Well we had more of the ball in each of those games (and not by a couple of percent) than the opponents that much is true. We still try to counter though with our players like Rashford and Bruno with a quick movement of the ball. And sometimes teams try to counter after our counter has broken down and our attacking players have taken themselves out of positions to help defend.
Our Defence - Has it actually been fixed?
- Thread starter Untd55
- Start date
Well we had more of the ball in each of those games (and not by a couple of percent) than the opponents that much is true. We still try to counter though with our players like Rashford and Bruno with a quick movement of the ball. And sometimes teams try to counter after our counter has broken down and our attacking players have taken themselves out of positions to help defend.
There is clearly absolutely no organisation on set pieces, particularly on corners where we should be having our best header of the ball Maguire on the front post but instead he is always in the middle which makes no sense at all. Then there is the zonal rather than man to man marking which don't even get me started on how that is such a bad idea
Our defence is brilliant at shithousing its way to a clean sheet. As a group of players, you won't find many backlines more capable of playing up against a massive onslaught.
But ask them to defend in a match where we have >50% possession, and there's a big chance they'll fall apart.
The problem is they don't defend as a unit. They're a bunch of individuals (with some admittedly fantastic individual qualities) who too often play for themselves.
But ask them to defend in a match where we have >50% possession, and there's a big chance they'll fall apart.
The problem is they don't defend as a unit. They're a bunch of individuals (with some admittedly fantastic individual qualities) who too often play for themselves.
Pathetic.
You don't win anything with a defence and goalkeeper who simply can't be trusted.
The defence and the whole team should be upset with De Gea big time.
Feck me our CBs and De Gea can be such complete wank. Fully at fault today.
No words, seen it all before, said it all before
Shame the title could have been won this season had we just improved our defence. Shambles
They look great when it is easy, when it matters they don't get it done.
He has to move on from this partnership, passive Lindelof and slow Maguire, there is no certainty there.
He has to move on from this partnership, passive Lindelof and slow Maguire, there is no certainty there.
When you spend 80 mill on defender to fix your defence and he becomes weakest link of that defence. With Maguire in team this defence will never be fixed
This whole season has been a evidence of it not being good enough. Its too slow with macguire and lindelof, tuanzebe is never good and wan bissaka is terrible going forward.
Goals win games, defense wins championships. We won't at this rate because our defense can be very very fragile.
This whole season has been a evidence of it not being good enough. Its too slow with macguire and lindelof, tuanzebe is never good and wan bissaka is terrible going forward.
We can't defend set pieces and set pieces are mostly coaching. James goal was also pretty much a carbon copy of Sheffield's one and a few before that. Insane gaps in our box, we are learning nothing and it cost us yet again. Tuanzebe is trash, why are we always trusting him to defend properly in vital moments is beyond me.
A fit and in form Bailly helps a lot. Can't rely on that though so we're going to have to spend again probably.
Most goals conceded of any team in the top half of the table.
Top scorers in the league- joint 11th best defence with Brighton.
Don't worry guys, Ole is getting rid of the deadwood like Smalling, Rojo and Romero and we're apparently better than before at the back with Mr.Pussy, £80m fridge and the best keeper ever in club's history + a nothing player who's only in the team because he's from the academy 
I wish we had Romero in goal today and Smalling - Rojo combo at CB. We wouldn't be that bad defensively, that's for sure.
I wish we had Romero in goal today and Smalling - Rojo combo at CB. We wouldn't be that bad defensively, that's for sure.
On course to concede 49 goals this season, which is 13 worse than last season (we are only 6 off last seasons goal concessions). That is going to really cost us if we want to keep up a title challenge. You have to drop down to Leeds in 11th before you find a team that has conceded more goals.
The worst goasl conceded since 14-15 for a title winner is 36 goals. The rest are lower.
The worst goasl conceded since 14-15 for a title winner is 36 goals. The rest are lower.
Has anyone ever asked Ole why we insist on playing a high line when our captain and most expensive defender is the slowest in the league?
It is a shambolic defense , you can't challenge for honours with two very substandard centre backs and a spent Keeper.
It's so frustrating that the only thing holding us back is the defence. It's the easiest thing to get right, there's no real excuse.
I mean we're probably going to concede a record number of goals since that start of the premier league.
It's easily the worst area in the team.
It's easily the worst area in the team.
Without having an entire new high quality backline + a quality DM, Utd will never ever win a significant trophy in the near future.
Thirty league goals conceded already; that's pathetic.
I'm sick of raging at this defence; it's now up to Ole. Either he sorts out the centre backs or they will ultimately get him the sack. I don't care how much Maguire cost, he isn't good enough. I'm running out of expletives when describing this defence and the way we defend as a team. Tonight's equaliser was schoolboy stuff in the 95th minute. First priority in the summer is centre backs.
I'm sick of raging at this defence; it's now up to Ole. Either he sorts out the centre backs or they will ultimately get him the sack. I don't care how much Maguire cost, he isn't good enough. I'm running out of expletives when describing this defence and the way we defend as a team. Tonight's equaliser was schoolboy stuff in the 95th minute. First priority in the summer is centre backs.
I would start with a GK and CB first. We can't replace them all in one go because we don't have the funds and there are other areas that need addressing. Hopefully there's some interest in DDG from Italian clubs. We never learned from the Rooney situation as we should never have given him that contract.
This is the most worrying thing for me. How do we fix our defence when the guy bought to do it is a big part of why it's so bad?
Ole needs to find a reliable Bailly like centre back.
So you want to find a reliable... madman?
We can buy prime Rio, Evra and Cafu with Buffon on the goal. But with Harry in team it will still suck. Less suck of course but he will always be a problem.
We need to get Lindelof and De Gea to compete jumps against each other in training. Whoever loses gets a Keano stamp to the fecking kneecaps. I'm sick of pussy defending.
This was the case even after the Sheffield game. Saints probably would have scored if they didn't have 10
The only player good enough in our back 5 is Shaw. Rest need to be improved upon before we can actually win things. DDG could be helped by a better defense infront of him.
It's not hard to score against us and we don't make teams work hard for their goals. We put in an excellent shift in attack, pressed them brilliantly to not give them anything in the first half and managed to score a couple of well-worked goals, but all it takes for the opposition is to get two or three balls into the box and someone will inevitably make a mistake for a simple goal.
Just think about it. How many goals or chances do we concede from the following: AWB not holding the offside line, our defensive midfielders failing to pick up a free man in the box from an obvious cutback, Maguire struggling for pace, Lindelöf losing a header or de Gea being weak in the air or rooted to his line instead of just collecting the ball?
Almost every goal is conceded due to the same players making the same mistakes week after week and they don't seem to be improving as players as time passes. Quite the opposite in fact. I'll refrain from holding Maguire's lack of pace against him as we knew what he was about when we bought him, but to see these recurring deficiencies and not acting on them in three transfer windows will be a big reason behind us not challenging for titles. It's shocking squad planning to spend £130m on a slow central defender and a RB that can't hold a line if your intention is to play a high line, so we'll have to sort that out somehow, and I don't see AWB's positional awareness being addressed two years on.
Shaw's good though...
Just think about it. How many goals or chances do we concede from the following: AWB not holding the offside line, our defensive midfielders failing to pick up a free man in the box from an obvious cutback, Maguire struggling for pace, Lindelöf losing a header or de Gea being weak in the air or rooted to his line instead of just collecting the ball?
Almost every goal is conceded due to the same players making the same mistakes week after week and they don't seem to be improving as players as time passes. Quite the opposite in fact. I'll refrain from holding Maguire's lack of pace against him as we knew what he was about when we bought him, but to see these recurring deficiencies and not acting on them in three transfer windows will be a big reason behind us not challenging for titles. It's shocking squad planning to spend £130m on a slow central defender and a RB that can't hold a line if your intention is to play a high line, so we'll have to sort that out somehow, and I don't see AWB's positional awareness being addressed two years on.
Shaw's good though...
Need a new keeper.
He built that back 5 himself though. Nearly all the back 5 players in the squad are his players.
- signed Maguire for £80m
- signed AWB for £50m
- preferred Lindelöf to Smalling, Bailly, Rojo etc. and made him one of his first choice CBs
- gave a stupidly big contract to De Gea despite his apparent decline
- gave another stupidly big contract to no2 GK in Henderson
- gave Jones a stupidly long contract (and still says he expects Jones back
) - signed another average LB
The only player(s) who are performing in that defence are not his players: Luke Shaw and Eric Bailly. Surprise, surprise.
Any ideas how to fix defence with saying to replace ole or Maguire , two things that aren't likely to happen ? Ddg has not been bad this year. Do we achieve a lot by just getting the best partner we can get for Maguire ?
Neither of the centre halves are good enough. Lindelof will be replaced but Maguire won’t, which is why he is a bigger problem, we’ll persist with him for years. I know he isn’t terrible, and at times will do well but he also isn’t good enough.
He’s also the leader and organiser of our defence despite displaying no ability to be good at either.
He’s also the leader and organiser of our defence despite displaying no ability to be good at either.
The date this thread was made, probably a lot later than when the problems appeared, tells you all you need to know.
Until the defenders are properly coached and drilled on structure and organisation, we'll continue to have the same problems.
Until the defenders are properly coached and drilled on structure and organisation, we'll continue to have the same problems.
Another way to say it would be he signed 2 starting defenders and 3 incl telles while pep has signed I don't know how many, probably 8 or 9 , maybe 11 or 12 ?He built that back 5 himself though. Nearly all the back 5 players in the squad are his players.
while giving some players away for either peanuts (Smalling, TFM, Darmian) or nothing (Rojo, Romero). And there are people who genuinely believe he's done a great job in rebuilding the defence. He spent so much on defence only to make it worse. Why should he get another £150m to "sort out" the defence when he hasn't got a clue about it? He's got the most expensive CB on his hands who is his signing.
- signed Maguire for £80m
- signed AWB for £50m
- preferred Lindelöf to Smalling, Bailly, Rojo etc. and made him one of his first choice CBs
- gave a stupidly big contract to De Gea despite his apparent decline
- gave another stupidly big contract to no2 GK in Henderson
- gave Jones a stupidly long contract (and still says he expects Jones back
- signed another average LB
The only player(s) who are performing in that defence are not his players: Luke Shaw and Eric Bailly. Surprise, surprise.
Klopp has probably signed 6, 7 or 8
So you can make whatever wierd point you want but you'll find it hard to argue ole has built this defence to the same extent as other managers