Slow cultured defender in attacking side. Discuss? (Long)

Marcus

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Oct 3, 1999
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Blanc is an excellent central defender. Speed is not his strength, but he is class enough to shore up United's defence for two more years IMHO. But only if United change the style of play.

My logic is this. United attack with both fullbacks in the opposition half. If we lose possession, the 2 central defenders have to track back and confront the opposition's attackers if a long ball is played over the top.

Positioning is all well and good, but raw pace is necessary if you want to reach the ball in time to tackle or head the ball.

I have no doubt that any central defender without pace would suffer playing for United because of how isolated they are as well as the great distance between goalie and defender when we attack.

This is not an anti-Blanc thread. I'm just giving my opinion that a slow defender is not suited to United's attacking style of play. Blanc would thrive for example in a defensive Liverpool side. I mean even Henchoz can look good in that kind of unadventurous set-up for goodness sake. But when Liverpool attack, they start conceding 3 or 4 goals, like vs Leverkusen and Blackburn.
 
IMHO I think we still miss the presence of Schmichael. Lets face it Bruce was never fast and did not have the ability of Blanc but rarely got caught out cos Peter would be on at the defence for 90 mins.Blanc is a very intelligent player and has never been fast and can obviously still compete at this level however he has had many differant partners so an understanding has not really been built.
Like Bruce and Pally
If he stays we need to invest in the likes of Nesta who although young has lots of experience at the highest level then and only then will we stop leaking so frequently.Better buy or at least agree terms prior to the world cup as the price tag will only rise
 
I think Marcus made a good point .. I have the same feeling too .. And for Barthez & Blanc being that too close - it could work either way ... Good - they hv talipathic understanding ... speech is 2nd to it ...
Bad - they are too good a pair to even shouted at each other when bad situations arise .. :confused:

To see the FA Cup type of error vs. Boro ... I would think we are probably at the "bad" scenario more that the Good one ... :(
 
Interesting posts all. I agree that one of Schmeichel great strengths was his ability to command and organise his defense, from the best vantage point, the goalline. We do miss this, in particular we have been crap at the offside trap this year, though Gary has been the worst culprit at this, with Blanc a surprising second. We do get caught up field, which imo is a tactical mistake. We should either play an orthodox sweeper, but one who is faster than Blanc, or it should actually be the full backs job to make sure they get back in time. Phil didn't even try against Arsenal the other day for their goal. Also, we let in far far too many crosses in, from both sides and I've noticed that when this happens our central midfielders came right back into the defensive line allowing their midfielders space around the 20-25 yard distance to get in shots unopposed. Basically our whole defensive organisation needs to be looked at.
 
Everyone blames the defence. You should realise that every defence in the world can and WILL be penetrated without good midfield support. Penetrated with ease at that. Its only 4 guys after all.

Look at Hyppia and Henchoz, the best partnership in England, but they do have 4 men in front of them.

I said it before, our team has forgotten how to defend for 90 minutes, especially the midfield. Only Keane still does it well. The only reason its been ok in the past is because we had Schmeichel, even then we got penetrated quite often only to be saved by him. Now those saves are goals. Stam also helped because he was a collosus all by himself. Which is why we sold him, cos he played by himself and didnt organise.

Our defence is exactly where it was, with same method of defending, same midfield protecting them but minus 2 brick walls. But it should still be on a par with other defences who also have no Stam/Schmeichel of old. Unfortunately it isnt and thats down to the system and the midfield not knowing how to bleeding defend.

Buying individuals might help. But to really stop this penetration we need to learn how to stop teams from playing and that means defending PROPERLY. Thats why I think buying a world class CB wont change much, we'll still leak goals until things change in the middle.
 
Sensible thread this ;) Agreed for Schmeichel but IMO the defense has been awful. given that there must be support from midfield but take a deep look at the mistakes our defenders have made this season - its sickening. And with Blanc and Veron our game has slowed down thus allowing opposition to re-group - hence our inability to break them down. I'm envious for the days when giggs and Kanchelskis could score a goal 10 seconds after Scmeichel released the ball :rolleyes:
 
Good post Shaolin. The next anti-Barthez poster should consider that.
A load of 1-0 victories will win you the title. Liverpool and Arse realise that and organise accordingly.

That attitude would not come naturally to this Club. However, we need to improve organisation, tactics and put a few simple things right.

That's what Fergie is going to have to wrestle with in the close season. The selection of Fergie's new number 2 wil be as important as any signing we make.

As for the subject of this post, I've enjoyed watching Blanc both in our defence this season and in the comfortable way he can carry the ball through the midfield.

If he is to be replaced, yes I'd like a quicker version, but still in that mould. O'Shea and Brown could learn so much from Blanc being around for another year.
 
Can't work out whether pizzu is being serious or not, but some concentration on wide options could help next year. Beckham and Giggs have a tendancy to drift infield.

If the opposition is going to stick 9 people between you and the goal then you need to use the width of the pitch to get round the back of them. Sometimes I see us passing into brick walls - it's almost as if the opposition know we're going to make a mistake and give them the ball back eventually.
 
Blans suits us just fine. Look at how well adams does for Arsenal.
 
Schmichel had one more advantage that Bartez does not have an established Bruce/Pally partnership. Bartez's defense, which should be protecting him, didn't really know what the each other was doing all season and as the season neared its end, we lost our right side so no G. Neville or Becks who had some understadning of each other.

I think we do need certain changes in defense -- retirements, etc., but a more established team selection at the beginning of next season will help as well.
 
Gibe Blanc a speedy lad who thinks like him i.ew Ayala, Nesta or Tudor and watch the results!
 
That's why when Jaap is around you see the effect !! .. we play the same type of "attacking" football ... but everytime the backline is exposed and opponent break thru in speed ... you see what? you see them stucked with a MOVING WALL ... and frankly ... the WALL move in great speed ... I don't see much CB having Jaap's strength, speed and acceleration ... that is his strong point and we are missing it real real bad nowadays ...

IMO the team is still leaving and playing the old ways just as past 3 years ... but they forget we don't have Jaap at the backline anymore doing the necessary covering ... Something will have to be done there ... Can I say a tactically change needed ??!

Another point to note ... and may be some of you could give me some enlightening ... Where's our counter-attack nowadays ? I don see it often .. u did ? ... cos EPL standard has grown so much better nowadays ? ... IMO - it's cos the players always stay up field too high up the opponent forced to stay back .. the team has failed to realise and play to their own strength ... Well, just a point in many many bad things we could say here :rolleyes: I just hope the team could play differently next season with better organisation as a whole ...
 
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