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McNeil and JBG are both one footed and we give the ball away many times in the middle of the pitch, the defence then comes under pressure instantly and we lack the ability to stop the many extremely quick strikers other teams have, I felt Vydra should have won it for us on Saturday but his lack of game time is glaringly obvious.
Not sure about your observation Miked111, he trapped the ball sublimely but then scuffed his shot. I'm sure he trains for this type of chance every day.Quote:
Originally Posted by Miked111
In fairness scuffed shots sometimes confuse the goalie, but the Eagles dude still made a super save to deny us all 3 points. :blue:
I totally agree about his touch, I really like him as a player and feel he should get more game time, he would be sharper and more confident, he probably buries those chances in training but it is different in front of an almost full Turf Moor.
Defence begins from the front, as the saying goes. It also begins from the back.
Is Pope directing the men in front of him? Is Ben Mee, as captain, instructing the defence? Who is covering for Taylor when he surges forward? Do the attackers know their role in defending? Does the midfield get enough support? Can either McNeil or JBG provide strong support to the midfield?
Two seasons ago clean sheets were frequent. What has changed?
The thing that changed Swiss is the opposition, they replenished and improved we stood still and went backwards eventually.
For me personally I find it difficult to criticise the midfield as most teams have an extra man 3v our 2 ( it was my position and I know how hard that can be when your chasing a lot ).
So Dyche s lack of flexibility is to blame for a lot of our problems , but we also need some big strong boys to compete - sometimes it looks like men and boys at Turf moor.
If we do have a problem with our defence, and I don't believe we do, when we have the 13th best defensive record in the league, then I think Swiss is asking the most relevant question, 'Is Pope directing the men in front of him?'.Quote:
Originally Posted by Swissclaret
Quite a lot of players getting it in the neck, and the manager as well, but if you do have a problem in defence, and you're doubting it's organisation, then surely the obvious place to look first is goalkeeper. Pope is not the keeper he was, he's lost his place in the England squad and the top clubs have lost interest in him, he has never organised the back four like Tom Heaton did, and that's his job, he can see it all panning out in front of him, you could hear Tom all over Turf Moor telling his back four where he wanted them, can you hear Nick doing the same ? I only ask. O:)
In fairness sinkov, Tom Heaton is the most vociferous goalkeeper I have ever heard.Quote:
Originally Posted by sinkov
I think Pope learned a lot from Tom, but organising his back four is not one of them. :(
Would Hennessy be better? I do not know much about him.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bedlington Terrier
Never came for a ball Sinkov - never helped his defence - a good shot stopper is where Tom s attributes end.Quote:
Originally Posted by sinkov
If you go back a few seasons the two centre backs were at their pomp and made heatons life easy -
More than one way to look at things.
Tbh I don’t think Pope is much different to Tom only that he commands his area much better
Tom very rarely came off his line, it's my understanding that this was quite deliberate and worked on in training, Tom only came for balls he could collect easily, otherwise he let the defenders deal with it. You seem to be suggesting Army that this was a weakness, but I thought it worked perfectly, there was never any confusion in our defence, and we ended the 13/14 season, Tom's first, with the best defensive record in the league with just 37 goals conceded and only 5 defeats in 46 games. Tom kept 19 clean sheets, and let in just one goal in 19 others.Quote:
Originally Posted by army88
But I digress, I'm not trying to pick on Nick, like I've said before, I don't think we have a defensive problem, we're fine imo, but if you are going to claim our defence is not functioning as well as it used to, I just find it perverse that every man and his dog is getting the blame, except the goalkeeper. If any defence is not functioning properly the first position to scrutinise is surely goalkeeper. I do get the impression that Nick is a blue-eyed boy with many of our fans, somehow above criticism, but he shouldn't be, that's all I'm saying.