I thought defensively he was hugely improved on Saturday. By no means perfect, but he looked ok. I don't blame the Swansea goal just on him
Pinto and Redmond were both too slow tracking back for the goal. Still think 3 centre backs and 2 wing backs is our best set up.
No excuse, but it did / does highlight just how much we miss Tettey. Especially playing with wing backs who love to bomb forward and therefore end up becoming out of position. But to base solidity around a holding midfielder with dodgy knees and a pretty poor disciplinary record is asking for trouble.
Plus he was equally awful discipline-wise when he played alongside Tettey as a holding mid. His one excellent season for us came when he was deployed in the 'Surman' role, a kind of inside left position
He is the most booked player at Derby this season - not a shock but thought I would mention it in passing
Not surprised at that,but he does get stuck in and rolls up his sleeves when needed. I am a big BJ fan,so probably biased
I liked him as he would give all he had in virtually every game, although sometimes a bit reckless. I was saddened to see him go to but on the surface it appears justified.
Don't worry I'm sure we'll play 3 centre backs again, probably next game then the next game we'll change again and the following game something different. It should be no surprise our players, particularly our defence look so disorganised. It's crazy that we've got to this stage of the season and AN still doesn't know his best formation / team. Whilst I'm all for competition and keeping players on their toes, consistence also has its place.
Agree with this canario By this stage of the season it should be 95% about what we do best, not trying (and normally failing) to negate the opposition by setting up based on what they do best. Poor show, really and AN has only got himself to blame for the disjointed performances.
Exactly what a lot of posters on here have been saying for weeks - I just wish AN would read some of them!!!!
I guess it's all about perception. AN perceives that his best team is not always going to be the same and is dependant on the oposition. Had he stuck to 3 at the back vs the Swans and we went on to lose without scoring, he might have got a fair wodge of stick for having gone into a game too defensively in a game we really needed a win. I happen to agree with you that it would have been better to try to keep some consistency and gone 3 at the back, lets face it anything less than that against Citeh and we'll get ripped apart, though that is probable even with 3 anyway! Bah!
I've just caught up with MotD and Pinto and Redmond should hang their heads in shame. Pinto loses the ball on the edge of the Swansea area, doesn't track back and we're 1-0 down!!
He was quoted as being "the best right back in the Croatian leagues" when he was poised to join us. Well, if we do get relegated as many fear, can I suggest we play next season in said Croatian league - to have an almost nailed-on chance of bouncing straight back (Plus I absolutely adore the country anyway, so any excuse to spend lots more time there!!)
If you play wingbacks, 3 centre backs and a defensive midfielder then surely if the wing back loses the ball in the opposition penalty area it is the job of one of the others to cover for him or has Pinto now become the hate figure who has to be blamed for everything?
