John Egan on the art of defending

[Sothall_Blade]

John Egan on the 'art' of defending, Jack O'Connell for England and why Sheffield United feels like home

Its great to be able to play sexy football but defendings one of the biggest arts in the game and always will be; Watch Aston Villa vs Sheff Utd live on Sky Sports on Monday; Kick-off 6pm

www.skysports.com

 

[Stannington Blade]

Love that mentality. Keep it out at all costs. Still bugs me that flashy last-ditch challenges get all the accolades whereas knowing when to take 2 steps to stop the ball ever being played into an area is ignored. I still think this is why players like Mings get more recognition than say Egan or JOC. always slow to anticipate so they need a massive challenge to get them out of it.
I remember a coach telling me "95% of defending is off the ball" and to me no one ever said anything truer.

 

[TCsLoveChild]

That heat map in the report literally makes Egan look like the beating heart of the defence and JOC and Bash look like the lungs of the team, which is weird because is exactly what they are UTB

 

[Sothall_Blade]

That heat map in the report literally makes Egan look like the beating heart of the defence and JOC and Bash look like the lungs of the team, which is weird because is exactly what they are UTB

I thought it was interesting that Egan was slightly more to the right on the heat map. You would expect him to be dead centre.

 

[BushBlade]

Love that mentality. Keep it out at all costs. Still bugs me that flashy last-ditch challenges get all the accolades whereas knowing when to take 2 steps to stop the ball ever being played into an area is ignored. I still think this is why players like Mings get more recognition than say Egan or JOC. always slow to anticipate so they need a massive challenge to get them out of it.
I remember a coach telling me "95% of defending is off the ball" and to me no one ever said anything truer.

Martin O’Neill on Gary Cahill. “He wouldn’t have to make as many last ditch tackles if his positioning was right in the first place’.