Defence

[Spiritof62 1,481]

Yesterday our defence carried on with their gift of a goal to the opposition.

I'm not sure what Holt was trying to do when he tried to move across the crowded goalmouth, the ball could have been cleared or put behind.

I look at the defenders we have on the books and I'm mystified why we struggle every week to keep a clean sheet, I would like the club to bring in an experienced defensive coach, its a  serious problem that has to be solved.

With 5 minutes to go we should have seen the game out comfortably and failure to do so could have cost us dear.

[bp33 353]

51 minutes ago, Spiritof62 said:

Yesterday our defence carried on with their gift of a goal to the opposition.

I'm not sure what Holt was trying to do when he tried to move across the crowded goalmouth, the ball could have been cleared or put behind.

I look at the defenders we have on the books and I'm mystified why we struggle every week to keep a clean sheet, I would like the club to bring in an experienced defensive coach, its a  serious problem that has to be solved.

With 5 minutes to go we should have seen the game out comfortably and failure to do so could have cost us dear.

I’m not sure if you can blame Holt. He was facing our goal and the ball got stuck under his feet. St Johnstones tactic of getting the ball into our box quickly, caused problems for us all day. 

[Billy Campbell's Ghost 2,934]

59 minutes ago, Spiritof62 said:

Yesterday our defence carried on with their gift of a goal to the opposition.

I'm not sure what Holt was trying to do when he tried to move across the crowded goalmouth, the ball could have been cleared or put behind.

I look at the defenders we have on the books and I'm mystified why we struggle every week to keep a clean sheet, I would like the club to bring in an experienced defensive coach, its a  serious problem that has to be solved.

With 5 minutes to go we should have seen the game out comfortably and failure to do so could have cost us dear.

Said this for years now. Other team sports have one.

[BCram 2,471]

Think there's more than just defensive coaching that could be improved. Crosses in to our opponent's goal mouth were pretty woeful all day, apart from the gem from Cammy for the winner. Shooting at goal, tackling, blocking crosses, throw ins that actually end up with us still in possession after the throw. There seems to me to be a whole load of things that better teams do. I don't believe it is all down to the talent of individual players. I'm sure we could do better with a bit of practice.

[StobbieDee 185]

35 minutes ago, bp33 said:

I’m not sure if you can blame Holt. He was facing our goal and the ball got stuck under his feet. St Johnstones tactic of getting the ball into our box quickly, caused problems for us all day. 

In my opinion Holty is and always will be a bombscare , saints yesterday didn't look like creating a chance in the second half until Holty had his brainfart moment.

[ThelegendthatisBeto 1,198]

Over the past few games we have looked a bit more solid with the 3 at the back with wing backs. Imo meekings picking up an injury made nm change things. Caulker meekings and kusunga at the heart of the defence would be perfect for the rest of the games 

[chomp my root 7,014]

57 minutes ago, ThelegendthatisBeto said:

Over the past few games we have looked a bit more solid with the 3 at the back with wing backs. Imo meekings picking up an injury made nm change things. Caulker meekings and kusunga at the heart of the defence would be perfect for the rest of the games 

For me one of the problems we've had is the moving between the back 3 and back 4. At the start of the season the players didn't seem to 'get it' and seemed to think that someone else would pick up the runner etc. Now they seem to be more familiar with it and have made it work but we feel the need to tweak things. When it comes to injuries there's not a lot you can do about it but we need to pick a main system and stick with it, I'm hopeful after a years experience NM won't feel the need to dick around with things, he seems to have come to that conclusion himself. Eventually. 

[BCram 2,471]

Still think there are gaps in the way we play. As an example our defending seemed to rely on covering zones. In particular O'Hara often ran back about 10 yards from their player who had the ball and took up a defensive position sometimes running away from the ball player. Would have hoped that he would have put pressure on the ball player as soon as possible. That's what McGowan does and it breaks up play much further away from our goal.

[Guest]

We need a left back and a right back- that requires punting two of our squad - simple as that . Ad dfence coahj cannot make a silk purse oot o'  a ***'* ****.

[BCram 2,471]

26 minutes ago, binhoker said:

We need a left back and a right back- that requires punting two of our squad - simple as that . Ad dfence coahj cannot make a silk purse oot o'  a ***'* ****.

Is Jon good enough as a left back, but perhaps only as part of a back 4?

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, BCram said:

Is Jon good enough as a left back, but perhaps only as part of a back 4?

He is not as risky as Holt or Cammy . And more consistent  imo.