Should we do anything to prevent conceding so many goals?

[We Are Premier League]

Results are going our way so its easy to argue that conceding many goals is not an issue we need to do anything about. But let pretend that we wanted to do something about it and start by looing at what position (and players) had the easiest opportunity to prevent the goals we have conceded, if we make corrections based on that we might concede less...

This is highly subjective and don't read any further if you don't want my opinion.

I ignored the goals scored by Newcastle, since we were down to ten men. I also ignored little Brentfords goal on the corner as I don't know what do to about that one...

That leaves 17 goals that are spread relatively evenly:
CM 5
RM 1
CB 5
LB 2
RB 3
GK 1
Biggest take away from that is probably that we could have prevented a few more goals if our Midfield players paid more attention to their man instead of being drawn towards, and or watching, the ball.

In terms of players, I was a bit surprised that Reed (as much as I love him) ended up on the top of the list with 4 goals. Closely followed by Reid and Ream on three.

Takeaway from that? Reed is covered by the earlier comment on watching the ball instead of his man. Reid is amazingly versatile but his strength is ultimately not in his own box. Ream caught out of position a few times, mainly due to lack of pace, but maybe he makes up for that with his contribution on the ball.

All in all, this was a bit of waste of time...nothing ground breaking, don't fix what ain't broken!

COYW

[Tempest]

Football is all about entertainment for me. I'd go all out attack v Man City and win/lose 9-7.

If we win we win, lose we lose, as long as there are plenty of goals then keep it going.

So I wouldn't make any changes.

Sent from my SM-N976B using Tapatalk

[Huxley]

if you sit back and park the bus from the start we would loose to Man City. Too much quality to unlock the defence... if you attack (within reason) you put them under pressure, they make mistakes, Mitro scores and could end up with a draw, a win or a loss... There are reasons why Pep's sides dominate, and MOTD do a good job analyzing who they set up. I'm sure if MOTD can do it, so can the clubs analysts. The one thing (never thought I'd say this) is that Fulham now has options with pace... you can destroy Pep's systems with discipline and pace (esp with Walker out)... Haaland, think we must play Diop and rough him up a bit (legally).

[DadCreature]

Silva's philosophy runs counter to current dogma in the sport - he attacks from weakness and doesn't back down.  I love it - incredibly entertaining games.   Big question is what happens to FFC if Mitro is out - the fact that we have a top of the league quality striker really makes a difference.

[Woolly Mammoth]

It's 11 v 11
It's about shape balance and depth and a system
of play that suits the occasion.
With Man City it is important to defend from the front, however two banks of 4 and a sweeper across the front of the back 4 will make it difficult for them.
If we go toe to toe from the start we may be successful, but not for 90 minutes as some have suggested.
Remember goals change games, so the longer we keep a clean sheet the more frustrated they will be.
At the same time it keeps us in the game and we use the solidness of our players in defensive areas as a springboard to score in open play.
Also if we score first we cannot sit back and concede space.
It is finding a balance which
i admit is not easy for the manager but Silva will want to win it whatever style he chooses.
This is where set pieces come into play for us and will be even more important v City.
Our defence may not currently be the best around, that is why the midfield and wingers tuck in when we lose the ball to create depth in defence.
City have spent a fortune on players so we do not want to make it easy for them.
Matches can be won in the head and in the Tunnel.
You only have to ask Liverpool when they lost to Wimbledon in the FA Cup Final.
So for me we use our loaf and make City play to our tempo, there are more ways than one to win a game.

[perry geyton]

Hell no it's our style

[The Rock]

It's 11 v 11
It's about shape balance and depth and a system
of play that suits the occasion.
With Man City it is important to defend from the front, however two banks of 4 and a sweeper across the front of the back 4 will make it difficult.
If we go toe to toe from the start we may be successful, but not for 90 minutes as some have suggested.
Remember goals change games, so the longer we keep a clean sheet the more frustrated they will be.
At the same time it keeps us in the game and we use the solidness of our players in defensive areas as a springboard to score in open play.
Also if we score first nee cannot sit back and concede space.
It is finding a balance which
i admit is not easy for the manager but Silva will want to win it whatever style he chooses.
This is where set pieces come into play for us and will be even more important v City.
Our defence may not currently be the best around, that is why the midfield and wingers tuck in when we lose the ball to create depth in defence.
City have spent a fortune on players do we do not make it easy for them.
Matches can be won in the head and in the Tunnel.
You only have to ask Liverpool when they lost to Wimbledon in the FA Cup Final.
So for me we use our loaf and make City play to our tempo, there are more ways than one to win a game.

Great post and great read. There is not much more MS can get out of the defence or project on the team strategically as a whole. "Everyone is doing their job". I don't want to solely give MS the credit and discount previous managers, but it's the small tweaks between players, gaffer, club etc. that has made a small yet huge difference.

[Holders]

A good post, Mr. Mammoth. You're much better when you're serious.

[toshes mate]

Woolly's post comes straight from his experience and demonstrates the very wide range of strategies there are even when a coach may feel they are up against it.   I don't much care for or like damage limitation as a philosophy because it starts from the negative - we are going to suffer (whatever we do).   A much better choice is contained in Woolly's final line to make City play at our game and not us play at their's.

[Whitestone]

This thread seems to have taken off on a tangent and has focussed on one particular match against Man City.
The OP posed a question and asked "should we do anything about conceding so many goals?"
Silva has raised this issue a number of times in various press conferences and has made it quite clear that this is an area for improvement. I believe that our defensive frailties need addressing because we won't always score two or three goals a game. I'm not suggesting we should change our style but there are things that can be ironed out at Motspur Park to make us a bit more organised when defending and I suspect hat this is something that the management team are working on.
I haven't focused on individuals because I think the team needs to improve defensively as a unit but the OP has highlighted some players who may be more responsible for our defensive mistakes than others, which was interesting but not surprising.

[Twig]

I appreciate the question and whilst it's important for us to work on being as defensively solid as possible I'd hate to see us change a style that is proving successful whilst also being entertaining.
I'm not sure I can buy into the OP's list of who is to blame for goals conceded and how often. Personally I don't like the blame game and anyway, it's almost always possible to allocate blame for a goal to more than one player.

[Cobh Fulham Fan]

You are right Whitestone, and I think it will take a collective effort to stop those leaking goals.  However, the discussion about collectively and tactically out-smarting and out-playing a team like Man-City, if successful, would in itself be one solution to overcome our leaky goal problem.

[jayffc]

Results are going our way so its easy to argue that conceding many goals is not an issue we need to do anything about. But let pretend that we wanted to do something about it and start by looing at what position (and players) had the easiest opportunity to prevent the goals we have conceded, if we make corrections based on that we might concede less...

This is highly subjective and don't read any further if you don't want my opinion.

I ignored the goals scored by Newcastle, since we were down to ten men. I also ignored little Brentfords goal on the corner as I don't know what do to about that one...

That leaves 17 goals that are spread relatively evenly:
CM 5
RM 1
CB 5
LB 2
RB 3
GK 1
Biggest take away from that is probably that we could have prevented a few more goals if our Midfield players paid more attention to their man instead of being drawn towards, and or watching, the ball.

In terms of players, I was a bit surprised that Reed (as much as I love him) ended up on the top of the list with 4 goals. Closely followed by Reid and Ream on three.

Takeaway from that? Reed is covered by the earlier comment on watching the ball instead of his man. Reid is amazingly versatile but his strength is ultimately not in his own box. Ream caught out of position a few times, mainly due to lack of pace, but maybe he makes up for that with his contribution on the ball.

All in all, this was a bit of waste of time...nothing ground breaking, don't fix what ain't broken!

COYW

Interesting post
Inteueged that you took out the goals against Newcastle but not the 3 ridiculous VAR goals at West ham

[Somerset Fulham]

Don't know if we should change but Declan Rice has just said on BT Sport that he trained with us and turned us down for West Ham, apparently he lived 5 minutes down the road.

I never knew that and what a difference he would have made!

[Cobh Fulham Fan]

He also turned down the Ireland squad for England, after playing a few under 21's for Ireland. 

[Somerset Fulham]

Oh I remember that, plus some of the remarks he made when he was a kid but never had any idea about the Fulham link.

[Whitesideup]

I think Marco's preferred style of play, especially moving the ball forward when possible, positively and aggressively, means that we will experience more breakdowns of play which in turn means our defence will come under stress. We have to regain shape quickly and this includes the midfield as well as the defence. I am not sure pointing fingers of blame at individual errors really helps - it's a team effort in the choices made when taking risks as well as regaining our shape and control when we lose possession.