STANDING OFF

[dorsetboy]

this is not having a go or anything , i was very proud of the display today and against everton . 

 

just thought i would ask what your thoughts are on the defence standing off when chelsea were attacking i noticed it against everton also. 

 

i just feel the opposition have so much time on the ball and available passes in one of the most dangerous areas of the pitch. 

 

do you feel applying more pressure in that area and bringing the defence slightly out more to apply pressure would cause the oppostion less time on the ball and be prone to making more passing errors or quick snap shots ?  

[Manwell Pablo]

this is not having a go or anything , i was very proud of the display today and against everton . 

 

just thought i would ask what your thoughts are on the defence standing off when chelsea were attacking i noticed it against everton also. 

 

i just feel the opposition have so much time on the ball and available passes in one of the most dangerous areas of the pitch. 

 

do you feel applying more pressure in that area and bringing the defence slightly out more to apply pressure would cause the oppostion less time on the ball and be prone to making more passing errors or quick snap shots ?  

 

Clearly tactical and worked,much better than charging out and getting skinned.

[shen]

It worked well for 60 minutes. Schmeichel didn't make a single save in the first half because they were forced to take shots from long range.

[leicesterlad1989]

Think there are times when you should get tighter and close down, ie when a player is lining up to shoot at the edge of the box. We should never over commit to tackles as the better teams will just take advantage of the space. Just need the right balance.

[morris1234]

I understand where your coming from but it all depends on so many variables. Who your up against, whose playing etc etc etc.

I agree at times this can be frustrating but at this level they have the ability to find any space you leave, be it dribbling through, passing through or those that make runs in behind. That's football for you, never one answer for one situation and that's why tactics are ao important.

Do you close hazard and give him less time...no? Well he's gonna turn, face the goal and run at you. Yes? Then he could spin you anyway, quick give and go and if you don't take it cleanly, there's no a void in your back line. Closing as a team works brilliantly but is very hard to do constantly throughout the game which is why pundits will always be heard saying , 'all go, or none go'

[STUHILL]

Noticed it a bit around the box and it allowed them time to pick short passes in and around the area. Was risky but the alternative is probably having our team drawn out of position and effecting the shape and then being exploited in the gaps.

 

High pressure can cause problems too and so perhaps Nige thought letting them have more time on the ball but holding our shape would be more effective way of defending against them today 

 

Overall thought we defended pretty well, but the class of Chelsea would be too much for most team's defence anywhere

[zak_lcfc]

Against teams like Chelsea it works well in comparison to pressing where they will pass rings around teams, In the Burnley game they moved the ball around with ease at points!

 

It frustrates attacking players as well because the only attempts they can get is from longer range.

 

Can be risky, giving quality players that much time can sometimes prove costly especially if they can ping a ball from 30-40 yards accurately and one lapse in concentration can be the difference between nothing and a goal.

[Manwell Pablo]

It worked well for 60 minutes. Schmeichel didn't make a single save in the first half because they were forced to take shots from long range.

 

Pearson really couldn't of done much more, not only did standing off work defensively it setup the two best chances for Nugent on the counter.

[Guest Col city fan]

The opposition can have the ball all they like in their half. If they have it for long periods in a position where they can hurt us, then it's gonna matter. This is why Neil Lennon was such a good player and so important to City. When the opposition reached a position where they could profit, he'd sit in front of the back four, nip in and win the ball. I think this City team will need this type of player. One who's sole job is just to defend by mopping up. It was a standing joke back then that you rarely saw Lennon in the oppositions half. But it worked a treat for MON.

[MHC]

As a defending player, if you move out of position to chase down the ball you leave your team vulnerable to attacks in the area the said player has moved away from, in the Championship you will get away with that 75% of the time, in the Premier League that percentage decreases significantly depending on who your playing against.

I'd imagine Nigel is instructing the defensive players to adopt a zonal marking system in order to be more organised when soaking up pressure and to not drift out of position for opposition players to take advantage of.

[shen]

The opposition can have the ball all they like in their half. If they have it for long periods in a position where they can hurt us, then it's gonna matter. This is why Neil Lennon was such a good player and so important to City. When the opposition reached a position where they could profit, he'd sit in front of the back four, nip in and win the ball. I think this City team will need this type of player. One who's sole job is just to defend by mopping up. It was a standing joke back then that you rarely saw Lennon in the oppositions half. But it worked a treat for MON.

 

Yet with this setup King, Hammond, Morgan and even Mahrez nipped in to take or intercept the ball from Costa, Schürrle, Fabregas and Matic a dozen of times allowing us to counter with ease. The midfield and defence were never more than 8-10 meters apart which made it ever so difficult for them to penetrate us. This whole midfield/defense-block is something Mourinho mastered during his first stint at Chelsea, so I'm quite smug about Pearson using his own tactics against him there...

[Haydos]

I understand where your coming from but it all depends on so many variables. Who your up against, whose playing etc etc etc.

I agree at times this can be frustrating but at this level they have the ability to find any space you leave, be it dribbling through, passing through or those that make runs in behind. That's football for you, never one answer for one situation and that's why tactics are ao important.

Do you close hazard and give him less time...no? Well he's gonna turn, face the goal and run at you. Yes? Then he could spin you anyway, quick give and go and if you don't take it cleanly, there's no a void in your back line. Closing as a team works brilliantly but is very hard to do constantly throughout the game which is why pundits will always be heard saying , 'all go, or none go'

 

I firmly agree with Pearson and most other managers here. The best way of suffocating teams in the final third is standing off and minimising the space available. If you're pressing then you have to get it spot on. If the wrong players press at the wrong times then gaps open up. Players like Fabregas, Hazard and Oscar will find this space with ease as soon as it appears. 

 

It's much harder to put a pass within a couple of feet of space regardless of how much time you have on the ball. Good players exploit pressing.

[Haydos]

The opposition can have the ball all they like in their half. If they have it for long periods in a position where they can hurt us, then it's gonna matter. This is why Neil Lennon was such a good player and so important to City. When the opposition reached a position where they could profit, he'd sit in front of the back four, nip in and win the ball. I think this City team will need this type of player. One who's sole job is just to defend by mopping up. It was a standing joke back then that you rarely saw Lennon in the oppositions half. But it worked a treat for MON.

 

Hammond did this job very well yesterday for me. Seemed to pick up lots of balls off players feet when they were being marked by someone else.

[Haydos]

I understand where your coming from but it all depends on so many variables. Who your up against, whose playing etc etc etc.

I agree at times this can be frustrating but at this level they have the ability to find any space you leave, be it dribbling through, passing through or those that make runs in behind. That's football for you, never one answer for one situation and that's why tactics are ao important.

Do you close hazard and give him less time...no? Well he's gonna turn, face the goal and run at you. Yes? Then he could spin you anyway, quick give and go and if you don't take it cleanly, there's no a void in your back line. Closing as a team works brilliantly but is very hard to do constantly throughout the game which is why pundits will always be heard saying , 'all go, or none go'

 

There's a difference between staying tight and 'pressing' which I think is what you're addressing.

 

You stay tight to Hazard, you make your presence known before he receives the ball so he's working within a tight area once he does get it. Yesterday we were tight to players but we weren't pressing the ball.

[cc_star]

In two minds about it today

Although Arsenal's best chances & indeed goal came from pushing out, rather than dropping off

I don't remember Schmeichel doing much despite the much talked about 24 chances (most snatched pot-shots from safe distance)

Carzola often had 20 yards of space & felt we didn't close him down as well as we did Hazard, Oscar & Schurrle last week, although we got the point today and could (should) have grabbed the win, so...

[Guest]

This is how you defend at the top level. 

Unfortunately fans all want players to rush up to win the ball but you get picked off. You have a midfield four then the closest one puts pressure on the ball. The pressure is only intended to make the player pass, not to tackle. The two closest midfielders drop back to cover the little through ball. The other midfielder takes their position from there.

it's called pressure, balance, valence. 

Unfortunately concepts like this don't get taught to anybody on Sunday league pitches so anybody who actually knows how to play football tactically is shouted down in a chorus of "get after him" - much as what happens amongst our fans usually. 

[Buzzell]

The opposition can keep the ball all they like as long as we defend as a unit and keep them out. Rather than diving in and making a mistake, we stand up strong as a unit.

But saying that giving the opposition time on the ball so close to our area is asking for trouble. It will only be a matter of time until we get punished, but then again we have defended really well over the past 3 games.

Swings in roundabouts.

[zak_lcfc]

Worked today against Sanogo a poor, unconfident young striker and an Arsenal team that seemed like they wanted to walk the ball in,

 

It frustrates teams like Arsenal because all of their passing play amounts to nothing and they start trying to force a way through, I was worried about where we were conceding some set-pieces but they were all dealt with/poor execution but when Wes and Moore are playing like they are in this system we really can't moan!

[dayday]

My only gripe is corners,why does the whole team defend in the box,we never push a player out.

If the ball is headed out,it comes straight back in .

Kasper has showed in games that he can get counter- attacks moving,imagine a Schlupp or a Vardy standing near the half way line,this will slow us to defend corners more easily,because the opposition will have get two players marking our player.

[sdb]

My only gripe is corners,why does the whole team defend in the box,we never push a player out.

If the ball is headed out,it comes straight back in .

Kasper has showed in games that he can get counter- attacks moving,imagine a Schlupp or a Vardy standing near the half way line,this will slow us to defend corners more easily,because the opposition will have get two players marking our player.

 

I think we're so desperate to not concede from set plays that we cram the box with 11 men - short sighted as you say because the balls keep coming back. Hopefully we'll start leaving someone on halfway soon.

 

We are standing off a lot at times - to be expected at times and especially against better sides, but I hope it doesn't become a default when we start playing teams we need to beat.

[dayday]

I think we're so desperate to not concede from set plays that we cram the box with 11 men - short sighted as you say because the balls keep coming back. Hopefully we'll start leaving someone on halfway soon.

We are standing off a lot at times - to be expected at times and especially against better sides, but I hope it doesn't become a default when we start playing teams we need to beat.

It's not like it's something new...we do all the time,so bloody frustrating.

[howlinmadmurfdoc]

My only gripe is corners,why does the whole team defend in the box,we never push a player out.

If the ball is headed out,it comes straight back in .

Kasper has showed in games that he can get counter- attacks moving,imagine a Schlupp or a Vardy standing near the half way line,this will slow us to defend corners more easily,because the opposition will have get two players marking our player.

The first Everton goal started with us not having anyone up the pitch while we were defending a corner, I'm guessing NP would rather have more men in the box basically defending two set pieces as more often than not we head the ball clear to the opposition who then come back at us.

I thought it was unusual but noticed today arsenal did the same.

[theessexfox]

We defend cleverly as Wenger put it, yes we stand off and let them pass it about in front of us (though not when their defenders have the ball, press them and they make mistakes as seen a few times today), and we close down the spaces in behind and don't let them through us. Great discipline and organisation.

[ian_marshall]

Tactically it was quite difficult for us today as they always had an extra man in midfield available to receive the ball. Thought we actually handled it pretty well really keeping our shape and not allowing them to disrupt our organisation. This was largely down to the work that both King and Hammond put in. Incredible energy levels considering that they were up against an extra man.

I really think Arsenal need to change from a back 4 to a back 3 if they want to play 5 across the midfield. For all of their possession they lacked options in the final third. I know Sanogo's been absolutely hammered by the Arsenal fans but I think he was too isolated and they gave him too much to do today.

[Hungry Hungry Fox]

Was almost a perfect defensive performance today. We frustrated them