Defence - what an improvement

[Southend_Lady]

I think amoungst all these positive posts we need to give a special mention to the improvement in defence. What a great difference Mulgrew and Francis have made lately and Barrett and Clarke are putting in some excellent performances.

I think 5 goals conceeded in 10 games speaks for itself. Combined with the extra goals we now have coming in means we are getting balls in the net, and keeping them out at the right ends of the pitch.

It seems all is coming together at the right time and with the new additions in January to improve our attack and the vast improvement in keeping the balls out of the net in our own end we now seem to have everything covered and are a real strong team.

Last night was another immense performance at the back. I didnt ever really feel too worried when the ball was in our half and was confident that the defence could deal with anything. Which they did. Solid performances from all of them back there.

Also a mention to Darryl who was good last night albeit that he didnt have an awful lot to do. Nice to see him coming up for a few more catches rather than punches and not flapping in the air too much. With a more solid back line im sure it helps his confidence too.

And what more could we ask for from Barrett - great confidence, solid defending and an absolutely blinding goal to cap off a great night. Great goal celebration and you can tell just how much it means to him when he ran straight over the West to the fans. Barrett you are a complete legend and a great leader and captain and I think with that we can all say....Maher who?

 

[bishmania]

I don't think the defence in itself has neccessarily improved but the team as a whole has improved defensively.

This is down to the fact that we have a couple of strikers who can hold the ball up now.

With Harrold, Hooper and Maccy D (although he did do a better job than the rest) couldn't make it stick up top, increasing the pressure on our defence.

Now we have that outlet it allows our defence to recover from one attack and gain its composure for the next one whereas teams just kept coming back at us when we didn't hold onto the ball.

 

[Andyhsufc]

Like I said on another thread, although our defence do sometimes sit a tad deep, Clarkey an Barrett are winning most of the 1st balls and macca and bails are mopping upall the 2nd ones

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

What has struck me over the past few weeks is how hard we work when we do not have the ball. This starts from up front with Barnard and Walker, and with Bailey and Macca in midfield carry it on.

Even Gower seems to be putting in the miles, and he hinted last night on the radio that the midfield "generals" don't let the other players not put in the hard graft.

Looking at the recent goals conceeded column. (I can't remember any further back)

Hartlepool 1 - Open play
Millwall 2 - Corner and Free Kick
Bournemouth 1 - Corner
Cheltenham 1 - Open Play
Notts F 1 - Open Play
Huddersfield 1 - Corner
Swansea 1 - Penalty
Crewe 1 - Free Kick

9 goals in 13 games. 3 from open play and 6 from set pieces which dispels the 33% figure that Tilly mentioned, so even though the defence has tightened up considerably due to the points I made earlier, set pieces still seem to be a problem.

The problem will come when the players think that they do not have to put in the hard work to get the results and think that they will come without it.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Yes, agree with all above.

Whole team is defending, and the confidence that gives is really helping Barratt and Clarke, it also helps having two tall fullbacks. Francis has really improved.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Hartlepool 1 - Open play
Millwall 2 - Corner and Free Kick
Bournemouth 1 - Corner
Cheltenham 1 - Open Play
Notts F 1 - Open Play
Huddersfield 1 - Corner
Swansea 1 - Penalty
Crewe 1 - Free Kick

9 goals in 13 games. 3 from open play and 6 from set pieces which dispels the 33% figure that Tilly mentioned,

The problem will come when the players think that they do not have to put in the hard work to get the results and think that they will come without it.

I don't agree with this post though.

1) You can't count the penalty as a set piece, sure it's not open play but it's not a run of the mill set piece.

2)Nice to see you have no faith in our players maintaining their form and commitment.

 

[Jam_Man]

9 goals in 13 games. 3 from open play and 6 from set pieces which dispels the 33% figure that Tilly mentioned, so even though the defence has tightened up considerably due to the points I made earlier, set pieces still seem to be a problem.

In addition to the penalty Id question the free kick against Millwall. That was just a fluke that went under the wall and wasnt like we just got beaten in the air.

You are right in one fact 5 goals out of 12 is high, however the fact we have only conceded 3 goals from open play in 13 games is going to make the set piece percentage increase, ie we are a victim of our own success.

However you look at it 9 goals conceded in 13 games is a good achievement and only 3 from open play is incredible.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Charlie Mulgrew has proved to be a great signing, in the first few games for us he looked like a shocking signing, after the Millwall game he just looked like he didnt want to be here.

He is certainly a confidence player and he has that now, a completly different player in recent weeks, very strong going forward and solid at the back.

How could Simon Francis not get in the team at the start of the year, o.k i know he got injured in a pre-season against Canvey but his all round game is so much better to Lewis Hunt's again strong going foward and commanding at the back.

 

[fredheim_holm]

Charlie Mulgrew has proved to be a great signing, in the first few games for us he looked like a shocking signing, after the Millwall game he just looked like he didnt want to be here.

He is certainly a confidence player and he has that now, a completly different player in recent weeks, very strong going forward and solid at the back.

How could Simon Francis not get in the team at the start of the year, o.k i know he got injured in a pre-season against Canvey but his all round game is so much better to Lewis Hunt's again strong going foward and commanding at the back.

Indeed, he has definately improved, but I'm not going to judge him just yet. He's done really well for us the last few games I've seen, but I can't quite get a couple of glaring errors he made when he was first here out of my head. I'm sure with time I'll get over them though.

 

[class]

Tilly said himself that he has tinkered with the tactics and formation to improve the defense and it seems to have worked.

Tilson out.

:clap:

 

[Pubey]

according to the OS, Francis has the greatest amount of assists... an excellent stat for an attacking fullback

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I don't think the defence in itself has neccessarily improved but the team as a whole has improved defensively.

This is down to the fact that we have a couple of strikers who can hold the ball up now.

With Harrold, Hooper and Maccy D (although he did do a better job than the rest) couldn't make it stick up top, increasing the pressure on our defence.

Now we have that outlet it allows our defence to recover from one attack and gain its composure for the next one whereas teams just kept coming back at us when we didn't hold onto the ball.

Absolutely spot on bish ,best reply I've read for ages .

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

1) You can't count the penalty as a set piece, sure it's not open play but it's not a run of the mill set piece.

Why not? Its just a set piece that you are more likely to score from than others.

2)Nice to see you have no faith in our players maintaining their form and commitment.

Did I say that? I just pointed out that not everything has gone away, and conceeding only 3 in 13 games from open play does skew the stats slightly, there is still room for improvement in this area.

 

[stevietheshrimper]

Absolutely spot on bish ,best reply I've read for ages .

Exactly, which is one of the reasons I was, and am, so against the Bring Back Hooper campaign.

He doesn't score often enough at this level and he can't hold the ball up. Walker and Barnard are an excellent first line of defence and keep hold of the ball brilliantly.

With some proper coaching Hooper will be a fine player in a couple of years, but for now Tilly has done the right thing in leaving him in Hereford.

More praise for Tilly. Good man. And I'll be honest, I thought he was worthy of a lot of criticism for our early form, and I questioned whether he was going to be able to turn it around. I never for one moment thought it was time for him to go, but I did think his time was ever so slightly starting to run out.

Fortunately he's proved what a good manager he is. His buys (most of which were seriously questioned on here) have proved excellent.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

In addition to the penalty Id question the free kick against Millwall. That was just a fluke that went under the wall and wasnt like we just got beaten in the air.

You are right in one fact 5 goals out of 12 is high, however the fact we have only conceded 3 goals from open play in 13 games is going to make the set piece percentage increase, ie we are a victim of our own success.

However you look at it 9 goals conceded in 13 games is a good achievement and only 3 from open play is incredible.

I agree with your 2nd bit about 3 in 13 from open play being outstanding, but the free kick against Millwall was still a set piece and they still scored. We conceded free kicks like this against Orient and Leeds in the first two games of the season and this probably cost us points.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Hartlepool 1 - Open play
Millwall 2 - Corner and Free Kick
Bournemouth 1 - Corner
Cheltenham 1 - Open Play
Notts F 1 - Open Play
Huddersfield 1 - Corner
Swansea 1 - Penalty
Crewe 1 - Free Kick
Northampton - Corner

10 goals in 15 games. 3 from open play (which is amazing) and 7 from set pieces (Which is very very poor still, one every other game).

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

We don't have enough height to defend set pieces, this is were i fear it could all go wrong for us in we were to get promoted again , I like Barrett and Clarke i think they have a great partnership but they're not tall enough to deal with the physical presence of some strikers in the championship.