GoalWatch - our defending vs Plymouth (h)

[Bergen Blade]

3-1: Plymouth throw it long into our box. Bunn fails to claim it and the ball is flicked onto the back post where Bolasie taps it in.

Bunn shouldn’t have gone for that ball, there were too many players challenging for it. Yeates becomes ball watching and loses track of Bolasie (1st photo, red circle).

3-2: I would have liked to have seen a bit more prior to this attack than the clips shows. Plymouth attack down our left and put a cross into the box. Nosworthy’s headed clearence isn’t the best and a Plymouth player nods it back into the box, where Monty loses in the air to Summerfield. The flick on falls to Mason who scores.

Nosworthy’s header is poor, and some will probably give him most of the blame. But providing we’ve got enough men behind the ball we should be strong enough in our organisation to cope with one poor clearance. The header does at least get the ball out of the area and buys us a little time to reorganise. Problem is, we don’t. Bartley (2nd photo, blue circle), foolishly breaks out of the back four and gets caught in noman’s land. Morgan (red circle) should either push up playing Mason offside, or mark him tightly. As mentioned Monty loses the header.

4-3: Plymouth have possession down our left again, but we look aggressive enough and are closing them down ok. Monty gets a foot on the ball, but Plymouth pick it up again and a low pass finds Mason, whose dummy Morgan almost buys and the ball falls to Mackie, who fires it in from 18 yards with Bartley unable to get a block in.

I think we look ok, until the ball is played up to their forwards. Morgan and Bartley should have got stronger challenges in, and I think Bunn should have saved the shot.

 

[raul]

Image 2 clearly has Kyle Walker disguised as a Steward in the far corner. All his fault afaic:thumbup:

 

[Bergen Blade]

Image 2 clearly has Kyle Walker disguised as a Steward in the far corner. All his fault afaic:thumbup:

I was thinking there was a natural reason to explain Bartley being completely out of position, but surely if the referee can keep up with the pace (see photos), then surely should he?

 

[Micalijo]

I know Monty does plenty of things well, and I'd pick in our current set-up if Willo is fit, but ideally if you are going to have such an unskillful player in the side, somone who now seems physically incapable of striking a ball properly, for me that player has to be capable ( ie tall enough) of winning key headers. These headers can be defensive, as with their second, or may be vital in stopping a break, or keeping the opposition penned back, or heaven forbid, may result in a goal.

I'm thinking of the WBA player Mulumbu and Moussi at Forest as examples.

 

[SwissBlade]

Yet again Bergen, a good analysis.

My comments:

3-1 Bunn shouldn't come for crosses, end of.

3-2 The back four should keep its shape (unless Morgs had told Bartley to push out quick when we clear the ball). Did Morgs have time to play him offside? Should Morgs've pushed out quicker along with Nos and Kalio to catch them off? I've only seen it once on iPlayer, so not sure. Whatever happened the Back four should break as one unit. IF Morgs told Bartley to push on then its Morgs that takes responsibility.

4-3 The defence looked decent. I was always coached as a defender that you should be looking to keep the attacking team at a distance, which we did. If they resort to a shot from distance then it's generally because they can't break your defence down. If you force the shot from distance, then the keeper 'SHOULD' always save it, or it deserves a goal because it was unstoppable. It wasn't unstoppable, Bunn has to be at fault for this. It was a very poor goal to concede

 

[SwissBlade]

I know Monty does plenty of things well, and I'd pick in our current set-up if Willo is fit, but ideally if you are going to have such an unskillful player in the side, somone who now seems physically incapable of striking a ball properly, for me that player has to be capable ( ie tall enough) of winning key headers. These headers can be defensive, as with their second, or may be vital in stopping a break, or keeping the opposition penned back, or heaven forbid, may result in a goal.

I'm thinking of the WBA player Mulumbu and Moussi at Forest as examples.

On this instance Monty was picking up a player that a centre half or a Fullback pushing inside should have picked up.

Monty just lost someone elses header.

 

[raul]

To be fair to all concerned though, with so many people barely on first name terms with each other it's very harsh for the normal rules to apply. All blame points to be held in escrow until a settled side can re-convene (possibly by 2020).

 

[Ollessendro]

Thanks again Bergen. I'm not sure how mcuh value I will add to your excellent summary, but here is my 2 penneth anyway.

3-1 Do I need to say anything? Bunn is entirely at fault for this one, still Yeates falls asleep/is ball watching. In your system I'd give Bunn -1 and Yeates -0.5. Bunnwas to blame but Yeates could have averted the danger if he'd stuck with his man.

3-2 Shocker of a header from Noz (-0.5 points). He misjudges it and doesn't get it away from the danger area. He should have averted the pressure, but he didn't. Still, we have enough defenders back to deal with the siutation. I don't blame Monty as he challenges and is beaten by a taller player. It's an excellent header and Morgan gets caught out. He should either drop with his man or play offside. Simple. He drifts off and he plays the striker onside. For me Morgan is to blame and I'd give him a whole point in your summary so far system. I'm feeling point happy (as it was awful defending) and hence I'd be tempted to give Bartley half a point for his wanderings into no mans land.

4-2 Another disappointing goal to concede. I think that Morgan is not tight enough to his man. Maybe Mason was quick and hence Morgs was giving him a bit of space and himself the extra yard. Still Morgs gets a foot in and we have a bit of bad luck. Bartley gets pulled out of position and it gives Mackie the space to hit his shot. This is a difficult one. Bartely went across to cover for Morgs. If Morgs had have been skinned and Bartley had have put in a last ditch tackle on Mason then he'd have been the hero. However he didn't. He should have shown more confidence in his partner and stuck to his man. In a way his indecision/inexperience cost us. I'd take half points off Morgs and Bartley for giving their men too much space.

When all is said and done we limited Plymouth to shooting from outisde the area, in this particular circumstances, and you expect it to be something special to beat your keeper from 20+ yards. This simply wasn't! It was a tame effort and should have been saved. I've defended Bunn at points this season, but he needs to do better than this. Bunnshowed real character to come back into the side and start playing well again. However his shot stopping is not good enough. I can't understand why he gets down so slowly for this. It's piss poor keeping a real concern. My concern is that any decent manager will have his team shooting every time they get near the edge of the area. Any manager watching this video will be thinking 'shoot on sight'.

Points summary:

Bunn -2
Morgs -1.5
Bartley -1
Nos -0.5
Yeates -0.5

These errors by the back 4 (plus Bunn) need to be cut out if we are to fare well against better teams.

 

[Wapping Blade]

For their third, Bunn just fell over rather than diving (a bit like Hilario for Chelski), probably because he was caught on his heels and not concentrating.

 

[Wapping Blade]

For their third, Bunn just fell over rather than diving (a bit like Hilario for Chelski), probably because he was caught on his heels and not concentrating.

 

[Bergen Blade]

3-2 The back four should keep its shape (unless Morgs had told Bartley to push out quick when we clear the ball). Did Morgs have time to play him offside? Should Morgs've pushed out quicker along with Nos and Kalio to catch them off? I've only seen it once on iPlayer, so not sure. Whatever happened the Back four should break as one unit. IF Morgs told Bartley to push on then its Morgs that takes responsibility.

Bartley was out of position at the start of the clip, hence my appealing for others to tell what happened just before, if he'd been up for a set piece or something. He never really gets back in position, so I don't think it's Morgs' shout that told him to push up. Morgs had two options; stick with his man, or push up alongside the remainder of the back four, and I think either could have prevented the goal.

 

[SwissBlade]

Bartley was out of position at the start of the clip, hence my appealing for others to tell what happened just before, if he'd been up for a set piece or something. He never really gets back in position, so I don't think it's Morgs' shout that told him to push up. Morgs had two options; stick with his man, or push up alongside the remainder of the back four, and I think either could have prevented the goal.

I can't actually remember what happened in the build up...

Yep there's no doubt that Morgs was caught napping, if he was deep and had a man then you could understand his positioning, but he's just deep in the middle of nowhere.

The fact that our holding midfielder is deeper than our young centre half is a little puzzling, Bartley should have been dragged deep alongside Morgs

Perhaps this week in training they'll tie a 3 ft rope around Morgs and bartley's waists so that they don't wander too far from each other

 

[Bergen Blade]

3-1 Do I need to say anything? Bunn is entirely at fault for this one, still Yeates falls asleep/is ball watching. In your system I'd give Bunn -1 and Yeates -0.5. Bunnwas to blame but Yeates could have averted the danger if he'd stuck with his man. .

I think Yeates deserves a full point for losing his man like that. Even if Bunn hadn't gone for it, we may have lost the header, and those with marking responsibilities need to focus.

3-2 Shocker of a header from Noz (-0.5 points). He misjudges it and doesn't get it away from the danger area. He should have averted the pressure, but he didn't. Still, we have enough defenders back to deal with the siutation. I don't blame Monty as he challenges and is beaten by a taller player. It's an excellent header and Morgan gets caught out. He should either drop with his man or play offside. Simple. He drifts off and he plays the striker onside. For me Morgan is to blame and I'd give him a whole point in your summary so far system. I'm feeling point happy (as it was awful defending) and hence I'd be tempted to give Bartley half a point for his wanderings into no mans land.

4-2 Another disappointing goal to concede. I think that Morgan is not tight enough to his man. Maybe Mason was quick and hence Morgs was giving him a bit of space and himself the extra yard. Still Morgs gets a foot in and we have a bit of bad luck. Bartley gets pulled out of position and it gives Mackie the space to hit his shot. This is a difficult one. Bartely went across to cover for Morgs. If Morgs had have been skinned and Bartley had have put in a last ditch tackle on Mason then he'd have been the hero. However he didn't. He should have shown more confidence in his partner and stuck to his man. In a way his indecision/inexperience cost us. I'd take half points off Morgs and Bartley for giving their men too much space.

Sometimes players can't be expected to win a challenge, because they're in a race against a much quicker player, or competing in the air against a much taller player.

I think you're right that Morgs may be trying to give himself a yard to compensate for a lack of pace, and most of the time he can use his experience and positioning to deal with situations like this. As Morgan gets older though, it would be ignorant not to monitor if he gets found out more often.

Similarly with Monty, yes he was up against a player that was 6'0, but that is going to happen every game. Our midfield looks more exciting and better balanced than in a long time, but we do lack height, and Monty as our defensive midfielder will continue to be left with the responsibility of challenging for important headers in midfield. Maybe it wasn't worth giving him half a point for this time, but we should continue to monitor if the lack of height in midfield causes us problems.

 

[Ollessendro]

I think Yeates deserves a full point for losing his man like that. Even if Bunn hadn't gone for it, we may have lost the header, and those with marking responsibilities need to focus .....

I think you're right that Morgs may be trying to give himself a yard to compensate for a lack of pace, and most of the time he can use his experience and positioning to deal with situations like this. As Morgan gets older though, it would be ignorant not to monitor if he gets found out more often.

Similarly with Monty, yes he was up against a player that was 6'0, but that is going to happen every game. Our midfield looks more exciting and better balanced than in a long time, but we do lack height, and Monty as our defensive midfielder will continue to be left with the responsibility of challenging for important headers in midfield. Maybe it wasn't worth giving him half a point for this time, but we should continue to monitor if the lack of height in midfield causes us problems.

Morgs and Monties form have both concerned me this season. At times they have looked like jed-eyes, but between them they have made a lot of mistakes. Morgs looks like a rock when he has a quick and astute (main example Killa) defender playing by his side. However he has struggled in many games this season and even when playing well and looking competent he has been prone to making errors (saturday is a perfect example).

I don't think Monty should be blamed for their second, but he has made a lot of uncharacteristic errors this season. Often it is enough to put in a challenge and Monty clearly did his best to challenge/put of their player. However, I think we've overlooked the fact that it was a very good header 9he was stretching and really put it in the danger area under pressure). Still Summerfield is only 6ft (dead on) and hence you might have hoped Monty not allow Summerfield to get his head on it. Monty does a lot of good work and breaks up a lot of opposition attacks but has shown himslef to be 'too keen' on occassions by making silly mistakes and particularly giving away penalties. He plays with his heart on his sleeve (and I like that) but the coaching staff should be trying to get him to show just a little composure at times and to calm it down around our area.