Our defence

[Joe King]

Very interesting stats. Good piece of research that

[Mike]

Aye, good stuff.

[JohnDoe]

After careful thought, I've decide to look at the top teams' record against inferior sides (Not including matches against Liv/Chavs/Mancs/Arse/Villa).

I feel our problem is our defensive record when we need to take an initiative and break teams down.

And look at the results, they are quite damning:

Possession against (minutes per game):
Liverpool 36min Man United 34min Chelsea 35min

Goals conceded per game:
Liverpool 0.75 Man United 0.28 Chelsea 0.32

Minutes of possession per goal conceded:

Liverpool 48.8 min/goal Man United 120.8 min/goal Chelsea 109.5 min/goal

So an inferior side only needs 49 minutes of possession to score against us, while it takes about TWO HOURS of possession for a side to score against Chelsea and Man United.

[Mike]

Wonder why that is?

Sack Parry.

[Mattshark]

After careful thought, I've decide to look at the top teams' record against inferior sides (Not including matches against Liv/Chavs/Mancs/Arse/Villa).

I feel our problem is our defensive record when we need to take an initiative and break teams down.

And look at the results, they are quite damning:

Possession against (minutes per game):
Liverpool 36min Man United 34min Chelsea 35min

Goals conceded per game:
Liverpool 0.75 Man United 0.28 Chelsea 0.32

Minutes of possession per goal conceded:

Liverpool 48.8 min/goal Man United 120.8 min/goal Chelsea 109.5 min/goal

So an inferior side only needs 49 minutes of possession to score against us, while it takes about TWO HOURS of possession for a side to score against Chelsea and Man United.

But ours and Chelsea's goal conceded rates are very similar. United's is extremely low at the moment but the difference is not actually that great.
We have the 3rd best defence in the league. When the conceded records are so close it can change very easily.

[JohnDoe]

But ours and Chelsea's goal conceded rates are very similar. United's is extremely low at the moment but the difference is not actually that great.
We have the 3rd best defence in the league. When the conceded records are so close it can change very easily.

But when you take out the games against the top teams, Chelsea's record improves dramatically. They conceded 9 goals in just 6 games against top 5 sides, while we have only conceded two goals in 5 games. Their defence is drastically better than ours when they have little to do.

[Mattshark]

But when you take out the games against the top teams, Chelsea's record improves dramatically. They conceded 9 goals in just 6 games against top 5 sides, while we have only conceded two goals in 5 games. Their defence is drastically better than ours when they have little to do.

I think you are making a meaningless argument personally. There are obviously lots of other factors involved (like Hull really should have scored yesterday, like Bolton should have scored against United). It is such a fine line that these sort of arguments are pointless. It doesn't look into circumstance. It does not look into how many goals in one game.

No defence concedes the amount of goals we do from set pieces.

And that statement is still just plain silly.

[JohnDoe]

I think you are making a meaningless argument personally. There are obviously lots of other factors involved (like Hull really should have scored yesterday, like Bolton should have scored against United). It is such a fine line that these sort of arguments are pointless. It doesn't look into circumstance. It does not look into how many goals in one game.

These things even themselves out during the course of a season. This is no coincidence. Our defensive record against inferior sides is laughable, it's worse than our record against top sides!

Something is wrong in our defensive game when we are NOT under pressure. That's the problem, and it's not just stats, look at the game. We are extremely nervous and erratic when we defend against inferior sides, we look like conceding goals every attack, and we do. More than two times the amount a top team should concede, with the amount of possession it enjoys.

And that statement is still just plain silly.

It might not be an accurate statement, but again, our defensive ratio of goals/threats, is ridiculous.

[Mattshark]

These things even themselves out during the course of a season. This is no coincidence. Our defensive record against inferior sides is laughable, it's worse than our record against top sides!

Something is wrong in our defensive game when we are NOT under pressure. That's the problem, and it's not just stats, look at the game. We are extremely nervous and erratic when we defend against inferior sides, we look like conceding goals every attack, and we do. More than two times the amount a top team should concede, with the amount of possession it enjoys.

I just think you want a stick to beat the team with.
You don't address the fact that we have the most clean sheets.
You say no team concede more from free kicks.
I think this is meaningless ****.

[JohnDoe]

I just think you want a stick to beat the team with.
You don't address the fact that we have the most clean sheets.
You say no team concede more from free kicks.
I think this is meaningless ****.

Clean sheets in the league:
Mancs 17
Chelsea 15
Liverpool 13

[andrewces38]

is the worst defence in the league.

No team concedes so many goals from so little possession from the opposition.

No defence concedes the amount of goals we do from set pieces.

No team is so uncomfortable defending when they enjoy so much breathing space when you compare them to West Brom or Newcastle.

Food for thought.

Very interesting but I would hardly class our defence as weak............i Blame Lucas

[Mattshark]

Clean sheets in the league:
Mancs 17
Chelsea 15
Liverpool 13

I apologise, We have one of the best clean sheet records then. We conced in under half our games.

Care to readdress your comment about our set piece defence?

[lickedlollipop]

is anyone talking something against škrtel?

[DannyMan2006]

As usual, people look at our biggest rivals and look to their strong point. At the moment it's Man Utd who are just not conceding goals. Had it been Man Utd winning 5-2 every game people would blame it on lack of goals.

No one moaned about Zonal marking for instance when we broke the club record for not conceding goals. Guess people forgot about that though eh?

****ing wise up fellas. We are not Man Utd. And if your team is on the attack for 90 mins you are more likely to be done by a sucker punch. Teams that sit back and defend are obviously going to have a better ratio per minute.

[JohnDoe]

Yeah, I'm pissed off and bumping this thread to be a cunt.

Just too gutted for words.