Opposition players unmarked in out penalty BOX

[The Swan]

How many more goals are we going to concede in out penalty BOX.


The two goals that Bristol scored , the two goals that Preston scored and to make it worse the goal that Brentford scored .


Having said that we were outplayed by Brentford.


Our defending is so awful. We just seem to watch the ball and never look behind them to see if there is a player unmarked.


As it is Pantomime season we should all shout to our defenders,  HE IS BEHIND YOU.

[ffcne]

Also no one tracks the runners from midfield .
Absolutely awful.
This team has been well and truly sussed
.Dont work hard like other teams.
Think we have a God given right to win as we have a few
good players .
Look at Ollie Norwood now.Dan Burn etc.

[SuffolkWhite]

Need 4 midfield, and yep opposition always have someone spare in or around our box.

[Artful Dodger]

I think we need to go old fashioned 4-4-2 and stop the spaces between full backs and wingers from which we allow lots of crosses. Eventually, someone is going to get free in the box and score, especially as we are outnumbered in midfield with our formation (which seems to be 4-1-5 half the time) so runners are getting in to the box as the OP points out. I am convinced that with a proper formation and more support from midfield, our defenders aren't as bad as they are being made to look. The exception is Joe Bryan who doesn't ever seem to be aware of players around him and I dare say the majority of unmarked forwards have scored after coming in from our left back area. We should play him left mid (if we played with one) as he isn't a bad footballer but not a left back in my view.

[Ronnief]

We are sadly missing Harrison Reed, Harry Arter and also Kevin McDonald in the midfield. Johansen is carrying a long term injury.  With these players available and fit all the criticism in the last few weeks may not have been made.

[Milo]

Don't worry, seri is returning

[love4ffc]

We are sadly missing Harrison Reed, Harry Arter and also Kevin McDonald in the midfield. Johansen is carrying a long term injury.  With these players available and fit all the criticism in the last few weeks may not have been made.

Agree we are missing that key midfield player that can break up the countering runs and help with crosses in the box.  Did not know Stefjo was carring a long term injury 

As for unmarked runs in our box, well that is our achilles heel.  Has been for at least 4 years now  :012:

[WindyCity]

How many more goals are we going to concede in out penalty BOX.


The two goals that Bristol scored , the two goals that Preston scored and to make it worse the goal that Brentford scored .


Having said that we were outplayed by Brentford.


Our defending is so awful. We just seem to watch the ball and never look behind them to see if there is a player unmarked.


As it is Pantomime season we should all shout to our defenders,  HE IS BEHIND YOU.

***Yawn***........Nothing really new here.  FFC backline defense has been horrible over the last two seasons.  With no upgrades or improvements during that time.  Even during our recent promotion season, defense was highly suspect.  Anyway, looks like mid table finish for this club this year.  Very disappointing.

[Dr Quinzel]

The Captain always escapes criticism when we talk about tracking back. He CAN do it. The first game when he played in that deeper two he did it and played out of his skin, but since then, looks lethargic out of possession. It isn't his fault alone of course, but he rarely gets called out.

[bobby01]

I must admit that I was surprised with the mass of support about Stuart Gray returning, lack of marking and defensive positioning has been a major problem all through his tenure as defensive coach. Yes I know we perhaps do not have the best back line but surely players can be coached out of making the same mistakes over and over.

[bobbo]

It's absolutely immposible to mark every opposition player that gets into our 18 yard area. But we do have players getting caught upfield too far at crucial times odoi and ream particularly guilty of this.

Just bear in mind if all attacking players were efficiently marked in penalty areas there'd be no goals.

[filham]

I think like the Artful Dodger and would like to see 4-4-2 given a try with Mitro and Kamara given a try up top. Sure they would worry defenders in the box.

[Matt10]

Not necessarily about marking, but more so cutting off the chance of the player with the ball from being able to not only look up, but also able to send a pass, with little to no confrontation. We play a very contained defence once penetrated for some reason. The Brentford goal was a good example of that. 3 Fulham players vs Benrahma in the box, none engaging, just containing. You can see Christie's expression as if he's put off on why noone has gone in for a challenge - then has to quickly recover backpost and is just late to cut off the shot's angle. It should have never come to that from Mawson first, but our aggression in "getting the ball" was poor.

If we're going to press high defensively in transition, then we better be less passive when the ball is actually in a threatening area...like the top of, or inside, our box.

[Dr Quinzel]

Passive is a good word, Matt. Often the desire to stop the cross or get in the players face to make life harder for them seems to be missing.

[davew]

Not necessarily about marking, but more so cutting off the chance of the player with the ball from being able to not only look up, but also able to send a pass, with little to no confrontation. We play a very contained defence once penetrated for some reason. The Brentford goal was a good example of that. 3 Fulham players vs Benrahma in the box, none engaging, just containing. You can see Christie's expression as if he's put off on why noone has gone in for a challenge - then has to quickly recover backpost and is just late to cut off the shot's angle. It should have never come to that from Mawson first, but our aggression in "getting the ball" was poor.

If we're going to press high defensively in transition, then we better be less passive when the ball is actually in a threatening area...like the top of, or inside, our box.

Good post Matt, but sadly too technical for Parker and maybe even our players, the best and short analysis is that they are clueless!!

[love4ffc]

revisising this thread as once again this was the cause of the Leeds goal. 

Play starts from a throw into Leeds on the coming down the Fulham left side.  Leeds tries to work the ball down the left wing but are held up by Josh Onomah (who would have thought it possible).  Leeds pass the ball back to their right central midfield who spies a fellow Leeds player splitting Tim Ream and Joe Bryan.  The ball is played into the waiting Leeds player who receives the ball nicely across his body and turns to beat Tim Ream who has the inside track.  The Leeds player puts a shot on goal where Rodak gets low and redirects the ball back across goal towards the back post. 

This is where I get mad at the Fulham defense as this is just a reoccurring event time and time again. 

Waiting unmarked in the box and on the back post is another Leeds player who utilizes the huge amount space that is between Christie and Mawson to split them and get a simple tap in.   :031:

[grandad]

Ream was caught flat footed when the Leeds player moved away & into our area. Ream had no one else to mark so he should have gone with the player.

[love4ffc]

Ream was caught flat footed when the Leeds player moved away & into our area. Ream had no one else to mark so he should have gone with the player.

Agree Gandad.  Also think that Christie should have slid over and had better cover on the Leeds player that scored.