Central Defence

[MeMeMe]

Both of the goals we conceded against Bournemouth were the fault of our central defence, Pearce & Gorks. First goal both attackers were in front of our defensive pairing leading the header, then the tap in. Second, Gorks just stood off the scoring player allowing him room to manoeuvre and shoot.

We will be struggling to achieve the play-offs if this continues. First objective in the Jan transfer window is find a decent central defender to play alongside Morrison. At present, our back two are WEAK !.

[Hertfordshire Royal]

Both the goals came after Robson Kanu needlessly lost the ball. Keep him off the pitch and we will be fine

[floyd__streete]

Can't help but notice that both goals were conceded with AZ out of the country and Nigel Adkins in charge of team affairs

[Wimb]

Both the goals came after Robson Kanu needlessly lost the ball. Keep him off the pitch and we will be fine

tbf wasn't the second Guthrie losing the ball? Or selling someone horrendously short with a header?

[Hertfordshire Royal]

Can't help but notice that both goals were conceded with AZ out of the country and Nigel Adkins in charge of team affairs

and we only ever concede at home when Kingsley is there. Ditch the useless Lion

[Doolittle]

Didn't the first goal have something to do with Chris Gunter not taking responsibility at the back post ? Ady Williams seemed to think so, anyway. Certainly the long straight ball from Bournemouth was allowed to travel too far, and somehow the Bournmeouth player got in a header from inside the 6 yard boc without any Reading defender even putting a body in the way. Very poor.

The second was Kaspars conceding way too much space. If he closes players down, they go past him too easily (e.g. Henderson's goal at the Nottm Forest game). If he drops off too far, they get shots in too easily. Not really his fault - he's a warrior but one whoses loss of mobility has put him in a Catch-22 situation. But.. he's our only option alongside Pearce right now, .. unless we move Gunter to CB.... but see above !

Injuries have really hurt us at CB, unfortunately. Baird could have covered if he'd been fit. I think Hector would provide a better alternative to Kaspars in the New Year.

[Hertfordshire Royal]

Both the goals came after Robson Kanu needlessly lost the ball. Keep him off the pitch and we will be fine

tbf wasn't the second Guthrie losing the ball? Or selling someone horrendously short with a header?

could well have been. they were all pretty useless to be fair. I

[Cureton's Volley]

Guthrie gave the ball away for one goal, and gave away the free kick for the other

[specialjon]

Guthrie gave the ball away for one goal, and gave away the free kick for the other

But he isn't the current blame person! Get with the program. We all think HRK is rubbish.......

[ILoveMoonPig]

I think its more worrying that we play with 5 to 6 outfield players in defensive positions and still concede goals the way we do.

[Cureton's Volley]

Guthrie gave the ball away for one goal, and gave away the free kick for the other

But he isn't the current blame person! Get with the program. We all think HRK is rubbish.......

I think they are almost all rubbish

Bring back Tony Rougier

[Handsome Man]

Guthrie gave the ball away for one goal, and gave away the free kick for the other

This

Guthrie was officially at fault for both goals in anybody's blame-dishing statistics surely?

[Cureton's Volley]

Guthrie gave the ball away for one goal, and gave away the free kick for the other

This

Guthrie was officially at fault for both goals in anybody's blame-dishing statistics surely?

Well he's an upper-quartile grade twat, so he is officially guilty of any slant thrown his way, until proven innocent (and even then perhaps)

[St. Brynjar]

Guthrie gave the ball away for one goal, and gave away the free kick for the other

This

Guthrie was officially at fault for both goals in anybody's blame-dishing statistics surely?

Well he's an upper-quartile grade twat, so he is officially guilty of any slant thrown his way, until proven innocent (and even then perhaps)

You know him personally then?

[Ian Royal]

Both the goals came after Robson Kanu needlessly lost the ball. Keep him off the pitch and we will be fine

tbf wasn't the second Guthrie losing the ball? Or selling someone horrendously short with a header?

Given a tricky header under pressure from Gorkss, which he then sold someone else short with. So yes, it wasn't HRK for the second.

I can see why you'd confuse black, fat arsed HRK playing as a forward, with white, mohawk sporting central midfielder Guthrie though.

[Royal Ginger]

The second was Kaspars conceding way too much space. If he closes players down, they go past him too easily (e.g. Henderson's goal at the Nottm Forest game). If he drops off too far, they get shots in too easily.

Cummings, Pearce and Gorkss were all conceding alot of ground against Charlton too, even when they were on top. Although it looked awful it was actually quite effective as there were always too many bodies back for Charlton to do anything with it. It may actually be a tactical approach to stop our slow defence getting sprinted past.

[3points]

All of our defenders seem to back off too much for me, rather than stepping in and trying to nick the ball or make a tackle. This was the same under McD last season too. Perhaps scared of getting skinned.

[NewCorkSeth]

All of our defenders seem to back off too much for me, rather than stepping in and trying to nick the ball or make a tackle. This was the same under McD last season too. Perhaps scared of getting skinned.

It's covering innit. As a former defender and current Football Manager manager I like defenders who dont get too cocky and try to nick the ball, and who are smart enough not to dive at the oncoming player.

Covering is the greatest weapon of the CB.

If they step up to tackle there are 3 possibilities* 1) they tackle them 2) they don't tackle them 3) the opponent gets rid of the ball. Obviously 2 is pretty bad.
If they try to nick the ball there are 3 possibilities* 1) they nick the ball 2) They don't nick the ball. 3) the opponent gets rid of the ball. Again 2 is obviously bad.

If they cover back then there are 6 possibilities* 1) they mark their man and the area behind them. 2) more teammates arrive back 3) the opponent gets rid of the ball 4) they can step up to tackle 4) they can try nick the ball 5) more opponents arrive forward 6) you back up into the goalkeeper, he falls over and they score

I guess what I am trying to illustrate is that covering gives you a lot more options while leaving less room for costly errors. By moving forward you put yourself into that situation where if you make a mistake you will more than likely pay for it. I support the idea that CB's should cover the area behind them at all times, remain on their feet, and in general not create more space behind them at any time while defending


*Not including acts of God or medical emergencies

[Hertfordshire Royal]

Both the goals came after Robson Kanu needlessly lost the ball. Keep him off the pitch and we will be fine

tbf wasn't the second Guthrie losing the ball? Or selling someone horrendously short with a header?

Given a tricky header under pressure from Gorkss, which he then sold someone else short with. So yes, it wasn't HRK for the second.

I can see why you'd confuse black, fat arsed HRK playing as a forward, with white, mohawk sporting central midfielder Guthrie though.

HRK isn't really black thogugh is he Looks like my memory is failing me, either that or I was playing candy crush at the time

[LUX]

your location is troubling me, Hertfordshire