Austin MacPhee

[Dante_Lockhart]

We need Hause back

[TRO]

On 03/03/2024 at 00:25, DJBOB said:

But I mean for the first goal, what else can MacPhee say to do. The goals are rarely off the first action. Konsa loses twice against Morris in three seconds and how’s Chong not being cleared out while standing in front of Emi?

For all the strengths this team has, there is a Mings sized gap when defending set pieces. 
 
The second goal? Hat’s off to Doughty. Absolute beauty of a ball. 

That's all I have been saying....maybe you have a different way of saying it.

[HanoiVillan]

Another game, another day of being dreadful at defending set pieces. Are things going off the boil a bit here? We're not exactly pulling up trees with the attacking ones either now, but it's concerning how bad we are at defending corners and free kicks. We can't just be thinking 'they'll get better when Mings is back', we need an answer now. 

[Djemba_Villan]

Just plain and simple lack of height IMO.

[MaVilla]

1 minute ago, Djemba_Villan said:

Just plain and simple lack of height IMO.

while i agree in principle, Antonio literally headed the ball 1 foot off the ground today for their goal.

I agree we have a height/physical issue defending set pieces, but it also a tactical issue i think.

[tomav84]

not giving away stupid free kicks in dangerous areas would be a start

[tomav84]

Just now, MaVilla said:

while i agree in principle, Antonio literally headed the ball 1 foot off the ground today for their goal.

I agree we have a height/physical issue defending set pieces, but it also a tactical issue i think.

that wasn't from a set piece?

[MaVilla]

7 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

that wasn't from a set piece?

oh ye, my bad, still, its high balls in to the box.

[Djemba_Villan]

I suppose at some point we have to accept, unless we magically are allowed Man City levels of spend, we can’t have everything.

the tall clogger approach is working for West Ham but you need to go balls out for that approach. Our game is based around very quick buildup, an high back line, overlapping fast full back and exploiting the turnover. That doesn’t work with bulky, super physical players. The best we’ll get is the Morgan, Mings mould rotating into the XI who are super athletic but wouldn’t stand out in a West Ham type team. 

id we had Carlos available yesterday we’d have won a higher % duels but not to the point of a total blockout. 

[Captain_Townsend]

Cough. Tyrone Mings. Cough, cough.

Game week one we lost our best aerial player. It's a miracle Unai has kept us top 4 most of the season with that massive hole in our side.

[cheltenham_villa]

14 hours ago, Djemba_Villan said:

Just plain and simple lack of height IMO.

not sure i agree, were seem to score a large percentage of set piece goals and also let in a lot. This means it cant be all about height. I think its about organisation and reaction. I cant recall many weve lost to direct headers against the biggest man on the pitch, its always a knock down and losing the 2nd/3rd ball.

[Jas10]

We simply have to improve from defensive set pieces, it’s not even debatable. Still can’t fathom why we have mismatches regarding man marking… why do our smaller players mark the opposition’s taller ones???

Highlighting areas for improvement or of weakness is important, ironing those issues out will make us even better.

[DJBOB]

3 minutes ago, cheltenham_villa said:

not sure i agree, were seem to score a large percentage of set piece goals and also let in a lot. This means it cant be all about height. I think its about organisation and reaction. I cant recall many weve lost to direct headers against the biggest man on the pitch, its always a knock down and losing the 2nd/3rd ball.

We work set pieces very well that allows us to open up certain pockets for players like Ollie to have a free jump.

Ollie or whoever is scoring isn't exactly towering over their markers. We use a combination of picks and screens to free up Ollie at the front post or others at the back post.

But when the ball comes into our box - they do a combination of crowding out Emi and then just bullying our players.

[Jas10]

8 minutes ago, cheltenham_villa said:

not sure i agree, were seem to score a large percentage of set piece goals and also let in a lot. This means it cant be all about height. I think its about organisation and reaction. I cant recall many weve lost to direct headers against the biggest man on the pitch, its always a knock down and losing the 2nd/3rd ball.

I think you make a great point… we are a bit slow to react or too casual at times… need to be more switched on and could be more aggressive/tenacious too… usually just see flopped arms or heads drop when we concede when there should be more intent to clear the danger  beforehand. I’ve seen this a few times now from the likes of Moreno and Tielemans (shattered as ever )…

I remember what Laursen used to say… you have to believe you’re going to win the ball, that you’re going to get ahead of anyone else… it makes sense. Focus and determination.

Edit

Shit… I’m starting to sound like @TRO 

Edited March 18 by Jas10

[DJBOB]

Lenglet:

 

Konsa:

 

Pau:

 

Not exactly leading the league in aerials won from any of our defenders.

[DJBOB]

And maybe a case for Digne over Moreno - 

Digne:

Moreno:

[Jas10]

1 minute ago, DJBOB said:

Lenglet:

 

Konsa:

 

Pau:

 

Not exactly leading the league in aerials won from any of our defenders.

How about Carlos? Some of our best results seemed to come when we had all 3 of Diego, Pau and Ezri in the team.

Still… my preference would be CB partnership of Pau and Konsa. But Diego does add physicality…

[Stevo985]

Yeah there's definitely an issue here. It's not just height, it can't be.

I'm not sure exactly what McPhee's remit is, but something needs fixing defensively on set pieces. 

[DJBOB]

1 minute ago, Jas10 said:

How about Carlos? Some of our best results seemed to come when we had all 3 of Diego, Pau and Ezri in the team.

Still… my preference would be CB partnership of Pau and Konsa. But Diego does add physicality…

Carlos is not much better and while I also thought he would be more physical, he seems to be closer to Konsa.

Mings was our out and out defender first mentality and did it all in our own box. We did not have these problems last year and had to hold on to only a 1 goal lead several times with Mings the ever present in defending our box. Even though we eventually gave up the 1-1 equalizer to Liverpool away last year, Mings still won MOTM from just clearing every cross and corner and pass out of our box.

[Jas10]