📝Matty Platt signs

[drillerpie]

Just strange how many of them said he wasn’t great at all with his distribution, but that could be their players weren’t great at giving options and maybe we will try and get it forward quicker next season.

I came to the conclusion last season that we didn't actually need ball playing defenders. All they really did is take the ball from the keeper and play sideways passes under little or no pressure. If there was pressure, they generally made mistakes anyway and gave up chances and goals anyway. They occasionally dribbled out of defence but I'm talking maybe once or twice per game and sometimes not at all.

Maybe in the NL and in the first part of the season under Williams we asked them to do more, but even Williams accepted around November/December it was better just to launch it sometimes.

Also, watching different teams in various divisions in the play offs, almost all teams play out from the back. But for the most part they seem to have rugged defenders not Beckenbauer wannabes. I really think if we can get defenders whose strong point is defending, and can sidefoot a pass and control the ball (which is most defenders), then we will be a better team.

[Togtastic]

My mate who is a Bradford fan but who incidentally works in a professional capacity doing player analysis and who is well aware of our defensive shortcomings last season is 'disappointed' to see him go and says he is definately an improvement on what we had.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

I came to the conclusion last season that we didn't actually need ball playing defenders. All they really did is take the ball from the keeper and play sideways passes under little or no pressure. If there was pressure, they generally made mistakes anyway and gave up chances and goals anyway. They occasionally dribbled out of defence but I'm talking maybe once or twice per game and sometimes not at all.

Maybe in the NL and in the first part of the season under Williams we asked them to do more, but even Williams accepted around November/December it was better just to launch it sometimes.

Also, watching different teams in various divisions in the play offs, almost all teams play out from the back. But for the most part they seem to have rugged defenders not Beckenbauer wannabes. I really think if we can get defenders whose strong point is defending, and can sidefoot a pass and control the ball (which is most defenders), then we will be a better team.

For me the problem last season was the fact that we were struggling with the core fundamentals of defending in and around our box like dealing with aerial balls from crosses corners and free kicks for example. Plus silly mistakes and trips and falls. I just don’t think we had the quality in the core defending principles needed for L2 level and made far too many individual errors.

So this signing for me is a good one and an upgrade for a number of reasons. Firstly the fact that we are signing a player who has played at this level for four seasons straight. This means he comes with the experience of what is required at this level in terms of core defending qualities. It’s what we desperately need. He is still young enough at 26 to get better and by the tine his contract is up in two years he will be in his peak. So he has time to improve.

I’m not worried too much about whether he is better in possession or not than those defenders who have left but ultimately teams play different styles so he will be in coached at Notts as to how we want to play and our system when in possession. Until he plays for us then we will see how well he fits in.

More signings like this in defence please.

[Notts78]

For me the problem last season was the fact that we were struggling with the core fundamentals of defending in and around our box like dealing with aerial balls from crosses corners and free kicks for example. Plus silly mistakes and trips and falls. I just don’t think we had the quality in the core defending principles needed for L2 level and made far too many individual errors.

So this signing for me is a good one and an upgrade for a number of reasons. Firstly the fact that we are signing a player who has played at this level for four seasons straight. This means he comes with the experience of what is required at this level in terms of core defending qualities. It’s what we desperately need. He is still young enough at 26 to get better and by the tine his contract is up in two years he will be in his peak. So he has time to improve.

I’m not worried too much about whether he is better in possession or not than those defenders who have left but ultimately teams play different styles so he will be in coached at Notts as to how we want to play and our system when in possession. Until he plays for us then we will see how well he fits in.

More signings like this in defence please.

Not disagreeing with you. Conceding 17 penalties didn’t help the defence. The other stat is that 34% of goals were conceded from the 71st minute onwards. So either fitness, ****e changes, or lack of squad depth hampered us.

[SmiffyPie]

..conceded from the 71st minute onwards. So either fitness, ****e changes, or lack of squad depth hampered us.

Old legs in midfield (J, poor WB defence (JJ and AN), an element of riding our luck in previous minutes, defenders desperately trying to maintain possession leading to pressure leading to a lack of concentration? Nearly all the bloopers were from a tangle of feet, a poorly judged ball or a slip and all to be expected from a defence struggling to achieve a standard beyond their comfort zone (no disrespect to any of them, they all tried to the best of their ability). As for the penalties, they were conceded by the defence in the main (including those with defensive responsibilities (JB/JJ)).

[Kyle95]

It's an outstanding signing. We don't need 3 ball playing defenders. Platt in the centre with 2 ball players either side will work just fine. Statistically he's been one of the best defenders in the league for the last 3 years. Ian Evatt and Mark Hughes are 2 gaffers that like the ball on the deck, Platt was a key performer for both. If we could get Rawson from Morecambe, a back 3 of Cameron, Platt and Rawson would work well together imo.

[Notts78]

It's an outstanding signing. We don't need 3 ball playing defenders. Platt in the centre with 2 ball players either side will work just fine. Statistically he's been one of the best defenders in the league for the last 3 years. Ian Evatt and Mark Hughes are 2 gaffers that like the ball on the deck, Platt was a key performer for both. If we could get Rawson from Morecambe, a back 3 of Cameron, Platt and Rawson would work well together imo.

I’d like Rawson to sign… not for the reasons you say. His Mrs is a stunner 😬

[crazyfists]

Great signing and welcome Matty COYP. Hopefully this is the start of several good signings that we've needed for awhile.

[1955pie]

Not disagreeing with you. Conceding 17 penalties didn’t help the defence. The other stat is that 34% of goals were conceded from the 71st minute onwards. So either fitness, ****e changes, or lack of squad depth hampered us.

The more times we played (or tried to play) the ball in our own box considerably increased the chance of conceding a penalty.

[kill_the_drum]

Seemingly a great signing.
An upgrade on defenders is obviously a good thing but my opinion throughout most of last season was our main issue with conceding was the commitment to attack. Particularly away from home we would lose the ball in midfield and by the time that ball hit the back of our net, we were outnumbered.
When we lost the ball we would often have 8 players ahead of the ball. You can have the best defenders in the world but if you get outnumbered on a counter attack, you’ll concede.
Matty Palmer plugs those gaps so well, even though he’s not tough tackling. And that’s what we so sorely missed.
We obviously made way too many individual errors but defending as a unit is where we need to improve.