| Our defence… 21:14 - Sep 2 with 3282 views | thebooks |
…looks a little brittle at the mo. Last week it was Burgess and Davis getting in a pickle, this week Clarke (and Burns?) Are teams finding spaces down the sides of the defence?
Woolfie looks as assured as ever — becoming a real leader. He was giving Clarke a talking to a lot, so I’m not sure whether this is a tactical problem or Clarke not getting his positioning right.
Cardiff were very good at getting the ball forward quickly (I believe the technical term is “in the transitions”), but not as skillful or dangerous as Leeds. I thought Morsy was a little less accurate than usual, but Luongo was good defensively
Anyway, that’s all quite boring. It was a lot of fun today — again — and I never felt we were out of it. Good to see Ladapo play so well.
I wonder if Hutchinson might start pushing Burns? |  | | |  |
| Our defence… on 21:19 - Sep 2 with 2758 views | acj |
I think we just play with a pretty adventurous style, pushing players like Leif and Clarke high up the pitch, so there will be spaces for other teams to try to exploit. At championship level we’re gunna be punished more often than we were in league one because we’re coming up against higher calibre players, but I love that we’re willing to stick to our guns and come out swinging at whoever finds themselves in front of us. |  |
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| Our defence… on 21:28 - Sep 2 with 2736 views | ITFCBlues |
Clarkes been very poor the last 2 games. Got himself into some really poor positions. It's a cardinal sin as a defender for the attacker to have you running towards your own goal and turn you to the poibt where he can see the name and number on the back of your shirt. That must've happened 4 or 5 times alone today and against Leeds it cost us as well. He's good going forward, but a lot to learn defensivley |  |
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| Our defence… on 22:06 - Sep 2 with 2646 views | SuperKieranMcKenna |
| Our defence… on 21:28 - Sep 2 by ITFCBlues |
Clarkes been very poor the last 2 games. Got himself into some really poor positions. It's a cardinal sin as a defender for the attacker to have you running towards your own goal and turn you to the poibt where he can see the name and number on the back of your shirt. That must've happened 4 or 5 times alone today and against Leeds it cost us as well. He's good going forward, but a lot to learn defensivley |
Clarke has had a poor showing this season, and at fault for our first. I’m a huge fan and think he has a high ceiling, he was part of the reason for our post January run. Not sure if he’s still injured or just out of form but he’s really struggled in my opinion.
I think Williams should be considered for a start next game. He looked really decent today whe he came on, and glad the unfortunate slip against Leeds hasn’t dented his confidence. |  | | |
| Our defence… on 22:12 - Sep 2 with 2611 views | Horsham |
| Our defence… on 21:19 - Sep 2 by acj |
I think we just play with a pretty adventurous style, pushing players like Leif and Clarke high up the pitch, so there will be spaces for other teams to try to exploit. At championship level we’re gunna be punished more often than we were in league one because we’re coming up against higher calibre players, but I love that we’re willing to stick to our guns and come out swinging at whoever finds themselves in front of us. |
Agreed, we are incredibly positive in getting forward so it gives our defenders challenges that playing in a more solid shape wouldnt. The trade off is the is the wonderful attacking football we see and I’m ok with that but worth cutting the back 4 a bit of slack as a result. They are doing a difficult job. | | | |
| Our defence… on 22:23 - Sep 2 with 2536 views | ghostofescobar |
Noticeable how teams have targeted us out wide and deep the past 2 games and had a lot of success. Neither Leeds or Cardiff tried to play through the middle of us, but out wide. We really push our wide men and full backs forward, so there is a lot of space there. Clarke looks really vulnerable to the attacks out wide, Davis much less so. Don’t think it is a coincidence that we’ve let in goals since JD has been out. KM has to find that balance between our attacking intent and our ability to keep clean sheets. If I were an opposition scout at the moment, I know exactly where I’d be saying our weakness is: out wide and especially our right back. Keep it on the floor and get in behind us. |  |
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| Our defence… on 22:23 - Sep 2 with 2540 views | Churchman |
| Our defence… on 22:06 - Sep 2 by SuperKieranMcKenna |
Clarke has had a poor showing this season, and at fault for our first. I’m a huge fan and think he has a high ceiling, he was part of the reason for our post January run. Not sure if he’s still injured or just out of form but he’s really struggled in my opinion.
I think Williams should be considered for a start next game. He looked really decent today whe he came on, and glad the unfortunate slip against Leeds hasn’t dented his confidence. |
Clarke looked fitter and stronger today. He does plenty of good things going forward, is a good size, passionate but he does look a bit exposed at the back.
I would certainly play him next game. Two weeks fitness, training and of course rest will do him no end of good. Impressed with Williams though.
We are going to concede goals at this level, but the first five games says we are going to score the odd one or two too. We are a really entertaining team to watch and I’m sure will improve as we get into the meat of the season. |  | | |
| Our defence… on 22:26 - Sep 2 with 2511 views | ArnieM |
I thought Clarke struggled today as did Burgess . But Clarke looked so exposed- where the hell was Burns when not in possession?? He didn’t back track did he. Yet when Williams and Hutch came in they worked as a unit down that right side , in attacking , and defending. Burns needs to give more defensive support! |  |
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| Our defence… on 22:34 - Sep 2 with 2455 views | Churchman |
| Our defence… on 22:26 - Sep 2 by ArnieM |
I thought Clarke struggled today as did Burgess . But Clarke looked so exposed- where the hell was Burns when not in possession?? He didn’t back track did he. Yet when Williams and Hutch came in they worked as a unit down that right side , in attacking , and defending. Burns needs to give more defensive support! |
I don’t think Burgess struggled at all. His distribution was poor at times but I thought he was big, strong and brave at the back. As was Woolfy.
Your point about Burns? Yes there was a huge gap between him and Clarke. Problem is if Burns comes back too far, a big chunk of our attacking threat goes with him, doesn’t it? Williams and Hutchinson certainly seemed from afar to work Cardiff over, but I was too low down and the wrong side of the pitch to offer any sort of view tbh. | | | |
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| Our defence… on 22:35 - Sep 2 with 2447 views | redrickstuhaart |
| Our defence… on 22:34 - Sep 2 by Churchman |
I don’t think Burgess struggled at all. His distribution was poor at times but I thought he was big, strong and brave at the back. As was Woolfy.
Your point about Burns? Yes there was a huge gap between him and Clarke. Problem is if Burns comes back too far, a big chunk of our attacking threat goes with him, doesn’t it? Williams and Hutchinson certainly seemed from afar to work Cardiff over, but I was too low down and the wrong side of the pitch to offer any sort of view tbh. |
Burgess was absolutely fine, as he was last week. But some have a fixed view and don;t wish to be wrong. | | | |
| Our defence… on 22:38 - Sep 2 with 2405 views | FrimleyBlue |
Fk it.
Burley Royle years. You score 2 we will score 3. Fk it. |  |
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| Our defence… on 22:39 - Sep 2 with 2427 views | _clive_baker_ |
Personally I don’t think it’s ‘the defence’ so much as it’s Clarke specifically. Everything they created was targeting our right hand side, same for Leeds last week. Positionally he’s been a car crash. I’m not Cameron Burgess biggest fan but I actually think he’s done pretty well, Woolf has too and as for Davis he’s absolutely quality. We just look so weak in the right back spot, I would rotate Clarke out for Williams and give him a run of games. |  | | |
| Our defence… on 22:39 - Sep 2 with 2413 views | Simonds92 |
| Our defence… on 21:19 - Sep 2 by acj |
I think we just play with a pretty adventurous style, pushing players like Leif and Clarke high up the pitch, so there will be spaces for other teams to try to exploit. At championship level we’re gunna be punished more often than we were in league one because we’re coming up against higher calibre players, but I love that we’re willing to stick to our guns and come out swinging at whoever finds themselves in front of us. |
Agreed but we may need to look at that next season. We can't be that open against the likes of City, Liverpool etc. They will definitely punish us. | | | |
| Our defence… on 07:45 - Sep 3 with 1965 views | pennblue |
| Our defence… on 22:39 - Sep 2 by _clive_baker_ |
Personally I don’t think it’s ‘the defence’ so much as it’s Clarke specifically. Everything they created was targeting our right hand side, same for Leeds last week. Positionally he’s been a car crash. I’m not Cameron Burgess biggest fan but I actually think he’s done pretty well, Woolf has too and as for Davis he’s absolutely quality. We just look so weak in the right back spot, I would rotate Clarke out for Williams and give him a run of games. |
I think the central defensive pairing has been suspect too. That 1st goal was a great run into the box from Ramsay but Wolf should have anticipated and stopped that imo.
But lets face it, every time they attacked they looked like scoring.
They just need to go through the video's which I am sure they will do, and hopefully improve for the next set of games.
It certainly has been a sharp learning curve for them. | |
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| Our defence… on 08:05 - Sep 3 with 1889 views | Churchman |
| Our defence… on 07:45 - Sep 3 by pennblue |
I think the central defensive pairing has been suspect too. That 1st goal was a great run into the box from Ramsay but Wolf should have anticipated and stopped that imo.
But lets face it, every time they attacked they looked like scoring.
They just need to go through the video's which I am sure they will do, and hopefully improve for the next set of games.
It certainly has been a sharp learning curve for them. |
With regard to your first paragraph, that was a really good goal. They passed us to death the length of the pitch. If anything, a challenge further up the pitch might have helped, but with that run from Ramsey I’m not sure there was much the central defenders could do.
I think they’re fine. We need to defend as a team, just as we attack as a team. At the moment we’ve scored 12 goals in 5 games. That’s some going but I think that at this level it means our defence is bound to be exposed to the counter at times. Especially from players like Ramsey who is a cut above Billy Bobbins from Burton etc.
The defence will improve though given, as you rightly point out, that we are on a steep learning curve | | | |
| Our defence… on 08:12 - Sep 3 with 1862 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| Our defence… on 08:05 - Sep 3 by Churchman |
With regard to your first paragraph, that was a really good goal. They passed us to death the length of the pitch. If anything, a challenge further up the pitch might have helped, but with that run from Ramsey I’m not sure there was much the central defenders could do.
I think they’re fine. We need to defend as a team, just as we attack as a team. At the moment we’ve scored 12 goals in 5 games. That’s some going but I think that at this level it means our defence is bound to be exposed to the counter at times. Especially from players like Ramsey who is a cut above Billy Bobbins from Burton etc.
The defence will improve though given, as you rightly point out, that we are on a steep learning curve |
Yeah but imagine what Billy Bobbins from Burton could do under McKenna's coaching. |  |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| Our defence… on 08:20 - Sep 3 with 1833 views | nrb1985 |
Agreed, defence is a slight concern. Will be difficult if we need to score three goals every game to win matches.
I wonder if we keep leaking goals if he might change to a 3 at the back? | | | |
| Our defence… on 08:49 - Sep 3 with 1748 views | BlueBoots |
In the first half, I thought we struggled with Cardiff's tactics; allowed Cardiff to get men behind the ball too easily by being too slow with the ball in our own half, and then too quick with it in their half. Front 4 were trying a lot of first time passes that were getting intercepted (or just given away), and gave Cardiff a chance to counter-attack (which they did well) with our players out of position. Ladapo made a big difference getting the ball to stick when he came on, and for the most part it rubbed off on the other players; bit more patience in building our attacks, but still quite a few final balls that were played into areas rather than looking to pick out a player.
Although the OP is about our "defence", you defend as a team and we play an attacking formation and football. We're backing Morsy and Luongo to control the midfield even when they're outnumbered, getting both full-backs forward in attacks; easier to play that way in League One as most teams have less pace and skill on the break, and less quality in front of goal - we're always going to concede goals playing like that at this level, so it's now a case of our players adjusting to the step up to reduce the number of times it happens. |  |
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| Just seen the Brighton second goal on 08:55 - Sep 3 with 1731 views | Dyland |
Talking of crap defending...
All teams get up to it, well, the vast majority. I think it's too early to see a pattern or be too concerned. Especially as we have so many goals in us. |  |
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| "But lets face it, every time they attacked they looked like scoring" on 08:57 - Sep 3 with 1709 views | Dyland |
| Our defence… on 07:45 - Sep 3 by pennblue |
I think the central defensive pairing has been suspect too. That 1st goal was a great run into the box from Ramsay but Wolf should have anticipated and stopped that imo.
But lets face it, every time they attacked they looked like scoring.
They just need to go through the video's which I am sure they will do, and hopefully improve for the next set of games.
It certainly has been a sharp learning curve for them. |
That's classic bias based on fan anxiety, and not an objective truism. | |
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| "But lets face it, every time they attacked they looked like scoring" on 09:25 - Sep 3 with 1635 views | Herbivore |
| "But lets face it, every time they attacked they looked like scoring" on 08:57 - Sep 3 by Dyland |
That's classic bias based on fan anxiety, and not an objective truism. |
Indeed. And not sure you can really blame Woolf for that goal, he is where you'd expect him to be and it's a late run into the box from a midfielder who hasn't been tracked by one of our midfield players. |  |
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| Innit on 09:36 - Sep 3 with 1601 views | Dyland |
| "But lets face it, every time they attacked they looked like scoring" on 09:25 - Sep 3 by Herbivore |
Indeed. And not sure you can really blame Woolf for that goal, he is where you'd expect him to be and it's a late run into the box from a midfielder who hasn't been tracked by one of our midfield players. |
Clarke horribly out of position for Cardiff first goal, but meh... he's not 100% and ridiculous writing him off. Wolfenden and Davis could have possibly done better for Leeds' first (or was it second, I don't remember) but again, they are very good defenders who both have very high ceilings, imvho.
I thought Ramsey had a really good game. Unsurprisingly. Still a top quality player.
Interestingly (or not), I've thought the defending from both sides in all our league games thus far has been oft a bit iffy. As I wrote elsewhere, all teams make defensive errors, at all levels. Except Man City or Real, possibly. | |
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| Our defence… on 09:48 - Sep 3 with 1537 views | bobbyramsey |
| Our defence… on 08:20 - Sep 3 by nrb1985 |
Agreed, defence is a slight concern. Will be difficult if we need to score three goals every game to win matches.
I wonder if we keep leaking goals if he might change to a 3 at the back? |
If we tightened up at the back we wouldn’t need to score three…….
There must be a balance, a happy medium. |  | | |
| Our defence… on 09:57 - Sep 3 with 1516 views | BloomBlue |
All teams will concede goals, all players will make mistakes irrelevant of how many millions you spend on a player. The important thing is because all teams will concede, is how the team reacts when they conceded.
Some teams park the bus with the aim of keeping it 0-0 and then hope they pinch a goal. It does work sometimes.
Not saying you, but too many fans think, buy player X and we'll never concede. A number of Town fans wanted us to buy McGuinness and talked as if we would never concede if we did, and while I didn't think he had a bad game he was part of a defence who conceded 3 goals |  | | |
| Our defence… on 10:00 - Sep 3 with 1505 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| Our defence… on 09:48 - Sep 3 by bobbyramsey |
If we tightened up at the back we wouldn’t need to score three…….
There must be a balance, a happy medium. |
We're 2nd. I'm happy with the medium at the moment. | |
| Trust the process. Trust Phil. |
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| Our defence… on 10:09 - Sep 3 with 1479 views | Darth_Koont |
There is always going to be space down one, perhaps both, of our flanks due to us pushing Clarke and Davis forward.
Having said that, when we are actually defending we shouldn’t be giving the attackers as much space and letting in crosses so easily. Clarke in particular needed to get a yard or two closer as Cardiff were pretty much doing what they wanted on that side. We looked tighter with Williams there.
We’d have gotten away with this in League One. So when McKenna talks about learning and adjusting to the Championship I think raising our defensive game (individually and as a team) is key to that. Not to say we become more defensive but that if we want to play on the front foot then we’ve got to be more clinical and concentrated when we do defend. |  |
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