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lake district canary

Defending too deep

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From my plastic armchair it looked as if we were defending too deep a lot of the game today,  giving the midfield too much to do.   Bennett and Barnett as the central pairing are presumably responsible for this - are they too weak as a pair?   Bassong is the defensive general and it looks as if there is no-one who can take command when he is not there.   Martin would be more influential in central defence imo epecially when Bassong isn''t there.  

Howson and Fox looked too stretched - Surman didn''t do much and Bennett doesn''t seem to have the confidence to go past players or deliver an early ball.     Once again the attack lacked support.    Makeshift team put together not good against a strong team - even if they were from a lower league. 

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LDC - I think it seems to be a general policy to sit deep. Last week we had a number of occasions where Gerrard was allowed a good 5 or 10 yards of room to himself on the edge of the box; one time he scored the others thankfully he hit it wide/at Bunn/passed it instead. And let''s not even mention allowing Suarez to turn, look up, pick out a pass then get the ball back again and do the same all without having a defender within 10 yards of him at any point.

I really don''t know if it is a tactic of Hughton''s, or if it''s just that the players can''t be bothered. Surely they don''t need Bassong telling them to get tight if the manager has told them to get tight before the game - aren''t they all pros? Forgetting once or twice and dropping off, maybe, but not having whole games where you just "forget" to get tight, purely because Bassong isn''t telling you too. Nope, it must be a tactical decision.

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You can see it LDC, many supporters can, but Chris Hughton cannot.

This has been the season which is why set piece goals have been so important.

I lost count of the number of long balls Leon Barnett hit. Passing is not his game. Roeder, sorry Hughton seems to think he is Beckenbaur.

If he wanted a CH who could pass long balls he let one go to Forest.

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[quote user="lake district canary"]From my plastic armchair it looked as if we were defending too deep a lot of the game today,  giving the midfield too much to do.   [/quote]Shouldn''t you upgrade your armchair?  Plastic doesn''t sound that comfortable.  Mine has a bearskin throw over it.  Given the amount of time you spend in yours, don''t you owe it to your back to splash the cash?

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Foghorns nailed it for me, I continue to think its how deep the two central midfielders sit that is our main problem in either formation, and that''s something that''s happened in pretty much every game.

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There does seem an increased frequency of long balls over recent weeks. Whether this stems from managerial instruction, or lack of creativity in midfield necessitating this tactic, I''m not sure. Perhaps we should make an enquiry as to the availability of Peter Crouch.

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Yes CJF makes a very good point. Today was even worse than usual; I seem to remember Fox having a tendency to do this last year, & today Howson was just plain awful, frequently running backwards with the ball.Of the usual pairing, BJ seems to have lost his edge & become pretty anonymous, while Tettey does try to forge ahead but he can''t do it alone.I think a new central midfielder wouldn''t come amiss, as well as a class striker. Perhaps a central defender as well ...

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Ariggo Sacchi used to coach his AC Milan side of the 90''s (one of the most succesful club sides ever) that the only player allowed in the 18 yard box was the goalkeeper (set pieces aside).He used to mark out on a pitch diagram a rectangle that had the penalty box, and the 2 flanks either side (about a radius of what 78 yards?) saying that no opposition player should ever find space in those areas.if a striker got into the box with a ball he wanted to see the defender back there with him, trying to win it.AC Milan mastered defending in this way.. by cutting off almost a 3rd of the pitch, the result? European champions, Scudetto and Copa Italia winners... few sides, if any, have ever been able to emulate this... but by cutting off that 78 yard space by holding a line and being disciplined and skilled enough Milan shut out everybody....Defending in your own box is risky...

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