Freeman

[Ldn_Rd_Blades]

yes I know, there's no need to be negative at the moment but it's something that stick out like a sore thumb to me watching the highlights.

How much space freeman gave the winger for all 3 goals and the chance at the end.

Freeman's been brilliant this season but it's something he needs to watch because you could argue he cost us 3 points today

 

[Bladeinleeds]

Think we have to accept that it's occasionally gonna happen with modern fullbacks and Freeman has been great thus far this season. They can't all defend as well as they can attack and if Freeman could he certainly wouldn't be playing for us.

For each of the goals there was also a touch of misfortune with deflections etc and on another day the 3 CB's might have been able to deal with the ball coming in.

I'm sure wilder will put him right if lax closing down becomes a regular problem, as he has certainly proved he can be an asset for us.

 

[blades78]

Agreed. We ve conceded quite a few goals this season via easy crosses from Freeman's side.

 

[SwissBlade]

Its a difficult one to get our heads around when we've spent so many years watching 4-4-2, but Freeman and Lafferty are no longer just employed as defensive fullbacks, they're almost wingers with defensive duties. It doesn't mean that they can be forgiven for not defending, but perhaps a change in view on how they play.

One thing is for sure, Wilder expects his players all over the pitch to get tight, pres and close down players, so I think this will be analysed during this week at Shirecliffe. That said, it seems that in the context of the game, where players were pushing a lot to score, there would be areas for Bradford to exploit, which they did.

Will need to look at the goals on Bladesplayer later to understand how these goals came about.

 

[Antonb]

Yes I went to the game, and Freeman had his worse game of the season. But hopefully his worse game is out of the way, and he can get back to the levels he has shown so far.I thought Ebanks and Wright flapped a bit as well to be fair.

 

[Bladey McBladeface]

I agree that Freeman had a difficult game yesterday, despite being superb this season.

He is being asked to cover an awful lot of ground though and it's hardly surprising that he was caught out. You could see it on the first goal when he failed to close down the cross that he was gasping for air.

We could definitely do with a decent cover for Freeman at RB (not Reece Brown), just because he will probably need a rest at some point - he's arguably being asked to run more than anyone on the pitch.

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

Freeman has to cover alot of ground in the role he is asked to play.

It was'nt Freeman that cost us goals,my finger points more to the fella playing at the side of him Basham,could have cleared the first if he had been more athletic,and the third was totally Basham's creation,leaving Dieng to stroll past him and score.

 

[Ricky]

First goal: We got attracted towards Nicky Law with the ball (good player) and space opened up on the left hand side.

Second goal: No one picking up Hiwula where the ball eventually drops.

Third goal: No one tracking Dieng anywhere near closely enough.

So there were other places to look for blame. None of them were terrible goals to concede though, I've certainly seen worse. Irritating that Kilgallon got two assists from left back though.

Freeman's main problem is possibly not getting close enough to crosses. He stands off a bit too much. He could often do more to get closer to the ball. He's at his best at close quarters with opponents - if he's close enough I always fancy him to come out on top.

If as looks likely the 3-5-2 is here to stay, then Wilder's got some thinking to do about the wing back positions. Ours have done quite well but we are lacking a bit in wide areas in terms of pace and trickery, and with this formation we'll be solely reliant on the wing backs to offer it. Just one who can take players on would make a real difference.

 

[Ldn_Rd_Blades]

Agreed a lot is being asked of freeman and he has done it well this season

The first goal looks the worse but there is other factors at play,

1 I think he's running back from an attacking position

2 he's having to mark coutts man at first

3 Basham should have blocked the cross

It's the other 3 where I feel he got caught napping

 

[sheffielder]

I think the issue with 2 of those goals is that we didn't press higher up the pitch which allowed them easily to get into those wide left areas. Yes it only happened twice, but twice was enough. If Basham was in midfield then I don't think they happen.

 

[Bladeinleeds]

First goal: We got attracted towards Nicky Law with the ball (good player) and space opened up on the left hand side.

Second goal: No one picking up Hiwula where the ball eventually drops.

Third goal: No one tracking Dieng anywhere near closely enough.

So there were other places to look for blame. None of them were terrible goals to concede though, I've certainly seen worse. Irritating that Kilgallon got two assists from left back though.

Freeman's main problem is possibly not getting close enough to crosses. He stands off a bit too much. He could often do more to get closer to the ball. He's at his best at close quarters with opponents - if he's close enough I always fancy him to come out on top.

If as looks likely the 3-5-2 is here to stay, then Wilder's got some thinking to do about the wing back positions. Ours have done quite well but we are lacking a bit in wide areas in terms of pace and trickery, and with this formation we'll be solely reliant on the wing backs to offer it. Just one who can take players on would make a real difference.

Agree with the above... Don't think the goals were horrific and on another day we'd could have cleared a couple.

On the formation - we can't argue its not working in an attacking sense recently 10 goals in the last three games and we look especially potent with coutts and fleck in the middle of the park as they are better on the ball than basham is.

With the personel up top it is hard to see who has the ability to beat a man and then leave for dead with pace and skill. Or could use the same skills as an outlet if we are under pressure. Perhaps Lavery / Chapman could do that role?

How did Lavery look yesterday when he came on?

 

[Ricky]

Watched the highlights, here's a quick take on the goals...

First goal: Freeman gets attracted to Law because our midfield didn't get anywhere near him. That opens space on the left. Coutts doesn't track Law into the box closely enough. This leads Basham to split his position between Law and the front post rather than just the front post, a position he would've cleared the ball from. Clarke's free at the back post.

Second goal: Can't see enough of the build up on the highlights but Hanson's free at the far post and Hiwula's free on the other post. It was a case of not marking well enough shortly after clearing a set piece.

Third goal: Kilgallon played into space down the left, Freeman doesn't get close enough to stop the cross, Basham fails to track Dieng into the box.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

In fairness the wing backs are going to get caught out of position, not just ours. What we need is to work on covering them, O'Connell does this very well on the left side and comes across to challenge the opposition winger when Lafferty is getting back, we need to replicate on this on the right hand side. This is one of the reasons playing 3 CB's can be effective.

 

[Slim Man]

Blame who you want for the first two but for me Coutts was at fault for the third. Dieng ran into the box and Coutts was the man closest to him but just semi-jogged, no intent on keeping track of him. Feel like that could be a factor in why he was yanked off.

Overall though you can't be too harsh on them, they've been top drawer to a man for 10 games.

 

[sitwell]

I think we miss OConnell at the back ,Wright and Landell were lost a few times yesterday covering both sides ,when OConnell plays they don't worry about the left and can concentrate on the right ,Basham despite have a decent game does get lost and isn't disciplined enough. EEl needs Wright and Moore to talk him through ,which they both do very well ,but our biggest problem was Basham ,it was a problem for them as they could handle him coming forward but made us struggle at the back. It made for great excitement but with Freeman having an off day they penetrated us down our right far too much.

 

[boo radley]

yes I know, there's no need to be negative at the moment but it's something that stick out like a sore thumb to me watching the highlights.

How much space freeman gave the winger for all 3 goals and the chance at the end.

Freeman's been brilliant this season but it's something he needs to watch because you could argue he cost us 3 points today View attachment 20395View attachment 20396View attachment 20397View attachment 20398

If only those pics told the full story. Why did Coutts not close down Law? The midfield let law run an awful long way and whilst Freeman should not have got sucked in leaving the space, the exposed running without closing allows teams too much space.
On the second, How many players were defending the same area? it was like school boy defending. How many Bradford players coming in on the right free?
On the third. Who was picking up their runner scoring the goal. Our defending from the midfield was shocking yesterday on all those three occasions.

 

[Benny and the Blades]

Love Basham to bits but have to ask what a right sided mid fild players is doing covering for a left sided member of our back three, who is left on the bench ?
The attack did their job the defence didn't ........

 

[Caseh]

We played very offensively against a very good team, we were always going to concede. On the plus side, we got 3 against (upto this game) best defence in the league.

I'm not going to criticise anyone after that. You can see they're giving it everything, I can't really ask for anymore.

 

[Ldn_Rd_Blades]

Like I say not complaining, how could you.

And maybe I'm being a bit unfair on freeman and oversimplifying but it just stuck out the amount of space there was on our right

Hopefully it was just down to it being a blood and thunder derby and tactics went out of the window a bit

 

[davidblade]

Like I say not complaining, how could you.

And maybe I'm being a bit unfair on freeman and oversimplifying but it just stuck out the amount of space there was on our right

Hopefully it was just down to it being a blood and thunder derby and tactics went out of the window a bit

Agreed, I think we may gain a little more defensively stability at the back, admittedly at the expense of our attack ability by playing Basham at wing back and O'Connell at right centre back.
Think this strategy should only be used against the stronger teams in the league like Bradford.

 

[ReeceofBDTBL]

Basham did really well at right wing back last season, might be an idea if Freeman keeps letting crosses in easily.

Think the back three of O'Connell, Wright and EEL has a pretty good blend of experience, athleticism and power. Not to mention all three have a good attitude, no pr1cks like neill Collins who cost us a goal and then shout at everyone else

Still, as it is we're winning and drawing, 4 points from every 6 n all that so no need to fix it when we're in promotion form.

 

[Ldn_Rd_Blades]

You know what I'm taking that all back and blaming basham for all 3, sorry Kieron.

1, Basham comes for the challenge and freeman checks his run, Basham then stops and retreats so freeman has to carry on but has lost a few seconds.

Tbf freeman probably would have been closer if he wasn't doing g coutts job but as Basham didn't block the cross I'm putting on him.

2, Basham fluffed the clearance and chased after it that left him out of position and fleck covering for him was out jumped

3, he jogged back and the attacker ran past him into space and scored

 

[Ldn_Rd_Blades]

Agree with putting Basham at RWB as a defensive measure but on that evidence he doesn't fit in a back 3, especially as it means shuffling things about

 

[RMBlade]

Love Basham to bits but have to ask what a right sided mid fild players is doing covering for a left sided member of our back three, who is left on the bench ?
The attack did their job the defence didn't ........

To be fair we usually line up
JO'C Wright EEL
Saturday we lined up
Wright EEL Bash

I think EEL being alongside Freeman covers him defensively quite often.

 

[Wards]

Someone on Twatter said we went 4 at the back when we went 2-1 up? Was that not the case? I can't often trust other peoples interpretations on formation given some of the absolute nonsense I've heard spouted over the years!

 

[Lane Ender]

To be fair we usually line up
JO'C Wright EEL
Saturday we lined up
Wright EEL Bash

I think EEL being alongside Freeman covers him defensively quite often.

Freeman can only play as a wing back which he does ok EEL does cover for his defensive frailties well.
In a flat back four he's a liability nothing's changed.