Source: Daily_Mail
After 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 in the Premier League... here's why there's no case for the defence!
There have been an amazing number of goals in the first two Premier League weekends. We are seeing more of a freedom and inclination to attack from a lot of the teams and that is very difficult to defend against. But we are also witnessing some bad defending and when you look at the evidence - especially from the four teams who have conceded six goals in matches - it is no surprise to see the goals flying in.[LNB] Chaos: Kevin Nolan scores despite the presence of four Villa defenders[LNB]HIGH LINE, HIGH RISKWigan and Newcastle were all over the place when trying to play a high defensive line. If you are a defender standing on the halfway line alongside the likes of Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda, you are going to need to be as fast as an Olympic sprinter to get to the ball ahead of them. [LNB]You have to be aware of that space behind you and drop off so they have to get past you before they can get to the ball. I remember having to do that against Les Ferdinand, who was particularly quick. So for Wigan to play a high line against Anelka was asking for trouble. [LNB]Newcastle may have gone on to win Sunday's game comfortably but they were caught out early on with their high line. The right-hand side of their defence was pressing and the left-hand side was dropping off, which meant Ashley Young was able to get through. [LNB] Running riot: Nicolas Anelka terrorised Wigan's disorganised defence[LNB]The defenders should either all be pushing up or all dropping off. It comes back to the manager because it suggests that there hasn't been a lot of work done on the training pitch. The more you work together, the better you function as a unit. [LNB]FULL OF INTENTWhat is making life so much tougher for defenders is that modern full-backs like Ashley Cole, Bacary Sagna and Gareth Bale are giving them something extra to think about. [LNB]They come from deep and the opposing defender suddenly has two players to pick up - the full-back and the winger he is supposed to be marking. [LNB]Cole and Paulo Ferreira were involved in setting up Chelsea goals on Saturday at Wigan, as was Sagna for Arsenal, and these kinds of players are really creating problems. [LNB] Changing the game: Modern full-backs like Gareth Bale love to attack[LNB]Patrice Evra is another one, while Tottenham's Bale caused more problems against Young Boys last week when he moved to left back from left midfield. When they make these runs from deep, it is very difficult to pick them up. [LNB]The way of tackling it is for the midfield player to track the raider, although many are reluctant to do so, which is why attacking full-backs have become so important. Five or 10 years ago, defenders were more or less there simply to defend, but now a lot more is expected from an attacking point of view.[LNB]I remember the change from Lee Dixon to Lauren at Arsenal. All of a sudden Lauren was flying down the right wing. [LNB]SHOW SOME MUSCLE [LNB]Dominant: Villa's defence could not handle Andy Carroll[LNB]Jonny Evans found it tough to cope with the muscle of Bobby Zamora, while Richard Dunne and Ciaran Clark failed to deal with Andy Carroll. The first thing you do as a centre back is set your stall out to dominate your opponent. [LNB]Dunne and Clark sat so deep against Carroll that he knew he had a run at aerial balls. By pushing up sometimes and jostling with him, they would have made Carroll think a bit. Would he be outmuscled? Could he be offside? But standing so deep and goalside the whole time meant it was all too predictable and easy. [LNB]Zamora was the same. He shouldn't even have been allowed in the area where he put the cross in for Simon Davies' goal. He should have been outmuscled by United. [LNB]HUNT AS A PACKIsolated: Blackpool's defence got no support from midfield when dealing with Theo Walcott[LNB]Wigan were all over the place. Some players were trying to play offside and others were not. They looked like complete strangers. You get round that by putting in hours on the training pitch. [LNB]Butit's not just the defenders. People used to say the back four at Arsenal was great but the job the players in front of us did made our lives easier. We had the midfielders and wide players occupying the space in front of us to stop the ball going into feet. [LNB]Blackpool were a fine example of the opposite against Arsenal. Stephen Crainey had good energy and tried to get forward himself but he had no protection in front of him against Theo Walcott. If you could have stopped the supply, Crainey's life would have been a lot easier. [LNB]In the second half against Newcastle, Aston Villa were just running with the ball individually and not working as a team. They looked short of confidence. [LNB]It sounds odd to say when we're talking about defences but the best player I played against at helping out was Ian Rush. He was Liverpool's first defender when they were out of possession and he made sure that when you were going down one side, you couldn't get out. So if the right-hand-side centre back had the ball, Rush would position himself sothe ball couldn't be passed left. [LNB]Barcelona have a training session where you have to win the ball back within four seconds of losing it - that is for the front players, too, and it sets an example to the whole team.[LNB] It's about attitude in those few seconds after you lose the ball. You can't hang your head, you have to fight to win it back. [LNB]PUT IT IN ROW Z!Managers are trying to get their teams to play more and therefore mistakes will be made. You want to encourage that ambition but there is a time and a place to look for the right pass. [LNB]Blackpool tried to play football from the back on Saturday but they aren't as technically good as Arsenal and it showed. The problem is you don't want to become merely a long ball team because you lose people's respect.[LNB] Manchester City 3 Liverpool 0: Sheik, rattle and roll - Tevez seals win as City owner turns up Andy Carroll is on cloud 9: Alan Shearer says Newcastle striker can be a Toon legendChelsea line up move for Inter Milan's Burdisso as replacement for CarvalhoGallas insists his new Spurs are champion as former Arsenal skipper eyes Premier League title [LNB]
