Deucalion Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 Liverpool conceded almost double the goals than Chelsea last season (50 and 27 respectively) and still finished ahead of them in the league. Its not the be all and end all if you concede a few goals. Our attacking line up has looked pretty solid so far and long may it continue. To have only conceded 10 goals in the fixtures weve played so far for a newly promoted team is not bad going surely. Hopefully you are right. Another six games and we should have a better idea of our defence against teams which don't have us under siege for large parts of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin JD Popley Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 I think it has been said elsewhere, but, I feel when Matt Upson finally makes his bow for us he will make a massive difference to the solidity of our defence. I think it gives us the option to play 5 at the back if needs be, or alternatively, another dimension should Wes and Liam uncharacteristically lose form. Some of our defending has been dubious, I won't lie, as some of the goals we have conceded thus far have been the result of our mistakes rather than any added quality we have faced. Whether that is our defence as a whole or individuals, I wouldn't wish to specify. HOWEVER, we have 8 points after 6 games which is more than anyone in the media felt we would amass. Most of us hoped but weren't sure if that points total would be possible, so, we're doing ok. Burnley this weekend, should (hopefully), be another win on the board or at worst a point. Let's see where we are come the end of October but I have a funny feeling that NP will be getting onto them all about the defending against Palace and they won't want to continually do drills on set piece defending - so it is in their interests to rectifiy some of the issues, but, they will. Otherwise, we wouldn't be in the Premiership would we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potter3 Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 Five of our six opponents are among the eight highest scoring teams in the league. The other team we played, we kept a clean sheet. I'm not saying we've defended particularly well, but thankfully we've been scoring too enough to make up for that. The next six fixtures are Burnley, Newcastle, Swansea, West Brom, Southampton and Sunderland. If we've conceded 20 after those games then perhaps it will be a legitimate cause for concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DANGEROUS TIGER Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 We've been terrible at set pieces for the past couple of years, got a bit better this season now with Ulloa defending. Also Kasper isn't the best at coming out and dominating his area. I thought we did very well at set pieces with Hamer in goal. I agree. There were some very weird tactics going on at Palace, last week. No one seemed to be in command within the defence. Big Wes is playing the ball well enough, but doesn't do much calling, to organise the defence, especially at set pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan LCFC Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 I wouldn't go as far as saying we're solid defensively, but I'm not massively concerned yet given the opposition we've been playing. Set pieces are naturally going to be a struggle for this team. Schmeichel's no good in the air, Moore & Morgan are nothing special in the air, neither are the full-backs. In-fact, other than Ulloa, I think we're aerially up to very little. Possibly harsh on the centre halves, but I think they're far more effective winning the ball on the floor. Actually, Andy King as well is decent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 Apparently Jedinak ran the show from midfield? From what I've read and heard. Is this true? Brings me back to an earlier point. Conceding goals is a TEAM thing. It's not only about the defence. If Jedinak.. a decent player, but lets not kid ourselves, he aint brilliant, can have that big an impact on a game, then where were our midfielders? It appears that they neither created very much, offensively, nor did they particularly have much of an impact on defending the set pieces? Again, we run the risk of slating Nugent for not scoring goals and the defence for conceding them whilst glossing over the probability that our midfield appeared to not do an awful lot to help in either respect? We are best IMO, when our midfield gets hold of a game. Especially Drinkwater. When he's ticking, we look better going forward and we look better as a defensive unit. He's the key, for me. And if Jedinak did boss that central area? that sets alarm bells ringing in my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan LCFC Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 Palace just stopped us playing. They cut off everything and took advantage of our weakness. I slagged off the appointment of Warnock but he did a great job at the weekend. When you've got a blatant weakness like ours (set pieces) then we're always going to be at risk of losing no matter what. Ulloa's improved our set pieces but not to the extent that I would discount it at a weakness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 Palace just stopped us playing. They cut off everything and took advantage of our weakness. I slagged off the appointment of Warnock but he did a great job at the weekend. You can only stop playing if you allow the opposition to stop you playing. Really good players (and tactics) will enable you to find a way through. It appears we failed on both counts on Saturday. That's worrying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan LCFC Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 You can only stop playing if you allow the opposition to stop you playing. Really good players (and tactics) will enable you to find a way through. It appears we failed on both counts on Saturday. That's worrying. They played the perfect physical game. We're an energetic side, but physically we aren't the strongest. I'm disappointed that we allowed ourselves to be physically muscled out of a game. If it's any consolation I think very few sides would've beaten Palace last weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 They played the perfect physical game. We're an energetic side, but physically we aren't the strongest. I'm disappointed that we allowed ourselves to be physically muscled out of a game. If it's any consolation I think very few sides would've beaten Palace last weekend. Where was the physical battle lost Dan? Surely not Morgan and Moore? They don't usually lose physical battles. Midfield? Jedinak? Get my point? I wasnt there, so I'm surmising, but I don't usually see our centre backs losing physical battles. RDL can, sometimes. Konch is usually a tough little battler and Vardy and Ulloa never back out of physical battles. Was it lost in the midfield? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stadt Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 I think people are getting a bit hung up on set pieces yeah we're not fantastic at defending them but we're bound to concede set piece goals because everybody does, even Chelsea who are the best side in the league and are considerably taller than us. If we were conceding one a game then there's cause for concern but we've looked much better at dealing with them this year than last. It's a personnel issue at the minute rather than a managerial one and I'm content with our defence, for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan LCFC Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 Where was the physical battle lost Dan? Surely not Morgan and Moore? They don't usually lose physical battles. Midfield? Jedinak? Get my point? I wasnt there, so I'm surmising, but I don't usually see our centre backs losing physical battles. RDL can, sometimes. Konch is usually a tough little battler and Vardy and Ulloa never back out of physical battles. Was it lost in the midfield? Midfield and attack. Defensively we were 'OK' but the set piece defending as a team wasn't good enough so that invalidates that. Drinkwater was dreadful, as bad as I've ever seen him for us. Cambiasso was 'meh', Hammond was a passenger, Nugent was a passenger, Ulloa/Vardy tried but to no real avail. If anywhere I would say the midfield, correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxfordfox83 Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 I agree. There were some very weird tactics going on at Palace, last week. No one seemed to be in command within the defence. Big Wes is playing the ball well enough, but doesn't do much calling, to organise the defence, especially at set pieces. I think you're bang on here. Wes is a leader in the sense of inspiration: big good tackles, good cover and body on the line stuff. I think we could do with a set piece leader (Konch? He's been around, and as he's short he won't be first ball defence and probably has more attention to spare.) Doesn't have to be the captain... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuchsntf Posted 30 September 2014 Author Share Posted 30 September 2014 I think people are getting a bit hung up on set pieces yeah we're not fantastic at defending them but we're bound to concede set piece goals because everybody does, even Chelsea who are the best side in the league and are considerably taller than us. If we were conceding one a game then there's cause for concern but we've looked much better at dealing with them this year than last. It's a personnel issue at the minute rather than a managerial one and I'm content with our defence, for now. Its not the conceding of set pieces, on the odd occasion, but in the PL its often the difference between, like for like teams,a team losing where draws would of been the norm.I wasnt at the game but watched the highlights, plus many on here posted, we should of got a point out of the game. Cross, Sjoberg, Walsh, Elliot just a few players who commanded the penalty area, and scored at set pieces. Yes some seasons they were the difference, where we were playing the next season. Again I am not advocating, that Wes or Liam are not quality defenders, or we should change the team. I expect though Wes as the expierenced CB to be more vocal, and organise the defence at set pieces, plus we dont tend to command the P.area at set pieces consistently enough. Has mentioned before, from other posters we have a tendency to give away too many soft goals at set pieces. A weakness that many have picked upon during last season.Its become an issue that according to other threads and posts we need to show improvement.Wes and Liam's general play I believe has been quality, and a major reason why our start has been a success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfhound Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 Couldn't let the Mau U game go by without some recognition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuchsntf Posted 30 September 2014 Author Share Posted 30 September 2014 Couldn't let the Mau U game go by without some recognition. 6http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp9_GEU0cu8 Honestly the best laugh I've had in years....Brilliant, but you missed where he also said, they have made a better bunker at the KP better than you sh#ts built for me. THE end was coming because you let General Pearson get round our defence and invade Rumania, even fooling our special wolf forces.Mussolini let us down by creating a traitorous propaganda man, this Balotelli makes Goebels look worse than Patton or even worse our SA. Discredited in front of the SSPORTS pundits Please brush upon your translations.!!!!..hahahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miquel The Work Geordie Posted 30 September 2014 Share Posted 30 September 2014 Couldn't let the Mau U game go by without some recognition. You really are dining out on this aren't you? Jesus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royston. Posted 1 October 2014 Share Posted 1 October 2014 At the start of the season if someone told me we'd have 8 points from the first 6 games but we must let in 10 goals I'd be fine with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al-aLondon-Foxile Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 This. We clearly struggle to defend set pieces with the combination we have, we could really do with a Skrtel or Mertesacker type centre back who just takes complete command of most of the situations. Second goal he couldn't do anything about but the first was a high hanging corner and I think a lot of top keepers would have came and got that one, thought our centre backs got really bullied at times on Saturday, might have been a game for Wasyl. I've said all along that Kasper will never be a top top keeper until he learns how to command his box and tbh I don't think he has the physical stature to do it. BUT I also think that he was wise to stay at home for the first goal, there were too many players to negotiate for him to attack that cross IMO. It was a soft one to concede but i'd look at others to blame first. The second was a great goal, attacked from distance and a powerful header into the corner. Zonal marking can't deal with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxfordfox83 Posted 2 October 2014 Share Posted 2 October 2014 I've said all along that Kasper will never be a top top keeper until he learns how to command his box and tbh I don't think he has the physical stature to do it. BUT I also think that he was wise to stay at home for the first goal, there were too many players to negotiate for him to attack that cross IMO. It was a soft one to concede but i'd look at others to blame first. The second was a great goal, attacked from distance and a powerful header into the corner. Zonal marking can't deal with that. I thought this was pretty much what zonal marking was made for: rather than follow the player your job is to get a head on the ball as early as possible. You're absolutely right that it was a cracking goal and sometimes you're going to concede like that, but if the zonal system had worked I think it was De Laet's challenge to make, rather than having Hammond following the man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al-aLondon-Foxile Posted 3 October 2014 Share Posted 3 October 2014 I thought this was pretty much what zonal marking was made for: rather than follow the player your job is to get a head on the ball as early as possible. You're absolutely right that it was a cracking goal and sometimes you're going to concede like that, but if the zonal system had worked I think it was De Laet's challenge to make, rather than having Hammond following the man. I agree entirely, but the problem is when someone attacks a ball like that with a run from distance I don't think a relatively static jump will ever beat them to it. Especially if the guy attacking is tall and strong, he's likely to win any challenge. They say you shouldn't concede from set plays, but it would be a pretty dull game that we football fans follow if that was the case. Sometimes you have to admire a goal like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bamba's Babes Posted 4 October 2014 Share Posted 4 October 2014 Liam Moore was awful today! He gave Juke so much room in the second half it was scary. Continued to let the ball bounce instead of picking it our of the air. Konch was solid. Morgan played well. De Laet, I just despair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterborofox Posted 4 October 2014 Share Posted 4 October 2014 Too easy to score against us lately, seem to switch off. RDL constantly out of position when defending at times today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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