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Jim Smith

Anyone else worrid about our defence this weekend

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Just can''t get this nagging image of Lisbie and Platt giving Doc and nelson the runaround on the first day of the season. I''m confident we''ll give them a lot to worry about going forward on saturday but equally i remain massively unconvinced by us defensively when teams have a proper go at us!

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Surely the biggest difference between that game and now is the midfield. Nobody has managed to overrun us quite so easily since Lambert arrived and adopted the diamond. The defence do get a lot more protection now, although we have some alarming moments our overall defensive record is very good (18 conceded in 22 matches since Lambert''s arrival) but of course, I would expect the better sides in the league to give us a sterner test for sure. It will be difficult but I am much more confident  we can deal with it - and both Doc and Nelson have been putting in good performances by and large.

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Given it was those two who were the incumbent CBs on that first day, they will at least be desperate to prove it was a one off.

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[quote user="blahblahblah"]I guess the answer to the question is - How have we looked against other pacey attacking teams ?  We''ve been ok at home, but away ?[/quote]

This might sound strange but it is their defence that makes them good. Excluding the 7 - 1 and 4-0 over Bromley in the cup they have only scored more than 2 in a game one other time all season. Ironically that was against Charlton. Defensively excluding the Preston game they have not conceeded more than 2 in a game. So we will have to wait and see but I think hitbread will be in for Nelson

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[quote user="a1canary"]Given it was those two who were the incumbent CBs on that first day, they will at least be desperate to prove it was a one off.[/quote]

But we will be playing with a goalkeeper this time

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You can tell by their league position that they''re a decent side and Lisbie is always likely to cause teams problems with his pace. But, as our recent results and the table shows, we''re one of the top 2 sides in this league for a reason.

We are a much better and much more confident team than the one that played Colchester on match day one. We have, not only a real goalkeeper but a very good goalkeeper. Likewise, we don''t just have a manager this time, we have a bloody good manager.

I think it''d be nice to see Michael Nelson come through the game with a good performance and a good result. I think a lot of people made their mind up on him after one game but he seems an honest type of player who is doing plenty well enough for us. It''d be good to see him prove some people wrong.

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We are a team that doesn''t seem to have a plan B (or didn''t) that''s why a) why our goals a game are so low b) why we end up hanging on in games. The other teams see what we are doing, by then we have normally scored, they change, we try to just defend, they either score or should.We have changed the way we are playing as well, we have gone from 2 big lumps up front with the long ball battering teams to Gillespie and Lisbie running through teams and although I haven''t seen it work yet I presume we could now switch between the two styles during a game. Long and battering or quick passing with pace.We are being classed as a long ball only team due to Aidy and even when we are playing good on the ground football any clearance from the defense is greeted with Hoof from the opposition fans (Southampton being a prime example after we scored 2 very well worked passing goals and created 4-5 very clear cut chances)The main problem we have is that our subs tend to be defensive subs and we let to much pressure on ourselves.

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A lot of the goals on that fateful day while yes, the defence should probably have been on hand to clear, were spilt by slippy "Aus-I-Did-It-Again" Theo.

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I don''t think it''s a matter of being worried about our defence, I think it''s a matter of when we get a chance we MUST take it. Colchester have a very strong defensive record at home conceding just 8 goals there all season. The best attack force in the league against one of the best defensive forces... if we get our chances and we take them we won''t have a problem.

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Start Whitbread for Nelson? Are you crazy? One of the many reasons given for 7-1 was that we had a new CB pairing that hadn''t played together much and worked each other out. Now that Doc and Nelse are settled, it would be suicide to throw an unfit Whitbread in and potentially destroy his confidence. He will need to be eased in to the side and even if PL rates him above Nelson, and that doesn''t mean throwing him in to this of all games!

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Norwich have scored 54 goals this season. The little collies have scored 39. Holt has scored 22 against Lisbie''s 10, Martin has 14 against Platt''s 7 and Hoolahan has 13 against Odejayi''s 7. We should leave those little collie fans to worry about their little collie defenders this time.

 

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[quote user="nutty nigel"]
Norwich have scored 54 goals this season. The little collies have scored 39. Holt has scored 22 against Lisbie''s 10, Martin has 14 against Platt''s 7 and Hoolahan has 13 against Odejayi''s 7. We should leave those little collie fans to worry about their little collie defenders this time.

[/quote]Those numbers look very nice nutty, but it''s home form vs away form that matters here :
  • Colchester have scored 20 and conceded 8, with a 9-1-1 record at home.  Their only home draw was a 2-2 against Exeter, their only home defeat was a 1-2 against Leeds.
  • Away from home we have scored 20 and conceded 14, with a 5-4-3 record. Our away defeats were at Leeds, MK Dons, and Brentford.  Our last 6 away league games have given us 3 wins and 3 draws.
My money is on a draw - as much as I''d like us to sneak a win.

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That is true Blah. I was having a bit of fun but our defence do need to be strong on Saturday especially early doors. Because Colchester start strongly but fade towards the end of games. We tend to start more slowly but finish much stronger. In fact we''ve scored an incredible 16 goals in the last quarter of an hour in league games.

 

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Can you see Forster making as many mistakes as Theo did, or Martin, R, gifting them a goal as Semi did. We reckoned at the time that at least four of their goals were gifted, and after that we were "shell-shot".The defence will be better for Martin and Forster. Our attack will be more of a threat, and they have to watch out for the most potent threesome in the division.I think that it will be a tough game, with a baying crowd against us and their players wanting to show how good they are.On the other hand our players will feel that they have something to prove, and PL will know CU''s weak points.It will be a tough game. I can''t see us conceding too many, and I think that we shall score. How about 1-1 or 2-2?

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[quote] In fact we''ve scored an incredible 16 goals in the last quarter of an hour in league games[/quote]That is remarkable when you consider that the squad didn''t get a proper pre-season in terms of fitness training, if what you read on here is to be believed.

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i''m sure Drury will cover for everyone :D

I''m not worried, i don''t think Colchester are that good, just lucky, there current lower Goal difference to ours now, shows that.....

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We have started to concede a few goals away from home in recent games, 3 at Yeovil, 3 at Carlisle and twice conceding a couple at Southampton so clearly we are not impregnable away from home. Factor in that we don''t have a brilliant record against the other big teams in this league (admitedly most were played early doors before we had settled into this league) then a point wouldn''t be a bad result.

Probably the most difficult result to pick this season due to all the other factors to consider i.e the whole Lambert issue, Boothroyd and his Norwich connections, how will the 7-1 result affect us - could go either way in terms of the psychological issue.

A win would be fantastic and really lay down a marker but a draw wouldn''t be a bad result.

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