Stop blaming TC for everything!

[Black, White and Fred]

He failed to track the midfield runner for both goals

[Somerset Fulham]

It's ok! It's Mitro's turn!

TC is off the hook, for now...

[ALG01]

He failed to track the midfield runner for both goals

he did but he wasn't the only issue in losing the two goals.
i think he played OK and really like him but he does need to move the ball a bit quicker BUT for me the biggest issue is lack of movement in the final third. when we had sess and fred as tom was getting the ball they were already on the move and he got thread the ball through, now the team is way more static so his options are more limited in getting a quality ball through the defence.

[simplyfulham]

The tracking the runners bit is a bit of a red herring for the two goals we conceded. People are making it out to be a much bigger crime then it really is.

If you want to look at why we've conceeded those two goals, in both instances you need to look at the pressure we're putting on the ball.

Watch the first goal again and focus on Aina and ask yourself if at any point he gets close enough to press or mark Zaha in the first instance or when zaha receives the ball for the second time in that passage. He's got a lot of time to pick out the runner with the pass.

For the second goal, a combination of Lemina and Robinson just get a bit mixed up, neither one presses Townsend and neither one does an effective job of cutting off his passing options. He just rolls the ball in the middle of them without too much trouble.

[colinwhite]

Agree with you about pressure on the ball,we sat off in both cases,but you cant just let players go in those situations either. For me the lack of awareness in tracking runs smacks of lack of defensive nous(TC) and a bit of a lack of being finely tuned (the new back 5 ),but its agood point and presure on the ball is the first rule of any defending.

[RaySmith]

I suppose  there is  likely to be a lack of understanding between defenders new to the club and playing with each other.
These elite, experienced players must know the basics of defending, but a defence is a collective unit, that gets cohesion and understanding trough playing together.

One thing -I caught some of  Steve Sidwell's remarks at half-time, and  when the  presenter asked him what Fulham should do about their defensive inadequacies, in analysis of the goal,  he said -'they just need to put in the hard yards', but I didn't catch the rest.

That was his take, anyway.  Did he mean in training, or commitment  during the game?
I rarely criticise players' effort, as many do, because i just think they must surely do their best at this level with such high stakes, but that was his view, though  it was pity I wasn't able to hear the rest of what he said  and know what he  really meant.

But obviously  you want defenders to bust a gut to get back and cover, but sometimes a player can be expecting someone else will follow a certain player, and  that's when understanding between players comes in.

But we hope this will quickly  grow amongst our new players, during training  - it has to.

[toshes mate]

None of us know what SP's final instructions/messages to individuals were and who, in midfield, was required to cover for whom or what.  Last season in the Championship I lost count of games where the team lost its shape, often in panic, and I just feel this is down to organisational structure of the team with lack of discipline of some players.  We eventually clicked as a defensive unit in the playoffs where it tends to matter most, but now we have a virtual new team how long will it take until it clicks is anyone's guess.  TC has never been the greatest of our 'part time' defenders in spite of occasional examples that he can defend when really pushed.   

[LittleErn]

Twig ,we may play zonally ,but no teams play zonally passing players over to the next zone in their own penalty area . If you see it(a run into the box ) you follow the man (especially if hes yours).Ream has his man and Lemina is hit with a blind side run which he doesnt see.For the second its also down to Tc to follow his man that close to goal .
Had these incidents occurred 15 metres nearer their goal fair enough ,but they didnt and in my book were both at least in part down to TC.
Ream is also not blameless in both cases. Probably more for the second than the first.

Totally agree

In general I agree. However, I don't think that it would have prevented either goal if TC had gone with the runner. He just doesn't have the burst of pace that would have kept him close to either of the two runners.