h again, on 25 February 2024 - 08:48 PM, said:
Fact is we've been sussed by the others in the league. The only surprise is that it's taken so long.
Just pack the defence, don't worry about anything we do outside the penalty area and if you get the ball, launch it forwards and run like hell after it. It's resulted in 8 goals conceded in the last three, and we were lucky that was all. I might be remembering wrongly, but we were conceding too many goals earlier in the season and had to do something about it. The something was Mike Jones, and the cure is the same this time.
Vulnerability to breakaways is inherent in the way we play. and the reason why it's vital not to lose the ball when pressing high up the field. It follows we can't afford the luxury of only one defensive midfielder, and that one yesterday was Oldaker with Naylor further forward. Nothing against Oldaker, who's being doing well lately and is always looking for the ball, but with the way we play the position needs a destroyer, not another outlet for passes back from around the penalty area.
Just a tweak is all. The defence hasn't suddenly lost it. They look nervous at times, but so would any defenders confronted with numbers of attackers running hard at them.
And what's happened to Mandeville's corners. Start of the season they were lethal, but the testing ones are very few and far between nowadays. Launch it high to beyond the back post and let Grimes get at it, but instad they're all over the place.
Spot on assessment. All managers know our weak spot and will exploit it. And yes we are very vulnerable on the counter and have to rely so much on the ability of Tyrer who can't stop them all but has done brilliantly so far.
So I expect changes next season to our defensive structure in general.