Defensive Credit

[chrishlcfc]

I don't think any of us really give our defence the credit they deserve myself included.Rightly the plaudits so often go to vardy,mahrez,kante or Drinkwater but the defence has been brilliant recently with all 4 defenders and schmeichel being consistently good so I feel they deserve more credit than they actually get.

[shen]

They've gotten a lot of credit...? The only ones I feel that are still not getting much praise are Schmeichel, Albrighton, King and Okazaki. Probably because they are often in the shadow of others, but they have all played crucial parts as well.

[STUHILL]

Yeh must admit, I have heard pundits mention the defence numerous times and how great the back four have been, particular Morgan and Huth and Kasper is highly rated by all. Simpson and Fuchs should maybe get more limelight though. 

 

I think I have heard nearly every first team member individually praised by pundits over the season though, so although most talk is about Vardy/Mahrez, the others get regularly acknowledged too

[chrishlcfc]

They've gotten a lot of credit...? The only ones I feel that are still not getting much praise are Schmeichel, Albrighton, King and Okazaki. Probably because they are often in the shadow of others, but they have all played crucial parts as well.

Obviously everybody has played a crucial part and the defence do get credit, but so often they just get overshadowed by the midfielders and strikers and in the last month or so the defending has improved markedly from early on in the season when we were still winning games but having to score 2 or 3 goals to win and now we are looking solid at the back.

[Donut]

Huth basically marked Ighalo out of the game yesterday i thought. Very impressive

[EnglishOxide]

Morgan has been the best centre back in the league. The only error he has made was in the first Stoke game (or was it Southampton?) where he scissor kicked it to put their striker in one on one

[chrishlcfc]

Huth basically marked Ighalo out of the game yesterday i thought. Very impressive

Yes we completely shackled there 2 strikers. I think Deeney must have only touched the ball about 5 times in the whole match.

[Birmingham fox]

Simpson is massively underrated. Can't recall a winger who has given him a tough time all season. If he was comfortable coming forward and with the ball he would be in the England squad

[Bedford Fox]

We have a steady back four and a outstanding keeper. I think Fuchs is The best left back I have ever seen in a city shirt. It's a credit to the club that we can attract players like this.

[DJ Barry Hammond]

Simpson is massively underrated. Can't recall a winger who has given him a tough time all season. If he was comfortable coming forward and with the ball he would be in the England squad

On his appearance on MOTD2 extra yesterday, he mentioned that he's adapted his game so he doesn't overlap Mahrez as that denies him the space to play in.

We have a steady back four and a outstanding keeper. I think Fuchs is The best left back I have ever seen in a city shirt. It's a credit to the club that we can attract players like this.

Sheehan???

[Finnegan]

They've gotten a lot of credit...? The only ones I feel that are still not getting much praise are Schmeichel, Albrighton, King and Okazaki. Probably because they are often in the shadow of others, but they have all played crucial parts as well.

Pretty much everyone loves Kasper don't they?

He can be a massive liability but he's probably saved us as many points as he's lost. His command of his area is getting worse instead of better, it's absolutely shocking, but he may well be the best shot stopper we've had in my lifetime (and I'm saying that as a boyhood Keller fan.)

King will never get the credit he's due because he's a ghost. Even when he's doing well it's about subtly breaking up play and finding pockets of space. He rarely does the spectacular.

Not sure I agree with Albrighton either, most people I know are fans? He's been brilliant for most of this season.

[halibut]

A Zonal Marking article covers Leicester's defensive structure in some depth -- Richard has posted the link before, but for those that have missed it then, the article is worth a read. 

http://www.zonalmarking.net/2016/02/10/manchester-city-1-3-leicester-early-goal-allows-leicester-to-play-on-the-break/

[Babylon]

I don't think they have been getting much credit until perhaps the last month or so, where people have twigged we're not the same defence as the one early season.

[Riot Van]

If we had started with Fuchs and Simpson at fullbacks we would have won the league already lads 

[shen]

Obviously everybody has played a crucial part and the defence do get credit, but so often they just get overshadowed by the midfielders and strikers and in the last month or so the defending has improved markedly from early on in the season when we were still winning games but having to score 2 or 3 goals to win and now we are looking solid at the back.

 

A large part of this is down to Ranieri instructing the midfield to cover the defence more, hence the back line isn't as exposed and has 'less work' to do because the guys in front are doing a lot of it already. NG, Drinky and Albrighton have all been superb helping out at the back ever since we got trounced by Arsenal, while Shinji, Mahrez and Vardy have disrupted the flow of opposition midfielders.

Their work catches the eye, yet when we keep clean sheets, pundits and experts usually praise the actual back line. Quite ironic really.

An example of this would be after Norwich where Schmeichel appeared in several Team of the Weeks, yet he was rarely troubled with anything in that game.

 

Pretty much everyone loves Kasper don't they?

He can be a massive liability but he's probably saved us as many points as he's lost. His command of his area is getting worse instead of better, it's absolutely shocking, but he may well be the best shot stopper we've had in my lifetime (and I'm saying that as a boyhood Keller fan.)

King will never get the credit he's due because he's a ghost. Even when he's doing well it's about subtly breaking up play and finding pockets of space. He rarely does the spectacular.

Not sure I agree with Albrighton either, most people I know are fans? He's been brilliant for most of this season.

 

Among pundits and in the media Kasper seems very highly rated (too highly really), but amongst our own fans he gets a lot of (unwarranted) grief.

I disagree that he's getting worse at commanding his area. His decision making has markedly improved and he's got a far better understanding with his defence regarding when to stay on the line and when to come out. Before he would often get stranded in the middle or come out flapping hopelessly.

We've not seen a lot of that this season. Instead he's been brilliant at coming off his line to intercept long balls and poor back passes.

 

It's a valid point regarding King, regarding flashiness (ironic given his belters over the years!). I believe it's his lack of dynamism and pace that leads to the 'ghost' perception.

 

Regarding Albrighton, again I think pundit and fan perspectives differ. He's getting universally praised for his work rate and the 'outlet' he provides, but where pundits like to focus on the bargain aspect, fans get frustrated at his often one-dimensional approach and poor shooting.

Statwise, he was pushing for an England call up until around Christmas, yet he was very rarely mentioned as an alternative in any medias.

You and I have both been critical of Albrighton recently, but like King, he rarely does anything flashy and from what I see on here he doesn't get a great amount of credit.

Would love to see how the four I named actually fare in the overall player rating polls done over the course of the season.

[Finnegan]

I'm sorry @@shen but his decision making and the command of his area is abysmal. This leads to some absolute howlers which is why he gets stick.

Rondon vs WBA the most recent example. Every twelve year old knows that you only come if you're going to commit.

Schweinsteiger at home was another. Two identical corners. Comes for one, collects, starts a counter and we score. Second one, leaves it and we concede. Ridiculous.

I like Kasper a lot, one of my favourite players and I iterate he's a world class shot stopper. Instincts are fantastic. But command of his area? Just awful.

Side note: he's ironically been given a 16 for rushing out on FM. Amazing.

[shen]

I'm sorry @@shen but his decision making and the command of his area is abysmal. This leads to some absolute howlers which is why he gets stick.

Rondon vs WBA the most recent example. Every twelve year old knows that you only come if you're going to commit.

Schweinsteiger at home was another. Two identical corners. Comes for one, collects, starts a counter and we score. Second one, leaves it and we concede. Ridiculous.

I like Kasper a lot, one of my favourite players and I iterate he's a world class shot stopper. Instincts are fantastic. But command of his area? Just awful.

Side note: he's ironically been given a 16 for rushing out on FM. Amazing.

 

Not saying he's flawless when he comes out and he makes mistakes like everyone one else, but when he did it against Jerome at 0-0 it put him off completely and Schmeichel gathered comfortably, that was significant. In the rest of that game he must've claimed four or five crosses. When he came out to touch Kane's effort onto the bar or when he stayed put and tipped Alderweireld's effort from a corner over in the same game. Or even when he came out storming Neuer-style to prevent a one on one vs Arsenal or even that back pass from Wes the other night. So he's clearly not abysmal.

I wouldn't even blame him for the Rondón goal, it was virtually the same situation as with Kane.

No, what he gets endless stick for is his distribution. Yeah, it's hit and mostly miss. However, it's been discussed several times that the misses aren't always costly and in fact prove beneficial on occasion. Few seem to praise him for actually being comfortable getting the ball to feet. It's such a crucial and understated part of our defence against pressing that our midfielders and defenders can pass it back to Kasper safe in the knowledge that he will boot it long and out of danger consistently. You so rarely see him miskick or not come out and make himself available. His long kicks and throws are instructions, that's blatantly obvious.

 

It's really ironic given how many times Mahrez' dribbles into cul de sacs or doesn't release the ball quickly enough, but that one time he succeeds it almost always results in a big chance. Then people will say he had a good game.

When Drinkwater tries one of his long raking diagonal passes into the channel, usually only one in five find Vardy or another teammate. But when it comes off, it looks spectacular and results in a chance or a corner. He's shown excellent vision and superb passing skills most would say.

When Kasper makes eight or nine kicks that go out into touch or are intercepted by the opposition and makes one or two superb balls that set us off three on three, he gets lambasted for poor distribution! In all cases, loss of possession is usually low risk as it's turned over in the opposition third, but why does one get criticised when the other two get praised?

[Finnegan]

I'm not really bothered by Kasper's distribution. It is what it is. He's asked to hit balls like a world class central midfielder which he isn't, it's hardly surprising a lot go astray.

It's frustrating but it's as much the manager's fault as his, he's just doing what he's told.

[AyewJoking]

a good defence is like a good referee, you hardly notice them.

[DB11]

Huth basically marked Ighalo out of the game yesterday i thought. Very impressive

 

What? If Ighalo could finish we'd have conceded numerous times, the only reason he was ineffective was because of his own doing not Huth

[AKCJ]

Fuchs and Huth are entering a slightly rough patch but Morgan and Simpson have been nothing short of immense in these last few weeks.

[AKCJ]

I'm not really bothered by Kasper's distribution. It is what it is. He's asked to hit balls like a world class central midfielder which he isn't, it's hardly surprising a lot go astray.

It's frustrating but it's as much the manager's fault as his, he's just doing what he's told.

 

Kasper is a 1 in 10 guy.

 

I'd rather him hit that world class pass that puts us 1 on 1 or whatever once in a blue moon than him safely pass it to the full back like De Gea or Lloris does.

 

It's part of our success. We are a hit and run type team. Some find that offensive but it's put us slap bang on the top of English football.

[Guest Col city fan]

Two reasons for this. The defence itself is better. Fuchs is better than Jeff at LB. Simpson is better than RDL.

Secondly..the midfield is better. The defence is now covered by central midfielders who thwart opposition attacks further up the field. The back 5 is thus put under less pressure and are making fewer errors.