We´ve let in more goals this season than most so far 5pinche7 in total, well only West Ham (57) and Stoke (61) are with or worse than us. It's a lot to let in. Let's not get that wrong. 7 of the 9 teams below us have let in a fair few less. So, why? Are our defenders ****e? Here is a guide to them and their prices: Holebas £3m, Zeegelaar £3m, Janmaat £7.5m, Femenia free, Cathcart free, Prodl free, Mariappa free, Wague loan, Britos free (maybe,) Kabasele reported in Belgium as about £6m, Kaboul £4m. Sorry if I left someone out. Am I missing something, or do the Pozzos need to shore up the defence a bit this summer??¿?? In midfield we have tons of options when everyone is fit. In attack could do with a decent striker too, but well, 3 into one gives us at least options. Fortunately, a lot of players have chipped in goals this season. I had a look into this after singling Holebas out after Sat, but maybe the $$$ shows how the back end is lacking. Fair play to the Pozzos and all, but there is a lot of quantity and little quality there. What jya think? I think that the wing backs are good right side, left is terribly lacking and a two decent CBs would go a long way to Europe next season. Push on or not Pozzos?
When Mariappa is probably our best and most consistent defender it says something - maybe helped by the fact he is the only one to have been fit all season apart from Holebas who you never quite sure what to expect from apart from angry faces and a bit of arm waving! Most of our defence must worry about when the next injury is coming!
To be honest they are a bit of a job lot, and it is very easy to be critical of them. Prodl did make some excellent challenges Saturday, and you can see his international class, but I think that forwards these days who tend to be quick show him up from time to time. Janmaat gets turned with ease and his defending ability is not as good as his attacking. Holebas is a liability, yet creates problems when he is going forward. Cathcart looked calm and assured when he returned, but I think we need to wait and see if he can play every game. Marriapa has been the most consistent, and slots in fairly well across the back line. Britos I think is past his best and see little future for him. We have swapped around trying three and four at the back often simply because who was fit enough to turn out. To change the system has an effect not just on defence but midfield to. Certainly if I were the owners I would be looking for replacements for one or two.
I agree Britos should be on his way. I really like Mason and would love to see him given the opportunity he deserves. Agree Mariappa has been wonderful, defensive PotS for me. Prodl may be slow but his sheer strength and positioning nous (spelling?!) secures his place, imho.
I think Britos should go, just don’t feel comfortable with him on the ball. I can’t help thinking that Holebas should go too. Just think an upgrade there is needed and I don’t think his dead balls and long throws are all they’re cracked up to be. I said last summer we need a really top class centre back but I recommended Kevin Wimmer so what do I know!
im 100% with you Britos and Holebas plus a striker the 3 we have can only be used as back up or to go to plan B
Clearly they expect Kaboul and Cathcart to be fit/played more by now as we dropped Wague from the squad despite the fact he played quite a bit and did ok I think. These are all fairly experienced international defenders so its not like we are talking about a bunch of youngsters or Championship brought players. We've spent a lot of money on the attacking side of the team with mixed results.
We talk a lot quite rightly about what is wrong with our defence, but some of it must come down to the organization as well as the players. If you watched the Burnley defence line up to defend a set piece, you would have seen some really big players lined up forming a wall. They created a blockage in front of the goal and you could see why they are so difficult to break down. They left space on the wing which is where we did quite well, but as soon as the ball came across there was this wall of big guys.
Can coaching remedy the problem? I assume some blame has to fall at Gracia´s door too. We´ve let in 59 now and only Stoke have let in more on 63. It is just the soft goals being let in that are killing our position.
Mentioned our defence a few times on other threads, but we do seem to have been buying them on the cheap - my take on them; CBs Kabasele - (27) for me is the number 1 choice out of the lot of them. I thought he and Wague played pretty well together and if they had more games thought they could build a good understanding. I'd like us to keep Wague but not sure we will Prodl - (30) As mentioned above, against anyone pacey and he just gets found out. Also think his positioning can be suspect. He tends to wander, gets pulled out of defence easily and loses his man a lot. Think he did quite well Saturday for much of the time, but that was against 2 big men they were just playing it long to - also thought their disallowed goal he totally lost his man, strikers find it easy to find space against him Kaboul - (32) - too injury prone... I think he just needs to go Britos - (Also 32) - too much of a liability - think he is out of contract this summer (?) so just need to let him go Mariappa - (31) I do agree with above that he has probably been our most consistent CB and has come in from being maybe 4/5th choice to being a solid defender. I think he would make a good squad player for the team for next season Cathcart - (29) Shame he has been out injured as he is a good solid defender and same with Mapps, would keep him as a squad player. LBs Holebas (33) - he can go... moments of a very good player but too temperamental and if he loses his head in a game it's very hard to get it back. He whines too much to the ref Zeegelar (27) - thought he started well but maybe struggled a bit. I would keep him a 2nd choice. Mason (20) - would like to see him in and around the squad - but only if we were to sell both Holebas and Zeegelar, and bring in a better LB to play above him RBs Femenia (27) - quality player but looks like we may be playing him in a more advanced role... although can see him going back to RB next season - keep Janmaat (28) - personally think he is a very good back up for Femenia. Prone to defensive errors but don't think a replacement is a priority. Looking at the ages, it certainly seems to be an aging defence too. I think they need freshening up, and letting some go. I would let Kaboul, Prodl, Britos and Holebas go. I think we would only need 1 CB and 1 LB to replace them, which would free up some squad place and wages
Agree with all of that Kev. A defence should be the cornerstone of a team and ours clearly is not. We have to assume that even if our injury list next year is not as bad as this - could it ever be - we are short of some quality. Rather than make whole sale changes I would like to see us sped any money we get from sales of possibly Doucoure and Richarlison go on tow or thre high quality large defensive players. We might then see what Garcia is capable of - at the moment I don't think any manager would be able to give us solidity at the back.
Looking at Saturday... I think tactically the manager got it wrong.... he will say that for 89 minutes it worked..... but then just one lapse cost us the game....so he may feel half-right.... However we played so deep against a team that struggles to score.... daft really... and we dont have the counterattacking punch we hade in the Ighalo/TD/Vydra days TD had little chance alone up front and we played deep on the wings too Remembering the GT days when we did brilliantly with a squad of average players... GT got the best out of the players and as a team.... we actually have some very skilful players... so simply laying the blame on the players is not an answer. I dont think any player wasn't trying on Saturday... just tactically it was all wrong. IMO we need a more counter attacking set up.... and if we sit back we are just inviting pressure and eventually something gives.... I will go even further and suggest that at a senior level we have got it wrong ... changing managers all the time and we are still dropping form end of season... again..
