our defence

[Exiled_red]

I think we need to stick with the same defence as much as possible.

If for arguements sake our best defensive lineup is:

Johnson -- Carragher -- Agger -- Insua

When we have Agger and Johnson out we should just do straight swaps ie

Kelly -- Carragher -- Skrtel -- Insua

that way at least half the defence knows what their role is the lineup today had 3 changes (only Insua played in same position as best team)

[andrewces38]

Adebuyer's goal was plain bad defending, Skrtel and Carra followed same man for a while and Skrtel gave chance for header. I am curious though why don't we have on posts?

I mentioned that a few weeks ago( on here) and I even said it again today to my Son. We was spot on last year and a few seasons before hand but as I said in an earlier thread this zonal marking slating really pisses me off , If Lucas had burried that header in the dying seconds ( by the way my missus or Darren bent would have scored) No ****er from Sky would have mentioned a word about man marking , it was poor defending today though esp the header, free as Elton John's ring peice he was...............good header though

Is Pellagrino to blame for all this?..............If so how about sending him for Horse placenta to shove in his ear's at night so his brain could absorb it by day break

[Jas]

I think we need to stick with the same defence as much as possible.

If for arguements sake our best defensive lineup is:

Johnson -- Carragher -- Agger -- Insua

When we have Agger and Johnson out we should just do straight swaps ie

Kelly -- Carragher -- Skrtel -- Insua

that way at least half the defence knows what their role is the lineup today had 3 changes (only Insua played in same position as best team)

I don't think he makes multiple changes to the defence through choice, I think injuries and suspensions play a part in his decision making

[Exiled_red]

I don't think he makes multiple changes to the defence through choice, I think injuries and suspensions play a part in his decision making

No but I'd try to keep Carragher in the centre of defence when possible rather than pushing him out to fullback, despite his relatively poor form our defence is better when he is there

[Marky]

Insua, jesus christ he is muck.

[pondus]

Insua, jesus christ he is muck.

idiot

[vonk]

Insua, jesus christ he is muck.

Marky, your dislike for Insua as a player is funny sometimes.

I'd love to know your thoughts on Dirk....

[pondus]

Marky, your dislike for Insua as a player is funny sometimes.

I'd love to know your thoughts on Dirk....

Please, don't encourage him

[TheElephantMan]

Once we get a settled side we'll be fine, we're not playing badly - we've just been unlucky.

[Lee]

Insua, jesus christ he is muck.

****in hell mate

Has Insua boned your blow up doll??

[Bender]

Once we get a settled side we'll be fine, we're not playing badly - we've just been unlucky.

we are playing badly......mostly in defense

[el matador]

this is my take on our defense

We are looking very fragile at the moment and that is down to several factors.

First, as other posters have pointed out we have added 2 new fullbacks to the starting 11 and that has unsettled the defence bigtime - especially carragher.

The full backs that have come in do their best work going forward and both leave a lot to be desired defensively especially insua. His age may be the redeeming factor in that hopefully he will be a much better defender in a couple of years time than he is now but at the moment he doesnt look interested in defending and looks as if he fancies himself as an attacking fullback as he consistently ignores the basics of defending as a unit and especially one on one. He also looks panicky under pressure.

The loss of alonso cannot be understated. His partnership with masher was the best in the league and they both gave a lot of protection to the backline in particularly the two centre backs. Lucas has done well but he isnt alonso and he hasnt given the centre halves the protection they are used to (especially as we arent blessed with pace there).

Additionally, alonso's presence on the pitch ensured that we kept around 60 - 65% of possession against the lesser teams and 50 - 55% against the better teams. Since he has gone, we cant seem to keep hold of the ball and as a consequence, teams have more opportunities to come at us and we are under the cosh more often than our centre halves are used to.

Skrtel did ok last year but this year he looks a complete shambles. He lost adebayor for his goal today and generally looks like he is short of confidence. This is not good as he has almost become a liability and cant be relied on defensively or even in posession of the ball.

We arent the tallest team in the world and coming up against teams that are even half decent from set pieces will cause us a shed load of problems. Insua, masher, lucas arent 6'.

however today's result is about the best i expected as city are a strong team and although the look vulnerable defensively they are hard to beat, and seeing as we were without torres, aquilani, johnson, agger we didnt do too bad.

The thing that was probably most alarming was that if city had played like they did when they went one down from the start of the match - they probably would have won today as we looked shaky whenever they came at us and im not sure aquilani is going to be much help defensively.

[reds123]

this is my take on our defense

We are looking very fragile at the moment and that is down to several factors.

First, as other posters have pointed out we have added 2 new fullbacks to the starting 11 and that has unsettled the defence bigtime - especially carragher.

The full backs that have come in do their best work going forward and both leave a lot to be desired defensively especially insua. His age may be the redeeming factor in that hopefully he will be a much better defender in a couple of years time than he is now but at the moment he doesnt look interested in defending and looks as if he fancies himself as an attacking fullback as he consistently ignores the basics of defending as a unit and especially one on one. He also looks panicky under pressure.

The loss of alonso cannot be understated. His partnership with masher was the best in the league and they both gave a lot of protection to the backline in particularly the two centre backs. Lucas has done well but he isnt alonso and he hasnt given the centre halves the protection they are used to (especially as we arent blessed with pace there).

Additionally, alonso's presence on the pitch ensured that we kept around 60 - 65% of possession against the lesser teams and 50 - 55% against the better teams. Since he has gone, we cant seem to keep hold of the ball and as a consequence, teams have more opportunities to come at us and we are under the cosh more often than our centre halves are used to.

Skrtel did ok last year but this year he looks a complete shambles. He lost adebayor for his goal today and generally looks like he is short of confidence. This is not good as he has almost become a liability and cant be relied on defensively or even in posession of the ball.

We arent the tallest team in the world and coming up against teams that are even half decent from set pieces will cause us a shed load of problems. Insua, masher, lucas arent 6'.

however today's result is about the best i expected as city are a strong team and although the look vulnerable defensively they are hard to beat, and seeing as we were without torres, aquilani, johnson, agger we didnt do too bad.

The thing that was probably most alarming was that if city had played like they did when they went one down from the start of the match - they probably would have won today as we looked shaky whenever they came at us and im not sure aquilani is going to be much help defensively.

i agree! We miss Alonso badly. We don't have a player who can control the midfield, Mash and Lucas are too similar but possession wise they are weak so as a result our defence is being hit more!

[Charly]

Zonal marking... OF course its a problem. HAlf the goals we conceeded since Rafa has been here have been because defenders just cant defend space, and we are talking a defence consistantly the best in the league since he joined. There is no excuse.

Its not just our defending of set pieces. Its our attacking ones which are just as bad.

A true tactical genius would use set pieces to better effect. They are the one way to turn an inferior team into an attacking threat, and we do seem stuck with an inferior team this year.

Injuries are one thing, but you adapt. If your team can no longer zonal mark (and I dont believe we ever got it right), switch to man-to-man. Houllier never had a problem with it, and his defence was just as solid as Rafas

[joyno]

it isnt zonal defending that is hte problem.

Garry Mac was saying at the end of the game that zonal defending had nothing to do with the goal we conceded. it was bad defending.

many successful teams play zonal. in fact the reality is most play a mixture of zonal and man to man.

lucas was left alone for the header that he missed the same as adebayor was for his goal, and man city deploy man for man marking.
i personally think that lack of concentration and bad play lead to the problems and not the tactics.