bobby1413 Were there really that many players who went down? It doesn't really stick out in my mind as being a game like that.
There was a period in the first twenty minutes when every time Derby lost the ball one of their players would lie on the floor. Once I noticed that happening, I watched out for it, and it continued for the whole game. They are a nasty cynical side, and they will get caught out by it soon. A better ref would have let us play on a few times while their cheats acted out their feigned injuries and kept our attackers onside.
Having said that, they looked a good side, very well-organised in defence, neat in attack and with a gem in Hughes. They deserved the hard-fought 1-0 win they should have got if we hadn't given them two free goals in the first half.
I like Hector, Gunter or Pearce but they are completely isolated at times. Our defensive problems are not one of personnel, just of numbers. If you play a conventional 442, you have four defenders and at least one defensive midfielder, alongside two wingers who know their defensive duties - up to seven players contributing to keeping goals out. On Saturday, we had three defenders and Obita sharing defensive duties with also having to be a left winger. Norwood and Taylor were attacking midfielders, Mackie was on the right wing with no defensive responsibilities and Robson-Kanu played in the hole behind Cox and Murray: six players without any defensive responsibility. The passing is good at the moment, but you can understand why we are getting stuffed.
