We risk becoming just another middling League One team, defending from the back and hoping for a break or long ball. Think how we struggled to score last season.
Keeping hold of and regaining the ball high up the pitch is where most of the defending is supposed to happen, not in our own 18-yard box. But, at this level, we're going to slip up sometimes and the opposition do have the power to punish us. |  |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:58 - Jan 5 with 1794 views | Chrisd |
I mentioned the same thing a while ago. There's no doubt that in that final third we do have problems, we simply can't put sides away and scoring one is never enough for us to win games. Nevertheless, we shouldn't be having so much possession in games and then the opposition score with their first attempt. For me, things need tweaking both ends of the pitch. | |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 10:02 - Jan 5 with 1759 views | earlsgreenblue |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 09:47 - Jan 5 by Guthrum |
Even teams who concentrate in their own area to defend have decent players who can break forward and create dangerous situations. With the majority of our players up the pitch, that in turn induces last-ditch defending, often giving away fouls. We are then not so good at dealing with the subsequent free kicks and corners.
Our defenders, particularly the wide ones, are picked for their ability to provide a base for and to mount attacks, rather than their solidity at the back. It's the foundation for how we play.
If we were to change that, selecting pure Fullbacks, for example, it is likely to hamper our ability to get forward and run the game in the opposition's half. Compromising that reduces the edge that Town has in having hired all these good attacking players. We risk becoming just another middling League One team, defending from the back and hoping for a break or long ball. Think how we struggled to score last season.
Keeping hold of and regaining the ball high up the pitch is where most of the defending is supposed to happen, not in our own 18-yard box. But, at this level, we're going to slip up sometimes and the opposition do have the power to punish us. |
Hence why we keep conceding from deep crosses or flick on’s at our back post left side in particular! | | | |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 10:12 - Jan 5 with 1661 views | CityBlue |
tactically you balance a concrete back 5? with a more dynamic attacking minded midfield (2 x number 10s).
We could drop to conventional one number ten supporting a single CF and throw up two wingers, or have two strikers with a number ten but lose depth in the middle.
Either way, scoring/creating more goals will mean sacrifice else where.
For me the worrying factor and reason for lower goal tally for our CFs is the lack of through balls. Our possession play doesn't allow for that and I would love to see Ladapo running onto some diagonal balls into the box.
This is why KMcK will not go for Bonne as our set up doesn't support his style of play. I would break the bank on buying Collins from Bristol Rovers personally. |  |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 10:22 - Jan 5 with 1587 views | Slimitfc91 |
Very interesting, I retract my “nonsense” comment | | | |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 10:26 - Jan 5 with 1568 views | Guthrum |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 10:02 - Jan 5 by earlsgreenblue |
Hence why we keep conceding from deep crosses or flick on’s at our back post left side in particular! |
Or like at Wycombe where a smaller, nimble player on slightly slippery grass was barged out of the way by a giant battering-ram attacker. | |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 10:37 - Jan 5 with 1464 views | FrimleyBlue |
Imo.
With Burgess replacing Edmundson. We minimised the potential for mistakes with the ball. Which has improved.
However what hasn't helped our problems is the lack of concentration by other players on the pitch.
Fleetwood.. Jackson humphreys morsy etc all allowed the player a free shot at goal. Wasn't a defensive issue.
The pompy header... Chaplin was 3 yards off the crosser and allowed an easy ball in for a team who like balls into the box.
I don't feel the defense itself is an issue.
But with more goals Scored at the right times and more concentration from others we would be better than we have been |  |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 10:39 - Jan 5 with 1451 views | SheffordBlue |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 10:22 - Jan 5 by Slimitfc91 |
Very interesting, I retract my “nonsense” comment |
I had zero interest in any of the technical terminology of 'blocks', 'false 9s' etc until McKenna started his press conferences where he actually explains what happens in games - how the opposition set up, what we tried to do to counter it - etc. | |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 10:44 - Jan 5 with 1425 views | Guthrum |
| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 10:12 - Jan 5 by CityBlue |
tactically you balance a concrete back 5? with a more dynamic attacking minded midfield (2 x number 10s).
We could drop to conventional one number ten supporting a single CF and throw up two wingers, or have two strikers with a number ten but lose depth in the middle.
Either way, scoring/creating more goals will mean sacrifice else where.
For me the worrying factor and reason for lower goal tally for our CFs is the lack of through balls. Our possession play doesn't allow for that and I would love to see Ladapo running onto some diagonal balls into the box.
This is why KMcK will not go for Bonne as our set up doesn't support his style of play. I would break the bank on buying Collins from Bristol Rovers personally. |
Tho lack of space in the final third (packed defences) and tight marking do not really allow for through balls and running on. Which is, I think, why we do short passes, holding up and laying off, or crosses tight to the by-line from out wide. | |
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| Why is there no interest in our defence? on 11:04 - Jan 5 with 1319 views | BigCommon |
I thought we'd concede a few more this season. But I thought it might come from getting caught out, playing out from the back. Which, t bf, we haven't really struggled in playing in out.
Perhaps we are just "too" relaxed at times.When good old fashioned "stick your head or boot on it" is needed.
The goals we are conceding are mostly pretty basic, gifts, if you will...Just not switched on enough to do the basics, imo. Maybe being coached to be really relaxed, in order to be calm on the ball, is detrimental , at times, to just doing the nitty gritty.. Imo, we look a bit "too" laid back, when defending basic set pieces and high balls etc.. It's not a complaint, just an observation.I like the way we play. And with goals conceded being so basic.Its definitely something that can be addressed on the training pitch..Id be more worried if teams were cutting through us for fun.. |  | | |
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