to be honest, having ruddy back is going to make a huge difference. i know its been picked up on here before but i don't think it's been emphasised just how much an impact he makes to the way we defend and therefore attack. he only played 15 games last season and kept 6 clean sheets. bunn played 26 games keeping 4 clean sheets. we are much more stable knowing we have ruddy in goal. he didn't drop a single catch last season - not one! he's calm, he's assured and he's bloody huge (in metaphorical and literal terms). its no coincidence that we played much better and won more games when he was in sticks and i think it'll almost be like a new signing. we did really well to stay up without him - weaker teams would have dropped through the trap door - but we defended deeper and managed to protect bunn pretty well. ruddy doesn't require the same sort of protection and i think as a team we'll take more chances, especially the full backs pushing forward more, as a result
Like all adages, there is a grain of truth in it, but I think you will find statistics do not bear it out when adopted as an overall strategy. It is the best strategy for teams which cannot defend properly and may be a useful tactic in a particular game or at a particular stage of a game. What one should be aiming for first and foremost is to be defensively solid, but without curtailing one's capability to attack effectively at the right time. Simple!
very true, and you only have to look at how we played under lambert to see an example of a team who can't defend and therefore use 'attack as the best form of defence'. we all found it tremendously inspiring as we marched through the divisions but how long would it have lasted? we'll never know as lambert left but i'm split as to how we'd have done.
Obviously the best defence is a good defence. Luckily we have an England international keeper, two international full-backs (OK one from Scotland but still an international!) and one outstanding centre half and a couple of pretty decent ones to support him. Personally I'd like us to prioritise getting another quality CB in but we are, particularly compared with the Lambert era, fairly well stocked at the back. That being said I do think that by improving our attack by adding pace and technique the opposition will have to show us a bit more respect and will probably look to play deeper as the pace and movement of Redmond/RvW and Hooper will be a threat and both of our strikers seem to be pretty clinical finishers. This will give our midfield a bit more time and ease the pressure from the defence. For me it is a team thing - a good keeper gives the defence confidence and frees the midfield, a good defence does not need as much protection from the midfield and so frees up the midfield to be more creative and supply the forwards, a good midfield retains possession, takes the pressure off the defence and supplies chances for the forwards and good forwards make the oppositin play deeper and commit less going forward and so creates space for the midfield and relives pressure from the defence. The best teams in the world have all of these facets. the rest of us aspire to them. Currently we are not far from having a first team capable of pretty much all of this and we are certainly a huge step nearer this than we were this time last year.
Can you please post something I don't agree with. I'm getting bored with only having Munky and Supers to spar with. Otherwise I'll be driven to take carrabuh off my ignore list.
Phew! I can leave carrabuh where he is then. Only joking, I don't ignore anyone, carrabuh least of all -- it would be like turning your back on a hungry grizzly
Don't worry Robbie, I'll always argue with you, it's great to have a positive reinforcement of my point of view
This is it exactly - it isn't an 'either/or' choice. You need a good GK, good defence, good midfield and good attack, all of which work together effectively. It's about getting the balance right. Last year, the defence and midfield were strengthened to balance the defensive deficiencies the year before. After Ruddy's injury, the player's became more cautious and defensive in their play. CH tried to rectify this by trying to bring RvW and/or Hooper in, and when that failed brought two other strikers in. This year he has succeeded in bringing both RvW and Hooper in, along with Redmond, Fer and Olsson, while still trying to bring further players in. At last we have a good balance in the team as a whole and it may yet be improved further. This is indeed a huge step.
O/T but not worthy of a seperate thread, but i caught the end of mcnally on BBC radio five live breakfast this morning about 8:30am, all i heard was 'that was david mcnally, ceo of NCFC' did anyone hear the interview in full?
Another O/T: Just nipped onto the Hull board and they are NOT happy about their name being officially changed to 'Hull City Tigers"!
I didn't hear it but I presume it was just his daily national decree. He basically just declares himself as the baddest son of a bitch on the planet every morning to the rest of the nation. In seriousness I'd have liked to have heard it, might check I player. It might have something to do with football transport.
Ha, you do yourself an injustice by ignoring the extent to which I agree with you! Our only real point of disagreement is over your unwarranted demonisation of Chris Hughton.
Watch his next interview, keep the eyes and ears out for the red prehensile tail waving around behind him and a clip clop as he walks to the camera.
So what did everyone think of todays performance? I thought it was a good performance overall, we were easily better than the panithinikos in all departments. I have a lot of questions relating to midfield though, Tettey put in a very good performance and I think a lot of people had written him off but he was bloody effective in a more advanced roll and he tracked back well. Johnson, even though he scored 2 goals was not as active in midfield as I have seen before. Wes was plain awful and gave possession away all the time and was haphazard. Howson was good and determined but for me lacks a bit of creativity we need in that roll. Fer was excellent when on. The biggest surprise was Ollson, is he a defender or a pacey cultured winger? He was excellent and then theres Redmond..........he is awesome....... Loads of good problems for CH to sort out there.
