Smiithy Fox Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 Speaks for its self really. With all the criticism on Whitbread recently regarding his defensive inabilities, which in my opinion is absolute rubbish, he has been a complete rock with defending balls from the air which arguably is what he is there for with Morgan being the stopper. Yes, he does sometimes lunge in, but for the forest penalty, he got the ball, then Sharps' momentum backed him into Whitbreads' body, which is where peoples judgement of him going "through him" came from. I could quite easily sit here and point out the obvious which we all know, so I shall, We don't score enough goals, as a team. I don't really know where I am going with this argument, I just wanted to say we have the second best defence in the league and sought arguments to back that up. Yes, so, second best defence in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry - LCFC Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 Just because we have a good defensive record does not mean Whitbread is a good player, there are a lot of other players out there defending you know? Whitbread hasn't even played that many games so I don't think attributing our success at the back to him is entirely correct, I think our midfield has had a far greater impact - we've made big improvements in how we control games this year so the opposition struggle to break through us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiithy Fox Posted 15 November 2012 Author Share Posted 15 November 2012 Just because we have a good defensive record does not mean Whitbread is a good player, there are a lot of other players out there defending you know? I never once said because we have a good defensive record, Whitbread is a good player. I stated the fact, then also included an argument that I knew would be brought into the debate. I do think Whitbread is a good player though. In terms of the midfield, I do agree. King looks to have improved massively over the season (last) where he was mostly out. He does the job that not many people see, shielding the defence. Drinkwater controls the ball when were in possession (most of the time), as you stated, due to us controlling the games, is why we have conceded so little. Although we always do look susceptible to set pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cc_star Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 The team defends, not one player... For the majority of games our team has had an amazing work ethic and a tempo that opposition has struggled to live with... Wolves first half, Watford & Palace aside that is! The fact Whitbread can head a ball (not with any direction, it just goes 100ft in the air) is neither here nor there... A controlled player who can actually retain possession when he wins the ball would be an improvement and add to the fact that person may not get themselves sent off or give-away freekicks or penalties because they're too slow. On the Whitbread point of view, I hope he becomes as good as people said he was, but he hasn't shown it for us yet and he's been at direct fault for goals against or involved in decisions that have gone against us. If not then he loos passable back-up & can maybe come in when we're playing against big forwards like Henderson, but away from that if continues as he has done he's a liability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry - LCFC Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 I never once said because we have a good defensive record, Whitbread is a good player. I stated the fact, then also included an argument that I knew would be brought into the debate. I do think Whitbread is a good player though. In terms of the midfield, I do agree. King looks to have improved massively over the season (last) where he was mostly out. He does the job that not many people see, shielding the defence. Drinkwater controls the ball when were in possession (most of the time), as you stated, due to us controlling the games, is why we have conceded so little. Although we always do look susceptible to set pieces. The title of this thread is "Second best defence in the league" - Is that not saying we have a good defensive record? That's how I read it. Plus, I just worked out that we have conceded 0.77 goals a game without Whitbread in the side and 1.0 goals a game with him in the team. Now I don't suggest we all read too much into this because we have had a bit of a blip recently which will have contributed to this but it shows that he doesn't improve our defence. St Ledger is better I feel, I'd much rather have him playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiithy Fox Posted 15 November 2012 Author Share Posted 15 November 2012 The title of this thread is "Second best defence in the league" I put I never once said because we have a good defensive record, Whitbread is a good player. Sorry if it wasn't clear, but after the comma was part of my point. Although St. Ledger was in a good run of form, he's been out for a while and may not hit the same form he was at. If Whitbread does cost us games, then yes, I would love to see St Ledger back in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry - LCFC Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 I put Sorry if it wasn't clear, but after the comma was part of my point. Oh I see, sorry Probably more my fault for not reading what you put properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shade Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 whitbread's positional sense is appalling though, he gets pulled out of position, gets too close to his man and then gets turned with ease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveherbe Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 Funny innit? A few months ago, Sledge was the devil incarnate, should never play for us again, sell him, bloody rubbish. Now he's out, we can't wait to get him back again! Same old City fans, fickle to the last. This is not to slag anyone off, just an observation. We'll do no bloody good until Eliott and Taggart are playing again - anyone know how long they are out for? Oh, and that kid Walsh, he could be a good player given half a chance - I could even see him lifting a trophy for us. I remember years back we played Soton at the Dell. First minute they played a through ball for Kevin Davies to run on to. Elliott turned with all the grace 'n pace of an oil tanker. By the time he was facing the right way, Davies had blasted the ball into the stands, and our keeper was lining up the goal kick. Thought we were gonna get hammered. Soton then proceeded to bombard our defence with high balls for the next 89 minutes - Matty was magnificent, never missed a ball all game. Just goes to show, 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB11 Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 Yes, so, second best defence in the league. Well we know what happened last time we had that statistic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Walsh5 Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 Personally I thought we were better defensively when NP was here first time round. With the exception of Morgan I think we were more solid in the 09/10 season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPH Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 Not been a good few games.. havnt won for 4 games is it? But i think we have been spoilt by that 5 game run and the scintilating form of some of the players in that time. In short, im more than happy with where we are in the league and delighted to have such a good defensive record... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Fox Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20344434?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter "We are doing OK this season. We aspire to get back into the top two and that is an ongoing process, but it will be more important to talk about whether we have achieved the goals at the end of the season." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DifferentViewOnFootball Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 How on earth has Whitebread been a rock? He is a calamity, the only thing he can do is compete for headers. I say compete, becuase he doesn't win half of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyFromLE Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 How on earth has Whitebread been a rock? He is a calamity, the only thing he can do is compete for headers. I say compete, becuase he doesn't win half of them! Absolute bullshit. I've seen him lose like 2 headers. In the air he's excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPH Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 How on earth has Whitebread been a rock? He is a calamity, the only thing he can do is compete for headers. I say compete, becuase he doesn't win half of them! Absolute bullshit. I've seen him lose like 2 headers. In the air he's excellent. He also made a precisely timed inch=perfect tackle that the ref somehow gave as a penalty... He's nothing special. Yet. but he is improving. But 'a calamity' is going too far... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 Really? Can't argue with fact but I don't understand how we have the second best defence in the league, we have scored in every game (But one?) and we are struggling to put games to bed. I know we are 5th, 6 points off top, which is good, but you have to admit we should have won more games this season, based on our performances and chances - you can argue we are scoring because like I said, we've scored in every game (But one), so you look at the defence for conceading - We have the 2nd best defence, apparently. So where is the problem? Why aren't we winning more games? Oh yeah the referees (Only joking) I still think it boils down to lack of goals, personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry - LCFC Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 Really? Can't argue with fact but I don't understand how we have the second best defence in the league, we have scored in every game (But one?) and we are struggling to put games to bed. I know we are 5th, 6 points off top, which is good, but you have to admit we should have won more games this season, based on our performances and chances - you can argue we are scoring because like I said, we've scored in every game (But one), so you look at the defence for conceading - We have the 2nd best defence, apparently. So where is the problem? Why aren't we winning more games? Oh yeah the referees (Only joking) I still think it boils down to lack of goals, personally. I agree, we score consistently but not with enough "bulk" per game as it were. One goal in a game is often not enough to win it, I think it's a harsh criticism of our team but it needs to be sorted if we're going to go for the top two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanTheFox07 Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 oh my day`s whitbread and good defender come in the same sentence change that for st ledger and then we`ll talk buisness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ttfn Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 Well we know what happened last time we had that statistic! You backed the ref? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 oh my day`s whitbread and good defender come in the same sentence change that for st ledger and then we`ll talk buisness We'll leave that for Pearson's judgement, seeing as he knows a hell of a lot more than you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bert Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 Means nothing. Had one of the best defences in the league the season we got relegated to league one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 15 November 2012 Share Posted 15 November 2012 Who had the second best defence in the league during Pearson's first Championship campaign? Leicester City..... Did we win the league? No we finished 6th... Why? Because we didn't score enough goals.... Enuff said IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ealingfox Posted 16 November 2012 Share Posted 16 November 2012 Who had the second best defence in the league during Pearson's first Championship campaign? Leicester City..... Did we win the league? No we finished 6th... Why? Because we didn't score enough goals.... Enuff said IMO. Actually we finished 5th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corky Posted 16 November 2012 Share Posted 16 November 2012 Who had the second best defence in the league during Pearson's first Championship campaign? Leicester City..... Did we win the league? No we finished 6th... Why? Because we didn't score enough goals.... Enuff said IMO. Did you really expect us to finish above Newcastle and West Bromwich, basically two Premier League teams in the Championship (as they've proved since their return)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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