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Salopian

Disorganised or careless?

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Last week we kept a clean sheet, but it could have been 4-2 down if the Baggie strikers had been on form. Ruddy could not have kept everything out.

Because of this I feared the Swansea would score. I forecast 1-1 or 2-2, but it gives me no pleasure to be right. Our defence is vulnerable, the goals conceded tell the story. Today it was Bassong''s turn to give a present to the opponents.

Are they not trained in defensive technique, are they disorganised on the pitch or do they lack concentration? We have a major problem in the defence, and the only possible improvement is the return of Tettey. I''m amazed that the manager is speaking about a new wide player in January possibly. For goodness sake, do something about the defence!

If this seems pessimistic, perhaps it is, but there is a gleaming ray of hope in the shape of Hooper. This week with a really brilliant volley, after last week''s well taken shot on the run.

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[quote user="Salopian"]Last week we kept a clean sheet, but it could have been 4-2 down if the Baggie strikers had been on form. Ruddy could not have kept everything out.[/quote]Yeah well we won 2-0

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I agree. You can''t just take the attitude ''there''s nothing to worry about cos we won'' cos that eventually comes back to bite you on the arse! We look porous in defence and we need more holding player options than just Tettey. Probably another solid centreback as well, preferably with premier league experience.

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We were resorting to long balls far too often in the second half as we were trying to press them high up the pitch, and were lucky not to concede by playing so high up. When we had possession in the first half without pressing so high up we looked a lot more balanced and better able to defend with our customary two banks of four. I think Hughton was trying to force it to 2-1 and then sit back and counter-attack.The weakest areas were central defence and defensive midfield, both in the sense that we lack playmaking quality in these positions. We need to be able to do more than play it simply to our midfielders or hoof it upfield, especially when we''re being penned back.

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[quote user="JonnyH"]We were resorting to long balls far too often in the second half as we were trying to press them high up the pitch, and were lucky not to concede by playing so high up. When we had possession in the first half without pressing so high up we looked a lot more balanced and better able to defend with our customary two banks of four. I think Hughton was trying to force it to 2-1 and then sit back and counter-attack.The weakest areas were central defence and defensive midfield, both in the sense that we lack playmaking quality in these positions. We need to be able to do more than play it simply to our midfielders or hoof it upfield, especially when we''re being penned back.[/quote]

In fariness , if you had been at the game ,, instead of watching it on the radio ..you would have known that we were not being penned back ,,, as I sit a few rows in from the pitch ,, I can tell you for sure that Swansea hardly got into our half in the second 45 mins . The long balls ,, which I don''t condone , were an effort to get more quickly into the last third ,,which almost worked , bar some goal line clearances and saves .Try getting to a game, you ''ll enjoy it .

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To get back on thread, my opinion on the goal we conceded: Bassong should have won the header, Turner should have been closer to him and mopped up behind. Lack of concentration / positioning by Bassong, poor judgement by Turner (organisation).

Bassong looks imperious at his best, sloppy at his worst :-)

With 2 good centre halves (which Turner & Bassong can be at the very top of their game) would remove the need for Johnson in front of the back for, we would then be more of an attacking force & keep the ball better.

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with the greatest respect, I don''t understand why you can''t look at the facts before starting this thread.

We''ve conceded 29 goals in 16 PL games so far. However, we''ve conceded 16 of those goals in just 3 games v Arsenal, Citeh and Liverpool.

That means 13 goals conceded from the other 13 games, which shows that against our peers our record is reasonable. Indeed, we''ve kept 5 clean sheets already this season.

Our defensive record isn''t really that bad.

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[quote user="Europe_93"]To get back on thread, my opinion on the goal we conceded: Bassong should have won the header, Turner should have been closer to him and mopped up behind. Lack of concentration / positioning by Bassong, poor judgement by Turner (organisation). Bassong looks imperious at his best, sloppy at his worst :-) With 2 good centre halves (which Turner & Bassong can be at the very top of their game) would remove the need for Johnson in front of the back for, we would then be more of an attacking force & keep the ball better.[/quote]

Turner was totally blameless in all of that.

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[quote user="Barclay seats 48/49 the 3rd"][quote user="JonnyH"]if you had been at the game ,, instead of watching it on the radio ..you would have known that we were not being penned back ,,, as I sit a few rows in from the pitch ,, I can tell you for sure that Swansea hardly got into our half in the second 45 mins .[/quote]Oh dear, another complete doughnut who rants away after not bothering to read someone''s post properly. Nowhere in my post did I claim that Swansea penned us back.

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The problem is, if we want to improve our defence. They type of capable player that doesn''t make errors that we need as a genuine upgrade would cost around £10m and/or be on £50k a week wages already.

Our defence is about par for the course, as is the rest of our team. There are ways it can be improved, but at this level for them fine line improvements it costs millions. Apart from Bassongs awful blip yesterday, i don''t think they did much wrong.

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I''d agree Jimmy. And even when we''ve been poor defensively, a lot of that is about the whole set up of the team, not just the defence. We often give teams too much space, we don''t close down, and don''t get tight. Now I''m not saying we should be doing that right up the pitch, as that leaves gaps elsewhere, but certainly when teams start getting into our half, we have at times this season needed to be a lot tighter and closer than we have been.

But yesterday I thought we were pretty good. Bassong is still worrying, still making a few too many individual mistakes. I''m not sure we can keep saying his fitness is the issue. His attitude seems to be a bit lazy at the moment, even when he makes the mistakes, he seems to sort of not bother to make up for them too much, it''s more of a "oh I''m our best defender, if I make mistakes so what" kind of attitude. I might be being harsh there, it''s just the impression I get from him recently.

Whilst I thought Murphy on MOTD2 last night talked some rubbish, he and Lawrenson did point out that organising a defence is about the easiest bit of football - you don''t need great players to defend well, ask Stoke or any Sam Allardyce team.

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