There is something wrong with our defence

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

I don't care how much Sakho cost. He's fucking great and needs to play because he is great.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Sakho's so good no one even mentions his hair.

[Ne Moe Imya]

Sakho plus one other for me.  Agger/Skrtel, most likely; I'd be happy with either.

 

If I were Rodgers I'd be thinking seriously about playing Toure as a DM this week, especially if Henderson is out as rumoured.

[Pureblood]

I would like to revisit the point made about Mignolet in this thread.  It is still costing us and other teams have figured out that if you cross the ball near our six yard box he is unlikely to come and claim it.  What to do?

[Babb'sBurstNad]

I would like to revisit the point made about Mignolet in this thread.  It is still costing us and other teams have figured out that if you cross the ball near our six yard box he is unlikely to come and claim it.  What to do?

 

Play Sakho. He seems to win aerial battles more than our other CBs and his solidity at LCB should allow Cissokho to get closer to whoever tries crossing from that side.

 

The problem of having a keep unable to properly deal with crosses is so old that it almost feels like it's one attached to the club. When we've pushed keepers to attack the ball it tends to end in them punching, this ends in varied success or getting caught under the ball and watching it nodded into an empty net.

 

Mig's best asset is reflex shot stopping, so I'd prefer he stays on his line if necessary. Not ideal, but perhaps the lesser of two evils.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

We need a strong, settled back four. The cost is at the feet of the defenders in my view.

[Rambo]

I'd certainly say the keeper has won us far more points than he's lost us this year. Seeing shots stopped was getting quite rare.

Sakho or Agger with Martin plus Enrique back and suddenly the defence doesn't look quite so wobbly. I don't recall so many injuries across the back line, to be in fourth with those Knicks is fucking incredible in my opinion and needs applauding.

[Killjoy]

Play Brad Jones.

[Pureblood]

There's only so much the centre backs can do.  It would give them more confidence, and the team as a whole, if the keeper claimed the odd aerial ball.  I'm not hanging Mignolet out to dry but I do think it's a recurring problem and other teams have sussed it out.  

[Pureblood]

Agree that it's the lesser of two evils and I think he's been an improvement on the latter Reina years. 

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

There's only so much the centre backs can do.

There is but I'm confident that kicking the ball anywhere but into our own goal is one of them. I'm not saying he shouldn't come and claim certain balls, but I think it's a lot to do with the uncertainty of the defence. If we had defenders who were good in the air, I'd actively want him to stay away from doing it because it's not his strong suit.

[Pureblood]

Isn't Skrtel statistically one of the best around in the air?   Johnson has good aerial duel stats, too.   Sure I read that once.  In an ideal world the keeper must take more responsibility and not continuously pass the buck to those in front of him.    

[Dan]

Our entire first choice back 4 is/ was injured. We are 4 points from the top. That shit is fucked up.

[Pureblood]

What does that have to do with Mignolet?  The end result has been the same whoever is in front of him; he stays put on his line. 

[Babb'sBurstNad]

I think there's always the hope that, with a settled CB pairing in front of him, he could try to learn that skill, but like good distribution it's not going to come naturally to him.

 

It'd be great to see him take charge of anything that comes in and around the six yard box, but the worry is he'd come, miss, and in doing so ruin any chance of a CB attacking the ball. 

 

Staying on his line and making reaction saves probably gives him, and the defence, a greater chance.

 

I'm struggling to think of a keeper that really commands his area, aerially speaking, in this league now.

[dirk grout]

What does that have to do with Mignolet?  The end result has been the same whoever is in front of him; he stays put on his line. 

 

This is true, although is seems that a lot of people don't recognise the problem. Reina is miles better at coming off his line than mignolet, mignolet is a better shot stopper. Its pretty hard to work out which prevents more goals. In my opinion fulhams second goal was as much mignolets fault as skrtels.

[Pureblood]

I think there's always the hope that, with a settled CB pairing in front of him, he could try to learn that skill, but like good distribution it's not going to come naturally to him.

 

It'd be great to see him take charge of anything that comes in and around the six yard box, but the worry is he'd come, miss, and in doing so ruin any chance of a CB attacking the ball. 

 

Staying on his line and making reaction saves probably gives him, and the defence, a greater chance.

 

I'm struggling to think of a keeper that really commands his area, aerially speaking, in this league now.

 

Good post and I can see both sides to this.  

 

How about Cech?  He is still top notch, in my opinion.  

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Good post and I can see both sides to this.  

 

How about Cech?  He is still top notch, in my opinion.  

 

He's probably about as close as the league's got, but he seems prone to the odd brain fart post-head injury. He was rock solid before that.

 

Howard's not too bad, and Begovic has good patches, but no one's close to Cech's earlier form.

[Adebisi]

Plenty of time for him to improve on aspects of his game, he's still a baby in goalkeeper's terms. He's won us more points than he's cost us this season, that's for sure. 

[etho]

He's not perfect, but I can't point to one of our rivals and say theirs are better. Cech makes mistakes, so does hart, and arsenal have the bendtner of keepers

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

 

[Boss]

Cech and Lloris are better right off the bat, I like him though he's a good keeper.

[Section_31]

There's only so much the centre backs can do. It would give them more confidence, and the team as a whole, if the keeper claimed the odd aerial ball. I'm not hanging Mignolet out to dry but I do think it's a recurring problem and other teams have sussed it out.

Think our defenders are always going to be under pressure because of the way we play. Under Rafa and Houllier they were defended by two centre mids and a side which played narrow and defended from the front. This is why Carra got caught out a lot more towards the end of his career because he was often playing as the last man and was miles away from another defender.

[KMD7]

I think Mig has done ok considering it's his first season at a bigger club and he hasn't has a settled back 4 in front of him since he arrived. 

[aws]

For me, the jury is still out on Mignolet. Great at stopping shots but his failure to dominate the six yard box (never mind the area) seems to put the shits up our defenders and his distribution is poor.

[Elite]

We have been very unlucky with our defensive injuries this season. Hopefully with a settled back 5 we may see improvement but will always concede a lot due to how we play. Unfortunately we are not going be score for fun and be as tight as cramp at the back, unless we sign some very good defenders.