Why do we seem to score so few? and concede so many? Thus far this season, all goals conceded have come from some sort of set piece or another.
Honestly, I can't remember a championship chasing team who have been so susceptible to set pieces in recent years? It's cost us, not just last night, but in recent years, especially in big games when goals are hard enough to come by without gifting the opponent cheap goals (and goals from set pieces are often cheaply conceded).
Ivanovic's brace last year in the CL, i remember Silvestre getting 2 against us, Ferdinand doing skill off a corner and scoring. Against the top teams, it seems to have cost us a lot more than it should. We actually seem to be one of the worst in the league at defending and attacking them.
Is it just my selective memory? It is actually the zonal marking? Is it the goalkeeper? Is it that we don't have commanding centre-backs? Is it that we just don't have that many good players in the air? Is it just a case of lack of height? Don't we practise enough in training?
On the flip side, why do we score so few? United have Vidic and Ferdinand who grab goals from set pieces, Chelsea have Alex, Carvalho and Terry who get goals, Arsenal have Gallas (and Vermalen doesn't look too shabby going forward).. with Sami gone, we don't seem dominant in the air in either box. With set pieces being such a prevalent part of the English game, shouldn't we be better? If it's a case of height, should we simply be looking to do something smarter (playing it short or cutting it back) instead of playing it into the box with the likelihood of scoring seemingly less than 10%. Defensively, have we invested so much time that we simply can't change from zonal marking now? or haven't we invested enough?
Honestly, I can't remember a championship chasing team who have been so susceptible to set pieces in recent years? It's cost us, not just last night, but in recent years, especially in big games when goals are hard enough to come by without gifting the opponent cheap goals (and goals from set pieces are often cheaply conceded).
Ivanovic's brace last year in the CL, i remember Silvestre getting 2 against us, Ferdinand doing skill off a corner and scoring. Against the top teams, it seems to have cost us a lot more than it should. We actually seem to be one of the worst in the league at defending and attacking them.
Is it just my selective memory? It is actually the zonal marking? Is it the goalkeeper? Is it that we don't have commanding centre-backs? Is it that we just don't have that many good players in the air? Is it just a case of lack of height? Don't we practise enough in training?
On the flip side, why do we score so few? United have Vidic and Ferdinand who grab goals from set pieces, Chelsea have Alex, Carvalho and Terry who get goals, Arsenal have Gallas (and Vermalen doesn't look too shabby going forward).. with Sami gone, we don't seem dominant in the air in either box. With set pieces being such a prevalent part of the English game, shouldn't we be better? If it's a case of height, should we simply be looking to do something smarter (playing it short or cutting it back) instead of playing it into the box with the likelihood of scoring seemingly less than 10%. Defensively, have we invested so much time that we simply can't change from zonal marking now? or haven't we invested enough?
