Our defence

[Rjk]

There has clearly been some improvement in this area:

We went from having no clean sheets in forever and looking vulnerable to every attack, to now having 3 in the last 5 games (admittedly 2 of those were against Barnsley and Peterborough), almost a 4th against Forest who grabbed a late consolation goal and managed to keep out Liverpool for an hour or so.

I wonder whether the improvement is more to do with the midfield rather than the defence itself.

All season we've wondered if we have the players who can play in a back 3, and for most of that time the defence has been pretty poor.
There have been plenty of individual errors, but none that seem specifically to do with the formation.

When we had Flint and Nelson and Pack passing it around at the back in little triangles it was horrible to watch and you always felt that a clanger was about to happen - however I can't really recall any of the goals we've conceded were down to not having the players to play out from the back - if anything it probably hurt us more as an attacking force, as the transitions to attack were so painfully slow that the oppositions always had the change to reset their shape.

By contrast, a lot of the goals I can remember seem to have been due to a lack of protection in front of the defence, with attackers able to run at the heart of the defence quite often. This seems to happen much less often now.

We have changed the defensive line by putting Ng in there, which has helped us become more mobile and able to pass out better, but at the same time we've overhauled the midfield, and specifically brought Wintle in for Pack.

I think the latter has probably had the bigger effect.

[the other bob wilson]

Re: Our defence

There has clearly been some improvement in this area:

We went from having no clean sheets in forever and looking vulnerable to every attack, to now having 3 in the last 5 games (admittedly 2 of those were against Barnsley and Peterborough), almost a 4th against Forest who grabbed a late consolation goal and managed to keep out Liverpool for an hour or so.

I wonder whether the improvement is more to do with the midfield rather than the defence itself.

All season we've wondered if we have the players who can play in a back 3, and for most of that time the defence has been pretty poor.
There have been plenty of individual errors, but none that seem specifically to do with the formation.

When we had Flint and Nelson and Pack passing it around at the back in little triangles it was horrible to watch and you always felt that a clanger was about to happen - however I can't really recall any of the goals we've conceded were down to not having the players to play out from the back - if anything it probably hurt us more as an attacking force, as the transitions to attack were so painfully slow that the oppositions always had the change to reset their shape.

By contrast, a lot of the goals I can remember seem to have been due to a lack of protection in front of the defence, with attackers able to run at the heart of the defence quite often. This seems to happen much less often now.

We have changed the defensive line by putting Ng in there, which has helped us become more mobile and able to pass out better, but at the same time we've overhauled the midfield, and specifically brought Wintle in for Pack.

I think the latter has probably had the bigger effect.

Good post, it’s a huge over simplification which doesn’t recognise the efforts of others, but the fact is that Blackpool conceded eighteen goals in the eighteen Championship matches Wintle featured in, while we’ve conceded eight in the eight he’s played in for us.

[splott parker]

Re: Our defence

Wintle is the man:thumbup:

[The Lone Gunman]

Re: Our defence

Nelson gets dropped (or injured), the central defensive trio of Nelson, McGuinness and either Flint or Morrison gets dissolved, and clean sheets follow.

Amazing. Who’d have imagined it?

[tforturton]

Re: Our defence

I agree, Wintle has made a huge difference, shielding the defence from most of the through-balls, that used to be our undoing. Also, we have lost/dropped Morrison and Nelson. One ageing, the other prone to errors. Ng and McGuinness are both much better playing in a back three. We also have to pretty good wing backs, in Drameh and Bagan, and that helps as well. All things considered, you could say we almost have a brand new back five, and look so much better for it.

[splott parker]

Re: Our defence

What I’ve noticed a couple of times in recent games is that if one of them hoofs it in true (old) Cardiff City style, the ‘hoofer’ has apologetically held his hand up in a sort of ‘whoops, we don’t do that any more, unless absolutely necessary’.

[stan butler]

Re: Our defence

Wintle has done a superb job.. And i never thought i'd say it but Flint has been very good to. I think we should keep him he's been great with Ng and McGuinness

[dembethewarrior]

Re: Our defence

Posters on here were moaning about Hudson not too many games back asking "whAt thE **** dOes hE do"

Amazing what can happen when a coach gets more than the odd training session.

[Dorcus]

Re: Our defence

Wintle has done a superb job.. And i never thought i'd say it but Flint has been very good to. I think we should keep him he's been great with Ng and McGuinness

Agree about Flint and he can score too. It's obvious Wintle has improved us significantly but I think the omission of Nelson has been a huge reason for our better defensive record. If/when he gets back in contention I hope he's WAAAY down in the pecking order.

[stan butler]

Re: Our defence

Agree about Flint and he can score too. It's obvious Wintle has improved us significantly but I think the omission of Nelson has been a huge reason for our better defensive record. If/when he gets back in contention I hope he's WAAAY down in the pecking order.

Flint has the old head with the two younger players is a decent combination. They will make mistakes but hey ho so do others

[Citizen's Nephew]

Re: Our defence

Flint has the old head with the two younger players is a decent combination. They will make mistakes but hey ho so do others

I have a soft spot for Flint. Agree that Wintle has done a superb job. It's going to be weird for him tomorrow (presuming he plays).

[the other bob wilson]

Re: Our defence

I wouldn’t give Flint a new contract at his age, but I do think this has been his best season for us and he has been playing well lately (he was one of a few who could have done better with Millwall’s second goal last weekend though). I’d also give him credit for two shots he’s hit in the last two home games - his goal against Peterborough was a fine finish for a centreback and he wasn’t too far away with a technically difficult effort from just outside the penalty area on Tuesday.

[2b2bdoo]

Re: Our defence

A lot of our issues in defence were individual mistakes, they still happen but I also think it’s more about the teams shape. People know what they are doing and what their jobs are and have confidence in what they are doing and what others do. It was never going to be an overnight fix. It’s coming along, if Morison is in charge next season I can imagine only
McGuiness in that back 3 from this season.

[stan butler]

Re: Our defence

I wouldn’t give Flint a new contract at his age, but I do think this has been his best season for us and he has been playing well lately (he was one of a few who could have done better with Millwall’s second goal last weekend though). I’d also give him credit for two shots he’s hit in the last two home games - his goal against Peterborough was a fine finish for a centreback and he wasn’t too far away with a technically difficult effort from just outside the penalty area on Tuesday.

Depending on wages we could offer a year contract with a option for us to give him another year .:shrug:
We won't have many players left in the summer so i'd try and keep him and focus on the midfield.
I think we will sign one of the new strikers.

[Rock_Flock_of_Five]

Re: Our defence

Not many opposition attacks are coming down our right-hand side, due mainly to Cody Drameh. Bagan is starting to have the same effect on the left.
Then there's Wintle sitting central and helping snuff out the danger there.
The back three are definitely getting better protection.
Ng and McGuiness have mobility, that has certainly helped.
When you think back to the times we had Morrison, Flint and Nelson trying to play together, with constant 'under pressure' back passes from Marlon Pack... a recipe for disaster!