A thread much the same as this was created a few weeks ago which claimed our defence was a bit pap. Others argued it wasn't the defence it was the midfield, yet more people claimed the problem was our formation/tactics. Having seen yesterday's defending I would have to say our defence is not good as a unit. Individually the defenders can hold their own, but the number of times Vermaelen has stepped up and was nowhere near his man who was played onside beggars belief !! Koscielny and Vermaelen don't seem to communicate with each other at all which leads to gaps in the middle of our defence. Why the fcuk should there be a gaping hole in the middle of our back four ? Either they are not telling the midfielders where to go or who to pick up or they are just clueless positionally. Which one is it ? I think a bit of both. I am so used to centre halves shouting at me telling me who to pick up that it is normal, if I don't hear someone telling me where to go it feels weird, after all, the CBs are best placed to tell me who to pick up. I think it is our CBs who are our problem, I don't see them shouting at anyone or talking to each other, they are NOT a unit, they play like individuals.
....and often times they cant organise from the back because they are the furthest ****ing forward in our whole team!
I'm going with they don't play as a proper unit as times. I'm going to include some of the midfielder's like Song and Ramsey, that aren't positioned properly or helping out. We need to improve our organisation and maintain our intensity over the full 90 minutes. We switch off and pay for it. Hopefully Bould's enthusiasm and organistional skills can tighten our team as a defensive unit...
Is it me, or are our defenders useless headering the ball out of danger? They always seem to head it straight back to the opposition and never seem to head it back to the keeper. This is all bread and butter for most Premier teams.....
It's a mixture of everything. Individuals not good enough at defending, the back back four lacks balance, physical power and leadership. Also the fact we don't keep the ball so well these days just makes the issue more apparent. I personally am not a fan of Koscielney, he's a good player but an average defender. 49 league goals conceded is ridiculously poor. Something has to change either tactically in in terms of personal.
They just don't seem to get the basics right. I've never understood playing offside, stepping up when you are miles away from your attacker. I've also never understood leaving your attacker goal side of you, why would you do that ?? For the attacker to be goal side of you either the CB hasn't told you that you've got a man coming your way, or you haven't listened - or you are "cheating", or the full back hasn't told you - in any case, that is a piss poor defensive unit.
