Caulker

[nasser95]

The basics of defending Clint has down to a fine art, correct. If you play a side that lump balls up, he will (9 times out of 10) be in the right place and get the ball clear. However, a footballing side will bypass Clint with ease, and when he gets the ball it's either 1) lump down the line or 2) short pass inside to one of our CBs. It's generally the former of these which, a lot of the time, results in us losing possession.

My point was put across wrong. I think a lot of the issues we had last year was that it was clear when we tried to clear it that all we were doing was putting pressure on ourselves again. Clint, while a very good ball winner was more guilty of doing this and putting pressure back on us. Same can be said about Dunne. Whenever Onuoha got the ball and actually looked up and went on a drive for a bit of a distance, we moved up and created a chance.
As Matty said, you play a long ball team, Clint and Dunne would easily deal with the danger. Put the ball on the ground though and it is a different story.

[MattyRangers]

If all our defenders did was just kick the ball as far up the field as possible i'd be happy with that. Watching Nervous Ned try and control the ball like its a hot potato or seeing Yun turn in field only to be blown over by a gust of wind gives me the horrors. Just clear the danger, its as simple as that.

Really? Can you imagine the reaction if all our defenders just lumped the ball forward everytime they got the ball, only for their defenders to chuck it straight back at us? Would be shocking and the crowd would turn. Proper sunday league stuff.

[nasser95]

If all our defenders did was just kick the ball as far up the field as possible i'd be happy with that. Watching Nervous Ned try and control the ball like its a hot potato or seeing Yun turn in field only to be blown over by a gust of wind gives me the horrors. Just clear the danger, its as simple as that.

Why are we happy playing long ball football? All we did was lose the ball with that tactic.

[Shepherds Mush]

However, a footballing side will bypass Clint with ease, and when he gets the ball it's either 1) lump down the line or 2) short pass inside to one of our CBs. It's generally the former of these which, a lot of the time, results in us losing possession.

Agree and that's down to his shortcomings in pace and passing but it doesn't mean he can't coach those abilities in someone who has them.

[Shepherds Mush]

At times at times behave yourself Mushy all the time please

[Burnside]

Really? Can you imagine the reaction if all our defenders just lumped the ball forward everytime they got the ball, only for their defenders to chuck it straight back at us? Would be shocking and the crowd would turn. Proper sunday league stuff.

Playing our midfielders hospital balls and inviting pressure straight on our penalty box has paid dividends over the past 12 months. I get your point though. We seem to our own worst enemies, architects of our own downfall 99% of the time

[MattyRangers]

Playing our midfielders hospital balls and inviting pressure straight on our penalty box has paid dividends over the past 12 months. I get your point though. We seem to our own worst enemies, architects of our own downfall 99% of the time

Not wrong there mate, ridiculous how many goals we conceded last year that were so avoidable.

[Shepherds Mush]

Not wrong there mate, ridiculous how many goals we conceded last year that were so avoidable.

An untold amount. If there is anything that could have kept us up last year then this is one of first things to have pointed to. Some were unlucky (Liverpool 2 own goals) but some were just pure schoolboy errors.

[dogsrrs]

Nasser mate on the subject of Caulker get down to the garden centre buy a spade and dig a hole

[nasser95]

Nasser mate on the subject of Caulker get down to the garden centre buy a spade and dig a hole

Solid post mate, glad I could have an opinion on the subject with a positive outlook and not get harassed.

[Nick]

Not wrong there mate, ridiculous how many goals we conceded last year that were so avoidable.

Not only were they painfully avoidable, but how many were painfully close to the 90min mark? I really hope our lack of being able to see games out has been sorted!

[Rangers77]

Playing our midfielders hospital balls and inviting pressure straight on our penalty box has paid dividends over the past 12 months. I get your point though. We seem to our own worst enemies, architects of our own downfall 99% of the time

No way. We were f acking brilliant. Absolute travesty that Caulker and Isla weren't in the PFA PL team of the year. Every goal we conceded was entirely down to Clint....

[nasser95]

No way. We were f acking brilliant. Absolute travesty that Caulker and Isla weren't in the PFA PL team of the year. Every goal we conceded was entirely down to Clint....

Again, choose to read what you want, I never put blame on Clint, Caulker made plenty of mistakes and I have repeatedly said that he has big shortcomings in the non physical and technical aspects of the game but I'm also certain that having constant rotation around him didn't help his confidence so that alongside the fact that he has shown in recent seasons his quality for different clubs (Swansea, Spurs and Cardiff) means I ought to give him the benefit of the doubt.
My opinion is that the key issue defensively this season was a total lack of communication from Everyone in the back 5, making mistakes far more common than they should have been. I think everyone is at fault for that so I'm not gonna blame any individuals.

[brightonr]

Nasser, lighten up mate and try not to take things so personally.

Have a cold shower, a cup of tea and have a fiddle with your signature. It's looking a bit out of date.

[Nick]

Nasser, lighten up mate and try not to take things so personally.

Have a cold shower, a cup of tea and have a fiddle with your signature. It's looking a bit out of date.

"And have a fiddle with your..... ."
Wondered where you was going with that brights