Have we got a coach who trains our players how to defend. If we have who is he.

[The Swan]

For many years we have struggled with our defending.
Mainly from corner kicks, free kicks and with wide men putting in crosses into our box.
Last Sunday was a perfect example of what I mean.
Their number 17 Alex Iwobi had the freedom of the right side of the pitch. He was completely unmarked all game especially  in the first half. For years I have been saying that our full backs on both sides always move into the middle of our back line. They move too close to our central defenders. Thus leaving loads of space for the wide men from the opposition to cause havoc down either flanks.
When I have sat in my seat in the Johnny Haynes stand I am forever shouting to out full backs to mark the wide men.
Do we need a new defensing coach to sort this problem out.
All three goals came from crosses from the wide players in the Everton team.
Our two new central defenders did not do themselves any favours by their lack of been able to cut out the ball from the wings.

[RaySmith]

They went past our players far too easily in the first half.
Sometimes you just want  someone to take the player down, one way or another,  outside the area of course, even if it risks taking a card for the team.

Better to give away a free kick than a goal.

[Black, White and Fred]

Stuart Gray is the guy.I couldnt understand why Aina was so narrow for all of evertons goals, he wasnt marking anybody made no sense to allow the cross to come in so easily.

[Jamie88]

It is an issue I am always banging on about. My opinion is that our defensive frailties are not so much to do with recruitment but with tactics and coaching.

Ola Aina must've thought he was either a centre back or R/C mid the way he was positioned most of the match. Look at all three of their goals - came from their left hand side where either Richarlison or Digne had acres of space

[sunburywhite]

Yes, Roy Orbison

[d5]

Yes, Roy Orbison
:005:

[bencher]

Aina is not good enough for the EPL he has no positional sense, and is a liability and no coach will make him any better. He is one of the many scatter gun signings the crack recruitment buffoons grab when their first 6 targets turn us down because TK does not have a clue how to negotiate, he is a laughing stock amongst agents and further more he knows it, that's why he keeps his head down lately, he is not as cocky as he was because he knows he is two bob, but his inflated ego and his old man keeps him in the job.

Whilst I do have concerns with Aina's positioning, being far too central when they attack the other flank, I do have other concerns that if/when Tete is back, he will be playing with defenders he's never played with before, so we start a new defensive unit once again...

[toshes mate]

I think you have to play as a team regardless of defence, attack, or holding play up, and so it needs to be team drills as well as unit drills.  In Jokanovic's era his mantra was always about 'a clean sheet would be nice' meaning he had no qualms about the ability to put the goals away, but there were goals conceded that shoudn't have been.  Parker's issues are to some extent similar and he has the same problem with the flanks being exposed as they were in the Championship.  However, the defence is improving despite Sunday's showing which I believe was derived as much from personnel changes on the day as it was from poor challenges and too much nonsense play early on.  Second half in particular we did at least compete but for some reason in the first half we simply behaved as if we were second best even after we got a good equalizer.  I honestly don't knoiw how that first half happened but I do hope Parker does.

[Bassey the warrior]

Stuart Gray is the guy.I couldnt understand why Aina was so narrow for all of evertons goals, he wasnt marking anybody made no sense to allow the cross to come in so easily.

Agree with this about Aina. It's been an issue all season. We need to do more to block the crosses. We also need the wingers to track back to avoid our full back's being outnumbered.

[Denver Fulham]

It would be interesting if Peter Rutzler or another bloke covering the team could get an answer to this. Aina was pinched in SO far so repeatedly, it had to have to been instructed that way -- perhaps to contract the space for Richarlison? Maybe we were caught unawares by Everton's formation, and didn't have the tactics to counter the wingbacks? Regardless, three crosses came in from the same general area, and while they were good crosses, we didn't deal with them at all.

Surprised Tosin hasn't gotten much stick on the board after Sunday, as he failed to intercept/block the first cross, got beaten across his face for the second (and/or didn't put Calvert-Lewin offside), and stood and watched the third after it went over Andersen. Not very good awareness and physicality in the box. It's one game, he's young, etc ... but that was not his best performance.

Anyway, it was the second goal that really irked me, starting with the slaloming run where three of our players on the left side of defense barely stuck a foot out in protest, and it ended with Tosin getting wrong-sided on Calvert-Lewin. I felt bad for Areola. He allowed three goals and had zero chance on any of them.

[Barrett487]

One of my gripes for a while has been that, seemingly poor players can become good ones with a coach/manager change and sadly the opposite is also true. The players that we have invested in have mainly been good players, but it almost seems that, as soon as they set eyes on the Cottage, they capitulate into headless chickens. Okay, there are a few exceptions, but when was the last time that we had confidence in our defence? The answer is probably Hodgson's era and since then we have just tried to outscore our opponents (unsuccessfully in the EPL). Btw, i hate John Terry, but suspect he's a good defense coach and the sort of coach we need.

[H4usuallysitting]

Isn't it Stuart Gray.....how long has he had the current back 4 in one place & fit....think this is more a recruitment problem/process than a technical issue....we will get better - we've got some very good player's.....will we stay up....no idea

[RaySmith]

We've  had some very good players as attacking full backs, which is the current trend, and important to our game, but defenders should primarily be able to defend.

We play some nice football, under Slava and now Scott, but I'd rather see a more dour Fulham, who didn't concede  so many , soft gals - which so often undermines  all our attacking efforts.
I remember going to Man C under Slava, and trying to attack them, which was admirable, and got praise, yet we conceded a goal within the first five minutes.

That's the secret of the Roy's and Pulisses of this world - how they manage to   have comparative success's, ie get into the Prem and staying there, with smaller clubs.
Though both these managers have  ben criticised by fans for being too defensive and playing too boring a style.

Well, hopefully, Scott and his coaching staff will manage to  get the balance right, but right now survival is  the goal. But just to sit back in every game and defend  probably  isn't the answer, especially with the players we have.

[bobby01]

Isn't it Stuart Gray.....how long has he had the current back 4 in one place & fit....think this is more a recruitment problem/process than a technical issue....we will get better - we've got some very good player's.....will we stay up....no idea

Sorry but Gray has been here a long time with a lot of settled defences, but we still cannot defend corners or set plays, still let runners wander into the box unmarked, same errors over a long long period. Maybe it is not all down to him.

[H4usuallysitting]

Isn't it Stuart Gray.....how long has he had the current back 4 in one place & fit....think this is more a recruitment problem/process than a technical issue....we will get better - we've got some very good player's.....will we stay up....no idea

Sorry but Gray has been here a long time with a lot of settled defences, but we still cannot defend corners or set plays, still let runners wander into the box unmarked, same errors over a long long period. Maybe it is not all down to him.

Yep....we didn't have 2 promotion's with him - and yep, he's probably been given 4 week's to gel 5 player's (including the keeper) into a slick outfit.... totally his fault