A theory on our defensive problems.

[Jimmy-g]

:lol:

 

[Spursalot]

A theory?


Bar Sandro and Dembele we struggle with more physical teams. Parker is lightweight and Thudd is too slow to use what i can only hope is muscle.

Caulker and Vertonghen aren't that big, neither is Dawson to be honest. The only CB with physical presence we have is Kaboul.

 

[Jurgen the German]

A theory?


Bar Sandro and Dembele we struggle with more physical teams. Parker is lightweight and Thudd is too slow to use what i can only hope is muscle.

Caulker and Vertonghen aren't that big, neither is Dawson to be honest. The only CB with physical presence we have is Kaboul.

There's no question we've got a bigger side than we did last season. I don't expect us to struggle to deal with aerial threats from teams like Stoke as much as we have done in the past.

Caulker is pretty good in the air and Dawson lives for headers and tackles.

Spot on about Demebel and Sandro. We bullied United for example with those two.

 

[Spursalot]

There's no question we've got a bigger side than we did last season. I don't expect us to struggle to deal with aerial threats from teams like Stoke as much as we have done in the past.

Caulker is pretty good in the air and Dawson lives for headers and tackles.

Spot on about Demebel and Sandro. We bullied United for example with those two.

Caulker is good in the air yes, and Dawson lives for headers and tackles but they are both players i can see being bullied by more physical players.

 

[The Portugeezer]

screw all of you i know more about football then the lot of you tacos put together

the wife says i start well and then fall away at the end but maybe thats for random wooohooo

Don't lie... You don't have a wife.

 

[diego_maradona]

One thing to me that is clear is we do have defensive issues. We've got an ok defensive record because we dominate most games but it often just takes a couple of chances for the opposition to score, whereas we dominate but take 10 chances to score 1. We need some stability at the back and leadership. Shouldn't have rested Daws today

 

[Kingdawson]

One thing to me that is clear is we do have defensive issues. We've got an ok defensive record because we dominate most games but it often just takes a couple of chances for the opposition to score, whereas we dominate but take 10 chances to score 1. We need some stability at the back and leadership. Shouldn't have rested Daws today

Agreed.

Throughout the season we rarely give teams clear cut chances yet we still concede quite a lot. I think some of it is simply being unlucky but we could be doing better defensivley.

 

[lurker of old]

My belief is ALWAYS to start with your best team then rest a player or two once the game is won, which would have meant starting with dembele and Daws.... our highly paid manager had other plans though....

 

[JPG_357]

Play our best defenders, Lloris Dawson and JV, this is a big help.

Our full backs are a problem, I still fear BAE will be a problem for our high line even with Hugo behind him. I prefer Naughton to Walker but neither seem to be good enough ATM.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Because of Bale and Lennon, teams often sit back against us, which tends to ease the pressure on our defense. And we often press the ball high up the pitch - defend as a team and all that.

And that's exactly how it should be done.

You defend by i) keeping possession and ii) pressing high up the pitch. Last ditch tackles and all that are for amateurs.

 

[metalgear]

We are set up pretty much around "offence is the best defence".
if there is an issue it has always been and still is th lack of clinical and/or creative finishers up front.

 

[Mulletperm]

I'm probably going to get ripped apart for this but, as good as Vertonghen is going forward (particularly when he was at LB) he sometimes disappoints me defensively. He gets wrong-footed fairly often, and it's when that happens, especially if he's further upfield, that he doesn't track back.

As much as I hate to say it, you would never see John Terry (cough spit hack ugh) sauntering back with an attacker running through.

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

My theory is that our defenders have regressed especailly caulker because in trainning every day they are coming up against static strikers and they let their standards drop. All we need for caulker and the others to improve is a striker in training who runs about a bit. Yep we need pav back then our defenders will improve.

The defenders haven't regressed.

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

I'm probably going to get ripped apart for this but, as good as Vertonghen is going forward (particularly when he was at LB) he sometimes disappoints me defensively. He gets wrong-footed fairly often, and it's when that happens, especially if he's further upfield, that he doesn't track back.

As much as I hate to say it, you would never see John Terry (cough spit hack ugh) sauntering back with an attacker running through.

I have seen it, a few times last season. The problem is Vertonghen isn't that fast, so when we play a high line and he gets beat he has little chance of catching up to make a recovery tackle. But I agree that he should at least try.

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

And that's exactly how it should be done.

You defend by i) keeping possession and ii) pressing high up the pitch. Last ditch tackles and all that are for amateurs.

You make it sound so simple, and yet hardly any teams can do what you are stating. So I guess most defenders are amateurs?

 

[ArcspacE]

We have poor right backs.

We have no DECENT cover for Ekotto.

We tend to buy defenders who are very good footballers rather than very good defenders. Imagine the reaction on GG if we tried to sign someone like Shawcross.

By the looks of things - the roles might have changed lately!

 

[tynesidespur]

One thing to me that is clear is we do have defensive issues. We've got an ok defensive record because we dominate most games but it often just takes a couple of chances for the opposition to score, whereas we dominate but take 10 chances to score 1. We need some stability at the back and leadership. Shouldn't have rested Daws today

I have a a theory on Dawson's non appearance yesterday. I don't think AVB has ever started Friedel and Dawson in the same match? Lloris has started consistently since the NLD. Dawson got 45 mins then and has started almost every game since (when fit), other than today...May just be coincidence but I think he may have put Daws on the bench since Friedel was starting yesterday.

 

[Danners9]

My theory is that we don't score enough goals, therefore the pressure of a 0-0/1-0 scoreline increases as the opposition team floods forward - eg Norwich and West Brom at home - causing more problems while trying desperately to hang on to a narrow lead or protect the goal. As everyone comes back there is no out ball and the pressure multiplies - both on the pitch as they create plenty of chances but don't take them and off the pitch as the fans now expect/demand victory at home and the groans get louder and louder.

The solution would be to have a clinical striker who turns one of the 10-15 chances per game into more than 1 goal. As we have conceded 6 goals in the last 12 league games, we have scored 21 but only won by more than 1 goal 4 times (West Ham, Fulham, Villa, Reading).

Comparing the other games to the stats (from the BBC reports).

Swansea at home, 16 shots on target, 1 goal.
Stoke at home, 14 shots on target, 0 goals.
Sunderland at away, 14 shots on target, 2 goals.
Liverpool at home, 9 shots on target, 2 goals.
Man Utd at home, 18 shots on target, 1 goal.
QPR away, 8 shots on target, 0 goals.

Take the chances, kill off the games and defending becomes easier. In most games Lloris has very little to do as it is.

 

[Spurs7891]

Can't help but worry about Vertonghen's form lately. He was solid in defence and attack at the start of the season but slow and error-prone nowadays. Wonder if he is starting to find the pace in England too much to handle.

 

[Kingdawson]

Can't help but worry about Vertonghen's form lately. He was solid in defence and attack at the start of the season but slow and error-prone nowadays. Wonder if he is starting to find the pace in England too much to handle.

What other games has he been poor lately bar yesterday?