hogesar 9,661 Posted July 11, 2018 [quote user="TIL 1010"][quote user="Essjayess"]Every club in every pre season pick up a few niggles and injuries, has always been the case and is to be expected.Defence wise last season, yes the total was 60 let in, but oh so spoilt by just the 3 games, Millwall, Hull and Wednesday. Outside of those 3 games it was 47 conceded in 43 games.49 scored, yes, no doubts, marked improvement needed here.[/quote]Conceded 4 away at Villa as well.[/quote]Favourite away day for you? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TIL 1010 4,740 Posted July 11, 2018 [quote user="hogesar"][quote user="TIL 1010"][quote user="Essjayess"]Every club in every pre season pick up a few niggles and injuries, has always been the case and is to be expected.Defence wise last season, yes the total was 60 let in, but oh so spoilt by just the 3 games, Millwall, Hull and Wednesday. Outside of those 3 games it was 47 conceded in 43 games.49 scored, yes, no doubts, marked improvement needed here.[/quote]Conceded 4 away at Villa as well.[/quote]Favourite away day for you?[/quote]I went to both Villa and Millwall so it certainly was not either of them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted July 11, 2018 Four games (Villa, Millwall, Hull, Sheff W) generated 28% of the goals we let in from only 9% of the fixtures. Across the other 91% we conceded almost exactly 1 goal a game. So yes maybe we do need to defend better than last year, but the first two of those game featured defenders who will not even be in our squad this year, the last game was a meaningless end of year game where our team inspiration also got injured. Our team goal has to be to continue the 1 goal a game conceded average across all fixtures and then work out how to score 2. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nuff Said 5,135 Posted July 11, 2018 It’s not all about you LDC. Making Plans said:“Of those 49 goals we did score, 26 were scored by players who won''t be here next season and most of them have not been replaced with what I would describe as "upgrades". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
king canary 7,605 Posted July 11, 2018 I''d be more inclined to write them off if theyd all happened at the start of the season but the fact two of them happened towards the end of the season concerns me.Also the game was no more meaningful for Sheffield Wednesday yet they didn''t let 5 in. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZLF 274 Posted July 11, 2018 QPR away wasnt exactly fun either.We were consistently too porous - 10% of fixtures is simply too many to be conceding so many goals. below 50 has to be the aim. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Making Plans 936 Posted July 11, 2018 Didn''t know the rules regarding goals conceeded had changed but judging by some posts if you let in 3 or 4 goals in a match then they don''t count because there are always exenuating circumstances that caused them to be conceeded.Likewise, when we draw a blank in front of goal or only manage to score one there are different exenuating circumstances that has caused that to happen.Clearly, but for exenuating circumstances, we would have won the league by a mile.Trouble is that the real exenuating circumstances are (1) our defence was not good enough, (2) our strikers weren''t good enough and (3) our tactics weren''t good enough.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted July 11, 2018 Finishing mid table yes it''s fair to say our defence wasn''t good enough, our attack wasn''t good enough and our tactics weren''t good enough. But that was last year, the key question should be - what were the underlying issues, and are those being addressed? The fact we let in an average of 1 goal a game (excluding those four games) suggests we have a solid base for development and at that rate we would be under a fifty conceded target. Our bigger issue clearly is at the other end of the pitch. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gordon Bennett 783 Posted July 11, 2018 Yes we conceded too many goals and had some awful away performances but the 1-0 wins at Boro, Bristol C, Portaloo Rd and Brentford should not be forgotten nor the draws at Wolves, Fulham, Preston and Derby. It was a mixed bag and not exclusively toilet performances with shambolic defending. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Essjayess 307 Posted July 11, 2018 Our defence were quite adequate for our mid table position, indeed the final table shows no other side from Ipswich in 12th down to Sunderland in 24th had a better goals against column than City and of course the previous season we had finished 8th place with 69 conceded.Clearly the main issue was not enough goals, thats where the improvement must be seen this season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Woodman 92 Posted July 12, 2018 Yes Gordon - and you can add Sheff Utd to that list. That''s what makes the no-shows even more galling, when you know the team is capable of those excellent performances. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lake district canary 4,531 Posted July 12, 2018 [quote user="Woodman"]Yes Gordon - and you can add Sheff Utd to that list. That''s what makes the no-shows even more galling, when you know the team is capable of those excellent performances.[/quote]What it proves - imo - is that you have to be 100% at it every minute of every match in the championship. Let your intensity drop and any team will cause you problems. Some of the new players coming in have had to learn that and hopefully will be more aware to make sure dropping the intensity does not happen this time round. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
