complete new back four required

[norwichtillidie 0]

How long can Worthy play the same back four when we can''t stop leeking goals. (46 goals in 24 games, that''s nearly an average of two goals per game)

Please, please , please  Worthy let''s try a different formation ( three central defenders and wing backs) we must not have the same back four in place when we go to Everton.

We have NO premiership defenders at the club so Nigel you have from now till the end of the month to bring in at least two premiership defenders on loan.

If no new defenders arrive before Everton, my defence (if players are fit) would be

                          Doherty Shackell Charlton

           Helveg                                             Brennan

 

Givi it a try Worthy, it can''t do any worse !!!!!!   we might just keep our first clean sheet since mid October.

[Northern Canary 0]

ideally for me it would be

Helveg  Doc  *loan or signing*  Charlton

or

Helveg  doc charlton  Brennan

[At last? 0]

Ive said it elsewhere but for me Flem and Doc had a good game and are not at fault for any goal yesterday.

Fact.

[3pmkickoff 0]

I can''t really fault the defence yesterday, I think Doherty is getting better every week and looks a good buy for the money. Defending is not a job for 4-men, it''s the duty of all the players as was evident with two of the Boro goals yesterday.

 

[nasher 0]

 I would disogree the first goal was either a fluke or pure genius the second and third were mistakes by jonson who lost his man Queudrue both times and the fourth  was the result of the ref giveing handball against Flemming wrongly.

The only thing i would say is we defend too deep at times and that could be cured the midfield pushed up as well ,i must say it was good to see gary holt back in the side he gives us a bit more defensive cover in midfield and allow the likes of francis to join in the attack OTBC

[StevenageFan 0]

just watch the replay''s of the goals and ask who exactly was Fleming marking for any of them?  Poor, poor and more poor.  If a winger loses the ball you can''t blame him for a goal when there are 4 defenders behind him, Jonson was poor, but can''t be blamed for rubbish marking.

[funny old game 1]

Stevenage, Why cant you blame jonson for two goals?

both came about when we were defending set pieces, It was jonsons job to pick up LEFTBACK Queudrue & he failed to do it.

I am a jonson fan & feel that over the past few weeks he has been excellent but this doesn''t give him immunity from blame if his fails to perform his defensive roll, after all he is an experienced international footballer earning a bloody good salary.

[Northern Canary 0]

i havnt watched the 1st boro goal but it just looked like a very clever touch. is there no way we could have got a foot to it before him though?

[At last? 0]

Sorry Stevenage that won''t wash. At this level players all know who they are marking, it doesnt just happen on the pitch. Johnson left his man for goals 2 and 3. Fact. Fleming had his man either out of the game or in sight. When the goal went in he may appear to be near no one but he was adjusting to the situation and trying to cover Jonos mistake.

Worthy will recognise this and I suspect Jono will lose his place for the next game

[TheMarshmallowMan 0]

Few people seem to realise that we are playing with 3/4 defenders that defended ok in the last season, but were certinatly not immune. Charlton and Helveg are both out at the moment, when they come back, it''ll be a big lift for us.

 

[Dame to Blame 95]

[quote]just watch the replay''s of the goals and ask who exactly was Fleming marking for any of them? Poor, poor and more poor. If a winger loses the ball you can''t blame him for a goal when there are 4 def...[/quote]

What game was u watching stevenagefan flemming was not to blame for any of them it was johson who was at fault for the 2nd and 3rd , a jammy defection and a great free kick hardly flems fault.

[nasher 0]

when i said jonson failed to pickup his man i wasnt berating him , i was just trying to say that you have to attack as a team and you have to defend as a team . if you noticed his reaction after both goals he knew he was at fault , as long as he learns from it he will be ok . im not suggesting worthy should drop him as i think he gives everything for the team and has improved as the season has progressed . i was just sticking up for the defence OTBC

[LinkNR9 0]

Goals 2 and 3 - Jonson at fault, Quedreu was his man to mark and he lost him. Worthy underlined this at interview. Jimmy Floyd''s free kick - a class strike, you can''t argue with that. However, two points on this. Firstly, we had two players BEHIND the wall doing nothing - why?? Secondly, what is the point of a wall? Answer - to block the shot at any cost. Look at the photos in the papers today - Hucks and Leon wimped out and did nothing to stop the shot, they were covering their eyes when the shot was struck. If they''d have jumped 6 inches, they''d have got the ball in the face and stopped it. Players being paid thousands of pounds a week to wear the shirt should be doing anything to stop the shot; if they''re not man enough to be in the wall, get someone like Fleming or Ashton in there, who are. My 12-year-old daughter shows more bottle than that when she plays football.     

[Marty 0]

it''s funny after that game that people are moaning about the defenders, two of the goals were not the defenders fault and to be honest the other two were scored by a player being marked by Jonson. I think people are a bit over the top, you can critise any defending team for 99% of all goals conceded, thats what the game is all about. I would be expecting the middlesborough fans to more scathing towards their teams defence because they were guilty of far worse defending for all 4 goals we scored.

[ZLF 271]

Whichever way you look at it Saturdays defensive performance was once again abysmal. Without even looking at the goals and judging on the overall peformance the back 4 looked nervous and as if they were waiting for a goal to be conceeded. The general positioning of the players was diabolical and created uncertainty.

The lack of organisation is farcical in well paid professionals who, in the back four at least, appear more concerned about apportioning blame than taking any responsibility for the non existant marking.

Yes Jonson did lose his man for the 2nd and 3rd goals but at least he publically blamed himself, knew it was his error and almost literally beat himself up over it. Fleming does nothing except point fingers even when the error was clearly his.

Looking at the goals, the first came from a cross from the city left, Drury allowing too much space, to the far post, Eddy woefully out of position marking space between the back post and the 18 yard line despite no one being there,and in the process leaving Downing alone to collect the ball (what job did he do on downing - looked like an office job to me) and feed JFH who was allowed far too much space but an again ponderous Flem.

The second was a school boy error by Jonson allowing his player to get first run on him.

The third was the most annoying. A ball gets played behind Eddy who turns and for the first time he decides to leave the ball to run dead. A boro player gets the ball and eddy is saved by a good tackle by flem as the player runs into our box.

Eddy takes up a good defensive position for the corner to cover the short ball, which then materialised but Eddy is playing musical statues rather than attacking the ball, Southgate gives the training ground flick across the goal for Que to score with ease as Jonson has again forgotten to track his man.

The fourth goal was at last a class goal to conceed - a soft free kick but superbly executed but again why were there TWO defenders stood behind the wall with no boro player in sight WHY?

While central midfield remains weak it is not the weakest part of the side, the defence is and if we do not improve this, either on the training pitch (why will it improve now after 5 months?) or in the transfer window, we will get relegated.

To end on a positive note Ashton looked superb and will get us goals in the coming matches.

OTBC

[Alan Ball 0]

the time has come to make a change, the stats show this not emotions or experience.Lets give Shackell a try, perhaps like ashton he needs worthy to be bold and  stand up and be counted.What have we got to loose.?

[StevenageFan 0]

just slightly embarrassed .  When watching the game on SKY and of course knowing the scoreline I was intent on keeping a close eye on Fleming because I feel he has been poor recently.  I must have been so intent on watching him I failed to notice Jonson''s mistakes.  I recorded the game and have since watched back the goals and you are all right and I am an idiot sorry.

One thing I would say, and I am not trying to defend Jonson as he was poor going forward and defending, but he is not naturally a defender, doesn''t he play as a striker for his country and for previous club?  I think he just had a very bad day at the office.  Flem and Drury have consistently been poor.

[Morph 19]

Something I noticed in the limited highlights that MOTD gave City under their top billing spot that would speak in defense of Fleming. And I''m not saying that I think he is performing well, certainly opinions on here suggest that he isn''t.

Fleming seems to be consistently pulled out of the back four to try and close down players that should have been picked up by the midfield. The first Middlesborough goal was a classic example on Saturday, with Flem pulled from the back four in order to try and close down the player who Mulryne had just waved his left big toe at. Get a midfield player with a bit of bite back in there in the middle of the park and Fleming might not feel so inclined to go wandering. Mulryne doesn''t cut it in terms of the defensive cover needed in front of the back four.

[Peter 0]

Didn''t Jonson receive plaudits at Pompey in covering for Edworthy at RIGHT BACK ?

[KidCanary 0]

Both full backs give opposition wingers far to much room, but I think if you had Helveg and Charlton fit this wouldnt be a problem.

I''ve said before that I believe our problem is our midfield rather than our defence and for me this is still the case.

Both the first and second goals at vill and the second and third goals today were through either a midfielder not tracking back or marking. I wouldnt berate Jonsson to much though, his defensive play is normally spot on, all I can say AGAIN is the sooner Mulryne is out of the side the better.  I dont want to see him play again for Norwich, he is far to lazy.  This isnt a knee jerk reaction I have maintained this opinion for a while.

Also like some said above and as I have said before, with the midfield not tracking back/picking up someone from the defence is having to step out to close down, this ruins the line being held and most likely leaves one of the defenders with an additional man to mark.

I really dont think we can judge the defence until the midfield is sorted out.