While we have all been watching a variety of lower league teams scoring against us I was wondering how much blame can be attributed to the defense and how much to the players in front of them. Many times last season the midfield (Marv in particular) were caught out of position and left the defence exposed. If we cannot get any defenders in before the start of the season then maybe it's time to start playing 4-3-3 with Cisse screening the back four. It wont be as attacking but until we get the defence sorted out we should be harder to beat and will pick up more points than we would otherwise. Something like: - Cisse Kilkenny Skuse Adomah Maynard JCR
I think id put cisse in front the defence id probably not play 433 as mcalaister would get over run by the opposing wingers
I'd always pick Skuse over Elliott. He's a player which will give u everything even when he's having an off game as being his boyhood club it means more to him. He is better at tackling and hid passing has got better over the last few seasons. Defence wise I would have to go with Jamie Wilson as if fit could be our best defender. Left back is needed ASAP as don't think woolford, nyatanga or Fontaine as make shift left backs are not the best way forward
Agreed Andy. He's also less likely to get caught out of position. I do think Wilson looks like he has a load of potential but need to see he play more to have a proper opinion of him. I think Macca is fine as LB as long as someone like Fontaine is at CB so they have the pace to cover him if required. Saying that I was very impressed with Nyatanga at LB towards the end of last season, don't understand the criticism he has had from many. We certainly need a LB for the squad though, only having one specialist left back is madness at our level.
Yeah i too am a fan of nyatanga i just dont see why people pick on him, i think atm he is our best defender both potentially and on the pitch skuse wilson fontaine nyatanga. If we havent signed anyone before the ipswich game then thats what i would pick
Skuse is great on paper but a rarely see him deliver on the pitch. At the risk of sounding like a Carry on Movie I love his big tackle, but crunching someone twice a game and giving the ball away plenty does'nt feel like enough. If he was not Bristolian and a youth product he would get future endevoured for sure. Hard worker with little end product.
Although Elliott is not the player he was (since the injury) I would prefer him to Skuse as he does have the habit of getting the occasional goal and when fit does cover a great deal of ground. Still think we need a commanding centre half though.
We've got some decent defenders, but they're not of adequate Championship quality, and the likes of Carey must be replaced sooner rather than later. Jonathan Spector is still available and it's bewildering that we haven't been linked with him. I also think that Nicky Hunt simply cannot be as bad as he was last season. There must have been something else about him that was causing such terrible performances, and hopefully he'll still have some role to play for us. With the likes of Ribeiro, Nyatanga and Wilson in the squad we simply cannot be that bad in defence. If we signed Spector and bolstered our midfield a bit with more attacking talent then I firmly think that we can survive this season. As I've said countless times on this forum Ravel Morrison or Paul Pogba from the Man Utd Academy would be a great loan signing and Freddy Adu from Benfica would give us a central midfielder and back-up winger/striker all in one.
'With the likes of Ribeiro, Nyatanga and Wilson in the squad' - Is the very reason we can't defend. Wilson isn't ready, Nyatanga never will be and Ribs is never fit. As for Hunt - I give up. As bad and chicken as I've ever seen.
RP mate I completely disagree. How will we ever know if Wilson is ready unless he's actually given a chance to play? Granted it could go wrong but it's not like we have many other options at the moment. Nyatanga at LB isn't too bad, him and Fontaine are probably our best two centre backs. Ribeiro is extremely frustrating, if he was fit he would be brilliant but unless he lasts this coming season then it's time to cut our losses and look elsewhere as far as i'm concerned. Hunt is a complete mystery, with all his experience and the age he is he should be at the top of his game. I don't understand where it has gone wrong but would be willing to give him a final chance with an open mind if he was selected in future. Tonights team : - City: Carey; Ribeiro, Wilson, Fontaine, Ball; Hunt, Johnson, Reid, Bolasie; Clarkson, Pitman Hunt playing RW?!!! Or is our defence so **** that we've taken to playing with two right backs. Johnson and Reid has to be the shortest CM pairing ever seen.
This has been our problem for ages. Over the past five years the team has been chopped and changed so much that many players simply haven't had a chance to get used to the team. Henderson never played for us despite being better than Gerken, Haynes has been solid for Barnsley after his season was shadowed by Maynard's form, and Trundle was shipped out after about a year. It took Nyatanga the best part of a year for people to go from "great future talent" to "not good enough, get rid!"
