Aurelio the left back?

[Rich]

Which two goals was Aurelio directly responsible for?!?

[DonkeyKong]

Which two goals was Aurelio directly responsible for?!?

Rob Hulse's and Zamora's. Both should have been cut out. Hulse was left unmarked, and Zamora had all the time in the world.

[G_Man]

He wasn't directly responsible for the 2 goals we've conceded in the league but he was out of position for them both.
Against Sheff Utd: He should have been covering the run of the striker to the back post.
Against West Ham: Where was he when Zamora was dilly-dallying on the right wing and taking a shot? He had time for a brew before the challenge came in. Fabio should have been covering that zone.

[El Diego]

I think we should judge him after a few more games

[Red_Polo]

I think he's class. As for playing at LB I think he will soon cut out the mistakes.

[Rich]

While I agree with the Zamora one in some respects - he did have the run of the park, but the main fault has to lie with Reina, who should have dealt with the shank. Aurelio was out of position for that one.

I don't agree with the Sheff Utd one, my reason being, I don't think Hulse scored in Aurelio's zone.

Rafa basically deploys 4 players in the key zonal area of the 6 yard box. Therefore, as we all know, if the ball enters that players zone, he's expected to deal with it. Now the central two positions of these four zones are where we virtually always deploy our heading winners. Therefore 99 times out of a hundred you'll find Hyypia and Crouch in these two positions - if they are playing. Now back to the Hulse goal, he scored in the left hand side central zone, i.e. one of the key zonal areas. Aurelio would not have been asked to mark this area, he's no where near being one of the best defensive headers of the ball. I believe Aurelio was covering the far left zone, and it was infact Agger who had been caught napping, Hulse had all the time in the world to beat Reina.

That's my long winded take on the goal.

[G_Man]

To be fair to him, he's still settling in to a new club with new team mates in a new league with a faster pace. He's also settling into a new country/culture. I'm not judging him as a player yet, just saying he needs to work hard on his awareness and positioning. The more games he plays the better he'll get, it's just unfortunate that the 2 goals conceded have come from his position.

He can certainly cross a ball and he takes a mean free kick

[G_Man]

I guess we see the Hulse goal differently then Rich, I've never played in a zonal system but I was always told to watch the runs to the back stick and to cover your central defenders blind spots.

[Rich]

I didn't think Hulse was at the back post, he was just left of centre when he scored, i.e. Agger's probable zone.

Effectively, there was nobody marking in that zone when Hulse scored - I don't believe Aurelio would have been told to mark there, due to his lack of height, so my hunch is that it was Agger's zone, but he went walkies.

(That being said, I have been very impressed with Agger and he looks like a Top Class CB in the making.)

[Diego]

i reconed hyypia was at fault for hulse goal, aurelio stood his ground whilst hyypia followed the bloke agger was marking and left the the far post un marked..

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

Agger was marking Hulse. Aurelio was marking Bromby.

They both failed their assignments.

[skowser]

He was surely brought in to be a left winger.

Injuries to Riise (and Warnock) have forced Rafa's hand.

I thought he played LB for Valencia and was hoping to take Carlos's spot at LB in the Brazil team? Am I wrong...?

[Los Rojos]

I think he's class. As for playing at LB I think he will soon cut out the mistakes.

I agree.

[Slim]

Was Reina not at fault for Zamora's goal rather than Fab? His positioning didn't help but it was still a goalkeeping mistake.

[Shanks65]

Was Reina not at fault for Zamora's goal rather than Fab? His positioning didn't help but it was still a goalkeeping mistake.

Yeah of course it was a GK error, but the fact remains that zamora had time for a pot of coffee before he spooned his 'cross' toward the goal. Aurelio was nowhere to be seen.