Not just today, but this lot took us down the last time we were in the premiership. We look so shaky & nervous every time the ball ever come near our box. I'M not saying we are a bad side, but this back four is going to keep us looking over our shoulders. Right im looking for my tin hat
Calm down. Yes it's bad, especially today but Sunderland's is probably worse. Our full backs are decent an attacking sense but suspect defensively. Yes we suck at defending set-pieces. Yes we've had no, and probably won't get many clean sheets this season. Yes we should have signed one or two centre halves and a right back who are actually good enough to play in the Premier League but we didn't and there's no point dissenting amongst ourselves. Although what worries me is what changes can we make? Bennett? Wisdom? Don't see much improvement there.
It's fair to say it is not one of the best...... Both our full backs have been ripped to shreds and ruddy could have done better. Rusty and seb also pretty ordinary against a team who hadn't won this season. Would have been different had the penalty and subsequent red card been given but we cannot rely on picking up decisions. Bad bad day at the office.
I agree to an extent, but tactics are hurting us. We leave our centre half's so exposed with the fullbacks bombing on. They ain't good enough for this level, our goals against speaks volumes! It looks certain that we tried to improve our quality in the summer, failed and here we are. One thing I would say is that NUFC defence is no better, all they have hit is goals we've hit the post and been unlucky at times. But should have scored in 5he first 15 mins in the 2nd half because we were on top and they ain't good st the back. Bad result, bad luck but still very poor defending! Bah!
Thats my point, we dont have options that we can change the back line that will improve things. Im not going on just about todays game, but in general, as im writing this we have just let in number 6. Point taken.
Well if there are no changes in the back four after that What on earth did he take Tettey off for ? He covers the back four, disastrous call
Ruddy - Is a nervous wreck at times. Whittaker - I've tried to give him a chance but today it ends, his been atrocious the majority of the goals have come from his side, his **** the sooner he ****s off the better. Martin - Captain Marvel can't mark to save his life and leaves giant gaps in this defence, runs back like a Pensioner going on a morning stroll to fetch the papers. Should of been replaced in the summer. Bassong - Poor, nervy, but Ruddy under a lot of pressure at times. Olsson - We will leave alone was the only good defensive player today. We didn't invest in the defence this summer and now we are paying for it..
Agree, Dorrans or Howson could have come off. But what changes can we make? Wisdom can't be worse than Whittaker I guess but does Bennett really offer any improvement? The mistakes we made were mainly in the transfer window. Yeah, OK maybe Van Dijk was out of reach but surely you could scout League One and find defenders better than Whittaker. Edit: It's not just a lack of quality, it's a lack of pace, physicality and aerial presence.
To be honest, the midfield lost us the game today. Newcastle essentially had a four man midfield and yet we couldn't get any control or penetration. The defending was woeful as a result of where we were losing the ball. It's easy to pick a team off in the break when you have players like Wijnaldum and Perez
That's not even true. Yes the midfield was poor and it got worse without Tettey but of course the back four and goalkeeper is liable when you concede f**king SIX to the bottom of the table side. Midfield didn't offer much protection but for the dedicated defenders it's the defenders jobs to stop goals, not the midfield. They didn't do that which is why we lost. Good defenders can defend one-on-one ours can't. We conceded from a throw-in for Christ's sake. We've conceded from set pieces all season. Our fullbacks are good in an attacking sense but poor at defending. Whittaker can't deal with good wide players at all, hence Wijnaldum scored four from the left.
Pretty much agree, although I'm not convinced Olsson was any good in defending either, but at least he did well going forward. Martin's marking in the run up to the 4th and 5th goal was very poor and made a goal almost inevitable. I'm surprised Ruddy hasn't had a breakdown !
It can't be the midfielders fault every time our defence fails. Our back 4 were collectively horrendous when defending, at least Olsson did well going forward. We looked very disorganised and I'm sorry but it's our centre back pairing that isn't good enough we conceded 6 goals today to a team that started the day bottom of the league and low on confidence. All is not lost, but AN is going to have to earn his money this week and he may, just may, have to reconsider some previously held views.
When will people realise Russell Martin is NOT a centre back, Bassong is trying to cover for his mistakes and getting caught out himself. Captain or not Martin should be dropped, there is no room for sentiment in professional football. Has AN got the balls? We shall see.
How's this for an off the wall fault, lets move Martin to RB, Whitaker to a championship team and give Wisdom a go at CB. Trouble is it seems Martin has the say on when & where he plays. I await the usual posts
Where did I say the back four weren't dreadful? I didn't. They were. I just said that we lost it in midfield. Which we did. Christ some people do have an agenda
I agree with this - I'd put Rusty to RB, RyBen to CB and Wisdom as cover - drop Whittaker completely (not even on the bench).
No they don't they just don't agree with you. You said the midfield lost us the game. They didn't it was the whole team, but in terms of conceding goals, that was pretty much down to poor defending. At 3-2 we were pushing forward so yes the midfield had to concentrate more on attacking and less on defending. This would have been a tactical decision, by the manager, not the midfielders. Goals 4 and 5 were down to poor defending and although not exclusively down to Martin, his positioning and marking skills, or lack of contributed significantly to both goals.
