Dossena

[Craig_H]

right on schedule.. there always a lynching to be had after any game were 3 points were not had

You're going on as if he didnt actually make any woeful errors and people have just randomly picked his name out of a hat.

Why some people insist on denying reality, is totally beyond me.

It doesnt make you any less a fan to acknowledge the facts.

[Shaggy]

Sorry Shaggy but isnt that, first and foremost, what he is supposed to be/ A defender

Yes absolutely, first and foremost. However it would be a tad narrow-minded to only look at that side of things - full backs are not centre-halves and play a big part in our attacking play and shape. Increasingly so in the modern game. Look how far our full-backs, Arbeloa especially, have been pushing forward this season. In home games they've often effectively been auxiliary wingers.

So he does bring something to the party. However I obviously accept that if he doesn't improve the defensive side of things then he'll have to go.

[Craig_H]

If what he brought to the table undid the 'costing us points' mistakes he makes, i'd not be complaining.

[Darkon]

To drunk to make a valid point aboiut thjis, eventhough I woul like to!!! slowest typing wver - what was o On aboutg again=?????

ooohh, dosseans will come good!

[Craig_H]

He might do mate, but we'll be out of the title race by then.

[1 True Red]

He is excellent going forward so he is bringing something to the table. A huge improvement on Riise in that department; he crosses a fantastic ball, overlaps regularly, offers an outlet and can pass the ball, but yes his defending is a huge worry. Hull clearly targeted him - Mendy has electric pace and if I'm not mistaken he hadn't been in the side but was brought in today, for obvious reasons. Dossena is a sitting duck defending in one v one situations. I refuse to believe he shows the same sort of frailty for Italy but for whatever reason in this league people are going past him at will.

He's running out of time.

Spot on Shaggy

[Guest]

He was guilty for both the goals but even then our opponents dropped points and we're still in the driving seat. Things will turn good for him and for us. He's not a poor player but needs to step up the plate defensively which I'm sure he'll do in time. About time we have Aurelio back and maybe Insua can be played in the meantime but again Rafa is showing faith in Dossena and is giving him time to rectify this.

But yes, we can't afford to lose points like that especially as we battered Hull, who are a good team, and still came away with only one point.

[jonymadness]

he played in a 3-4-3 with Udinese and can see why now, his defending is not great, but if anyone can help you learn how to defend, its Rafa.

[Nicey]

Ok fair enough the Own goal he was at fault for not defending the pass, but the Header, was he marking McShane ? there was **** alll liverpool defenders in that area when the ball was floated in .. you could have driven a double decker bus through the space .. so to single him out for that one I think is unfair ...

Its like anythime we lose or draw there's a lynching .. somebody must be specifically at fault and then they get ****ing pasted ..

I'm prepared to give the guy a little more time than 3 months to settle in ..Patrick Evra was a liability when he first arrived at United .. perhaps they should have got shot of him too or not played him ...

But hey I get it ... hes made some mistakes .. but surely we must trust Rafa in his signings ..the fact he is first choice leftback for the Italian National team .. perhaps we are do ones who need out heads checked

[Sarb]

Ok fair enough the Own goal he was at fault for not defending the pass, but the Header, was he marking McShane ? there was **** alll liverpool defenders in that area when the ball was floated in .. you could have driven a double decker bus through the space .. so to single him out for that one I think is unfair ...

Its like anythime we lose or draw there's a lynching .. somebody must be specifically at fault and then they get ****ing pasted ..

I'm prepared to give the guy a little more time than 3 months to settle in ..Patrick Evra was a liability when he first arrived at United .. perhaps they should have got shot of him too or not played him ...

But hey I get it ... hes made some mistakes .. but surely we must trust Rafa in his signings ..B.. perhaps we are do ones who need out heads checked

Is that only when Grosso is out?

[Sarb]

What's wrong with Insua?

[jakle]

I just don't get it. Insua played really well in his last game and then he gets dropped for Dossena who is yet to play well all season. I would have thought a few matches in succesion for Insua would have been the way to go or until Aurelio was right to go again.

[MrMichael]

Nothing's wrong with Insua... although the lad does have some developing to do, and unfortunately his weaknesses judging on his performances for the ressies, are probably in the defensive and tactical areas... which are the primary issues with Dossena up to now (and, arguably, with Aurelio too).

Of course he needs to play to improve, but I do think Rafa has demonstrated that he does want to bring Insua through (with Riise going and Aurelio being made of glass we did have to bring someone else in regardless). We do need to be a little careful of championing him as first choice at this stage of his development imo.

Oh, and as for dropping Insua after a good performance, Dossena probably had his best game for us midweek, so that argument about who should have started yesterday applies equally to him if not more so. And besides, it was failing to score in the second half that cost us the win, not the goals we conceded per-see, we only really played well yesterday while we were behind.

[MrMichael]

Just noticed we've ended up with 2 Dossena threads running simultaneously (and god knows how many older ones), tempting to merge the lot actually but that would be a frightening thread so I think I'll just go for these 2 for now.

[Craig_H]

He was guilty for both the goals but even then our opponents dropped points and we're still in the driving seat. Things will turn good for him and for us. He's not a poor player but needs to step up the plate defensively which I'm sure he'll do in time. About time we have Aurelio back and maybe Insua can be played in the meantime but again Rafa is showing faith in Dossena and is giving him time to rectify this.

But yes, we can't afford to lose points like that especially as we battered Hull, who are a good team, and still came away with only one point.

For another 3 hours.