Defensive partnership

[Brackley Bluenose 4,479]

10 minutes ago, ForeverAndEver said:

Is it because he was not, is not, and will not be good enough?

🤣🤣🤣

[ForeverAndEver 72,266]

7 minutes ago, AlbertzLoyalRSC said:

I think if he can stay injury free, he has the potential to be better than any of our current CB's tbh.

He obviously couldn't play tonight like the guy quoting you was meaning tho.

Nope, nowhere near good enough. 

[Dickie 12,906]

2 hours ago, psb07158 said:

Filip Helander is our best defender. 

Connor Goldson has been awful to start this season. I like big Leon but he's not at the required level for the CL. 

Gerrard needs to stop fucking around with the GK and CB positions. McGregor, Goldson and Helander has to start every single game where available. We are conceding absolute fucking shiters and the defence has to build confidence again and quickly.

If he wants to make changes it has to be Patterson for Tav or Bassey for Barisic given how absolutely fucking horrible they have both been.

I had assumed helander was injured when team announced,fucking crazy decision to drop him. The back four tonight were abysmal.

[TheBluebells 6,898]

4 minutes ago, Dickie said:

I had assumed helander was injured when team announced,fucking crazy decision to drop him. The back four tonight were abysmal.

I was the exact same as I couldn't see any other logical decision for dropping him.

I'd love to hear an explanation for it, if he isn't injured then I don't see Helander being very happy either.

[bluenoz 31,343]

1 hour ago, Brackley Bluenose said:

Guessing you’ve not seen the fact he’s been training for ages and looking ridiculously strong. Also guessing you’ve not seen the fact that we look dreadful at the back at the moment. 

Katic is not the answer. He is decent but he will never be great imo. He sure has a big cult following on RM however.

[Drunk and disorderly. 14,748]

2 hours ago, The Specky Liar said:

Agree with all that

Patterson should play on Friday and if he plays well it's his shirt to lose. Could argue the same with Bassey

Goldson needs an ultimatum and told to make a decision on his contract ASAP

Goldson is on record as saying he is ignoring the contract negotiations that have been going on for months and is concentrating on playing.

He may think that, but he was solid for us last season and looks nervy and unassured now. Make your mind up either way big man before we all pay the price. 

[stuart1994 4,426]

Absolute baffling decision not to play Helander tonight. 

[orange&blue92 1,284]

If Goldson isn’t here for the long run, get him to fuck. He’s a good player when his mind is there, but we don’t have room for passengers. Make your mind up CG.

[LewisWATP 301]

1 hour ago, stuart1994 said:

Absolute baffling decision not to play Helander tonight. 

Madness 

[gmcf 34,716]

Don't disagree , but Goldson has been as poor as any of our CBs so far this season . 

[soulboy 2,521]

7 hours ago, The Godfather said:

 

Keepers don't need rotated full stop.. The no 1 is the no 1 for a reason. 

Now we are out of CL keepers will only be rotated for cup games. No way Gerrard was going to risk losing McGregor to injury In the league when Mcglaughlin couldn't play in Europe.

[Mr Soprano 13,964]

7 hours ago, The Specky Liar said:

Agree with all that

Patterson should play on Friday and if he plays well it's his shirt to lose. Could argue the same with Bassey

Goldson needs an ultimatum and told to make a decision on his contract ASAP

He’s not been given a choice thus far, mate.

Not his fault in this case.

[The Specky Forum Organiser 66,692]

2 hours ago, Mr Soprano said:

He’s not been given a choice thus far, mate.

Not his fault in this case.

Has he not actually been offered one?

[peter huistra 1,740]

More chance of going with a back 3 than Goldson getting dropped.

You can't blame just him though the regression down the right and left of the pitch is bafflingly add to that the aging midfielders with no new added legs in there and it was a cluster fuck waiting to happen.

For forty five minutes though last night we looked to have turned the corner, their sending off before ht was the worst thing to happen. 

[SeparateEntityMyArse 54,366]

10 hours ago, eskbankloyal said:

Helander is one of very few capable of playing at UCL level. To drop him for Balogun and by no means for the first time either is bizarre

We went man for man at the back and I've more confidence in Balogun than Helander for that. I do think Helander on the whole is better than Balogun on defending when it's 2 CHs v 1 forward.

What is unacceptable though was Balogun failing in the basics of defending. Him and Goldson have both been culpable this season.

But over and above that our 2 full backs are stealing a wage at present and that's where more of my anger lies. Zero quality on crosses from open play or dead balls. Free kicks I've seen more quality on a subbuteo pitch, along with more movement and drive.

Far more problems than solutions at present.

[LuxembourgBlue 109]

11 hours ago, King Jela said:

His fuck up of a decision has cost us £40 million. 

Why in God's name you'd drop Helander is beyond me. A fucking baffling decision. 

When you put it like that you start to realise just how much that decision has fucked us 

[JackAlex93 11,667]

8 hours ago, stuart1994 said:

Absolute baffling decision not to play Helander tonight. 

Couldn't believe he dropped Helander and it proved costly 

[Johnsey 1,540]

I was worried about Greggs this season. He was outstanding last season but he can't go on forever. McLaughlin is a great backup but I think he should only ever be that.

Goldson was a rock last year but maybe because of the little pressure we faced. When teams press him he's prone to basic errors, missing the ball completely or playing a daft pass. His favourite seems to be slicing the ball directly up into the air.

Borna and Tav no longer bomb past players. Barisic crosses usually cause havoc and Tav has range, he can cross a ball but equally as adept at coming inside or playing a pass. Neither are doing what they are good at.

I think it's the whole team that's to blame though, our system works on all the cogs turning and not enough are pulling their weight. I felt Aribo started well but fell out of the game. Kent seems like he'd rather be anywhere else right now.

Morelos was the only one who got pass marks for me, he tried to make things happen. I don't even mind players over hitting a pass or whatever but at least go for it. Prime example was Morelos taking that ball in the first half and switching it to his left and trying to pick out Barisic who was caught watching. Yes, the ball could have been better but it was the right idea that would have opened space.

We seem to wait for the perfect ball to present itself otherwise it's recycled back into this awful, slow passing game.

[Jimfanciesthedude 25,044]

2 hours ago, SeparateEntityMyArse said:

We went man for man at the back and I've more confidence in Balogun than Helander for that. I do think Helander on the whole is better than Balogun on defending when it's 2 CHs v 1 forward.

What is unacceptable though was Balogun failing in the basics of defending. Him and Goldson have both been culpable this season.

But over and above that our 2 full backs are stealing a wage at present and that's where more of my anger lies. Zero quality on crosses from open play or dead balls. Free kicks I've seen more quality on a subbuteo pitch, along with more movement and drive.

Far more problems than solutions at present.

Telt ye, we neex proper wingers down the line, not fullbacks 

In all seriousness though, i called this pre covid with regards to all the fucking about with centre halves, the best teams down the years have built from the back, creating stability and consistency in their defence so that they can read each others game in an instant, goldson suffered pre covid due to the amount of partners he had at the back, same with barisic who has a different defender next to him on a weekly basis

Helander is comfortably the best defender we have, it shows in that last season our defence became a rock with him in it consistently 

Gerrard needs to fucking quit fannying around with the backline 

[Johnsey 1,540]

4 minutes ago, Jimbeamjunior said:

Telt ye, we neex proper wingers down the line, not fullbacks 

In all seriousness though, i called this pre covid with regards to all the fucking about with centre halves, the best teams down the years have built from the back, creating stability and consistency in their defence so that they can read each others game in an instant, goldson suffered pre covid due to the amount of partners he had at the back, same with barisic who has a different defender next to him on a weekly basis

Helander is comfortably the best defender we have, it shows in that last season our defence became a rock with him in it consistently 

Gerrard needs to fucking quit fannying around with the backline 

I think the worst thing about going with Balogun over Helander for his pace is that I've rarely, if ever, seen Helander caught out and end up in a foot race.

[Jimfanciesthedude 25,044]

2 minutes ago, Johnsey said:

I think the worst thing about going with Balogun over Helander for his pace is that I've rarely, if ever, seen Helander caught out and end up in a foot race.

Agreed, helander isnt fast paced, but his reading of the game covers that, and tbh reading the game is much better than having pace to get back in cause you cannoy read the game 

[Mr Soprano 13,964]

4 hours ago, The Specky Liar said:

Has he not actually been offered one?

Nah mate, he hasn’t.

[Bears 794]

Goldson peaked last season, had a great period with his defending, passing and scoring. But he's not defending anywhere near as well this season, his positioning is too often poor, getting drawn to the ball, and he's lost his confidence in the big passes as well as up front. And he has had plenty opportunity to commit to a new contract. Time for an ultimatum from Gerrard - sign the contract and sort your game out or go now before you're remembered for something other than a great 55.

[SIRB_72 4,086]

I was thinking this one over because last night we were all over the place and same with last Tuesday which was completely unlike us from last season.

I don't think we should do it right away because there's a bigger sample of us doing well in this system with this group than not. However, if we keep getting caught out between centre back and full back surely a change to a back 3 must be considered? A 3-6-1 specifically.

With an extra centre half in there we don't lose the goals we have in the last week because the three are spread out and the space becomes wider than it is currently (usually in between our posts or just off the wide 6 yard line). Overall it just gives us that bit more security when defending.

Going forward I also think it benefits us because we would regain that extra control that we seem to have lost from last season. The 3 cbs have time on the ball. The option to have Goldson, Balogun or even Bassey bring it out adds another man in midfield. 

Our wing backs can start much further forward and we only really need one DM which means we can be flexible between Kamara and Davis depending on who we are playing.

Alongside Kamara or Davis you can play Aribo, Arfield or Lundstram because they don't have to worry about covering one of the full backs and can contribute to the attack more often. The two tens and the striker role doesn't really change but obviously that front 3 can be different depending on opposition and can even become a 2 when Roofe & Morelos are both available.

More security at the back but managing to have an extra central midfielder involved in the attacking phases and regaining the control we had over games last season.

[Swagger 8,373]

17 hours ago, Brackley Bluenose said:

I love how Katic doesn’t even get a mention anymore. Could easily play in that team right now. 

Yep. Katic should be ahead of Balogan and Simpson. Run of games and he should be pushing Goldson too