Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa joins AS Roma then Lyon

[Flip]

I know he was withdrawn, but he wasn't our worst centreback tonight. Colo looked scared to even approach Lukaku. It was an embarrassing performance from him. Between him and Krul, the third goal (the one that killed the game and rendered our obligatory second half surge meaningless) was some of the worst defending I have ever seen in our shirt. Although Mbiwa's backing off for the second was ridiculous, it least it required the opposing player to show skill to score.

 

Give over.

About what? Coloccini was the worst player on the pitch in the first half.

He wasnt, Santon and Mbiwa were both worse than Coloccini.

 

TBH, I felt Colo had his worst game for us in a long long time. Didn't have his head in the game and he captains the side as well as organizes that defence. When he doesn't do hius job, the rest don't at the back, so for me he was also the worst player last night.

[Guest Roger Kint]

Agree with fel/Ronaldo/Baba completely.

[The College Dropout]

Lukaku has chosen to bully Colo for the last two seasons and he was terrible. Particularly for the 3rd goal. It's all problems we know about Colo. If it gets too physical Colo might break and break he did.

 

With Mapou - it's just basic defending that's defeated him. Terrible positionally for every goal, not pre-empting the danger for every goal, running away from danger for every goal. Mapou was definitely the worst.

 

For the first Colo really has to go near post as Santon's been terrible.. when Colo goes near post (as he should) Mapou needs to tuck in and pick up Lukaku. It all happened so fast with Santon's error making our defence have to shift but it's a problem that continued in the match - Mbiwa not reading the situation/running away from danger.

 

For the second Mapou needlessly looses possession then runs away from Barkley who ends up scoring. WTF?

 

For the third he decides to stop defending. By the time the ball bounces (twice) it's actually over on his side of defence as the ball has curled to its right but he's long since run away from the danger. The most worrying part is that he must've seen Colo tussling and struggling to deal with Lukaku but he's decided to not go and engage the ball and help out his team mate anyway.

 

I thought positioning and reding the game where meant to be his stengths?

[The College Dropout]

This was nothing new from Colo. I've said time and time again. His biggest problem yesterday was not organising that defence. Needs to tell Santon to stick closely to him. Mapou and Debuchy to do the same.

 

You see Santon running off.. what are you doing? Tell him to come back and help you out, stay compact. But no he deals with Lukaku 1 one 1.

[nufc4eva]

He looks absolute horse shit to me, totally clueless and does not inspire confidence at the back, happy to play Williamson next game and that says it all

[tmonkey]

Needs a season in the Championship imo.

[AlanSkÃrare]

He's not settling in well into the least organised, most disoriented excuse of a defence in the whole of Europe. A year and a half ago that's Hollands No. 1, an Italian international, an Argentine international, France's starting RB at the Euro's and a 22-year old captain of the French champions (and regular in France's squad).

 

It's not just him. It's the team. The players leave eachother to themselves. Nobody has any idea what to do, neither going forward nor defending.

[BrettNUFC]

If the players think Pardew's tactics are to blame why aren't they going above his head? They either don't give a f*** or accept blame themselves.

 

Far too many players here for the money, that's a big part of the problem. MYM can be a good player in the PL but alongside a weak, slow, non-assertive excuse for a captain he's being fed to the f***ing wolves. I do love Colo for how good he's been for us but what chance does a young CB have of learning the English game alongside someone who is (from now on) always going to be exposed by it?

That's a load of bullock about Coloccini.

 

It would be, wouldn't it? It means we can't apportion as much blame to Pardew.

 

Great post by Ronaldo, exactly right. Colo seems to becoming a bigger and bigger problem and he's our captain! He's the one leading our team yet he's the one making the crucial mistakes, and yanga isn't fault free but he's made to look even worse alongside Colo.

 

[geordiedean]

No excuse at all from the 2 centre backs yesterday you dont see lads in league 2 defending like that especially the third goal its shocking.  Coloccini and mapou are as weak as piss easily bullied and should never play together. You need a no nonsense type defender to play alongside one if these a colin hendry type figure.  Coloccini should also never captain us again he's never a leader not in a million years how can he inspire the team if hes a coward frightened of the big boy up front

[Gallowgate Toon]

Neville's analysis off our defence last night was worrying. No leadership, no power and too far apart. I feel for the lad in some ways but you just can't do what he did last night. It was so strange after his recent performances, especially the shift he put in against Benteke. If we had another captain, I'd be dropping Colo, personally.

[SiLvOR]

Neville's analysis off our defence last night was worrying. No leadership, no power and too far apart. I feel for the lad in some ways but you just can't do what he did last night. It was so strange after his recent performances, especially the shift he put in against Benteke. If we had another captain, I'd be dropping Colo, personally.

 

Ben Arfa?

[SiLvOR]

Neville's analysis off our defence last night was worrying. No leadership, no power and too far apart. I feel for the lad in some ways but you just can't do what he did last night. It was so strange after his recent performances, especially the shift he put in against Benteke. If we had another captain, I'd be dropping Colo, personally.

 

Ben Arfa?

 

Got hauled off marra

 

I mean for me, Ben Arfa would be my choice for captain, he leads by example and he isn't afraid to tell people what to do, he's always pointing where people should pass to etc.

 

Back to Mapou, GNev's analysis was quite alarming, you can't run away from danger. It's basic, basic stuff here. His aimless long punt gifting them possession was also diabolical, but then again nobody was moving or showing for the ball so what can you do?

 

Serious problems all over the pitch now.

[Lotus]

MYM suffered from serious indecision. That's terrible in any position but at CB it's fatal. A lot of his indecision though was down to having no faith in Colo to do his bit. So MYM didn't know whether to stick or twist half the time.

Hope he learns from this and just does what he ought to do and if his partner f**ks up then he can see if the manager has the balls to haul him off instead.

[Minhosa]

MYM is a kid and needs some direction when he's in a new league with football played at a different pace/aggression.

 

How many Tim Howard punts did he have to deal with in Ligue 1?

 

Ronaldo's point about Colo is spot on. It's Colo's job to lead the line, marshall his troops and take MYM under his wing.

 

Wish the Douglas deal was completed and at least we'd have the option of protecting MYM a bit because there's a real danger here that he'll collapse under the criticism.

[The College Dropout]

The best piece of analysis was that positionally, we defend like a team in the top 4, at home.

 

Fullbacks so far up the field with our CB's defending 1vs1. With Colo slow and weak with MYM the positional sense of Stevie Wonder.

 

I thought we would go there be tight and compact looking to hit them on the counter. Their first goal started with Santon further up the pitch than Mirralles. 

 

Once more - our passing is slow and aimless - no purpose. So our fullbacks are pushed forward for no reason, we didn't do anything positive going forward in the first half. That's what happens with that midfield 3 I guess.

[Gallowgate Toon]

The best piece of analysis was that positionally, we defend like a team in the top 4, at home.

 

Fullbacks so far up the field with our CB's defending 1vs1. With Colo slow and weak with MYM the positional sense of Stevie Wonder.

 

I thought we would go there be tight and compact looking to hit them on the counter. Their first goal started with Santon further up the pitch than Mirralles. 

 

Once more - our passing is slow and aimless - no purpose. So our fullbacks are pushed forward for no reason, we didn't do anything positive going forward in the first half. That's what happens with that midfield 3 I guess.

 

Yeah. It was alarming to see it put like that, fantastic analysis though. The confusing thing is, I'm sure we weren't organised that way against Villa, we looked far more compact, disciplined and focused. Perhaps they were just crap, Pardew's tried to change it a bit or the players are tactically poor.

 

The gap between our holding midfielders and defenders was crap as well, so much so that they couldn't compensate for us playing so far apart. Space galore for Everton's attackers.

[geordiedean]

You just know these 2 weak cowards are going to be destroyed by Altidore its a certainty id play Williamson and taylor against the mackems

[Gallowgate Toon]

Neville's analysis off our defence last night was worrying. No leadership, no power and too far apart. I feel for the lad in some ways but you just can't do what he did last night. It was so strange after his recent performances, especially the shift he put in against Benteke. If we had another captain, I'd be dropping Colo, personally.

 

Ben Arfa?

 

A few games ago, I'd have agreed with you but I think Hatem's been off since then, I thought his attitude stunk against Hull. It's all well and good directing attacking play but I think he's been very poor at doing some basic defensive tasks of late. I'm worried he's been given so much responsibility that he's lost the teamwork ethic he seemed to learn in 2011/2012, he was really working in every game then.

[Dave]

You just know these 2 weak cowards are going to be destroyed by Altidore its a certainty id play Williamson and taylor against the mackems

 

Calm down.

[The College Dropout]

The best piece of analysis was that positionally, we defend like a team in the top 4, at home.

 

Fullbacks so far up the field with our CB's defending 1vs1. With Colo slow and weak with MYM the positional sense of Stevie Wonder.

 

I thought we would go there be tight and compact looking to hit them on the counter. Their first goal started with Santon further up the pitch than Mirralles. 

 

Once more - our passing is slow and aimless - no purpose. So our fullbacks are pushed forward for no reason, we didn't do anything positive going forward in the first half. That's what happens with that midfield 3 I guess.

 

Yeah. It was alarming to see it put like that, fantastic analysis though. The confusing thing is, I'm sure we weren't organised that way against Villa, we looked far more compact, disciplined and focused. Perhaps they were just crap, Pardew's tried to change it a bit or the players are tactically poor.

 

The gap between our holding midfielders and defenders was crap as well, so much so that they couldn't compensate for us playing so far apart. Space galore for Everton's attackers.

 

Yep... gap between the whole team is just too big. Between defence and midfield, midfield and attack. Like someone said we play in separate compartments - defence - midfield - attack rather than one unit. We had two sitting in midfield but 1 pass down the middle takes them both out the game and then they are on to our defence.

[The College Dropout]

Neville's analysis off our defence last night was worrying. No leadership, no power and too far apart. I feel for the lad in some ways but you just can't do what he did last night. It was so strange after his recent performances, especially the shift he put in against Benteke. If we had another captain, I'd be dropping Colo, personally.

 

Ben Arfa?

 

A few games ago, I'd have agreed with you but I think Hatem's been off since then, I thought his attitude stunk against Hull. It's all well and good directing attacking play but I think he's been very poor at doing some basic defensive tasks of late. I'm worried he's been given so much responsibility that he's lost the teamwork ethic he seemed to learn in 2011/2012, he was really working in every game then.

 

Proper #10's seem to be back in. Should play that AMC role. With his injury past I don't think he should be running all over the gaff. RVP's injuries subsided when he did less running.

 

If that fails then he'll need to be more disciplined.. at RW. Also think his fullback on our team should just focus on defending. He and Santon on the left where as useless as you might expect defensively.

[Mole_Toonfan]

People are overreacting too much.... the midfield and attack we went in for Villa is fine, chopping and changing it is stupid.

 

Also dropping Colo is stupid, remember what happened last time Yanga-Mbiwa and Taylor got together? Even when Colo is playing bad he still makes others around him better ( most of the time)

 

Ben Arfa is not a 10 and he is not a captain, keep the front 6 as it was against Villa maybe Gouffran instead of Cisse but that is it.

 

Make changes at the back where necessary but leave the front 6 alone, its fine doesn't need mucked about with.

 

 

[Kanj]

- Our fullbacks need to stay at home the next few matches, no more venturing up-field until we solidify ourselves at the back.

- If we change our back 4 it should be MYM - Willi - Colo - Dummett --> its absolutely essential we continue to let MYM develop into this league, even if he has to play at a back position before getting the confidence to play centrally // with a better partner to suit his skill set.

[alexf]

The best piece of analysis was that positionally, we defend like a team in the top 4, at home.

 

Fullbacks so far up the field with our CB's defending 1vs1. With Colo slow and weak with MYM the positional sense of Stevie Wonder.

 

I thought we would go there be tight and compact looking to hit them on the counter. Their first goal started with Santon further up the pitch than Mirralles. 

 

Once more - our passing is slow and aimless - no purpose. So our fullbacks are pushed forward for no reason, we didn't do anything positive going forward in the first half. That's what happens with that midfield 3 I guess.

 

Yeah. It was alarming to see it put like that, fantastic analysis though. The confusing thing is, I'm sure we weren't organised that way against Villa, we looked far more compact, disciplined and focused. Perhaps they were just crap, Pardew's tried to change it a bit or the players are tactically poor.

 

The gap between our holding midfielders and defenders was crap as well, so much so that they couldn't compensate for us playing so far apart. Space galore for Everton's attackers.

 

Yeah I was at that villa game and Santon and Debuchy very rarely bombed forward. It was a very disciplined and well drilled unit that day.

[r0cafella]

We have no width from any of our attacking players they all come in field.

 

I'm not sure having our fullbacks sit back and defend is a good idea it will just make us easier to play against.

 

We need Pardew to actually do what he claims to be good at and coach the team into playing as a unit and pressing cohesively.

 

I've said it over and over we have no defensive structure our players haven't been instructed how to defend properly.

 

We don't press, we don't get tight we aren't compact & we live oceans of space between our lines. As long as we defend in this nondescript way we will be punished.