Set Pieces

[Shaggy]

Maybe we should use part zonal and part man marking which has been used by some managers. The idea is that the 6 yard box is zonally marked and the best headers are man marked.

Its a very difficult system to use but it can prove successful.

FLMAO.

[Exiled_red]

Maybe, we can't defend set pieces well, because in training we do attack vs defence and we don't have anyone who can put in a decent ball from set pieces (as we've seen in matches from our attacking corners). Therefore we deliver poor quality set-pieces that we can defend in training, but in matches we can't defend them because they are of such better quality!

[Kenneth]

This thread reminds me of those business meetings where everyone knows that everyone knows **** all, but they all keep spouting ****e because no-one will admit it.

[tsb]

This thread reminds me of those business meetings where everyone knows that everyone knows **** all, but they all keep spouting ****e because no-one will admit it.

Sssssh! Don't give the game away.

[Johnny]

Sssssh! Don't give the game away.

Sounds like the "DIC latest" thread

[Joe King]

FLMAO.

Did you see him call Pepe, Claudio Reyna? The nobsack

[tomasjj]

Just watching the highlights that Livvy posted and saw that again we failed to defend a set piece well. Last season we were excellent at it but we seem to have regressed (I'm willing to accept that I'm wrong about this if someone has any statistics). So has anything changed in the way defend them, have other teams spotted a weakness to exploit or what?

Could it be another small thing that the coaching changes we have had with Pako leaving has affected?

The zonal marking system means you have to trust your partner to clear his zone, and stay in your own zone, not being tempted to go "help you teammate out."

Yesterday, at the corner they scored at and one before when they almost did, Skrtel was backing away from his zone near the first post and towards the teammate behind him as there was a Bolton player there harassing them both.
Skrtel vacated his zone both times. The first time he barely got back in time to pressurise the Bolton player attacking that space, where as he did not manage for Bolton's goal, which was basically a blueprint of the first situation but with a different outcome.

Have a look and see if you can spot this as well. I reckon Skrtel being a bit new was spreading a bit of insecurity.

Also, those inswinging freekicks are hard as **** to defend against. The ball is curled in making it harder to predict its path, but more importantly, it dips down which basically means you have to be in one specific spot and only there when the ball falls down to be able to clear it. When this is about 5 yards from the goal and there are tons of Bolton bodies in there, the job is not easy for Reina, as he basically needs to stay or go out and punch it(my preference in this situation.)

[Joe King]

The zonal marking system means you have to trust your partner to clear his zone, and stay in your own zone, not being tempted to go "help you teammate out."

Yesterday, at the corner they scored at and one before when they almost did, Skrtel was backing away from his zone near the first post and towards the teammate behind him as there was a Bolton player there harassing them both.
Skrtel vacated his zone both times. The first time he barely got back in time to pressurise the Bolton player attacking that space, where as he did not manage for Bolton's goal, which was basically a blueprint of the first situation but with a different outcome.

Have a look and see if you can spot this as well. I reckon Skrtel being a bit new was spreading a bit of insecurity.

Also, those inswinging freekicks are hard as **** to defend against. The ball is curled in making it harder to predict its path, but more importantly, it dips down which basically means you have to be in one specific spot and only there when the ball falls down to be able to clear it. When this is about 5 yards from the goal and there are tons of Bolton bodies in there, the job is not easy for Reina, as he basically needs to stay or go out and punch it(my preference in this situation.)

Or

The line of defence can push out and they could look like ****s if executed properly. If not, we will have egg on our faces. BTW, didn't Benitez use the pushing out system when he came with Valencia to Anfield?

[tomasjj]

Or

The line of defence can push out and they could look like ****s if executed properly. If not, we will have egg on our faces. BTW, didn't Benitez use the pushing out system when he came with Valencia to Anfield?

Yes, I think he did. And we can do that, but I suspect it is harder to pull off when the freekicks are pretty close to the goal, even if on the sides, like a couple of the real dangerous ones where yesterday.

[Joe King]

Yes, I think he did. And we can do that, but I suspect it is harder to pull off when the freekicks are pretty close to the goal, even if on the sides, like a couple of the real dangerous ones where yesterday.

Correct

From the highlights I saw, we were very stupid to give away free kicks in the defensive third.

I would like us to push out every so often. Gives the kicker something to think about in the future.

[Imy]

Did anybody else think that Gerrard i think/the man on the first post got fouled when he jumped for the ball? this i thought cleared the way for Cohen to score.

We were also (as always) unlucky vs the Mancs.

[saveferris]

I think the replays on MOTD were key to identifying the problems yesterday. If you look at both replays Skrtel did not move to the areas where he should have done hence leaving a gap between Gerrard and the player in the next zone. If you look at the gials you see gerrard moving forward but Skrtel more interested in man marking the players.

With reference to the Utd game Imy, i thought we were exposed, and they exploited, dont think it involved much luck

[tomasjj]

I think the replays on MOTD were key to identifying the problems yesterday. If you look at both replays Skrtel did not move to the areas where he should have done hence leaving a gap between Gerrard and the player in the next zone. If you look at the gials you see gerrard moving forward but Skrtel more interested in man marking the players.

With reference to the Utd game Imy, i thought we were exposed, and they exploited, dont think it involved much luck

He was backing, following a player and vacating his zone which was behind SG.

[dww]

The zonal marking system means you have to trust your partner to clear his zone, and stay in your own zone, not being tempted to go "help you teammate out."

Yesterday, at the corner they scored at and one before when they almost did, Skrtel was backing away from his zone near the first post and towards the teammate behind him as there was a Bolton player there harassing them both.
Skrtel vacated his zone both times. The first time he barely got back in time to pressurise the Bolton player attacking that space, where as he did not manage for Bolton's goal, which was basically a blueprint of the first situation but with a different outcome.

Have a look and see if you can spot this as well. I reckon Skrtel being a bit new was spreading a bit of insecurity.

Also, those inswinging freekicks are hard as **** to defend against. The ball is curled in making it harder to predict its path, but more importantly, it dips down which basically means you have to be in one specific spot and only there when the ball falls down to be able to clear it. When this is about 5 yards from the goal and there are tons of Bolton bodies in there, the job is not easy for Reina, as he basically needs to stay or go out and punch it(my preference in this situation.)

I agree about your analysis of yesterday but it has been a problem all year and we have often had Carra and Hyypia in the middle and all defenders who have been with us for a reasonable length of time. So the Skrtel settling argument can only be part of the problem IMO.

Maybe the trust you mention is part of the problem if we have had some level of in camp disagreements or even just a loss of confidence?

[tomasjj]

I agree about your analysis of yesterday but it has been a problem all year and we have often had Carra and Hyypia in the middle and all defenders who have been with us for a reasonable length of time. So the Skrtel settling argument can only be part of the problem IMO.

Maybe the trust you mention is part of the problem if we have had some level of in camp disagreements or even just a loss of confidence?

I agree with you. I have also seen this between Carra and Sami this year, especially when we hit a hump 2 months ago or so.
It seemed like uncertainty had crept in and they did not trust each other anymore, so they both tried to do the other players job - moving into their zone. The result was often both going for the same ball, getting in each others way...causing confusion and no/bad clearances.