Our defence (5 Viewers)

KersleyDigs

Well-Known Member
......hello? Anybody there? Is that you Andy? Jordan?! Anybody?!!
 

stupot07

Well-Known Member
Can't blame it all on the defence there has been some very sloppy play from our midfield in the last couple of games which has contributed to us conceding.
 

ccfc92

Well-Known Member
yeh and jump, we all knew a thread bare squad would suffer eventually, we just didnt realise it would be this quick in the season!!!

i dont think its suffering, i think its purely the fact teams have found us out. long ball = goal
 

swisstony

New Member
Before everyone gets over excited.
Pressley isn't stupid,he is looking to cover the centre half and forward positions within the loan market.
We've gone from relegation dead certs to promotion hopefuls and ara now becoming victims of our success.
Trust the gaffer to pull it back ,stick with him.
This bloke has so far performed miracles with what limited resources he has.
For once let's stick with a young potentially top drawer manager and let him finish what he has started.
Sisu/council get us back to the ricoh asap.............
 

stupot07

Well-Known Member
Spot on Tony, I think a fair few got over excited with our exceptional form and had us down as promotion certs.

It's only 2 games, but we need to temper our expectations a tad, you can still be ambitious but this is a very young squad that lacks depth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors :)
 

The Gentleman

Well-Known Member
How can the midfield be blamed for long balls over the top ? Yes the midfield is there to defend and attack but we seem to be struggling with the simple basic of defending and to be honest, have done all season. The difference now to a few weeks ago is that as soon as we stop steam rolling teams and they get a foothold in the game, all they need to do is lump it and we are at 6's & 7's. Any decent footballer with half a brain knows that one defender attacks the other covers, if they kick it in the direction of Clarke then with Webster turning like the QE2, other teams get behind us every time. I said this in a post the other week, the defense needs addressed straight away. I can't believe people were on here the other week saying the defense is alright despite the amount of goals we have been conceding. Even a lowly team like AFC Wimbledon got behind us so easily with straight balls through the middle and in professional football this should never happen that easy. This is now Pressley's first big setback and test, will be good to see how he brings us out of it and also for Otium and Joy to put their money where their mouth is and strengthen now with loans or January and the transfer market.
 

DazzleTommyDazzle

Well-Known Member
Before everyone gets over excited.
Pressley isn't stupid,he is looking to cover the centre half and forward positions within the loan market.
We've gone from relegation dead certs to promotion hopefuls and ara now becoming victims of our success.
Trust the gaffer to pull it back ,stick with him.
This bloke has so far performed miracles with what limited resources he has.
For once let's stick with a young potentially top drawer manager and let him finish what he has started.
Sisu/council get us back to the ricoh asap.............

Sensible post.
 

Covlad65

New Member
Before everyone gets over excited.
Pressley isn't stupid,he is looking to cover the centre half and forward positions within the loan market.
We've gone from relegation dead certs to promotion hopefuls and ara now becoming victims of our success.
Trust the gaffer to pull it back ,stick with him.
This bloke has so far performed miracles with what limited resources he has.
For once let's stick with a young potentially top drawer manager and let him finish what he has started.
Sisu/council get us back to the ricoh asap.............

Great post and 100% spot on
 

stupot07

Well-Known Member
How can the midfield be blamed for long balls over the top ? Yes the midfield is there to defend and attack but we seem to be struggling with the simple basic of defending and to be honest, have done all season. The difference now to a few weeks ago is that as soon as we stop steam rolling teams and they get a foothold in the game, all they need to do is lump it and we are at 6's & 7's. Any decent footballer with half a brain knows that one defender attacks the other covers, if they kick it in the direction of Clarke then with Webster turning like the QE2, other teams get behind us every time. I said this in a post the other week, the defense needs addressed straight away. I can't believe people were on here the other week saying the defense is alright despite the amount of goals we have been conceding. Even a lowly team like AFC Wimbledon got behind us so easily with straight balls through the middle and in professional football this should never happen that easy. This is now Pressley's first big setback and test, will be good to see how he brings us out of it and also for Otium and Joy to put their money where their mouth is and strengthen now with loans or January and the transfer market.

Long balls over the top? At least 3 of the 5 goals on Saturday stemmed from losing the ball in midfield, and from what Nick says that was the same last night. And actually wimbledon managed to work the ball through midfield out to the left, they didn't particularly long ball us. The only team that did was Bradford.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors :)
 

Gint11

Well-Known Member
Jordan Clarke is not a centre half and never will be. The fact his performances at times have been of a good standard has actually disguised the fact we need an out and out centre half. Big, commanding powerful, no nonsence leader at the back. I was hoping Webster would be that but he isnt.
 
When we were doing well and pressing teams high, all the talk was about us defending from the front and as a team.

Why now we are shipping goals for fun is it purely down to the back 4?

We have been poor at the back in most games this season, but because the forwards and attacking midfielders had been scoring for fun this has been covered up (eg 5-4, 4-4, 3-3). We are poor defensively, but that is only to be expected with the resources that SP has available to him. Not time to turn on the team now, just accept the fact that we have been over performing with the size of our squad.
 

Sky Blue Dal

Well-Known Member
Can't blame SISU on this one.... Damn!!

RIGHT.!!... Bloody hell Elvis you barrel of monkey nuts, what you doing about this!!!

Sort it out! :mad:
 

The Gentleman

Well-Known Member
Long balls over the top? At least 3 of the 5 goals on Saturday stemmed from losing the ball in midfield, and from what Nick says that was the same last night. And actually wimbledon managed to work the ball through midfield out to the left, they didn't particularly long ball us. The only team that did was Bradford.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - so please excuse any spelling or grammar errors :)

My point is the long ball game will kill us every time now because we do not have the resources to cope. Against AFC some of their chances were from a simple straight ball from inside our half (I know not a long ball but FFS an ordinary defender with moderate pace can deal with). Webster is far too slow and Clarke cannot deal with big strong forwards, we could have Ronaldo, Messi, Wilshere, Gerrard or any other great midfielder but they cannot be everywhere. If we continue to play with two up top then other teams will just play 5 in the midfield and swamp us, for me this is where Pressley can improve because sometimes you need a more solid base and this is something we do not have. But the fact still remains, we need to sort out the defense because is really seems to be getting very easy to score against us and when our forwards are not firing or are injured we cannot just play gung ho we will score more than you football. If you actually read my post again it backs up what I am saying here, Its the fact that we cannot deal with a brand of football that is readily played at this level and unless we sort the defense out or bolster the midfield at certain times, we will go nowhere fast.
 

fernandopartridge

Well-Known Member
My point is the long ball game will kill us every time now because we do not have the resources to cope. Against AFC some of their chances were from a simple straight ball from inside our half (I know not a long ball but FFS an ordinary defender with moderate pace can deal with). Webster is far too slow and Clarke cannot deal with big strong forwards, we could have Ronaldo, Messi, Wilshere, Gerrard or any other great midfielder but they cannot be everywhere. If we continue to play with two up top then other teams will just play 5 in the midfield and swamp us, for me this is where Pressley can improve because sometimes you need a more solid base and this is something we do not have. But the fact still remains, we need to sort out the defense because is really seems to be getting very easy to score against us and when our forwards are not firing or are injured we cannot just play gung ho we will score more than you football. If you actually read my post again it backs up what I am saying here, Its the fact that we cannot deal with a brand of football that is readily played at this level and unless we sort the defense out or bolster the midfield at certain times, we will go nowhere fast.


I think we generally rely on Clarke sweeping up the long ball behind. It isn't happening very well especially if Clarke gets sucked towards the ball. The high up pressing game we play means the team has to be further up the pitch, it's difficult really, we almost need another player to sit in front of the back 4 and have them sat slightly deeper. It would nullify us as an attacking force.
 

Hobo

Well-Known Member
I think we generally rely on Clarke sweeping up the long ball behind. It isn't happening very well especially if Clarke gets sucked towards the ball. The high up pressing game we play means the team has to be further up the pitch, it's difficult really, we almost need another player to sit in front of the back 4 and have them sat slightly deeper. It would nullify us as an attacking force.

Like your thinking Fernando, but with one in front of the back four you would have to go with one up top and rely on a couple of players busting a gut to support from mid field.

Unless you are looking for a diamond shape mid with Wilson playing behind Clark. don't know if that would suit Wilson, but he certainly has the pace.
 

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