Just Realised.........

[Yellow Rages 0]

The Brighton game was the first time we haven''t conceded a goal since December 31st against Leicester.

We have been discussing quite a bit on here recently about our front line. Who should partner who and who should play wide right ect.

But we haven''t really sorted out are back line yet have we? For me, that’s the basis of developing a good side. Forget about the glamour of scoring goals and how many back flips Earnshaw will do.

I just think we should get back to basics. If you stop teams scoring first you can then go and ask their back line to stop you.

But that''s what I find strangest of all. Worthington as a former defender, you would have thought, would be very conscious of the fact.

Your thoughts please?

It would also be nice if you didn''t try and turn this into a WO hate campaign. Just the facts please.

You will be marked on grammar and punctuation ; )

 

 

 

[Tom NCFC 0]

I agree with you about the back Line. I haven''t seen any Norwich matches recently so i can''t say who''s good or who''s crap at the moment but from reading various posts and match reports i have my own opinion of the players. Green played well at brighton, Doherty has seemed good all season. The right defender position is a bit shocking at the moment. I thought Jurgen Colin would be good when he was signed but it seems like he just hasn''t adapted to the Norwich squad. I think Rehman should play at DR because he can play well in defencer and he is naturally right sided. I''ve never been a fan of Mathieu Louis-Jean. We should target a right back in the summer!!! On the left we have drury, is he playing well at the moment? From once again, what i''ve read he isn''t playing at top form. In the summer we should get a Brennan replacement hopefully to challenge drury for his place. Where does this Cave-Brown guy play? He may be useful, i remember Shackell''s first season and he did brilliantly. Maybe it''s time to call up Mr Cave-Brown?

[mighty yellow 0]

Cave-Brown is a right back I''m 90% sure. I don''t know if he plays anywhere else. We don''t need a new right back we should start to bring the youth through, as long as we keep Rehman.

[Rossi 0]

i do not necessarily believe that its a defensive problem if we leak goals. At the end of the day your attackers are your first line of defence and you defenders the first line of attack. The problems start when you get defenders pulled out of position marking forward midfield runners that the midfield have watched run straight past. The lack of protection on the wings is also rather concerning.

[ZLF 335]

I agree that while we have been letting in goals it has not been down to the defenders this year - Green, Drury, Flem, Rehman, Colin, Davenport and Doc have all been playing pretty well since December & no one player (incl Colin & Flem imo)  has been been consistently causing the goals conceeded.

The real issue is our inability to keep hold of the ball due how deep the defence sits meaning any ''pass'' to a striker has to travel 30+ yards,   to the midfield not showing for a ball, meaning they are by passed; the lack of movement up front meaning the midfielders have no options open to them other than threading an impossible pass to hux or hitting it long themselves and an apparent inability to even complete a short pass successfully and having strikers who are not target men (hux comment tuesday was even thorne prefers the ball played into feet! - so why not JJ and change the way we play?)   On top of this the fact that we have only two midfielders facing 4 because both wide players work hard but are strikers who cannot hope to compete defensively and continue to over expose the defence.   (breathe)  

Get that little lot sorted and its game on!

 

     

[Yellow Rages 0]

I see what your saying about forwards/midfield offering some protection.

And of course a forwards role is always to close down the defender and make it difficult for them to play out and have time on the ball.

But that happens in their final third, and Safri is their to provide midfield the protection. My concern is the actual organisation of the back line. Particularly in defending corners and passing over attackers as you re-adjust your position. Basic core skills that any good defender should have.

 

[Salopian 1]

The worrying thing for me on Tuesday was that there seemed to be little organisation in the defence. There are one or two question marks about the pace or positioning of players, so the solution should be to make sure they close opponents down and above all that they mark players in front of goal.If they could work out a system as some poor teams do, then we would not need two or three midfielders just a few yards in front of the defence..I am quite sure in my own mind that we were rampant in the promotion year because we had an excellent, mean defence. This enabled Hux and company to score goals at the other end, confident in the ability of those at the back! I am sure Yellow Pages is right. A strong, well-organised and leakproof defence would give confidence to the midfield to set the strikers free.

[still holding out for new heroes 0]

spot on ZLF

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

you reallyt worry these days when the opposition gets a set peice..  we are going to miss Iwan/Dean Ashton clearing every corner

[Alex Harvey-Jones 0]

I would say though that the defensive problems stem from midfield. Look at the Ipswich game. We defended well but no-one up front and especially in midfield could keep the ball. That meant we seldom got out of our own half and that Ipswich could launch attack after attack on our goal. This has happened in many other games too. Under such intense constant pressure, even the best defence in the world will eventually crack and concede. The midfield simply don''t give the defence enough protection and help. I think if you sort the midfield our defenders and attackers will come good too.

[Yellow Rages 0]

I have to agree that in that instance the midfield should have done more. But in what way? ........... well not in providing more cover, I think ball retention was the key in that example.

Generally though as Paul Rankinupalotofposts said, earlier up this thread, the issue with the back line specifically is the inability to defend a set peice. How many times have you seen a wide freekick or a corner go in and then looked to see bemused defenders looking at each other as if to say "well I thought he was your man". That''s lack of orginisation.

Thats what I''m talking about. That is something that can be dealt with on the training ground and will stop a 1-0 lead turning into a 1-2 defeat.

I also think that we conceed these type of sloppy goals very early on in games. There is a good analysis of this on sky sports opta index page which show the times of goals conceeded. I think you will find that we conceed an awful lot of goal early in games.

Thats all for now.

[sheded 0]

[quote user="Yellow Rages"]

The Brighton game was the first time we haven''t conceded a goal since December 31st against Leicester.

We have been discussing quite a bit on here recently about our front line. Who should partner who and who should play wide right ect.

But we haven''t really sorted out are back line yet have we? For me, that’s the basis of developing a good side. Forget about the glamour of scoring goals and how many back flips Earnshaw will do.

I just think we should get back to basics. If you stop teams scoring first you can then go and ask their back line to stop you.

But that''s what I find strangest of all. Worthington as a former defender, you would have thought, would be very conscious of the fact.

Your thoughts please?

It would also be nice if you didn''t try and turn this into a WO hate campaign. Just the facts please.

You will be marked on grammar and punctuation ; )

 

 

 

[/quote]

Actually ,  your post   brings up  some possibilities ?    I t makes me wonder if Nigel [ as an ex defender ] isn`t trying to take  a leaf out of ` ol bigheads book ?     the Forest team of the 70`s   were practically impregnable  in defence  , Banks , an England  international , in  goal  [ Greeno ? ]   . and  hit them on the break  with a fast moving left winger Robinson  [ Hucks ! ]  

Were it all goes tits up, Nigel ,  is   that the situation  with players   , then , and now ,  is then,  Players WERE good !   now , players THINK they`re good !!   

Grammar and punctuation  , are , to me , an elderly relative  , and a flat tyre  ! [8-|]

[Tacklebury 0]

It''s interesting reading all the different opinions on why we''ve been so poor defensively this season - whether you think it''s the defence being poorly organised, or whether our strikers and midfield aren''t offering enough protection, I think it all shows just how poorly setup we have been as a team this season. Both opinions are valid and correct, and I believe that they''re are linked - get a proper shape to your team, and we become harder to break down. Work harder up the field when we don''t have the ball, and the opposition has less time to work out how to break us down. Personally, I think our problem has been keeping the ball - too often this season we''ve given the ball away cheaply and in dangerous areas. I know this is a very simple way of looking at it, but if we have the ball then the opposition can''t score. We have plenty of players who are comfortable on the ball, so why we can''t control possession is beyond me.