If De Gea cut out his errors we would have had the best defence in the league.
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 10 minutes ago
comment by manusince52 (U9692)
posted 17 minutes ago
We need a Vidic if one exists for us to buy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No we don’t. It is a Rio or a Pally that we need.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's bring back Smalling...
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 1 hour, 33 minutes ago
I do think Pau Torres should be seriously considered, since I went to the trouble of watching half of a YouTube video of him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Would categorise him as World Class, Dross, or Charlie Austin?
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 58 minutes ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 8 minutes ago
Not saying he couldn’t be upgraded, VC, but CB shouldn’t (and won’t) be the focus right now.
.......
Yes it should. If it isn’t next season will be exactly the same as this one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We’ll only get so far playing the “we’ll score more than you” game. This was also a part of Liverpool’s evolution, it was VVD and Allison that transformed them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Liverpool conceded three fewer goals than us all season. City one.
Since Christmas, we’ve conceded only 12 goals in the league.
On the other hand, City scored 36 more and Liverpool 19. Chelsea and Leicester outscored us.
comment by Diamondlights (U20501)
posted 1 hour, 39 minutes ago
Personally I think you are a Harry Kane (Proper No 9) away from challenging Liverpool and City. Dunno why you are so wrapped up about Sancho.... Rashford, Martial or Greenwood wide of Kane would be deadly.
Joking aside DDG will come good, Midfield is good, Williams & AWB are solid. Whatever your budget is this year should go on Kane, not Sancho... I don't think he makes you that much better
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Two of those players are hopeless on the right wing though. Martial scored goals from play this season than Harry Kane has done in each of his last 2 seasons.
I don’t think our defensive issues are as bad as made out. They aren’t perfect, but it’s still be one of the best in the league.
If we can pick up a cheap cb for depth that’d be fine for now. Next summer we can see how the market develops and maybe go in with some big money for a top cb.
I’m actually more concerned about left back. We’ve not had a left back that can start 30 premier league games since Evra.
Our CBs are preventing us from fully implementing the style of football Ole wants. We can't push high up since both our CBs are slow and static.
Shouldn’t have spent £80m on Maguire then should he?
Plus I don't want a young Spaniard. We all know they will come out with the same 'my dream is to play for Barca/Real' once/if they become world class
comment by Bailly_Lindelof_ (U16290)
posted 30 minutes ago
Our CBs are preventing us from fully implementing the style of football Ole wants. We can't push high up since both our CBs are slow and static.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lindelof isn’t slow. He might not be the very quickest CB in the league, but he’s comfortably in the top half.
If I remember rightly, when Lukaku posted those speed test results last season, Lindelof came out as quicker than Pogba and Greenwood.
We need Speedy Gonzales at cb to compensate for Maguire's lack of pace.
I’m always skeptical of those things. Greenwood was clocked as our fastest players this season.
Also acceleration is more important for a cb - and footballers in general - than top speed anyway. This is an issue for both our cb’s, notably Maguire.
comment by Imran The King Khan (U10026)
posted 18 minutes ago
I’m always skeptical of those things. Greenwood was clocked as our fastest players this season.
Also acceleration is more important for a cb - and footballers in general - than top speed anyway. This is an issue for both our cb’s, notably Maguire.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I interpreted those results as top speed's registered during general training. Obviously certain players who are quicker than others may not have hit top speed (Shaw, for instance, is one of our quickest yet lower on that results table that Lukaku posted).
The reality is that if you look at studies of footballer sprint distances, the overwhelming majority are sub 20/25 metres.
Footballers aren't doing 100m sprints against each other in training, never mind those sorts of sustained distances during a match.
It'll be why Greenwood registered a faster in-game speed than Martial & Rashford. Over 100m, it's Rashford all day long. But under 20m? You're going to get all sorts of players that you wouldn't expect to find in a "fastest" list.
comment by Imran The King Khan (U10026)
posted 1 hour, 10 minutes ago
Shouldn’t have spent £80m on Maguire then should he?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No problem with Maguire. He is what we needed. We now need someone quicker and who reads the game better than Lindelof.
Lindelof isn’t slow.
.....
Yes he is.
BK, I’m not sure exactly how they do them tbh. But I’m still surprised Greenwood was top. Could be he reached a higher top speed over a longer distance. I would put good money on James and Rashford being faster over shorter distances. Greenwood doesn’t have that same level of acceleration.
Lindelof isn't slow, but he isn't fast either.
Also acceleration is more important for a cb - and footballers in general - than top speed anyway. This is an issue for both our cb’s, notably Maguire.
.....
This is correct. It is all about speed in short bursts for CB’s especially. They should never be involved in sprints more than 30 yards really.
This helps of course if your keeper is capable of sweeping up outside the box. Ours isn’t.
Greenwood was a national level 100m sprinter as a teenager I think. So even without the explosive acceleration he’s obviously someone that can run very fast over a long distance.
Greenwood looks to me as if he has the sudden burst of acceleration from bursting out the blocks.
It is more evident from watching him tracking back funnily enough.
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 3 hours, 17 minutes ago
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 8 minutes ago
Not saying he couldn’t be upgraded, VC, but CB shouldn’t (and won’t) be the focus right now.
.......
Yes it should. If it isn’t next season will be exactly the same as this one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We’ll only get so far playing the “we’ll score more than you” game. This was also a part of Liverpool’s evolution, it was VVD and Allison that transformed them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
True, but Liverpool's front 6 was both deadlier in attack and better at defending as a team than ours is when they made those defensive acquisitions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Disagree, like our defense it was individual errors costing them. I believe with a deeper squad, keeping the front 6 fresher (able to press for longer periods) and better individuals, we'd defend just fine.
The stats speak for themselves, we look at our defense and think it's poor, but the stats say otherwise.
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 8 minutes ago
Also acceleration is more important for a cb - and footballers in general - than top speed anyway. This is an issue for both our cb’s, notably Maguire.
.....
This is correct. It is all about speed in short bursts for CB’s especially. They should never be involved in sprints more than 30 yards really.
This helps of course if your keeper is capable of sweeping up outside the box. Ours isn’t.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If we addressed the things absent from DDG's game (top quality distribution, coming off line, commanding presence in the box) I think our central defenders would look more assured. They are just as good as reason to consider bringing in a new keeper as the increasing number of mistakes.
The problem is it's an expensive position to upgrade, considering how DDG's salary means we won't offset the upgrade with a hefty fee from his transfer. I don't think we can be certain that Henderson has the skill set to be all the things that DDG isn't, and we don't know for sure that he won't fall short on the big stage (like so many talented looking Schmeichel replacements did).
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 3 hours, 17 minutes ago
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 8 minutes ago
Not saying he couldn’t be upgraded, VC, but CB shouldn’t (and won’t) be the focus right now.
.......
Yes it should. If it isn’t next season will be exactly the same as this one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We’ll only get so far playing the “we’ll score more than you” game. This was also a part of Liverpool’s evolution, it was VVD and Allison that transformed them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
True, but Liverpool's front 6 was both deadlier in attack and better at defending as a team than ours is when they made those defensive acquisitions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Disagree, like our defense it was individual errors costing them. I believe with a deeper squad, keeping the front 6 fresher (able to press for longer periods) and better individuals, we'd defend just fine.
The stats speak for themselves, we look at our defense and think it's poor, but the stats say otherwise.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The stats are telling us that it’s a very good defence and that our attacking play has been our shortcoming, if we break the game in two.
Which is what anyone who watched us every week throughout the year would tell you without an examination of the numbers.
I think our defensive stats look better than they are because of the quality of striker we mostly come up against.
It would be interesting to see where we are in the stats of chances misses against us. There are very few games where I can say we have looked defensively sound. Even in games we have walked.
Don’t get me wrong, we are not bad but the stats say we are better than we really look. Take the recent Southampton game. They looked like they would score in every attack for the last half an hour. I bet there wasn’t a single person on the match thread that didn’t see the equalizer coming.
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Page 3 of 4
posted on 30/7/20
If De Gea cut out his errors we would have had the best defence in the league.
posted on 30/7/20
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 10 minutes ago
comment by manusince52 (U9692)
posted 17 minutes ago
We need a Vidic if one exists for us to buy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No we don’t. It is a Rio or a Pally that we need.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's bring back Smalling...
posted on 30/7/20
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 1 hour, 33 minutes ago
I do think Pau Torres should be seriously considered, since I went to the trouble of watching half of a YouTube video of him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Would categorise him as World Class, Dross, or Charlie Austin?
posted on 30/7/20
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 58 minutes ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 8 minutes ago
Not saying he couldn’t be upgraded, VC, but CB shouldn’t (and won’t) be the focus right now.
.......
Yes it should. If it isn’t next season will be exactly the same as this one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We’ll only get so far playing the “we’ll score more than you” game. This was also a part of Liverpool’s evolution, it was VVD and Allison that transformed them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Liverpool conceded three fewer goals than us all season. City one.
Since Christmas, we’ve conceded only 12 goals in the league.
On the other hand, City scored 36 more and Liverpool 19. Chelsea and Leicester outscored us.
posted on 30/7/20
comment by Diamondlights (U20501)
posted 1 hour, 39 minutes ago
Personally I think you are a Harry Kane (Proper No 9) away from challenging Liverpool and City. Dunno why you are so wrapped up about Sancho.... Rashford, Martial or Greenwood wide of Kane would be deadly.
Joking aside DDG will come good, Midfield is good, Williams & AWB are solid. Whatever your budget is this year should go on Kane, not Sancho... I don't think he makes you that much better
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Two of those players are hopeless on the right wing though. Martial scored goals from play this season than Harry Kane has done in each of his last 2 seasons.
posted on 30/7/20
I don’t think our defensive issues are as bad as made out. They aren’t perfect, but it’s still be one of the best in the league.
If we can pick up a cheap cb for depth that’d be fine for now. Next summer we can see how the market develops and maybe go in with some big money for a top cb.
I’m actually more concerned about left back. We’ve not had a left back that can start 30 premier league games since Evra.
posted on 30/7/20
Our CBs are preventing us from fully implementing the style of football Ole wants. We can't push high up since both our CBs are slow and static.
posted on 30/7/20
Shouldn’t have spent £80m on Maguire then should he?
posted on 30/7/20
Plus I don't want a young Spaniard. We all know they will come out with the same 'my dream is to play for Barca/Real' once/if they become world class
posted on 30/7/20
comment by Bailly_Lindelof_ (U16290)
posted 30 minutes ago
Our CBs are preventing us from fully implementing the style of football Ole wants. We can't push high up since both our CBs are slow and static.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lindelof isn’t slow. He might not be the very quickest CB in the league, but he’s comfortably in the top half.
If I remember rightly, when Lukaku posted those speed test results last season, Lindelof came out as quicker than Pogba and Greenwood.
posted on 30/7/20
We need Speedy Gonzales at cb to compensate for Maguire's lack of pace.
posted on 30/7/20
I’m always skeptical of those things. Greenwood was clocked as our fastest players this season.
Also acceleration is more important for a cb - and footballers in general - than top speed anyway. This is an issue for both our cb’s, notably Maguire.
posted on 30/7/20
comment by Imran The King Khan (U10026)
posted 18 minutes ago
I’m always skeptical of those things. Greenwood was clocked as our fastest players this season.
Also acceleration is more important for a cb - and footballers in general - than top speed anyway. This is an issue for both our cb’s, notably Maguire.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I interpreted those results as top speed's registered during general training. Obviously certain players who are quicker than others may not have hit top speed (Shaw, for instance, is one of our quickest yet lower on that results table that Lukaku posted).
The reality is that if you look at studies of footballer sprint distances, the overwhelming majority are sub 20/25 metres.
Footballers aren't doing 100m sprints against each other in training, never mind those sorts of sustained distances during a match.
It'll be why Greenwood registered a faster in-game speed than Martial & Rashford. Over 100m, it's Rashford all day long. But under 20m? You're going to get all sorts of players that you wouldn't expect to find in a "fastest" list.
posted on 30/7/20
comment by Imran The King Khan (U10026)
posted 1 hour, 10 minutes ago
Shouldn’t have spent £80m on Maguire then should he?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No problem with Maguire. He is what we needed. We now need someone quicker and who reads the game better than Lindelof.
posted on 30/7/20
Lindelof isn’t slow.
.....
Yes he is.
posted on 30/7/20
BK, I’m not sure exactly how they do them tbh. But I’m still surprised Greenwood was top. Could be he reached a higher top speed over a longer distance. I would put good money on James and Rashford being faster over shorter distances. Greenwood doesn’t have that same level of acceleration.
posted on 30/7/20
Lindelof isn't slow, but he isn't fast either.
posted on 30/7/20
Also acceleration is more important for a cb - and footballers in general - than top speed anyway. This is an issue for both our cb’s, notably Maguire.
.....
This is correct. It is all about speed in short bursts for CB’s especially. They should never be involved in sprints more than 30 yards really.
This helps of course if your keeper is capable of sweeping up outside the box. Ours isn’t.
posted on 30/7/20
Greenwood was a national level 100m sprinter as a teenager I think. So even without the explosive acceleration he’s obviously someone that can run very fast over a long distance.
posted on 30/7/20
Greenwood looks to me as if he has the sudden burst of acceleration from bursting out the blocks.
It is more evident from watching him tracking back funnily enough.
posted on 30/7/20
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 3 hours, 17 minutes ago
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 8 minutes ago
Not saying he couldn’t be upgraded, VC, but CB shouldn’t (and won’t) be the focus right now.
.......
Yes it should. If it isn’t next season will be exactly the same as this one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We’ll only get so far playing the “we’ll score more than you” game. This was also a part of Liverpool’s evolution, it was VVD and Allison that transformed them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
True, but Liverpool's front 6 was both deadlier in attack and better at defending as a team than ours is when they made those defensive acquisitions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Disagree, like our defense it was individual errors costing them. I believe with a deeper squad, keeping the front 6 fresher (able to press for longer periods) and better individuals, we'd defend just fine.
The stats speak for themselves, we look at our defense and think it's poor, but the stats say otherwise.
posted on 30/7/20
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 8 minutes ago
Also acceleration is more important for a cb - and footballers in general - than top speed anyway. This is an issue for both our cb’s, notably Maguire.
.....
This is correct. It is all about speed in short bursts for CB’s especially. They should never be involved in sprints more than 30 yards really.
This helps of course if your keeper is capable of sweeping up outside the box. Ours isn’t.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If we addressed the things absent from DDG's game (top quality distribution, coming off line, commanding presence in the box) I think our central defenders would look more assured. They are just as good as reason to consider bringing in a new keeper as the increasing number of mistakes.
The problem is it's an expensive position to upgrade, considering how DDG's salary means we won't offset the upgrade with a hefty fee from his transfer. I don't think we can be certain that Henderson has the skill set to be all the things that DDG isn't, and we don't know for sure that he won't fall short on the big stage (like so many talented looking Schmeichel replacements did).
posted on 30/7/20
defence*
posted on 30/7/20
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 3 hours, 17 minutes ago
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 8 minutes ago
Not saying he couldn’t be upgraded, VC, but CB shouldn’t (and won’t) be the focus right now.
.......
Yes it should. If it isn’t next season will be exactly the same as this one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We’ll only get so far playing the “we’ll score more than you” game. This was also a part of Liverpool’s evolution, it was VVD and Allison that transformed them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
True, but Liverpool's front 6 was both deadlier in attack and better at defending as a team than ours is when they made those defensive acquisitions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Disagree, like our defense it was individual errors costing them. I believe with a deeper squad, keeping the front 6 fresher (able to press for longer periods) and better individuals, we'd defend just fine.
The stats speak for themselves, we look at our defense and think it's poor, but the stats say otherwise.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The stats are telling us that it’s a very good defence and that our attacking play has been our shortcoming, if we break the game in two.
Which is what anyone who watched us every week throughout the year would tell you without an examination of the numbers.
posted on 30/7/20
I think our defensive stats look better than they are because of the quality of striker we mostly come up against.
It would be interesting to see where we are in the stats of chances misses against us. There are very few games where I can say we have looked defensively sound. Even in games we have walked.
Don’t get me wrong, we are not bad but the stats say we are better than we really look. Take the recent Southampton game. They looked like they would score in every attack for the last half an hour. I bet there wasn’t a single person on the match thread that didn’t see the equalizer coming.
Page 3 of 4