Set Pieces

[Longball]

worst display of defending I've seen from any team for a long time

[CitizenYank]

Since this seems like a topic people might be too happy to reply too,
all of you make sure you root for the Oregon Ducks tomorrow, when they face
the Auburn Tigers in the BCS Championship!! Thank you and Go Ducks!!

[Florida Blue]

Since this seems like a topic people might be too happy to reply too,
all of you make sure you root for the Oregon Ducks tomorrow, when they face
the Auburn Tigers in the BCS Championship!! Thank you and Go Ducks!!

Yikes, talk about a hijacking of a thread...

Anyway, we played well enough to get the home leg, I don't think you will see the same issues in the next match v Sven.

[CitizenYank]

Since this seems like a topic people might be too happy to reply too,
all of you make sure you root for the Oregon Ducks tomorrow, when they face
the Auburn Tigers in the BCS Championship!! Thank you and Go Ducks!!

Yikes, talk about a hijacking of a thread...

Anyway, we played well enough to get the home leg, I don't think you will see the same issues in the next match v Sven.

Sorry, can't contain my happiness. Won't happen again.

[mr_nool]

Since this seems like a topic people might be too happy to reply too,
all of you make sure you root for the Oregon Ducks tomorrow, when they face
the Auburn Tigers in the BCS Championship!! Thank you and Go Ducks!!

American sport is confusing. Figuring out how the league systems and rankings work is more complicated than mapping the family tree(s) in a Yorkshire village:

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.
The BCS relies on a combination of polls and computer selection methods to determine relative team rankings, and to narrow the field to two teams to play in the BCS National Championship Game held after the other college bowl games. The American Football Coaches Association is contractually bound to vote the winner of this game as the BCS National Champion, which guarantees that team at least a share of the national championship.
The system also selects match-ups for the other prestigious BCS bowl games. The ten teams selected include the conference champion from each of the six BCS conferences plus four others. The BCS was created by formal agreement by all eleven conferences and the three FBS independent schools, and has evolved to allow other conferences to participate to a lesser degree.

[Florida Blue]

Since this seems like a topic people might be too happy to reply too,
all of you make sure you root for the Oregon Ducks tomorrow, when they face
the Auburn Tigers in the BCS Championship!! Thank you and Go Ducks!!

American sport is confusing. Figuring out how the league systems and rankings work is more complicated than mapping the family tree(s) in a Yorkshire village:

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.
The BCS relies on a combination of polls and computer selection methods to determine relative team rankings, and to narrow the field to two teams to play in the BCS National Championship Game held after the other college bowl games. The American Football Coaches Association is contractually bound to vote the winner of this game as the BCS National Champion, which guarantees that team at least a share of the national championship.
The system also selects match-ups for the other prestigious BCS bowl games. The ten teams selected include the conference champion from each of the six BCS conferences plus four others. The BCS was created by formal agreement by all eleven conferences and the three FBS independent schools, and has evolved to allow other conferences to participate to a lesser degree.

Nool you are daft. ;) Not for not understanding the system, but for trying to understand the system. It is nonsensical other than for financial reasons, that still aren't prudent.

[dazby]

Oregon and Auburn are both great names. I think I will go for a draw.

[Slim]

Given the zonal marking has worked for us all season, it has to come down to the components in this instance. I think perhaps the fullbacks weren't doing their job and luckily Milner was.

[Dingus McDouchey]

I bet we see komps and Lescott in the replay. Our best tandem against the set piece.

[dazby]

Hey you two. Get back on topic.

[shortagain]

From recent performances it seems to me that Kolo can play with Komps, Lescott can play with Komps, but Kolo & Lescott don't know what is going on. Unfortunately that means Komps has to play every game

[Fish111]

You couldn't pay me enough money to stand in an arena shouting ''Go Ducks''.

[The Beast]

We seemed to be part man for man part zonal - didn't work

Boateng is gash at the moment - can't defend/pass to save his life (though to be fair the cross he put in that Johnson stabbed wide was pretty perfect)

Mancini has a problem in that both the fullbacks he brought in are struggling at the right now. We can't afford to have both of them playing at the same time with no Komps in the middle to save the day.

I think we will see a slightly different back 4 in the replay. (Hope so anyway)

[Douglas Higginbottom]

We seemed to be part man for man part zonal - didn't work

Boateng is gash at the moment - can't defend/pass to save his life (though to be fair the cross he put in that Johnson stabbed wide was pretty perfect)

Mancini has a problem in that both the fullbacks he brought in are struggling at the right now. We can't afford to have both of them playing at the same time with no Komps in the middle to save the day.

I think we will see a slightly different back 4 in the replay. (Hope so anyway)

Managers will have watched our defending at corners and try to work out a plan. Even though it seems that just getting the ball in the kix and attack it is all that is needed. ( weren't the 2 goals at Blackpool both corners)

Both full backs do look a little weak at the moment but with time and good coaching I am sure will get much better.Both have ability and although Boateng's defending is poor at the mo at least his support play on the right isnt too bad. The cross for AJ/Jo was perfect and he did win the corner from which we scored the 2nd. Kolarov will assist ahnd score soon I am sure and then his confidence will be skyhigh.

No doubt though who our key center back is and that's Vinnie. I am glad he got a rest on Sunday though.Let's face it we would have won but for Joe's disaster moment.

[dick dastardley]

best back four at the moment are

richards komps kolo zabba

boateng has been pants, kolorov equally but seeing as though hes supposed to be a free kick specialist hes shite!!!

[Ted Hughes]

I agree with everything you've said there Doug but I think the particular team we selected & the system used for defending both caused us a lot of problems. The suggestion that the system is ok because it's worked so far is nonsense imo, because it hasn't. We either have a goal scored from a set piece or someone misses a free header from a set piece in almost every game. We've just been a bit more lucky than we were last season & in most games have a bigger, stronger team.

Looking at the set pieces v Leicester, we had a bunch of players stood next to each other in the middle of the box & even if a ball was played right into their area, they sometimes struggled. What Leicester sometimes did though, was just hit the ball over them to the back post, where Lescott was picking up 3 players on his own. He had to guess which one was the danger, then try to block him, then try to beat him to the header. If he guessed wrong, someone else had a free header. If he guessed right but was struggling to win the header, nobody else would be good enough aerially to make a difference.

It was organizationally & individually a complete and utter disaster, as it was at Newcastle, when the same thing was happening right in the middle of the box. Somehow, most of our defensive players are tending to be exactly where the ball isn't.

[blues2win]

I agree with you Ted. Time after time this season I've had my heart in my mouth every time the ball comes in from a set piece. To single out the two new full backs as if they're resonsible for all this is ridiculous. Half the time they haven't even played. It was Zabaleta, not Kolarov, who was outjumped in the second half for one of Leicester's headed chances. Not surprisingly because of his height of course but Kolarov should be a better bet in the air given his height, for all the ill conceived criticism he gets on this site.

Two things occur to me. Mancini and the coaches, for all their hard work, haven't got the players operating the zonal system properly. No solution to that but work, work and work. Personally I'd much prefer man to man marking but there we are. Second we haven't got a really dominant centre back who can put his head on the ball time after time. Kolo, for all his pace and comfort on the ball, is weak in the air. Maybe we need to think about a replacement. What about Brede Hangeland? I suppose people will say he's not good enough in possession but he's a really commanding centre half.

One other thing. I strongly agree with Doug's comments about the full backs. They're two young foreign players who've been injured for much of the season. Kolarov is a better option than Zabaleta on the left because he offers far more going forward on that flank, especially if he's also allowed to take ALL free kicks from the right half of the field. Zaba isn't really comfortable crossing with his left foot. And remember it wasn't too long ago when the boo boys were having a go at Zaba for diving in, getting yellow cards and giving away unnecessary free kicks in dangerous areas. As for Boateng, he's had a difficult start but he's starting to show quality going forward. A really good run into a good position followed by a good cross should have been converted by Johnson. He looked at sea defensively at corners yesterday but so did everyone else. It's up to Mancini to improve him but his technique looks good. Maybe eventually he'll move into the centre which he pretty much said he wanted to do in his interview.

Both of them deserve to be judged after a full season in the premiership.

[s1ty m]

best back four at the moment are

richards komps kolo zabba

boateng has been pants, kolorov equally but seeing as though hes supposed to be a free kick specialist hes shite!!!

totally agree, it's not even close against any other group.

[Ted Hughes]

I agree with you Ted. Time after time this season I've had my heart in my mouth every time the ball comes in from a set piece. To single out the two new full backs as if they're resonsible for all this is ridiculous. Half the time they haven't even played. It was Zabaleta, not Kolarov, who was outjumped in the second half for one of Leicester's headed chances. Not surprisingly because of his height of course but Kolarov should be a better bet in the air given his height, for all the ill conceived criticism he gets on this site.

Two things occur to me. Mancini and the coaches, for all their hard work, haven't got the players operating the zonal system properly. No solution to that but work, work and work. Personally I'd much prefer man to man marking but there we are. Second we haven't got a really dominant centre back who can put his head on the ball time after time. Kolo, for all his pace and comfort on the ball, is weak in the air. Maybe we need to think about a replacement. What about Brede Hangeland? I suppose people will say he's not good enough in possession but he's a really commanding centre half.

One other thing. I strongly agree with Doug's comments about the full backs. They're two young foreign players who've been injured for much of the season. Kolarov is a better option than Zabaleta on the left because he offers far more going forward on that flank, especially if he's also allowed to take ALL free kicks from the right half of the field. Zaba isn't really comfortable crossing with his left foot. And remember it wasn't too long ago when the boo boys were having a go at Zaba for diving in, getting yellow cards and giving away unnecessary free kicks in dangerous areas. As for Boateng, he's had a difficult start but he's starting to show quality going forward. A really good run into a good position followed by a good cross should have been converted by Johnson. He looked at sea defensively at corners yesterday but so did everyone else. It's up to Mancini to improve him but his technique looks good. Maybe eventually he'll move into the centre which he pretty much said he wanted to do in his interview.

Both of them deserve to be judged after a full season in the premiership.

I can see them both making it in the Prem at fullback, in the future, but I can't ever see Boateng being a PL CB. I can't see him ever having enough to mark a player like Andy Carroll for 90 mins.

[Tokyo Blue]

As for Boateng, he's had a difficult start but he's starting to show quality going forward. A really good run into a good position followed by a good cross should have been converted by Johnson. He looked at sea defensively at corners yesterday but so did everyone else. It's up to Mancini to improve him but his technique looks good. Maybe eventually he'll move into the centre which he pretty much said he wanted to do in his interview.

Both of them deserve to be judged after a full season in the premiership.

I agree with what you say mate, especially the bit about judging after a full season (which due to injury disruptions this season would be about 18 months from now, but I would point out that a full-back should first and foremost be able to defend. Boateng, on the admittedly flimsy evidence of what we have seen so far, can't mark his man regularly, can't win it in the air regularly and can't stop crosses going in at all.

Maybe the role of the full-back is changing and I am out of date.