Bedfordspurs
Chris Waddle
Porro is right back
And I’m sure I read he was the most creative full back in the league after Trent
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The case for the defence
- Thread starter Danishfurniturelover
- Start date
And I’m sure I read he was the most creative full back in the league after Trent
Muttley
Ramon Vega
I don't buy the narrative that Davies is a converted LB anymore. He actually hasn't done anything other than dedicate his life to learning to be a centre half since Conte walked through the door. He's actually in his 4th season as a player that is more than a centre half than a full-back. It's not Ben's fault though. Every top team in the PL has 5 centre halves, except for us and Pool. Ange also sat Dorrington on the bench for several weeks last season and he never took his tracksuit top off. Having dealt with his debut and given him some minutes last season would be so useful right now. Bentancur's ban has also compounded the problem. He could easily slot in.
I have a feeling it could a tough week for Gray if we can't get Romero on that pitch.
Bedfordspurs
Chris Waddle
He is a converted LB
He is a good CB
Tanga the facts mate
I actually think he is our best defensive player too
It’s not a slight on him
And he rarely if ever gets injured which says a lot on the stresses the players are feeling now
SteveAWOL
Paul Stewart
Answering my own question, from an article in 2022 after a title win:
MISERLY DEFENCE
No side has scored more than two goals against Celtic in any one league game this term. Aside from the 20 clean sheets, there have been 14 single-goal efforts against the Hoops and only four two-goal games by the opposition. Even then, of those four games, the Celts still won three of them - Dundee 4-2, Aberdeen 3-2 and Dundee again 3-2, with the 2-1 defeat at Tynecastle in the opening game being the only negative. Only 22 goals were scored against the Celts in the 38 games and a goal difference of 70 was attained to Rangers’ 49.
Comparing his record at Celtic with his current employment:
113 83 12 18 73.45 62 32 10 20 51.61
It’s difficult to judge how much benefit Postecoglou’s murder-press had on Celtic’s defending as they have been so dominant domestically in recent years and averaged only 25 goals conceded per season over the past decade.
Found this article which mentions a few things which now seem pertinent.
… Postecoglou is fine with losing some defensive solidity in search of goals, with Celtic conceding 34 goals in his final season – up from 29 in the season before he arrived.
… His record in European competition with Celtic wasn’t great at all, and their results have been, for many, a stick to beat him with. In his first season, Celtic were knocked out of the Champions League in the qualifiers, then failed to get out of their Europa League group, before being beaten by Bodø/Glimt in a Europa Conference League knockout playoff. The following season, they made it to the Champions League group stage but picked up only two points from their six games. There were promising performances but only four goals scored and 15 conceded. The commonly held view was that Postecoglou stuck too steadfastly to his philosophy, even when it appeared not to be working.
… Postecoglou’s side had the fifth-worst defensive record in the group stages, conceding 15 goals. Yet they only conceded chances worth 11.7 xG – a difference of 3.3, which was also one of the biggest discrepancies of all teams involved. In the Champions League, you come up against Champions League-quality goalkeepers, and world-class finishers, so underperformance might be expected for a team that is used to facing Ross County and St Mirren (no offence intended to those teams).
Ange Ball Explained: How Postecoglou Could Reinvigorate Spurs
We take a look at the numbers behind Ange Postecoglou's time at Celtic, and reveal why he could be the man to lift the mood at Tottenham
Jurgen the German
Willie Hall
We might keep a clean sheet against Tamworth.
nelto
Roman Pavlyuchenko
I’m fearing a Ronnie Radford type goal.
SteveAWOL
Paul Stewart
No Home Comforts for Tottenham
Tottenham have conceded the opening goal in 14 different home games in the Premier League in 2024; the joint-most ever by a team in a calendar year.To break this record, you have to concede lots of goals. But you also can’t concede so many that you get relegated. So, you are likely to be a relegation-threatened team who survive but then start the following season badly, too.
It really is something for Tottenham to have equalled a record also held by Crystal Palace in 2017 and Ipswich and Spurs themselves in 1994 when also harbouring hopes of getting back into the Champions League and ending their trophy drought. But this is Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham, and they are here to entertain.
People confuse individual defender quality with the ability of your team to defend
- Vic, Udogie, VDV, Romero, Porro and probably even Davies, Gray, Dragusin, Spence are all PL capable
Does the system provide enough cover, does the midfielder in front the FB's help out, does your 6 role track runners? are your defenders playing facing the goal or forward (different skills, harder)
- Vic, Udogie, VDV, Romero, Porro and probably even Davies, Gray, Dragusin, Spence are all PL capable
Does the system provide enough cover, does the midfielder in front the FB's help out, does your 6 role track runners? are your defenders playing facing the goal or forward (different skills, harder)
Diamond Lights
Alan Hutton
Am sure many thought we were light going into the season. Smacks of irresponsibility to have a young CB talent like Ashley Phillips playing in the Championship and needing to utilise an 18 year old CM in that position.
Last season we had games without Romero and VDV, did we think it wouldn't happen again this season or something?
Last season we had games without Romero and VDV, did we think it wouldn't happen again this season or something?
Bedfordspurs
Chris Waddle
Clearly we did
ricky2tricky4city
Les Medley
I think that speaks to the wild disconnect between the stats evidence and the eye test evidence....it's quite bizarre tbh.
Bullet
Colin Calderwood
Utterly bizarre if you believe the narrative on X.
glasgowspur
Andy Thompson
Not surprised about that at all, I have the memory of a goldfish when it comes to this stuff but feel like our worst games for conceding have been st home.
braineclipse
Terry Dyson
Gray is being used as 5th choice CB. A role he was given a chance at during preseason. And he's done well there imo.
Phillips probably needs regular game time, good for his development.
Not sure Phillips would be a better CB option for us than Gray has shown so far.
braineclipse
Terry Dyson
That combined with the effects of our actually rather solid defensive record when we had a mostly fit team earlier this season. And sample size.