Nigel was a defender

[Canary Boy 0]

For those of us that have been following football long enough, you will know that Nigel Worthington was a defender...and a very good one. He played for Sheff Wed & Leeds when they were top-flight teams.

So why do we have one of the worst defensive records in the Premiership? I would have thought defending was Nigel''s speciality. He would know how to arrange a back four, a sweeper, the off-side rule, pushing up, marking etc etc.

Our midfield is very good, our attack is getting better (although we do miss a lot of chances), we have a great goalkeeper, but our defence is abismal.

Edworthy, Doherty, Charlton, Druey and Mackay were all bought by Nigel (correct me if I''m wrong)

So why is this and how do we correct it?

[The Seldom Seen Kid... 0]

I know where your comming from, but your wrong with Mackay, he was pre Worthy.

[Francesco Volpe<P><BR><EM><FONT size=3><STRONG>A<STRONG><FONT>wesome<STRONG><FONT size=3>S<FONT><STRONG>ublime<STRONG><FONT size=3>H<FONT><STRONG>onest pro<EM><EM><FONT size=3><STRONG>T<STRONG><FONT>alented<STRONG><FONT size 0]

Thats a valid point canary boy, but watching the defence against everton i thought they did very well, worked well as a unit and if they carry on playing like that then we shouldn''t be conceding too many goals. The only problem was that they were defending too deep at times which just invites the opponents to attack. If they played further up the pitch then it would help the attack also as the midfield could push up, meaning more bodies in the area to get on the end of crosses or provide more options. 

[3pmkickoff 0]

A lot of it comes from slack marking at set peices from other team members, the fact that we''ve had a weakened midfield for a good 6 weeks has also left us vunerable

[Tore Raaen 0]

Hi!

I hear ya!

But...........

Keep in mind.....One thing that Worthy has spoken about is the "quality"...And even though tactics and so on might be spot on, If you dont have quality you will concede goals...

No disrespect to Flem or the Doc or whoever, but the pace of the prem is too much for ''em, good tactics or not good tactics! That''s why we have conceded the most goals in the prem..

See my point?

Tore

 

 

[westoncanary. 0]

Remember Nigel''s defending on the line against Man Utd in 92-93?  Steve Bruce header went straight over him without making an effort to jump for it! 

[FilletTheFishWife . 0]

you can''t just look at the goals conceded tally and point the finger solely at the back 4.

admittedly there''s been some costly errors made by the back 4 but its the "team" that have conceded the goals and if our midfield was stronger defensively then the back 4 wouldn''t be under the relentless pressure that they are. how many saves does the likes of Cech have to make during a game? I recall a match at Stamford bridge where he didn''t have one save to make!

The fact remains that our defence have considerably more defending to do than the teams above them and therefore the law of averages is not on their side.

Furthermore, if our strikers did their job those goals conceded wouldn''t have been so costly.

For virtually every back 4 mistake in a match you''ll almost certainly find a golden goal-scoring opportunity fluffed so let''s have some balance....please.

 

[Chip20 69]

I reckon our defensive frailties are probably a mixture of lack of quality (which is not Worthy''s fault, given the lack of funds he''s had available to spend) and the lack of a settled back four.

Last season the defence was one of our great strengths. Edworthy, Flem, Malky and Drury were very capable First Division players and had developed an understanding over several seasons (except Edworthy, of course). Sadly, the defenders that did so well in the First Division aren''t able to cope so well with the significant increase in quality of a lot of Premiership strikers (many of whom have years of experience of exploiting the inexperienced defences of newly-promoted teams) and we haven''t been able to afford the kind of defenders who would make a tangible difference to the back four (even if they were readily available). We can''t just expect the players we have to make the step up overnight. They may well improve somewhat with the experience (and so may be a little less error-prone the next time we get to play in the Premiership) but that actual experience of playing is the only realistic way they are going to improve. Being coached in the necessary skills and practicing on the training pitch is, I would have thought, very different to applying it in a real match, where the strikers and supporting midfielders are, on the whole, significantly better and more experienced than the ones they practice against in training. If, as a defender, you train day in and day out against the likes of Van Nistlerooy, Giggs Scholes etc. then you are more likely to learn quickly how to cope with Henry, Bergkamp, Pires etc. If you are accustomed to training against Svennson, McKenzie, Gary Holt etc. then you are likely to have difficulty applying what you did in training when you are suddenly faced with the players mentioned above. I know this is an extreme example and not all Premiership players are of Manu/Arsenal standard, but remember almost all of the other teams we face in the Premiership (including much of the ''mini-league'' we are competing in) have at the very least a year or two''s head start in the experience stakes and have developed that experience alongside the quality of the players they are training against.

I''m sure it also hasn''t helped that the defence hasn''t been settled (again, the injuries that have forced regular reshuffles are not Worthy''s fault). I know Worthy was a decent quality defender and passes on the benefit of his experience to his players. But, in fairness, the Top Flight is a very different affair now to what it was when he plied his trade there!!

[Tore Raaen 0]

Well, u know, we basically lack quality in every department...NOT goalkeeping though..

We don''t score goals...Our midfield is pretty good, but even here we lack that extra quality or that leading midfielder-man...

Let''s get 3 points from The Broms tomorrow..

Tore