Defenders attacking

[Matt Morriss 69]

How many times did we see Russell Martin in attacking positions yesterday? He was putting in crosses at the end.

I know we were all over them but there does seem to be a heavy input of attacking contribution from the defence, namely Martin, Whittaker and Olsson.

This poses two problems for me. One, if Martin, our centre back is out on the right wing putting in crosses surely this means that tactically and shape wise we are vulnerable to the counter attack? Which we have been undone on many times this season.

Secondly if defenders are attacking, as they readily do then surely the end product will not be as effective?

One thing I noticed yesterday was a heavy reliance on creativity from the defensive players. I don''t wanna see Martin piling forward and dictating how we attack, that''s Howsons job, or at least it would be if he did is job properly.

You wouldn''t see Kompany or John Terry putting right wing crosses in on multiple occasions.

This is our problem, too much reliance on defensive players such as Martin, Johnson, Olsson, Whittaker and Tettey to do the attacking work when it should be the forward thinking players job.

A reliance on defenders to dictate play and pick the passes surely can''t be the tactics.

Incidentally when O''Neill came on he grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck so to speak and tried to dictate play and as a result he played some good forward passes.

So can we have defenders concentrate on defending please and let the attackers attack?

While I''m ranting Howson dropped for O''Neill next game please, we need someone who is confident in there range of passing and will dictate play and make forward passes, not someone who makes the odd run forward and spends the rest of the game making sideways passes.

Distinct difference noticed when O''Neill came on.

[Katie Borkins 1]

I agree to an extent, though we were chasing the game at the end and it became a bit "anything goes" - keeping our shape and solid "spine" has been a big issue this season and as you say, one reason we look so vulnerable to quick counter-attacks.That said, I''ve always valued a good attacking full back and Olsson can put in a cross as good as anything from our wingers.  When done in a measured/controlled way, full-backs pushing up the pitch to augment attacks can be highly effective - I think the problem is we lack a solid shape/system and that is a coaching and management issue.

[Canary Willo 0]

If you want defenders who can play, the selection is contradicting because Miguel is known for his passing ability from the back and Garrido is a great crosser and exceptional set piece deliverer.

 

I''m not saying these are the answers, merely that if you set up with defenders having a requisite to attack, they''ve got to be able to do it well...

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

Oh I see so ivanovic , Ashley Cole , Luke shaw , Glen Jonson , etc etc. are all doing a bad job as attacking defenders ?

I can see you post a lot ,,, do you get time to watch a modern game of football ?

[ZLF 271]

martins crossing is good and accurate - so I dont begrudge him that - & why I think he should be our right back - its twice as accurate as Whittakers,

and even more so that Olsson who is factually the worst crosser of the ball at the club (garrido is a far better crosser and passer too)

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

Exactly Zipper ,, which is why Garrido is one of the changes from this point on would make so much sense !

If attacking wing backs works for Jose M ,,, it should be ok for us ...

[Orford65 0]

Olsson''s problem(and Garrido''s for that matter) is that he is so one-footed, all the defender has to do is show him inside and he''s stuffed and has to go sideways or back which totally slows everything up.Both of them can get to the line and put in excellent crosses, but it''s getting to the line which is their problem.As a side issue, why is it that some professional footballers find it so difficult to play off either foot - don''t they practice?

[GJP 79]

Seeing as it got a mention... Howson actually played our best forward pass of the game yesterday (well probably jointly with Redmond tbf).

Unfortunately it seemed almost nobody realised how good it was because it didn''t even get a slight ripple of applause.

It was a perfectly weighted 30-40 yard curved pass to get Olsson in. And he played it off his weaker foot. Class.

[Matt Morriss 69]

[quote user="Barclay seats 48/49 the 3rd"]Oh I see so ivanovic , Ashley Cole , Luke shaw , Glen Jonson , etc etc. are all doing a bad job as attacking defenders ?

I can see you post a lot ,,, do you get time to watch a modern game of football ?[/quote

Yeah well done, that''s hardly what i said is it. And how are you comparing those players to Whittaker and Turner etc.??

The Coles and Ivanovics are effective attacking defenders cause there far better players!!

[hogesar 9,616]

It was a great pass GJP but Howson had one of the worst games i''ve seen him play, and Tettey had to do the work of 2 midfielders defensively - whilst Howson still didn''t offer much in an attacking sense.

[Rich T The Biscuit 562]

If you wanted to see a good example of attacking fullbacks then watching Brightons fullbacks would have been a perfect example.

Both full backs pushed on further than their wingers when they had the ball, which resulted in the right back scoring, when they didn''t have the ball they defended as a 4 with a holding midfield player. How did the Brighton full backs do this so well, it was simple, that holding midfielder dropped in to make a back 3 and the 2 centre halls split wider to give width.

Fairly basic stuff really but a great example of what full backs should be like and it''s the same system that Chelsea play..