Guest NorthernSoul Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 I agree, defence is looking as good as it ever has Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Venkman Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 I agree, defence is looking as good as it ever has unless you take out faye and we concede two goals from flighted free kicks into the box at goodison Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gleebals Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 I agree its looking alot better (against the shit teams), I just dont think it is good enough to get us upto 5th if we repeat some of the heavy defeats we have this season. We will score one more than you in todays game does not work. I think we should bring in a couple of better defenders (CD) and keep what we have. Without Taylor or Faye playing we have been even worse this season, logic says we need two players as good if not better than them to ensure we have a consistent defense over a season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NorthernSoul Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Yea, spot on! Was just about to say.... If we lost a centre half we'd be up the creek! That's why I think Richard Dunne would be a sensible move Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 I agree, defence is looking as good as it ever has I've been watching us since 1992 and our defence has never looked good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotus Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Defence hasn't been bad lately. Would look a LOT better with a good replacement for Butt, someone who can really get around. Wouldn't be averse to a new CB but not at the expense of a replacement for Geremi, Milner and Viduka. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gleebals Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Option 1) Spend a good percentage of our transfer budget on a defense and a good number of younger players with potential to compliment the rest of the squad we already have? Option 2) Ignore the defense on the strength of a few 'improved performances' and spend all the money on the midfield and a player to replace duke? Option 1 for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredbob Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 They always say build your defence from the front man so id go for option2. Simple fact is that when we concede possession and put ourselves under pressure - ala allardyce we concede plenty of goals because our defence isnt good enough but if we retain possession and try to limit the pressure ala keegan on our defence our defence looks alot better. Id say build an attacking unit capable of putting the squeeze on most teams and we'll concede half as many goals as we did this season. A new defender to compliment Faye would be nice as well - the more i think aboutit the more Woodgate would of been perfect for us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 To be fair I never said 'ignore the defence'. If Dunne is available, get him in, for example. What I mean is the focus and attention should be more on sorting out the bits of the team/squad that are complete gash. As of now, the defence doesn't come into that category when compared against the midfield. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 To be fair I never said 'ignore the defence'. If Dunne is available, get him in, for example. What I mean is the focus and attention should be more on sorting out the bits of the team/squad that are complete gash. As of now, the defence doesn't come into that category when compared against the midfield. You're right. I wouldn't complain at going into next season with the current back-four as starters, but I can't say the same about at least 3 of the other positions on the park (Butt, Geremi and Viduka - who's crocked anyway, so make that Smith/Carroll.... ). However, like you also said, we've got absolutely zero cover for either full-back and Edgar/Cacapa don't exactly fill me with confidence as pertains back-up to Taylor and Faye. Diatta - well who knows on him? We definitely need another left-back if Zoggy goes (probably do anyway), at the very least, but in an ideal world I'd like to see us sign a quality centre-half. Dunne fits the bill, for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 start from the back tbh. get a few good defenders in and builld on that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keefaz Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Start from the east. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 To be fair I never said 'ignore the defence'. If Dunne is available, get him in, for example. What I mean is the focus and attention should be more on sorting out the bits of the team/squad that are complete gash. As of now, the defence doesn't come into that category when compared against the midfield. You're right. I wouldn't complain at going into next season with the current back-four as starters, but I can't say the same about at least 3 of the other positions on the park (Butt, Geremi and Viduka - who's crocked anyway, so make that Smith/Carroll.... ). However, like you also said, we've got absolutely zero cover for either full-back and Edgar/Cacapa don't exactly fill me with confidence as pertains back-up to Taylor and Faye. Diatta - well who knows on him? We definitely need another left-back if Zoggy goes (probably do anyway), at the very least, but in an ideal world I'd like to see us sign a quality centre-half. Dunne fits the bill, for me. Dunne and Faye together shifts Taylor to the bench with Edgar/Diatta/younguns as emergencies. Looks good enough to me. Taylor can cover Beye to some degree, leaving just a left-back. Which as you say, we need anyway. For this club at this time (no Europe etc etc), I think it's just about as good as it gets defensively. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 PS - not saying they're world class or owt. PPS - that's for you, NM. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Libertine Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 we've conceded 65 goals this season (in the league). thats makes us the third worst in the league in that area, just 1 goal above being joint second worst. say what you will about negative tactics and such, but anytime the defence comes under any kind of pressure it usually results in a mistake/goal. defence is a priority now. we need at least 3 new defenders and Dunne would be a good start. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 The goals conceded column this season is a red herring IMO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Just to expand on that, if you take away the Man Utd drubbings we let in 21 at home (that's less than 6th place Villa) and 33 away (only four more than Villa). Then think about the fact we only scored 25 at home (less than relegated Birmingham) and 20 away (less than relegated Reading). As usual, the solution lies somewhere in the middle - boom boom - but it's too simplistic to just look at the number we let in and say we need to replace three quarters of the defence. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 You can't lump the defence altogether as one and say the current back four is not good enough! Bet beye, faye, taylor and enrique have a decent record as a unit other than one or two abberations where the whole team collapsed. Hardly fair to say 'look how many this mob conceded' when enrique barely got a run out for months bey and faye were in africa for weeks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
relámpago blanco Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 You can't lump the defence altogether as one and say the current back four is not good enough! Bet beye, faye, taylor and enrique have a decent record as a unit other than one or two abberations where the whole team collapsed. Hardly fair to say 'look how many this mob conceded' when enrique barely got a run out for months bey and faye were in africa for weeks. Agreed. You also can't blame the back 4 for all of the goals when earlier in the season we had a non-existent midfield add that to fact Rozehnal was first choice for a while. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 You can't lump the defence altogether as one and say the current back four is not good enough! Bet beye, faye, taylor and enrique have a decent record as a unit other than one or two abberations where the whole team collapsed. Hardly fair to say 'look how many this mob conceded' when enrique barely got a run out for months bey and faye were in africa for weeks. That as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NG32 Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Thinking back we weren't offensive enough and that bloody christmas period was a fucking mess but that was the whole team playing terrible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Start from the east. Aye, its about time they did our stand up a bit, especially the inside. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edd Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Just looking at a simple goals conceded statistic says as much about the players in front of the back 4 as the defenders themselves. If the forwards and midfielders can't keep hold of the ball then the best defenders in the world will concede a few goals if the opposition regularly has the lions share of possession over a season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggio Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 We've enquired about Joao Moutinho according to a Portuguese lad on another forum, it's news doing the rounds over there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeletor Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 We've enquired about Joao Moutinho according to a Portuguese lad on another forum, it's news doing the rounds over there. Classy player. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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